Yearly Archives: 2010

So, You Wanna Be a Mac Consultant…

If |fasea|referrer|ieazd
you enjoy the post below, even more is available in my book So, You Want To Be An Apple Consultant… (A Minimal Guide)

This is the new definitive guide for those considering becoming an Apple Consultant. The basics of everything you need to know, based on my near 20 years of experience, are covered here. In addition, the eBook is a “living” guide. It will be updated as more questions, feedback, thoughts, and topic ideas not yet covered come up. As updates are made, those who have purchased a copy will receive notification of future versions available free download.

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Apple Consulting — A Minimal Guide

Now, on with the post…

So, You Wanna Be a Mac Consultant…

I think I am asked about once a week these days “Hey, how does one, hypothetically speaking, become a Mac Consultant like you?”.

There is just a wealth of information out there and, with the state of the economy, the information is growing. That said, probably the best way to get a sense of what it takes, especially in your area of the country, is to talk to lots of other consultants near you. Check out the official Apple Consultants Network page and find ones that are near you. Get in touch with them and let them know you are thinking about getting into it. Most everyone I know will be very helpful with what it is like in your area and how to get started. Is there a glut of Mac consultants, so getting clients is hard? Is there a particular niche that is in dire need where you are that you can fill? Things like this are useful to know and they will be the only ones who can tell you.

Secondly certification and training, it is crucial. It is not enough to think you know what you are doing, to have any credibility whatsoever you must prove it. Apple does have an official certification program that covers both Mac OS X client and server but also many of the Pro Apps. Take the test, get the paper, join the Apple Consultants Network – be legit. The Apple Blog recently had a good write up on this:

Complete Guide to Apple Certification and Training

As for me, I decided early on to focus on a market that was very underserved – individuals, very small businesses, and very small non-profits (generally 5 machines or less). These are folks that had no one to turn to and the larger tech consulting firms in town were charging up to $150.00 an hour and focused on medium sized businesses and creative agencies. Far more than most small folks and individuals can afford. Since my goal is to never be more than a “company of one” and my overhead and expenses are low, I could charge $75.00 per hour, half the standard rate, and serve this market at a price the people I wanted to serve could afford.

I should also state that I have held full time jobs for most of the time I have been doing this (over 10 years now). This is the sort of thing that may take years before you are able to have a client base large enough to be able to sustain you and yours. I recently read this post over at Lifehacker which is as good as any at explaining how to balance this fact of life so that it is sustainable:

How to Start Freelancing (Without Quitting Your Job)

Also, my friend Randy Murray recently offered up some good advice should you be starting from a point of not having a job (or still looking for one):

Make Your Own Way – Life Without Full-Time Employment

Finally (and this is the most important part), it takes a certain balance of personality traits to be able to do this day in and day out. I like to say it takes an even balance of patience and tenacity. You have to be the sort of person who will exhaust every possibility in search of a fix to a client problem and, then, have the know-how and finesse to tell them what to do next if you are not able to solve it. They are looking to you, hero, for the answer or, short of that, where to find it – because they haven’t a clue. You also have to be able to explain the same thing, over and over, multiple ways, until you find the one that clicks for each client. Then, once you figure out their ideal learning style, you have to remember and apply that to save you from having to do that dance over and over again, much to your mutual frustration.

Oh, and I know I said “finally” above, but we are still on the same subject of personality types so, I get a pass… What you want to be is a Mac Consultant, and you will be, but it won’t be your primary job. Your actual job description is this:

Frustration Removal Agent and Simplifier of Difficult Things

(P.S. Don’t bother using that on a business card by the way, I already beat you to it.)

Seriously, before you even begin to troubleshoot a problem, your first task will usually be to talk your client down from a ledge of frustration and angst so high – from whatever crisis has brought you in – that they will not even hear the words coming out of our mouth until you do. Then, you will calmly explain to them that there is no problem that does not have some solution, even if that solution is throwing the damn thing out the window. You have now not only reassured them but also empathized with their frustration. Now, you can get to work doing that thing that the paper you earned said you were good at.

