Re: freelance sysadmining -- fun stuff
hi ya tom
On Wed, 12 Nov 2003, Tom wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 12, 2003 at 11:58:41PM -0500, Vikki Roemer wrote:
..
> 1. A couple of executives paid $50/hour for me to set up Quicken on
> their wives's laptops. (They were actually members of the Springs
> family, of Springs mills [textiles] wealth). I actually did this as
> part of job.
yup ... that's a good deal to go ahead and do :-)
> 2. One of my wierdest stories was getting stoned and installing Quicken
you're nuts ... :-) but guess that's the fun of it
> 3. I used to help out struggling friends with their 'pooters and in
> return have their wives would fix a nice pot roast dinner and we'd eat.
> For a young bachelor, this was killer diller. Or they'd just get me
> high :-)
those are good deals .... free dinner ( pot roast ) will always
get my attention ...
- it takes 2-3 hrs of out of their day ..
- you spend 2-3 hrs fixing and teaching them about their
pc that they wanted to know about
- but if they say vegetarian food today ... than its i think
i have a meeting that day/evening .. :-)
- i like those deals or even go out to get some sushi/beer/pizza... etc
those "free food" say costs $20 a shot ... which people dont seem
to mind paying for ( seem happy and insist on paying for dinner ) ...
vs (grudgingly) paying $20 for pc tech support
--
-- its a lot better deal for you than the $50/yr deal :-)
--
> 4. I learned long, long ago that you cannot be Santa Claus with family
> or friends or even small-time clients: as everyone here has said, they
> will bug the shit out of you and you will eventually stop being friends
> or will be upset with your clients. Keep your expectations small and
> you can make some pocket money and have some great life experiences.
yup... thats the problem ... hard to turn friends down esp when they
depend on you to fix their PC at the wrong time for $$$
- "dinner for pc help" seems to work lot better
- or laundry in the case of "mom" :-)
( sorry ... had to add that too -- ( pressed shirts and pants
for a change ))
- doing tech support for a mix of friends, family, small business is
definitely a good course in "people management skills and
prioritization and time management"
- the whole point is listen to the potential client, and give
um what they're looking for, even if its wrong, especially
if they have check in hand and/or pot-roast ready
- as tme goes on, those "wrong" things will get fixed too
( dont worry too much about the plan covering this or that )
- write up what they said they wanted
- add your disclaimer and non-responsibility if the pc melts
c ya
alvin
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