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Excerpts from
How to Run A Successful
Computer Training Business
From Your Home or an Office!
By: Marnie L. Pehrson
Copyright 1996 All Rights Reserved Published by
C.E.S. Business Consultants
4133 E. Freedom Cr.
Ooltewah, TN 37363
(423) 892-8985
http://www.pwgroup.com/ces
ces@pwgroup.com or CompEnhanc@aol.com
This article may be redistributed freely as long as it is
done so in its entirety.
Table of Contents
Introduction
About the Author
About This Book
Start-Up Needs
You
Equipment
Software
Office Supplies
Legal Issues
The Courses
Course structure, length, guarantees, extras
A Workbook
Your Options
Training From Your Home
Pros and Cons
Your Target Market
Getting Business
Tips
Peaks and Valleys
Prospect Objections and Your Answers
Rates
Contract
Expandability
Training At Their Home Or Business
Your Market
Getting Business
Rates
One word of Caution
Tools and Techniques
Your Mailer
Training Techniques
Selling Techniques
Overcoming Frustrations
Conclusion
Appendix A
Sales Letters
Prospect Letters
Course Outlines
Seminar Mailers
Brochures
Flyers
Introduction
About the Author
I originally started my own computer training business
back in May of 1990. At the time, my husband was out of a
job. I had a 3 year old daughter and a 5-month-old baby boy.
I kept reading in the paper looking for jobs for my husband,
and possibly myself. Everywhere I looked, jobs were calling
for knowledge of WordPerfect, Lotus, and Pagemaker.
I had majored in Information Management in college, so I
was well-versed with these programs and had them on my own
home computer. I did not want to leave my children in day
care, but the more and more I looked at the want ads, the more
I thought, "I can do these jobs."
My husband was having very little success, so I went on
my first interview for a job that required knowledge of
WordPerfect, Lotus and Pagemaker. When I got home from the
interview I realized that I just couldn't leave my children,
and go off to work. I knew if I did, I'd be in the job world
for the rest of my life, and my children would grow up without
me being there to experience it.
As I sat down in my kitchen and thought over my
situation, the idea came to me to put an advertisement in
classified section of the paper offering training on the
computer programs listed in the various want ads.
I picked up the phone and placed the advertisement. It
cost me a whopping $5.00 to run the ad in the next Sunday
paper. The advertisement ran, and I immediately began getting
calls. My first two students came from that one $5.00 Sunday
advertisement. As a matter of fact, I didn't even have my
materials ready for these students when they signed up. I had
to hurry and figure out a course structure. I must admit, I
flew by the seat of my pants for the first class I taught in
each software package.
I kept running my ads and refining them until I came up
with a system that worked consistently. Over the next three
years I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot about
software that I never knew in the beginning, and made the
money my family needed without having to leave my children in
a daycare or with sitters.
About This Book
This book is a compilation of all the things that I have
learned about the training business that I wish I had known
when I started it. It is a step-by-step guide for anyone who
wants to run a part or full-time training business from their
home. You won't get rich overnight, but if you want to start
out in your own business immediately making $320-$960 a week
by working only 16-24 hours per week you'll be glad you found
this book.
The disk included with the book contains advertisements,
brochures, and letters ready for you to customize and use in
your new business. They are all saved in WordPerfect 5.1
format, and can be imported by any program almost any word
processing program found today. All you have to do is
insert your company address and print them out.
Two types of training businesses are described in this
book -- training from your home, and training at the
customer's location. Each type of business warrants different
marketing methods, equipment, and fee structures. These will
be discussed in detail.
Your Options
You can either train from your home or you can train
people at their own home or office on their own computer.
Each type of training has a different target market and thus
a different marketing strategy. Each type will be discussed
in detail.
Training From Your Home
Pros and Cons
Training from your home can have many benefits.
1. You can take a home office tax deduction if you have
a designated area of your home from which you teach
and work.
2. This type of training has very low overhead. You
won't have to drive all over town using gas and time
commuting to different places to train.
3. You can enjoy being at home and doing things around
the house when you are not working.
4. Your wardrobe can be much more relaxed. Instead of
dressing up in a suit or dress to go to a business
to train, you can wear slacks and a t-shirt to train
people in your home.
5. If you have children, this is a great way to stay
home with them. For example, I train while my boys
take a nap in the afternoon, and in the evenings and
on Saturdays when my husband is home to watch the
children. This gives my students a variety of times
for training without me having to pay a costly baby
sitter or day care.
