Meetings. Does anybody enjoy them? Nothing is more telling than when you announce the end of meeting and everyone at the table suddenly lurches back into consciousness. Were they all asleep? Was anything really accomplished?

According to some pretty shocking statistics, the answers to those questions might sadly be “yes” and “no,” respectively. In Entrepreneur.com, Carol Tice quotes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as having estimated that unnecessary meetings cost the U.S. economy $37 billion a year. Thirty-seven billion dollars.

How much of that was generated by your small business?

Unfortunately, meetings aren’t going anywhere. If you didn’t already know the benefits of having staff gathered in one spot to make decisions, brainstorm and get up to speed, you’d have stopped doing them a long time ago. Instead of pretending meetings can be abolished, the best way to avoid wasted time and money on unproductive meetings is simply to make them better.

Set Limits

Start by making a plan. Tice suggests setting strict limits on meeting agendas, attendees and time frames as a great way to instantly make meetings more efficient. “Don’t try to solve all your company’s problems at one meeting,” she writes. “Instead, keep it to one theme and leave other topics for another time.”

That kind of focused discussion with only the necessary number of people in the room can seriously cut down on wasted chatter and meaningless tangents. And when everyone knows the meeting will end in one hour, they know there’s no time to waste. Besides, Tice adds, ”most participants will be completely glazed at that point and won’t absorb much more.”

Shorter meetings also open the door for creative formats as well that help get juices flowing. Scott Belsky explains on WiseBread.com how the former head of Digital Media at MTV, Courtney Holt, asks meeting attendees to remain standing, which he believes results in better quality input from his staff.

“The tendency to sit back and reiterate points,” writes Belsky, “commentate rather than content-make — dwindles as people get weak in the knees. Standing meetings become more actionable.”

Here at Grasshopper, each department has what we call “stand-ups”; quick daily meetings to get everyone on the same page at the beginning of each workday.

Ask Better Questions

No matter what the agenda says or how meeting attendees are arranged, nothing makes or breaks the value of a meeting like content. Eliciting quality feedback from staff is what really makes it worth your time as a small business owner to have them stop what they’re doing and all gather ’round to chat.

Jeff Haden writes for Inc.com about Phil McKinney, the author of Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation and retired chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group, who says knowing the difference between good questions and bad questions is the answer to better input.

“Good questions cause people to really think before they answer them, sometimes revealing answers that had previously eluded them,” Haden writes. “Bad questions cause people to shut down. What are the most common answers to bad questions? In my experience, ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’”

Those good questions need to be more than open-ended though; they need to encourage honest feedback. In his book, McKinney writes, “Any question that restricts people from feeling free to honestly answer is offensive; it reduces the quality of information you’re going to get and makes the person being questioned feel that they are being dismissed.”

Will asking the right questions, keeping attendees active and standing, or planning for short, efficient meetings suddenly make your staff love to attend them? Well, we can always dream the answer might be “yes” but what’s more important is that, loved or hated, these techniques will make meetings more worthwhile for you and your business.

Think about the meetings you have this week. How could you make them more efficient and productive?

An effective hiring strategy takes a variety of factors into consideration and it’s up to you to create that strategy. Consider these seven tips for finding top-notch employees.

1. Develop a Detailed Job Description

Before you initiate any interviews, clearly outline your expectations of the new employee and how you see the person contributing to the company’s goals. Besides listing the obvious in the job description, such as main duties, also consider how the employee’s tasks dovetail with the company’s goals and vision.

What exactly do you hope to accomplish by hiring this individual? What sort of work style and outlook should the applicant possess? Develop a list of key skills, experience, training and traits you seek, which you can use to create an ad and explore in more depth during any resulting interviews.

2. Consider Hiring From Within

Hiring a “known quantity” has its advantages. Is there a current employee who possesses the necessary skills to fill the position, or is trainable? Someone already working for the company may have untapped talents. Or maybe your current employees know individuals who would make a good fit. Referrals are the new recruiter.

3. Carefully Review Each Candidate’s Materials

Thoroughly examine each applicant’s resume and supporting documents. Check for required skills and experience, look for any inconsistencies and gaps in employment and don’t be afraid to contact their references.

Also consider the overall appearance and impression the resume gives. Is the document well-written and free of typos? Does it open with a clear objective and highlight relevant experience? You want a prospective employee who eloquently explains his or her accomplishments and has a clear grasp of why those achievements are important.

