I want to know the overall job outlook ...

[Bill Moran]

Are you willing to let me pick your brain a bit?

Brett Glass wrote:
> These days, your best bet is to sell your services directly
> to small businesses and end users.

We have tried _very_ hard to do that.
We've marketed directly at small businesses.  The answer has
generally been "not if it will cost us anything".
We've tried marketing directly to home users.  We passed out
over 1000 door hangers (which is a lot of work, take my word)
and got no serious response.

Where exactly are you finding these businesses, and what are
you offering them?

> Most are in desperate need
> of help -- especially in setting up reliable servers and networks.

I agree.  But all the ones we've come across are _still_ unwilling
to pay anyone to fix the problem or improve the situation.  One client
turned down a server because there was no ROI that they could calculate
(they are ignoring the possibility that their 6 year old server could
die and cost them a fortune ... it's a risk they're willing to take)
Another simply pretends that the problems aren't there.  Others that
have been our customers for a while don't have stability/reliability
problems, and aren't willing to spend money to improve anything.

I'd be really curious to know the people you're working with and the
problems you're solving.  The people we talk to are unwilling to spend
any money, no matter how bad the problem.  I wonder if I'm presenting
my services to people in a less-than-optimum manner.

> Heck, I'm turning customers away and could use help....

Any way I could help with that?

> At 10:34 AM 6/10/2003, Bill Moran wrote:
>   
>>I'm running around looking for work ...
>>
>>I'm not finding much, but I've only been at it a few days and I can't
>>spend a lot of time before I have to make some decisions.
>>
>>My question is: How well are other folks doing in this job market?  Is
>>it so bad that I should take whatever I can get? (I've had one recruiter
>>tell me this ... I don't want to believe it, but perhaps I should)
>>
>>I'm kind of in a situation where I have to make a decision faster than
>>I can learn enough to be informed when I do so.  Basically, any anecdotes
>>or opinions are welcome.  Anything is better than rolling dice to see
>>what I should do.

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com