But considering your current skill level, you don't need to have any certifications to make acceptable money doing PCs. I'm a marginally employed grad student making all my money from doing PC work for regular people (you can check this website for ideas:
www.esc-services.com ) and I turn away work fairly regularly. Here's how you do it.
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Cater to those that are ignored or put off by the computer shops and their unintelligible nerd squads--you know, those nerds that talk to grandma like she knows what the hell a TCP/IP stack is. These people will treat you like gold.
Gold. Talk to them like normal people (and like they don't have a clue) and you will have them as a customer for life. No joke. And they will tell all their friends. No joke. It takes some time, but if you can build the right clientle, it will generate itself.
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Learn how to kill spyware. There are companies in my area charging $600 just to strip spyware from systems...and people pay it because they don't know they're being ripped off. You can be the heroine by charging 1/6th of that price and still make money. Some weeks all I do is strip spyware from systems. Hell, I have one customer that I see about every ten days because her kids continually reinfest her machines.
Same goes for virus killing. Remember, you're not an average user; average users are utter morons with their machines--they think they just work like a refrigerator or something.
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Learn how to setup broadband connections. Yes, laugh if you will, but this simple task is easy money and people need it. They also need you to setup routers and internal home networks (wired or wireless). Easy to learn if you're computer inclined, and there's demand out there.
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Undercut your local computer shops. This is not hard to do, since most shops charge between $90 and $130 an hour for work, plus bench fees up to $200! I charge $50 an hour with a one hour minimum, even if I'm only there for 5 minutes. This serves two purposes: you don't do work for people that can't appreciate the incredible value you bring to the table, and you make the best use of appointment time.
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Don't fix machines that aren't worth fixing. People will appreciate your honesty if you say, "You know, this 5 year old paperweight running Windows 98 isn't worth my time or your money. But for $600, you can have your basic computing needs met with an HP or Compaq from BestBuy, and I can set it up for you and move your old data over to it." Only one customer has ever told me they didn't want to do this when given that scenario. Just one. And you still get paid for setting up the rig and stripping off all the bloatware that ships with Tier One systems.
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Cater to an older, female clientle. Sounds sexist, but it's reality. Women are not only not afraid to ask you for your help, but they talk about you if you're good to all their other friends. It's different with male clients; too many aren't honest enough to realize they don't know what the fuck they're doing until it's too late (which usually means more money for you, but more pride bullshit as well). 70% of my clientle are women, mostly older women...unfortunately.
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Don't be afraid to say you don't know. People get technobabble bullshit thrown at them all the time and they have no idea if they're being lied to or not but it makes them feel powerless and abused--think car mechanic experiences, only much worse. With the internet and a little persistence, there is no question that does not have an answer. Use this to your advantage.
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Don't worry about the fact that it's just a hobby for you; 90% of regular home and business user problems can be solved by a skilled hobbyist because 90% of IT problems happen between the chair and the keyboard--and there's only so much Microsoft can do about handicapping that.
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Buy a big USB memory stick. This will make your life so much easier. Keep all your software utilities on one of these and wear it around your neck. This accomplishes two goals; you look the part--like a computer nerd, and it's easier than burning CDs everytime new revisions of software utilities come out. You just stick the thing in the port, and load right from the stick. Check out the SanDisk MiniCruzers.
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