4. Ask Telling Interview Questions

Besides asking the standard queries such as salary expectations and education and experience, take the opportunity during the interview to ask open-ended questions that encourage the interviewee to reveal as much information as possible.

Potential questions include: “Tell me about a successful project you were involved in.” “Why did you decide to join the industry?” “What are your strengths/weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself five years from now?” After the applicant answers each question, encourage the person to reveal even more by remaining silent for several seconds afterward. Many people will fill in the void by offering additional information.

5. Include Several Interviewers

Involving other members of the company in the first or second interview achieves a number of goals. Doing so gives you various perspectives on the potential employee, shows you how well the interviewee relates to other employees and reveals how the person performs in group situations. Including other members of the company is likely to bring out a side of the interviewee that you may not see otherwise.

It’s also important that before the interview, make sure all the interviewers are on the same page. What are you looking for in a candidate? What are you expecting from them? What questions are you going to ask? After the interviewee leaves, take a few minutes to discuss the applicant with the group and record the consensus and any thoughts or considerations.

6. Watch for Red Flags

Warning signs to look for when examining a job applicant include gaps in the resume the person can’t explain, hesitancy or a lack of information from former employers when you check references, inappropriate posts on social media sites, an unwillingness to make eye contact or answer certain questions during the interview and an inability to explain how accomplishments on the resume were achieved. If something feels off, it probably is.

7. Consider Chemistry

While skills and experience are critical, personality fit is equally important. An outstanding resume won’t change the fact that an applicant is not likely to positively contribute to the company culture. If your business requires that employees assist in the company’s social networking efforts, for instance, but the applicant expresses resistance at the notion, it’s probably best to move on to the next candidate. Never underestimate how important culture is to hiring and retaining employees.

Here at Grasshopper, we employ many of these tips and recently began practicing the A Method for hiring. The results have been great and the employees we’ve hired through this even better.

Any tips you’d like to share for hiring high-quality employees?

The holidays are a crazy time for everyone, with travel, kids home from school, vacations and more it can be hard to get things done.  A break is nice and all, but unfortunately you just can’t put your business on hold during the holidays.

Since things still have to get done, we put together a few tools we think are great for running your business when you’re on the go.

1. Gogo

For those of you who are forced to hit up the airports during one of the craziest times of the year, make sure to put Gogo on your to-do list before boarding that airplane.  Gogo has plans ranging from $4.95 for up to 1.5 hours to $12.95 for 3+ hours and will keep you connected so that you can be in the air and online, making that dreaded flight productive.

2. Dropbox

Dropbox gives you access to your documents and files wherever you are, allowing you to collaborate with your team when you’re traveling. One of the best parts about Dropbox is that it works even when you’re offline and don’t have an internet connection.  With this tool, you can easily share and send documents or large files to your co-workers and clients, so you don’t have to worry about holding up deals when you’re traveling.

3. Grasshopper

This one is a given.  Grasshopper was designed specifically for entrepreneurs on the go. With just a cell phone (or any other phone line for that matter), you can run your business from anywhere –airport, in-law’s house, hotel room, or the beach, it doesn’t matter. Grasshopper allows you to take your calls and meetings, without having to be tied down to your desk and you can even get your voicemails via email so you can decide which calls really are worth taking during that once a year vacation of yours.

4. Join.Me

Join.Me is a great free tool for when you need to collaborate on a project but just can’t seem to explain it over the phone.  Join.Me makes screen sharing super simple.  All you have to do is go to their site, click the big orange share button, and tell you’re co-worker (or client) the address at the top of your screen.  This is a fast and easy way to get things accomplished remotely with your teammates back home.

5. Evernote

Evernote’s tag line is “Remember Everything.” – With a tagline like that you know this tool is awesome (since I can’t manage to remember anything without writing it down).  It was also just nominated as company of the year by Inc. Magazine. How could this tool not be on our list?

Evernote works great as an on the go to-do list (for those of you who can’t function when you forget your notebook at home J) but it can also be used as much, much more.  You can use it to keep track of employee performance, as an electronic filing cabinet and even to remind yourself of that bottle of wine you liked while you were away.

These are just a few of the amazing tools out there that help you run your business remotely.  We took to our Twitter and Facebook pages to see how our fans and followers run their businesses when they’re travelling.