6. Once you have your courses down, very little
preparation time is necessary so you can spend more
time with your family.
Drawbacks to working from your home do exist.
1. You have to be good about making yourself work. You
need to be self motivated. Although it doesn't take
much motivation to teach a scheduled class, it does
take self motivation to follow through with
marketing -- such as phone calls and mailers.
2. It sometimes feels like you can never go home. With
your work and home life in the same location, it's
hard to separate them.
3. You will have to do a little extra work to maintain
credibility. Try to look as professional as you can
in writing and sales materials to compensate for
this. Also be willing to provide guarantees and
references.
Training At Their Home Or Business
The second type of training we'll discuss is on-site or
in-house training. This is training individuals on their own
machines at their own locations. Some people prefer this type
of training because they don't want to learn something on a
classroom machine and have it be different on their own. Very
few people realize that Lotus acts like Lotus no matter what
machine it is running on. But there are legitimate times when
training on their own machine is best.
With this type of training, you can help people customize
their programs as you teach them. This is a more interesting
experience for you, and you will learn a lot about a variety
of business and personal needs. It also gives you a chance to
get out of the house.
As more and more people begin buying personal computers,
this option continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This
avenue makes a perfect complement to teaching from your own
home. For example, I started out teaching just from my home,
then as more of my students went into the job world, they told
their employers about me, and I started doing on-site training
for these businesses. Now, I usually teach individuals at
home, and businesses at their locations. I am even teaching
some individuals at their homes. People enjoy this private
tutoring.
Tips
1. Don't try to pretend you are too big. Admit you run from
your home and this makes you better able to give
individual attention and an inexpensive rate. I always
refer to myself as a "personal tutor"
2. Don't seem too small, because then some people think that
if you run from your home and do one-on-one training you
must be swamped and don't have time for them. For
example, I once went on a local talk show and spoke about
computer training and my business. I got some work from
this, but one lady told me she hesitated to call, because
she figured I would be too busy to teach her since I
taught one-on-one, and since I had had the TV exposure.
3. When people call to set up an appointment for a class,
never have time for them this week -- even if you really
do. The farther you put people off, the more successful
they think you are, and the more they want to take a
class from you. If they are in a hurry, say something
like , "Well, I guess I could squeeze you in next
Thursday..." I've noticed that when I've been really
busy and had to put people off for a month or so, they
immediately change from "thinking about taking a class"
to wanting to sign up now.
4. Don't spend a lot of money on advertising. Large
advertisements in newspapers and shoppers don't pay off.
In this book I'll teach you a more econmical (downright
cheap) way to get business.
5. The yellow pages sound like a good idea don't they?
Well, they may be and they may not. But remember, you
have to have a business line to get a free yellow pages
listing. This business line will cost you a base of
about $60 per month. Then, if you get a bigger ad, it
can cost you around $85 more a month for a one-inch
column ad. If you are doing well enough over a 6-12
month period to judge that you can support your business
and the yellow pages ad -- even if it brings you no
business at all -- then it's worth it. But, if you are
barely making your salary, don't do it. This business
has peaks and valleys. For example, in the summer months
you may get no business from your yellow pages ad. Can
you afford to spend $200 a month on phone and yellow
pages without any income coming from the yellow pages?
If you're barely supporting your lifestyle on what you're
making without the Yellow Pages, then the Yellow Pages
may sink you. Remember you pay for it every month
whether you make anything from it or not.
6. If you decide to go for the Yellow Pages ad, keep it
fairly small, unless you are growing by leaps and bounds.
The Yellow Pages company tends to lead you into bigger
and bigger advertisements each year. By raising your
rates on your current ad size and telling you that for
just a bit more, you can have even bigger ads, they lead
you into more and more costly advertising that may not
pay off.
7. Always ask people when they call where they heard about
you so that you can make a note of referrals and the
success of your marketing campaign. Always send hand
written thank you notes or a phone call to thank people
who send you referrals. This keeps up good will and they
will send you more.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The entire "How To Run A Computer Training Business" manual
and disk chocked-full of letters, brochures, flyers, mailers,
course outlines, and contracts, is available from Computer
Enhancement Systems for $25.95 (includes S&H). Anyone
interested in receiving the manual and disk may send a check
or money order to CES 4133 E. Freedom Cr. Ooltewah, TN 37363.
(Allow 7-14 days for delivery). Or for faster delivery via
1st class mail call 1-800-524-2307 with Visa/Mastercard.
--------------------------------------------------------------