Computer contractors: Does it pay to specialize?

Many computer contractors wonder how they can differentiate themselves from others in the marketplace so they can attract the best, steady, high-paying clients.

First, to set yourself apart from the competition and get small business owners to choose you, build a strong professional brand around a unique industry twist or a specialty.

If you really want to succeed as a computer contractor, you can’t go in flashing certifications or vendor logos and reducing yourself to just another commodity service provider. These features can be part of your background information (About Us Web page) and something to talk about with clients, but this shouldn't be your introductory sales pitch.

The following 4 tips can help computer contractors be proactive about marketing and selling their brands and the unique industry-specific value that they bring to the table.

(1) Fulfill Unfulfilled Needs. To set yourself apart from other computer contractors, find an under-served local niche and really dominate that niche. Put some real work into finding local niches with real problems you can solve with your unique skill set. Discovering a good niche can be as simple as asking around and engaging in targeted, proactive networking activities.

(2) Find Your Special Industry Twist. When networking through organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Rotary club, talking to prospects at B2B expos, or engaging in any other focused relationship-marketing activity, look for a big IT problem that is not being solved. When you spend some time really asking questions of small business owners, one day a light bulb will go off as you discover a twist that no one has ever thought of before in your local area. When you think of a solution that can really work for a lot of people in your area, you will find a great way to differentiate yourself and be a true IT specialist.

(3) Make Sure You Identify Real Problems. Make sure you don't try to sell solutions to problems that don’t actually exist. Accept that you and your prospects might not agree on what their problems are. Do you want to waste time selling data security solutions to a small business owner that has no idea why data security is important? Computer contractors should certainly spend time educating prospects and future clients on IT security and other important small business IT issues. However, if your prospects just don’t understand what you’re selling or why you’re selling it, rethink your strategies to get to the heart of what matters most to your target prospects. There will certainly be other computer contractors just down the street that understand them and will be vying to take your spot as their IT professional. Identify real problems to offer real solutions.

(4) Size Up Competing Computer Contractors. You need to know your local competition reasonably well. Find your four or five biggest competitors. Study their Web sites and brochures to see what they are up to. Figure out if they all look the same. By looking at materials from local competitors, you can figure out what you need to do to stand out as the ideal choice for your target prospects.

In this article, we talked about 4 tips to help computer contractors specialize and set themselves apart from their competitors. Learn more about how you can attract great, steady, high-paying clients as a computer contractor now at http://www.ComputerContractorTips.com

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