Here are a few responses:

Now, it’s your turn to add to the list! What are your must have apps or tools when you’re on the go?

But being a small business owner — especially a work at home small business owner — has its challenges. Among these are distractions, isolation, burnout, inability to unplug, guilt over lack of family time, and of course, the call of the kitchen, Oprah, or FarmVille.

If you’re struggling with one or more of these challenges — or the initial excitement of being your own boss has waned, try these tips for self-motivation to keep you and your business moving forward.

1. Develop an In-the-Office Attitude

Treat your work at home business the same as you would an office job. When you’re at “work,” don’t attend to personal matters or accept personal phone calls. Keep regularly scheduled office hours where you conduct tasks vital to your business.

2. Keep a Work/Life Balance

It’s easy to make your work your life, particularly when your work is at home and you’re passionate about your business. Although working from home can be liberating, many telecommuters get drawn into a 24/7 work lifestyle. While it’s important to focus on work while at work, it’s equally important to take a break from work to spend with family, friends, or simply do things you enjoy outside of your business. Taking a break from work helps you have a clearer perspective, renewed vigor, and a fresh outlook toward business goals and obstacles.

3. Learn How to Focus

Some people who work at home find it difficult to stay on task. Distractions abound — whether it’s your pet, kids, spouse, or chores that need to be done. And if your work revolves around the computer, the distractions are practically limitless. But that’s where a concentration tool, such as Focus Booster can help. Focus Booster is a free desktop application that uses the Pomodoro time management technique to improve your focus and concentration. The Pomodoro  technique breaks work sessions down in 25-minute segments with 5 minute breaks in between to enhance focus and alertness.

4. Don’t Isolate Yourself

One of the biggest drawbacks of telecommuting from home or working on a home-based business is that it can be isolating. Some entrepreneurs admit that they don’t even get out for lunch. A change of scenery can spark creativity, improve productivity, and keep you motivated. Try working out of a coffee shop or local library a few times a month; or make an effort to interact with others through Skype and social media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup. Getting involved in groups online and offline can also help you network and grow your business.

5. Remind Yourself of the Reasons You Chose to Work at Home

Last but not least, most small business owners and telecommuters who work from home have strong reasons for doing so. Whether it’s to avoid commuting, spend more time with the family, or create a business and watch it grow, keep your reasons for working at home in plain sight.

In the same way that launching a new business requires careful planning and overcoming obstacles, sustained motivation requires staying on track and keeping distractions at bay.

What tips for self-motivation do you have to add to the list?

Emails are an effective and easy way to communicate. Maybe they are too easy. As an entrepreneur or salesperson, you need to know when the best time is to make a call instead of sending an email.

Next time you’re considering the best way to communicate, consider these advantages of placing a call:

1.    Conversation builds relationships.

Great relationships are the key to converting prospects into customers. Building relationships through email is difficult. You have to sell yourself with your products or services, so make sure you get to know your customers on a personal level.

2.    Phone calls create urgency.

Email discussions can drag on for months. If you call your prospective client, you may be able to convince them to buy on the spot.

3.    Talking in real-time lets you cover more ground.

When you speak with your client on the phone, you are going to speak freely with them and share your thoughts much more quickly. It will be much easier to get on the same page and you don’t have to worry about forgetting key details.

4.    Your emotions are clearer.

When someone emails you it is hard to know what they are really thinking. About 80% of communication is nonverbal. Granted, you will still miss most of this on the phone, but you can at least listen to their tone and gauge awkward pauses. These will be telltale signs that something isn’t going well and that you need to change strategies.

5.    Phones force your clients to speak with you.

Some people are notoriously bad at replying to emails. It is not uncommon for some people to take a month or more to respond. Many people never respond at all. Calling a client is a much more reliable way of getting through to them.

Email is a great way to communicate, but don’t rely on it too much. Sometimes, you are just going to have to pick up the phone and reach out. You can communicate more easily and it may be all you need to close that sale.

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at online college about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5(at) gmail(dot)com.

It seems as though every few months another Twitter scandal erupts, and these scandals are usually due to an employee at a company that accidentally tweets something lewd or inappropriate from an official company Twitter account.

While these scandals can be quite funny to the general public, they do cause some damage, especially to brands and those individuals who are directly involved.

In order to avoid these kinds of scandals and keep them from affecting your own company, you should consider following these rules.

