RACI Times

Newsletter for Rolando & Associates Consulting, Inc.

Quote: Of all of the companies out there to help you, we're one of them! Feel free to use that for your company motto.

MARKETING. ARE YOU DOING IT? YOU SHOULD BE! HERE'S HOW.

Marketing is defined by Dictionary.com as "The commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service". Many businesses fail to market their product or service correctly or at all for many different reasons. Here are a few of those reasons. Listen up, some of them may apply to your business.

# 1 Fear: Fear of losing money, wasting money, wasting billable work time, being ripped off, & inexperience are some major factors for not marketing a business as it should be.
Solution: Get rid of your fear! After all you were brave enough to start a business in the first place. Considering the statistics regarding business failures, it's amazing you're here at all! Seriously, marketing doesn't have to be expensive. It must be done, and there are many resources available to help you. If you don't have the time to figure it all out bring in a professional. When we say a professional, we mean Rolando & Associates of course.

# 2 Complacency: We're not saying you're lazy, just too busy (A.K.A. lazy). However, your competition may not be either. Complacency kills. Whether it be in your business, your health, or your relationships, you only get 1 shot at life, so use it up.
Solution: Get off your butt! If you really are too busy, then you must delegate the job to someone who will not need much supervision. The initial ramp up will be tedious but once you have a marketing plan in place, things will smooth out and the fruits of your effort will come. Just like anything else worth having, it will take time and energy.

# 3 Creativity: This is a biggie for most organizations, believe it or not. For the most part, companies are good at what they do, and what they do only. It's the rest of the functions needed to run a business that they typically have problems with i.e. billing, customer service, budgeting, etc., etc., etc... Creativity in your marketing, as well as solving the day-to-day problems of running a business should be at your fingertips at all times.
Solution: Trade your brain with someone else! If that is not an option, make sure to get advice from qualified colleagues, that would be someone doing better than you. If you are as good as it gets, congratulations. Now hire a professional and get some creativity in your business!

GETTING TO KNOW US.

Garcia & Ortiz, P.A.: On 12-4-04, Rolando performed 35 minutes of clean Stand Up Comedy for the Garcia & Ortiz, P.A. company Christmas party. We didn't know Rolando had 1 minute of clean material let alone 35 minutes. Everyone except those that were picked on had a good time. Oh wait, he picked on everyone.

Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago: Rolando was inducted as a Squire on 12-21-04. This organization was "Created to perpetuate and enhance the proud Latin Heritage, Mores and Culture of our Community". He was also given the distinct title of DJ / MC for all Krewe parades, for now. Stand close to him on the float if you really want to see "Who wants some beads"? Click here to see the News Channel 8 video coverage. Click www.knightparade.com to visit the Krewe web site.

West Tampa Chamber of Commerce: Rolando was appointed Communication and Marketing Chair at the 1-4-05 Board Meeting. Wow! That's a big, fancy title but, what does it mean? Getting involved in the Chamber is an excellent way to help improve the community in which you work, live and play. Click www.westtampachamber.com or call Bob Garcia @ 813-253-2056 to become a member today.

Verizon Wireless: Rolando, in cooperation with Bayshore SoundCo., provided Audio / Visual expertise for the Verizon Wireless booth at the 4th Annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival honoring Francis Ford Coppola. After drinking too much wine, Rolando was asked to leave. Click www.sobewineandfoodfest.com to find out more about the event.

SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS

Castellano Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc.:
Tommy Castellano is entering his web site in the Air Conditioning Contractors of America site contest. If he wins, he gets free air conditioning repair for life. Oh wait, he already has that. I don't know what he wins, but I want half. Click www.aircastellano.com to see the big winner.

Green Iguana Bar & Grill:
A backup and recovery system was recently implemented for the Green Iguana Audio / Video server. In the event of catastrophic failure the system can be back up in less than an hour. Why is this so important? When you have a bar full of drunk people who want to shake their butts, you can't miss a beat. Click www.greeniguana.com or visit any of their 4 locations.

ALERTS!

Viruses: Basically the best advice we can give you is to shut your computer down, unplug it and leave it that way. You may still get a virus, but you won't know so it won't matter. Here are the latest little jewels to come out as defined by Symantec.com.

W32.Mytob.B@mm is a mass-mailing worm that uses it own SMTP engine to send an email to addresses that it gathers from the Windows Address Book on the compromised computer. DON'T GET IT!

W32.Elitper.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that spreads using MAPI and through file-sharing networks. It also lowers Windows security settings by preventing access to antivirus-related Web sites. DON'T GET IT!

W32.Holcas.A@mm is a mass-mailing worm that uses MAPI commands to send itself to all addresses found in the Windows Address Book. It also attempts to send itself via IRC. DON'T GET IT!

W32.Conycspa.G@mm is a mass mailing worm that downloads and executes files from the Internet. DON'T GET IT!

Trojan.Lazar is a Trojan horse that downloads other programs. It contacts a remote computer for instructions on files to download and configuration changes to make to the infected computer. DON'T GET IT!

COOL STUFF

The Ultimate Home Theater Meets The Ultimate Computer : Windows Media Center. It's the best of both worlds wrapped into 1 cool package. Everything you ever wish you could do with a computer and everything you ever wish you could do with your TV together for the first time! The best part of it all, it's so easy to use, you don't have to call me. Wait! That's bad. Click here or call us for more information.

Surf The Net, In The Middle Of The Everglades. Did I Mention It Was High Speed? You have got to get one of these. It's a Verizon Wireless Air Card. Now people can Spam you and send you Viruses no matter where you are. Isn't it great! Click here or call us for more information.

The Ultimate Phone. James Bond Doesn't Even Have This: Brand new from Audiovox, the XV6600 features Bluetooth which in my opinion is the best invention since the phone, High Speed Internet access, Wireless sync, Hideaway Qwerty Keyboard, the kitchen sink. Wait! I'm sorry I got carried away. Throw your phone, PDA & Laptop away. You won't need them with this baby. Click here or call us for more information.

Get Someone Else To Do This. It's Cheap: Have you ever wanted to get all of those old Slides, Betamax, VHS, S-VHS, Mini-DV, Mini-DVD, & Stone Tablets converted to DVD. YesDVD does just that way cheaper and way faster than you ever could and they are in your neighborhood. Click here or call us for more information.

TECH TIPS & TRICKS

Read: Windows will tell you what to do as long as you read the screen that comes up in front of you. You can also visit www.whatis.com. This site puts all the tech talk into plain English. If all else fails, call me. I can't wait to hear from you.

Never Go To Work Again: Are you sick and tired of trying to work at work? The phone keeps ringing, everyone keeps talking to you, you just don't like your office or anyone who works there. Get a VPN (Virtual Private Network) router. They don't cost much and you can do your job from the comfort of your couch. Clothing is optional. Call us for more information.

Stop Getting Viruses: We are of course talking about computer viruses. Get and keep your computer up-to-date with Windows Security Updates, Anti-Virus software, Install a software and or hardware Firewall, use up-to-date Spyware removal software, Scan every email, & Scan every disk you put in your computer. Above all else. Pray!