The Hilltop Blog

The Shark Tank

Jim Turner - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Hilltop Computers is launching a new flat-rate Managed Service Plan for home users this summer. The basic plan will cover unlimited remote tech support from 8AM until 10PM. Our upgraded plans will provide for additional services such as antivirus, remote backups, unlimited bench time in our shops, and even scheduled computer replacement every three years.

I decided to approach an ABC television show named The Shark Tank to see if they have any interest in our new flat-rate model for home users. At the same time, we have launched a new Facebook page named Hilltop Computers Needs 10,000 Fans to get us on The Shark Tank.

If you are a fan of Hilltop Consultants, Inc. or the Hilltop Computer Shops, please visit the Facebook page and show your support by becoming a fan or letting us know that you "Like" the page. Another way to support our efforts, is to follow HilltopComputer on Twitter.

Here is my application for The Shark Tank:

Hello Shark Tank Casting Team,

My name is Jim Turner. I am a 36 year old technology consultant and business owner from Bethesda, MD. I am the handsome guy in the middle of the attached photo. I am surrounded by my team of extremely talented technology consultants and computer technicians.

While I already have a successful IT Consultancy, and three computer repair shops in the Washington, DC Metro area, I have decided that it is not enough. I have a business model that will allow my company to capture a significant portion of the computer repair and tech support business nationwide. My business model treats tech support like cell phone service. We all used to pay by the minute before we found flat rate plans that made sense. I have a flat rate service offering for computer repair and tech support that gives its subscribers top notch support at a very manageable rate. This flat rate service offering is already profitable in my area and once I take it national, I am sure that a company like Dell, Verizon, Comcast, or another technology company will want to acquire my business in order to compete with Best Buys Geek Squad.

A visit to my website will show you that I am the real deal. My company was recently voted the Best Computer Repair business in Montgomery County, MD by Bethesda Magazine. I was also mentioned by Business Week as an early adopter of the Apple iPad for business use. I have also successfully presented technology seminars to local groups, such as our local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club regarding technology and more specifically Social Networking. My current clients are among the most educated and intelligent people in the country. I list former US Senators, retired US Army and Air Force Generals, as well as nationally known attorneys and lobbyists as reference clients.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2010/tc20100323_888275.htm

I may be a computer geek, but I can explain technology and technical support to anyone, even a national audience. Bring me on Shark Tank and let's introduce my business model to your national audience.

Jim Turner

President

Hilltop Consultants, Inc.

2010 P Street

Washington, DC 20036

jturner@hilltopconsultants.com

1-877-365-TECH

Join us and bring a guest to our seven year anniversary Open House for a chance to win a new iPad.

http://hilltopturnsseven.eventbrite.com/

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Hilltop introduces InSight Backup

Tom Wanat - Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hilltop is proud to announce a great new backup solution that we've designed specifically to meet our customer's needs.

Part of our InSight family of services, InSight Backup is a fully-automated backup system that keeps regular, reliable copies of your data in two places for safety and convenience. InSight Backup addresses both the file recovery and disaster recovery needs of our clients without compromise.

Unlike purely virtual backup solutions, we install a local backup server in your office so missing files can be recovered quickly -- no matter how big. In the event one of your servers fails completely, the local backup allows our administrators to exactly restore the system within hours or even create a temporary, virtual server to quickly get employees productive again.

All data is automatically replicated to Hilltop's state-of-the-art data center, so in case of a major flood, fire, or other disaster the remote data is kept safe without the need to carry drives, disks, or tapes home.

Hilltop has set up several clients with InSight Backup over the last few months, and at its core, InSight Backup is based on Acronis, an industry leader in backup software trusted by companies for years. We think you'll agree InSight Backup is the best all-around backup and disaster-recovery solution.

InSight Backup plans for Hilltop's managed-service clients start at $250 a month for up to 200GB of data. Contact Jim Turner to get started.

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Hilltop adds InSight Endpoint Security to managed services offering

Tom Wanat - Thursday, November 05, 2009

Hilltop has added full-featured anti-virus and spyware detection to our managed-services suite.

Now we can centrally protect and manage all aspects of our clients' computer network. These security tools are integrated into our InSight proactive monitoring and remote-repair software to provide a simple, streamlined, and low-cost solution.

In other words, we believe this anti-virus software rivals anything already in use on your network yet this ties directly into our centrally-monitored helpdesk system for less money than what you're paying today.