1. Don’t Save Passwords in Your Browser

One of the main reasons why people inadvertently tweet inappropriate tweets from official company accounts is that they save their passwords to accounts in the browser. Yes, this option makes life easier, but it can also lead you to be careless in recognizing which account you’re actually logged into. If you can help it, don’t save passwords to Twitter and other social media accounts. This will ensure that you never accidentally log into the wrong account.

2. Think Before You Tweet

Secondly, you should think before you tweet. If you think about the content of your social media post, then that’ll make you aware of the actual act of updating social media accounts. Ask yourself if you’d be embarrassed by what you’re about to post if it went to the wrong person. If the answer is ‘yes,’ then you probably shouldn’t press the publish button until you’ve had some time to revise your thoughts.

3. Plan Social Media Activity

If you work for a company that is active with social media, then you should do your best to plan out that company’s social media activity. This means your company should put someone who knows what they’re doing in charge of those accounts. This will make sure there aren’t any accidents. In other words, just as companies use spokespeople to manage their brand, so too do they need to use social media experts to manage their online brand. Don’t just let any random employee handle the Twitter. Put someone in charge; responsibility makes people act smarter.

4. Keep Personal Life Separate from Work Life

Another thing that will help you is if you keep your personal life completely separate from your work life. Yes, this is a tough thing to manage, as often our work blends with our personal life, in the form of company picnics and so on, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a shot. In other words, don’t update your personal social media accounts at work! It’s as simple as that.

5. Own Your Social Media Mistakes

If you do happen to make a social media mistake, then you need to recognize that and ‘own’ it. Don’t delete the offensive Tweet or try to hide it. The public will find out and they’ll know what’s up. It’s best to just apologize for the error and accept the consequences. Work with your company to come to a solution, as tough as that may be. It’s better to learn from your mistakes instead of dooming yourself to repeat them.

Perhaps in a few years people will stop handing out business cards and instead just wear high tech “data rings” that exchange information automatically when you shake hands.

Until that (incredibly creepy) future arrives, business cards are the easiest way for people to remember each other from conferences or networking events. Trouble is, pull out that wad of crumpled business cards in your pocket at the end of the convention and just try and remember who is who and which one you networked with and who said they’d call you … You get the idea.

You might have made a good connection in person, but now you’re just a business card. Since that card reflects you and your business, better make it really stand out from the crowd.

Here are some points to keep in mind when designing a business card:

Not too surprisingly, some of the most unconventional business cards are for designers or people working in the visual arts. And even though he’s not a designer, tech entrepreneur Neil Patel has some useful insights for what your should keep in mind when designing your own card.

• Color: An important aspect of your business card because it has the most immediate impact. But make sure the color represents you and your company. You’re an intellectual property attorney? Maybe soft pink’s not the best choice for your card. Just sayin’.
• Card Stock: Remember that scene in American Psycho? When all the bankers are trying to one up each other with the quality of their business cards? You don’t have to go that far. (Really. Please don’t, in fact.) But a quality card stock will leave a certain first impression. So it’s up to you: Something from G. Lalo or one of those 5,000 free cards from Vistaprint?
• Font: If you’ve ever spent any time with someone writing a doctoral dissertation, you know that typography matters. It’s the same with business cards. Each font has its own feel and voice. Pick something that is both easy to read and reflective of whom you are.
• Feel: Business cards aren’t only about graphic design. How they feel also reflects something about you as well. If you want to seem gentle, go with rounded corners. If you’re looking to come across as hard-edged, try hard paper with sharp corners. If you want everyone to know that you’re a bona fide badass, your card should be sharp and aerodynamic enough to throw across a room and pass through a watermelon.
• Content: The basics, please. Your name, your company, and a way to get in touch with you. Obviously your website should be on there, too. Don’t make it too cluttered or busy. Keep in mind people will often want to use the back of the card to write a note. Enable them.

How you follow these guidelines is up to you, but here are 10 pretty cool examples of business card design at work.

1. This salon really does make you feel soft around the edges. (Back)

2. A clothing company that really knows how to stitch.

3. This photographer found a clever way to showcase his work. (Back)

4. The doctor is in the house and incredibly detailed.

5. Handy as a business card and a coaster for meeting people in bars. (Side)

6. A studio that carries its sound in its pocket.

7. A warm and soft reminder of what to expect when you’re expecting.

8. A designer who can show you all the options. (Back)

9. This gallery can actually vouch for the rich quality of its interior feel.

10. Being green and making fun of other business cards everywhere.

You can find these business cards (and some 948 others) at this Flickr page. If you’re really into it, (and aren’t these fun to look at? AND safe for work…) check out a whole bunch of other creative, ridiculous and brilliant business cards here and here.

