Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Hey everyone, I just left my job of 6 years and started my own business. So far its been exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to get our name out there and build some client relationships and leads.

What we do is automation technology (commercial or home, but mainly commercial) and collaboration technology. Everything from a simple projector on a table linked wirelessly to your laptop, to a full blown distributed audio\video system with video conferencing, digital signage, etc. For example, we are installing a new Brightlink projector for an architecture firm that will allow you to virtually write on the wall as if it were a giant white board, and capture it to a file to be emailed out. It will be perfect for their client meetings when they need to mark up a design idea! We also may be putting in a distributed audio system so the owner can have music in one space, but not in any other... or different music in any of 8 zones we've created in the office.

All the automation is run thru a Mac based back end, and controlled using any iOS (ipad, iphone, ipod touch) device.

I'm hoping to get some linkedin 'links', facebook likes and twitter followers which will help spread our name and services. Right now were working hard in ATL, but really our 'region' is the whole South East. Of course, if you guys are interested in this and want to meet, or any other sales leads would be even better! :D

Any help from my BOTL is GREATLY appreciated!!

Thank you guys! -(P

www.syncomation.com
www.facebook.com/syncomation
www.twitter.com/SyncoSE

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Best of Luck!

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Best of luck to you & your new business... :ss

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Good luck! There is definitely a growing market out there for those types of services, especially in small business.

Find your Niche, then kill it! :tu

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Holy crap, and in GEORGIA, too!
Y'all have the internet out there as well?


:r ;)

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Thanks guys!! Working hard to find the niche!

I keep hearing LOTS and LOTS of people saying its a growing market, but its hard to find the initial customer base. I dont know how small biz's do it! Its like the first 10-15 are the hardest...

Any pointers from the experienced guys?

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Yeah we got it not too long ago :p :D

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Maybe find something you do very well, that you can market as almost a product instead of an ongoing service. Sell it at a great rate. You need to get in the door.

Carpet cleaners do that well, for instance. They sell a productized... "$59 for two rooms" promotion.

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Yeah I've been trying to figure something like that out, but with MAPs and stuff its hard to do without getting into trouble. Our Service and response is what sets us apart... but if you're not a client you cant experience it ya know ...

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Thanks everyone for the Likes!!! Keep em coming :D

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Work your existing accounts. Do press releases, work on being preferred vendors for big companies in your market. Are you an exclusive or near exclusive agent for any specific products? Use the product to sell the service... Best of luck.

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

I "liked" it 3 times ;)


We do property management and tenant buildout so I will keep you in mind. In fact last week I had my guys install a flat screen and video conferencing in a tenant space. We should get together sometime and see if we can help each other.

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Thanks!!

Yeah thats great! We are working with another property management firm in ATL too. Check your PMs.

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Hey everyone, we just updated our website... brought it more up to date.

Take a look and let me know what you think! (or if you find any typos too haha)

Once we get final approvals we'll have some stuff on the Projects page, so you can see what we've actually done... cool stuff!

Thanks!

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Digital signage is getting big. My company is looking into that prospect. It's a good idea to walk into some larger employers (manufacturing, hospitals, clinics, K-12 schools, colleges, etc) and make note if they have digital signage in there foyer. Take note of what they have if they have it. If they don't have it, you have a potential client in that product. Make a note of it.

What you have is several different sales possibilities/targets under one piece of technology. The hard part is figuring a good vertical for each part of your technology and sell to that with each vertical. If you try to sell the whole shebang to everyone, they will get confused and forget the one thing that might interest them.

1. Define your product segments.
2. Define your vertical markets.
3. Develop a good "elevator speech" for each segment.
4. Try to partner with a technology service company that currently doesn't offer your particular service. Trading leads is good.
5. Cold call like a monster.

It's a good idea to get involved with the Chamber of Commerce in your city and surrounding cities that you can service. Just don't let them talk you into an elected position or have you chair any events. There is absolutely no reward and a lot of work in that stuff.

PM me if you want to talk strategy/sales. I'm really passionate about helping people get what they need. I'm a terrible salesperson with 13 years of successful sales because I listen more than I talk.

MCS

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Thanks for the info! I'll be sending you a PM for sure. :)

We're already involved with the Chamber. Its been pretty good so far...

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Who is building your website and did you recently change all of the pages?

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Me, and yes... everything got changed a couple days ago. The 301 redirects should be working, right? *crosses fingers*

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Yep, it looks like they are.

You can check by doing a site:syncomation.com search in Google and clicking on the pages you removed.

A couple of things to consider:

1. It looks like a lot of your pages have the same meta title - which is not good for SEO. Every one should be unique and have keywords that best describe the content on the page. I would limit the title to 65-69 characters.

2. You actually have two homepages:

http://www.syncomation.com/
http://www.syncomation.com/index.html

This is not ideal as it is duplicate content.

3. You really do not need to end every url with index.html - that seems a little old school.

4. In terms of your title tags, I would make sure they are as targeted as possible and try to go after things that people are searching for. From the looks of your site, it looks like your target audience is commercial over residential or am I wrong?

<title>Syncomation - Atlanta's best choice for easy to use audio visual automation and installation! </title>

If your main audience is indeed commercial, I would probably try to make that more clear, otherwise you are going to be competing with all of the home residential installers.

5. If you recently created the pages, I might go back and make all of the characters in the urls lowercase. It is more standard that way. Plus, stuff like this won't render if people put in the url wrong: http://www.syncomation.com/tech/display/index.html

It is also not standardized across the site, which is less than ideal. Some use capitals, others do not.

6. I would set up a Google places page if you have not already. That way if they have local search in the results, you might be able to rank there as well.

7. I would set up a custom 404, so you do not have that hostgator page.

8. I would have real H1s on each page. Right now, it looks like an image is an H1, which is not ideal.

<h1><imgsrc=http://www.syncomation.com/hosted/banner_test3.png></h1>

Just some friendly suggestions. :D

Re: Just started a new business... need networking!
 

Wow thanks man! Those are some awesome tips!!