In closing, I really hope this gives you a nudge in the right direction. I can confirm, from years of experience, that there is nothing more challenging or rewarding than doing something you love and getting paid for it.

Update: I’ve updated and expanded the tips given in this post recently. Please check out So You Wanna Be A Mac Consultant Now… next.

My RSS System

Part of my self defined job, as curator of Minimal Mac, is to monitor a wealth of information via RSS feeds in the hope of finding relevant content to post. My job often means that I am away from my feed reader (Google Reader in my case) for long enough that I return to hundreds and sometimes thousands of items waiting to be read. Obviously, there are only so many hours in a day and catching up would be impossible. That is why I have developed the following system to allow me to process everything I need to when this happens.

I have divided my feeds into the following folders:

* **a-list** – These are everything I consider a “must see”. This is also my shortest list of feeds. To make it to the list you have to have a long history of providing top value content. Not just occasionally, but with almost every post. Daring Fireball is here, Kottke is too. I look at everything that shows up in this list no matter the count. It’s worth it.

* **b-list** – These are feeds that deliver value but not near the regularity of the ones in the a-list. This is an especially good place for the true weblogs where interesting links with short commentary rule the day over long form posts, and not everything is a must read.

* **friends** – These are people I know personally and feel compelled to read them not only to keep up with their lives and what interests them but also so that when they bring up these things in conversation I have background (“Hey, did you see my post on…?”). That said, my friends also very often are first source for interesting content. I hang out with the right people I guess.

* **other** – These are everything that do not fit into the above. Things that are nice to know but not need to know and that I can easily ignore without missing anything. In general, if it is important, I know that someone in the above three lists will cover or link to it. This is also a place for the sites that generate the most posts (Gizmodo, Lifehacker, etc.). The noisier the feed the more likely it is to go here. This is, by far, my largest list of feeds and always contains the bulk of the items in any given day.

* **probation** – Pretty much everything new I add goes here first. Only after a couple of weeks, do I then decide where it belongs in the lists above or, more likely, delete it entirely. A blog has to earn it’s way out of here fairly quickly in order to be a keeper.

Now, how that works in practice is this. If I have a lot of feeds to go through, more than I have the time scan or read, I know I can read the a-list and friends and safely declare bankruptcy and “mark all as read” on the rest. I do this more often than not and have never regretted it.

Some more things to think about…

By |yydnn|referrer|fiehe
now I am sure you know everything there is to know about the iPad. It is a stunning device. I am at a loss for words on where to begin or what I can add that others have not. That said, I am going to try to make some observations and, hopefully, add some new things to think about:

  • There is no way you can have any idea of how amazing this thing is by looking a pictures and reading sound bytes and blogs. You have to watch the video on the official site. Seriously, stop reading right now and go watch it. I’ll wait… Back now, good. As you can see, every single built in app has been re-imagined for this device. Now, here is something to think about… What if every Mac had applications designed specifically to exploit the capabilities, screen size, etc. of the device? What if the SDK’s allowed a developer to support these nuances in a single app (i.e if it’s an iPhone – look and feel this way, iPad – That way). Now, what if you had a large display that you could slide the iPad right into the side? If the software is built right it could adjust (If iPad in display – do this…).

  • It was not mentioned but the thin and light new Apple Wireless Keyboard is supported.

  • Very interesting how Mr. Jobs pushed the fact that Apple is a mobile devices company so hard.

  • Pair the iBook store with Amazon’s Kindle.app and you not only have one killer book selling device, you also have witnessed the death of the Kindle itself. That’s OK though since Amazon likely does not make a profit (I say likely because they refuse to talk about those numbers) on the device, it is simply a way to sell more books.

  • The publishing industry has been aching for a way to make money off of the content in the internet age. It’s simple, make great “iTouch” apps and make them free through the app store, then charge your normal subscription rates. I can think of several publications I would subscribe to here for a richer experience, ads and all (Wired, Vanity Fair, New York Times, etc.)

I am sure I will have more thoughts and may update this post as they come. Until then, I can say that I could easily see this being a main computer for a lot of people, especially if you have apps as robust as the iWork ones demoed at the event. Seems like it would fit a large number of people’s “enough”