While some of them might be a bit tricky to put into a traditional business card holder (or even your pocket), they’re also so memorable you might actually want to put them on display.

What do you think? How does your business card stack up to the ones above? Have a creative one to share? Tell us in the comment section below.

Many website owners assume simply having traffic come to their website means sales will happen. They are often frustrated when they realize their visitors aren’t buying. One of the biggest problems entrepreneurs have with getting good conversions is using the right landing page. Making changes to your landing page can increase your conversions by 40%. Investing time building traffic is a must for any website, but traffic is useless if it’s not monetized.

If your sales aren’t as high as you were expecting, ask yourself these questions to see what you can do to improve your landing pages:

1. What conversions were you expecting?

What are you optimizing your landing pages for? Are you trying to get sales? Collecting email addresses? Have your goals laid out before you put the page together. You will likely have different goals for different sections of your site, and therefore will need multiple landing pages.

2. Use the right headline.

Readers see headlines first. Make sure they understand the purpose of the page. Then they may actually be motivated to read it.

3. Make your call to action clear and personable.

Guide your reader step-by-step. You may think it’s self-explanatory, but they may not. Use second person pronouns to engage your readers. This will help you establish a connection with your reader and make your point clearer.

4. Lead and persuade.

Make your call-to-action compelling and professional. Marketers wouldn’t exist if people didn’t need a little convincing. Know what they want and why. Then explain how you are going to deliver.

5. Structure your content strategically.

Break your paragraphs up and place your key points at the beginning. People come across many web pages every day. They have limited time and filter through the garbage. If it takes three seconds to grab their attention, then expect them to move on. Be more direct and keep their attention through the entire page. Understanding how people read and process is key. Writing to them will come more naturally when you’ve taken the time to do so.

Creating a good landing page is key to getting conversions. Know how to structure your content according to how your customers think. If you know how to persuade, then you will have an easier time reaching your goals. Know your goals, your customer and how to connect the two.

Our friends over at KISSmetrics put together a great infographic that covers all this and more.  Check out the Anatomy Of A Perfect Landing Page [Infographic].

Adding and subtracting is easy, but doing financial accounting isn’t always that simple. Small businesses often try and save money by doing their own accounting, but common sense isn’t always the best guide.

When your company’s revenue (and relationship with the IRS) is at stake, you don’t want to mess up the numbers. Here are five common small business accounting mistakes, and how to watch out for them. 1. Time Traveling Revenue

Probably the most common accounting mistake that small businesses make is counting a sale as revenue before actually delivering all the products or services. If your carpet company sells $7,000 worth of hand-stitched Turkish rugs in March, but they are meant to be delivered over the course of seven months, don’t be so quick to write down that you made $7,000 in March.

Logging the sale as one lump sum, rather than spreading it over the seven months it really covers, will give your company a false sense of its cash flow. You’ll end up making decisions on a financial situation that doesn’t actually exist. Instead, each month write down that your revenue increased by $1,000.

2. Ignoring the Golden Ratio

When small businesses are looking to grow, most of the time they will either use existing cash flows or go into debt to finance their growth. A common mistake with either strategy is not paying attention to the ratio of spending on growth and new profits coming in.

If a small business doesn’t keep a close eye on this number, it could find itself heavily in debt or having completely depleted its cash flow, even though it still looks profitable on paper. Paying attention to this ratio will help you realize when to slow down so you don’t go into debt or run out of cash.

3. Unique Procedures for Unique Personalities

Small businesses pride themselves on having employees with unique characters and qualities, but that isn’t a strength when it comes to accounting procedures. Every financial transaction that comes through your business should be handled in a consistent and standardized way.

Without a formalized system of procedures, decision-making can become inconsistent and the numbers just won’t add up. Small businesses should make sure that anyone involved in accounting manages and records all transactions in the same way.

4. Budgeting as a Game of Chance

New entrepreneurs tend to fall prey to this mistake, but any seasoned business owner can tell you that a well-checked budget is indispensable for planning out your company’s future.