Hilltop's InSight Endpoint Security is backed by the award winning AVG technology. AVG possess a strong and respected technology background. With over 40 million users, AVG has worldwide recognition in the Anti-Virus market and plays an active role in the security software industry. In 2005 AVG was accepted to the Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC), an organization of software companies, academics and consumer groups working together to combat spyware and other malware threats.

Contact us today for more information.

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Saving files for the long term

Tom Wanat - Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Losing important photos, documents, video, and music is still all too common, but as we store more of our important data digitally another important situation comes up: How do we ensure our memories are passed on to future generations?

Twenty five years from now today's hard-drives, DVDs, and CDs are sure to look as laughable -- and be as useless as -- giant floppy disks from 25 years ago -- or even Zip disks from 10 years ago.

Similarly, as we store more information in online accounts, how do we ensure that access to those sites survives us? Access to today's Facebook and Gmail accounts is all too often locked away only inside our heads.

There's no one catch-all solution yet, but solutions include:

Keep your most important files, in current formats, on your current computer -- And keep that computer backed up! Hard drive upgrades, external backup drives, and online backups are all relatively inexpensive. Likewise, converting from .doc to .docx may seem boring now, but it's that sort of step that is key to keeping your important files from becoming obsolete. Always move your data from your old computer to your new computer during an upgrade.

Get your important files off old external media. Don't store important files on floppies, Zip drives, old hard drives, etc. When old media sits around it tends to go bad, and over the course of years it will become difficult and time consuming to read. Move things you want to keep to something new, now.

Legacy Locker -- Described as a "safe, secure repository for your vital digital property that lets you grant access to online assets for friends and loved ones in the event of loss, death, or disability."

Don't rely on Facebook. Who knows if Facebook, or any of today's photo-sharing Web sites, will be around in five years, let alone 25. Keep a local copy of anything that you want to keep for the long haul.

Hilltop Computer Shops can help. Our team can install drives, recover data, migrate data, set-up backups, and more. Visit one of our locations or contact us for help.

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Introducing flat-rate service plans

Tom Wanat - Monday, July 06, 2009

We're pleased to announce flat-rate, managed service plans for our clients that include:

Unlimited remote helpdesk support
Unlimited bench time in our repair shops
Management of all IT related vendors
24/7 monitoring of all servers
Automated deployment of critical Windows updates

These plans start at $50 per computer per month. In our testing over the the last few months we've been focused on measuring response time and quality of service. There are some nice side benefits too: We're reducing our mileage and therefore reducing our carbon emissions.

We've been working hard to improve our infrastructure to provide this level of support at such an aggressive price. We'll be in touch to offer this type of plan as service plans come up for renewal, but please contact us with questions anytime.

To answer one question we get a lot: Yes, even on these plans we still have people available to come on site as needed. Those rates are built into the contracts up-front.

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New service: Diagnostic and insurance report

Tom Wanat - Tuesday, June 30, 2009

We've have requests for this frequently, and we're always happy to give estimates to a client's insurance company. Our client-documentation specialist can handle these requests directly for $80. Contact us today to get started.

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Special on Personal/Boutique Web sites

Tom Wanat - Friday, June 12, 2009

Do you know someone with a cookie-cutter Web site? Or worse, no Web site? <gasp!>

First, remind them it's 2009. Second, tell them to contact Hilltop. This summer we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to have a custom designed site.

Drop Hilltop's resident artist, Sarah, a note to get started. She'll work with your colors, photos, logos, and text, arranged like you want them -- not the way some template wants.

All summer long, rates start at just $100 for each custom-designed page.

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Computer Repair Shops Put to Test

Jim Turner - Thursday, May 21, 2009

There are many video clips like this one all over YouTube. They show how some computer repair shops, including national chains can deceive customers in order to increase repair costs or push the sale of new computers.

Hilltop Computers always gives an honest assessment of computers that come in for repair. It is funny how the national chain in this clip apologizes for a "misdiagnosis". They would never admit that their underpaid employee was probably encouraged to mislead the customer in order to sell a new computer.

One of the independant computer shops in the video has it right. It is much better to be able to say hi to a customer on the street, than having to hide from the customer.

Check out the reviews of Hilltop Computers on The Better Business Bureau website. We have the best rating of any Computer Repair Shop in Manassas or Bethesda. We also have a better rating than both MicroCenter locations in our area.

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The Hilltop Blog

The Shark Tank

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Hilltop introduces InSight Backup

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Hilltop adds InSight Endpoint Security to managed services offering

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Saving files for the long term

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Introducing flat-rate service plans

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New service: Diagnostic and insurance report

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Special on Personal/Boutique Web sites

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Computer Repair Shops Put to Test

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