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To my loyal Oregon customers from 1993-2003:
In 2003, my wife and I made the difficult decision to leave Oregon. We had been in the Eugene/Springfield area for 11 years, but felt it was time for a change of scenery and new opportunities.
From Eugene, we travelled cross-county to the Sarasota, Florida area, where we had hoped to take advantage of a fast-growing economy, unique school opportunities for our children, and a little sunshine in the winter months.
My computer consulting business did very well in Florida. However, after some soul searching (and 4 hurricaines!) we decided that we really belong back in the Pacific Northwest. So, as of November 2004, we are now located in Olympia, Washington.
Finally, my wife and I have been working hard on a new focus for our business. We have changed our business name to Alternative Marketing Experts. Our concept is to help small business owners and sales professionals grow their client base and increase their income through the use of referral marketing tools. Our products include:
- The South Sound Barter Alliance -- a cost-effective method of marketing and advertising, and networking by leveraging a business' products and services through a network of trading partners.
- Keep$ake Card color laminated business cards -- Attractive and durable full-color, die-cut, laminated promotional products including business cards, bookmarks, keytags and luggage tags.
- Macintosh Sales and Support -- Macintosh technical support and sales for homes and businesses in the south Puget Sound region. Daylite sales and marketing database consulting across the Pacific Northwest.
(Daylite, a sales automation system for Mac OS X, is the best sales tool I have seen on the Macintosh in all my years of consulting. I provide installation and implementation for Daylite throughout the Pacific Northwest, including the major metropolitan areas of Seattle and Portland.)
One of my biggest concerns in leaving Eugene/Springfield had been finding the best way to take care of my many clients. Some of you I saw only once a year or so; others I worked with a number of times per month. But I continue to be genuinely concerned that all of you still have the opportunity to receive the best Macintosh technical support available.
I did a national search for a few months to find someone qualified to take over my client base. There was a lot of interest, and I talked with dozens of candidates across the country. However, with the economy so sluggish, it was difficult to find someone willing to take the risk.
As I was making my final preparations to leave Oregon, word started to leak out locally that I was looking for a successor. In early July, I received a very pleasant and heartfelt e-mail from Aaron McKercher asking if I might consider him for the task.
Aaron McKercher is the president of MacTonic, a division of Tonic Brands, Inc. Prior to this venture, Aaron was the computer systems manager for Eugene Print.
MacTonic already provides consulting and development for a number of local business and home computer users. Aaron is on the board of the Eugene Macintosh Users Group, and holds a number of Mac certifications.
Like me, Aaron lives and breathes Macintosh computers. When he approached me about taking over my Oregon client base, he told me that he "viewed the worst day working with a Mac as better than the best day suffering with a Windows machine." Also, in describing his passion for the Macintosh, he told me his business philosophy: "If I weren't doing this for a living, I'd be doing it for free."
With that, I knew I had found the right person to take care of my clients.
I spent a good deal of time with Aaron preparing him to take over my client base, and I can honestly say I don’t think I could have found a better person to take over the reins. Aaron has excellent knowledge of the Mac platform, and a soft-spoken, disarming personality that makes him easy to work with. I am very confident that Aaron will do a superior job taking care of your Macintosh support needs.
As of August 11, 2003, Aaron and MacTonic assumed all responsibility for my Oregon computer support services. We have done our best to make this transition as smooth as possible -- not only for the two of us, but more importantly, for my loyal Oregon client base.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at macsos@macexpert.com, or Aaron at aaron@tonicbrands.com. We are both most concerned that my former clients receive the best Mac support available.
Once again, thank you so much for your business over the ten years I provided Mac support in the community. I leave Eugene with fond memories and pride in the work I have done for you, and wish you all well in the future.
Sincerely,
Russ Alman
Alternative Marketing Experts
(now located in Olympia, Washington)
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