You can’t expect to grow successfully if you don’t plan thoroughly and manage your finances accordingly. Setting a proper budget, rather than just estimating, will keep you focused on a smart and efficient business strategy.

5. Tax Return Surprises

When you get your tax returns, either you’re thrilled to see that you’ll be getting something back, or you’re sour the rest of the day that you still owe more. If you have to then scramble to find the cash to make up the difference, it can throw other planned expenses off as well.

Instead of being caught off guard, every time a deposit comes into your business take a little portion (either 10%-20% depending on your tax bracket) and save it in a tax reserve. This way you’ll have a cushion between any return saying you owe a little more and your business’s regular cash flow.

While trying to make it on your own in the labyrinth of accounting might be admirable, it’s not always advisable. Asking for help from a professional accountant or tax adviser always makes better sense.

If you do seek a professional’s advice, make sure you approach the right person. Find someone who specializes in small businesses and is familiar with the rules regarding your particular type of business.

Guest Post This guest post is written by Gerry Praysman. Gerry is the resident Buzz Marketer at Brainshark, the leading provider of on-demand video presentations anytime, anywhere.

The college graduation season is behind us and a fresh batch of wily youngsters is inundating the workforce. One of the fastest growing job opportunities today is in social management (or whatever we’re calling it this week) and as a December grad from Babson College, I was lucky to jump on the wave a little bit earlier.

My full-time position as the resident Buzz Marketer of Brainshark evolved from a successful internship in social media marketing during the previous summer. I have to admit there are some days when I think I’m crushing the world one tweet at a time, but then there are others when I stare intensely in the bathroom mirror like Eminem in 8 Mile and wonder if I won’t get booed off stage by the time I make it back to my desk. Having said that, here are five things I’ve learned to lean on to keep myself on track:

1. Spend a LOT of time researching

No matter how great of a student you were or how much initiative you took in starting your own business in college, chances are that you know pretty much nothing when you come into the workforce. I don’t mean to sound blunt or discouraging, but the second you drop whatever ego you might have and just start fresh is really the moment you can start applying your talent and aptitude. Besides, it’s good to be a sponge.

The social space is always changing so new ideas and best practices are always flowing through. I spend a handful of hours each week (sometimes each day) reading a variety of tech and media blogs, books, news, and keep an eye on credible influencers and what they have to say. Some of my favorites are oneforty, MarketingProfs, and Jeremiah Owyang but the list really goes on and on.

You need to find good content on your role, as well as your company’s role. Understand how your job plays into your employer’s business goals and make the connections. (Are you B2C? B2B? Both? What industry are you in? Who are your customers? Etc.)

It’s also really important to take the research outside of the digital and into the real world. Connect with other people that do what you do and pick their brains. Do this constantly. You’re going to get back a wide range of info and it’ll be on you to decide what to use, but commit yourself to always being that sponge. This role is new and growing around the world. There is no textbook. Be adventurous and always have an “I want to learn something new every day” mentality.

2. Learn how to disagree

I say “learn” because it’s not as simple as just disagreeing. If you truly believe in something (based on your research, experience, and gut) say it. Whoever hired you believes you’re capable of doing something that others in the organization aren’t. They expect you to have your own opinion. Social management is very subjective in many areas, so you have to be prepared to be on the opposite end of others from time to time.

Yet, don’t disagree just for the sake of doing it or because you feel it’s expected. Remember to stay true to what you believe, even if it might seem like it’s unoriginal. Sometimes everyone else is right on the money and a simple nod and smile is the way to go.  But…

This all comes with one MAJOR caveat: you have to put your money where your mouth is. If something doesn’t work for you, come up with an alternative solution or proposal. Take the lead in instigating the change or path that you’re pushing for. People respect leaders over complainers. You may not get everyone on your side, but you’ll get a lot more respect for being genuine and reliable.

3. It’s OK to not know – just do your best to figure it out

This pretty much speaks for itself. Like I said before, there’s no way you have all the answers. People who have been successful for many years don’t have all the answers. You are in a unique position where people from all levels in the company will rely on your advice and opinion because they genuinely may have no idea. This gives you a lot more wiggle room to say something that sounds right without really knowing, not necessarily because you’re lazy, but simply because you think you should know it.

As tempting and easy as it is to do – don’t – I guarantee it will come back to bite you in the ass. Since people are relying on you for advice, they’ll take it, and if it’s not based on anything, it will do nothing but blow up in your face.

There’s nothing more refreshing and admirable than hearing “I don’t know” from someone …except of course the eventual answer to the question. No one will think you’re stupid if you can’t come up with it on the spot but they would like to know. Go back, figure it out, and get back to them ASAP. Again, it’s a great way to earn respect for being genuine and reliable (two pillars of social media success, by the way).

4. Make sure your personality is actually a good fit

Being on social channels is a lot different than managing them, creating an effective internal and external strategy which aligns with marketing and sales goals, and whatever other nitty gritty things you’ll inevitably be tasked with. These are probably only a small portion of your responsibilities, anyway.

You have to be a people person. You can’t be afraid to show your personality. Your hours are never, will never, and should never be 9 to 5. You have to create a community both within your organization and for your customers as well. Once you create, you cannot abandon. There’s a lot of fact-finding, number-crunching, and smiling (both digitally and physically) involved.

Is this really you? If the answer is absolutely not, it’s totally cool, but you might want to consider looking into something else.

5. Be available both internally and externally

You absolutely need to be the MOST available person. You need to make your desk, cubicle, or closet a hub that all of your co-workers feel safe to approach and get answers or opinions. If they’re not approaching, find them yourself and make sure they’re comfortable with what’s going on.

Social strategies MUST involve the entire organization to be successful. Everyone needs to be moving in the same direction from the top down. Host training sessions, send out some of what you read, encourage and answer questions, and find out a little bit about everybody.

You actually have to be social to be good at this job. It’s a beautiful opportunity because you might not know all that much about the job environment, and yet, you may quickly take on the role of an internal leader.

Same goes for your digital community. Be timely, be courteous, and be open. Check your channels even when you’re not at work to see if a customer/partner issue pops up or for content opportunities. Some interesting stuff happens off-hours, including awesome events.

Check your local scene for some general, all-encompassing events that your customers might be attending to add a more personal touch to your interactions. Don’t stalk them, but always look for ways to add your physical presence to your digital footprint. Obviously, make time to have a life. After all, that’s what made you who you are. But don’t view your online community as just your work responsibility. View it for what it really is: your community.

Who is managing your social media presence at your business? Do you have a social media coordinator or a community manager, or are you a one man show doing it all? Would love to hear what you’ve learned along the way! Tell us in the comments section below.

Gerry is the resident Buzz Marketer at Brainshark, the leading provider of on-demand video presentations anytime, anywhere. Gerry manages the Brainshark Ideas Blog, as well as their social media strategy and content. Although Brainshark prides itself on being able to add voice to documents through the phone, computer mic, or mp3, Gerry insists on using a karaoke machine to musically narrate all of his internal video communications. You can connect with him at @gpraysman on Twitter.

Conference calls are not exactly the most exciting thing in the world to engage in. Many meetings are boring and mind-numbing enough as it is. When you have to deal with the added confusion of not being able to speak directly to your audience, you are likely to find that conference calls will also be rather dull as well.

Fortunately, with a little preparation you can keep your conference call from falling apart. Just like improving an actual, physical meeting, the trick is to keep the call organized and everyone on top of what needs to be done.

1. Keep the noise level down.

   Noise is significantly amplified over a speaker phone. Make sure everyone is on the same page and tries to keep the sound volume down as low as possible. Tell everyone to limit multitasking and restrict the room to people who are on the conference call. What do we do at Grasshopper on conference calls? Everyone stays muted until it’s their turn to talk.

2. Speak slower than normal.

   It is important to train your voice to speak slower than usual. People will have a harder time following you when they can’t match your voice with your mouth or body language. Speaking slower will help your voice come across as a little bit clearer as well.

3. Don’t interject prematurely.

   The moment people start cutting each other off or trying to have side conversations, the meeting is going to completely fall apart. Make sure that you wait your turn to speak so that you can maintain a semblance of order.

4. Stay on cue.

   Tangents are the death of any meeting, but the moderator may feel powerless to call the meeting back to order. Everyone has stuff they need to do and nobody wants to be at on conference call all day. Stay on point so that things can move along smoothly. Here, each meeting has to have an agenda and we have to stick to it. If things start to get off topic, for the sake of time and our sanity, we simply suggest it be taken offline. It keeps meetings shorter and to the point.

5. Use your voice for emphasis.

   Remember, 80 percent of communication is non-verbal. In a virtual meeting, you lose most of that. Your voice is about the only non-verbal key that you have left, so use it to convey humor or frustration to the other members.

6. Take your call as seriously as any meeting.

   Conference calls may be more difficult to work with than other meetings, but they are every bit as important. Take them seriously and stay organized so they will run smoothly.

Conference calls can be confusing and annoying, but they can go a lot smoother if you manage them properly. The biggest headache in dealing with a conference call is the fact that participants can’t see each other. As long as you coordinate the call properly, you should be able to get a lot out of your conference call with minimal headaches.

As a company with employees spread out across the U.S., there is no shortage of conference calls here at Grasshopper. It’s important for us to make sure our conference calls are as productive and efficient as possible, so we try to stick to these 6 tips and also include video when possible.

How do you make conference calls less daunting and more productive? Share your tips in the comments section below!

Are you scared to death of speaking to potential customers on the phone? Don’t be. Although it’s common for Internet entrepreneurs to avoid placing calls in favor of email, you can follow a few basic tips to interact with customers in a medium you aren’t used to.

Here are some things you should consider when you start a conversation. These quick tips will help you communicate politely and effectively:

1. Train your voice. In order to get your point across, you are going to have to speak clearly and articulately. It is easy for the pitch of your voice to get a little too high and sound irritated when you actually want to be friendly and engaging. This can lead to tension and misunderstandings, so make a conscious effort to control your vocal cords.
2. Always identify yourself. It is professional courtesy to start a conversation with some variation of “Hello Mr. Smith, this is John Adams from ABC Enterprises. How are you today?” You want to establish a personal connection and make sure the person isn’t left hanging wondering who you are.
3. Know who you are speaking to in advance. One of the most frustrating things for anyone is answering the phone and hearing someone ask to speak with the vice president or head of R&D. This is a clear sign that you are cold-calling them, because if they did their research they would address them by name. Know the name of the person you are speaking to and know the number you are calling. When they answer the phone, introduce yourself and make it clear you know who you need to speak with.
4. Avoid confrontation with customers and go the extra mile. Bad employees are use to responding to requests outside of their job description with “that’s not my job.” This is unprofessional and shows an unwillingness to follow through. Instead, assure them that you will personally look into whatever they need and pass the information along to the responsible party.
5. Check to make sure now is a good time. If you’re calling someone without having an established meeting time, check to make sure they’re in a position to talk before continuing the conversation. If you catch them at a bad time, you may not have their full attention and they’ll probably find you a little irritating.
6. Ask for permission before placing someone on speaker phone. Some callers feel that being placed on speaker is annoying or invasive to their privacy. Don’t announce that you are going to place them on speaker without getting their permission first.
7. Keep your personal life a mile from your professional life. Everyone has rough patches in their personal life, but allowing those problems to color your professional conversations is a sure recipe for failure. The client still needs their work completed and they don’t give a dead rat about your problems. Be transparent, apologetic and assure them you are taking care of everything that needs to be done.

Even if you are good at handling conversations, you are going to have to be on your toes to show professionalism consistently. The key is to anticipate what your customers’ needs are, and then shape the conversation around meeting those needs in a respectful and effective way.

First let us just say, we love Skype! It’s a great tool and we want to help you understand how you can use it with Grasshopper to create a powerful (and inexpensive) professional image for your business.

How can I use Skype with Grasshopper?

You can combine your Grasshopper and Skype systems for both inbound and outbound calling.

To use Skype for inbound calling, you simply forward your Grasshopper number to your SkypeIn or online number.

• A SkypeIn number runs around $2.99 a month. Check out their rates & subscription page for more info.

• Note:  You can NOT use your Skype user name, i.e “ambassadorbuzz”, you need an actual Skype number to forward your calls to.

To make outbound calls, you can do one of the following:

• Dial out with your Skype account directly (Caller ID will show your Skype number).

• Forward Skype to your Grasshopper number, where you can make outbound calls just like you do now and it will show your Grasshopper number.

• Note: If you want to call out directly from Skype, you will not be able to show the outbound number as your Grasshopper number since you have to confirm your number with an SMS message. We are working on something for this.

The nice thing about Skype is it that when used with Grasshopper, it can help your business stay connected and sound professional at a low cost. Wins for all.

1. Keep track of your purchases. If you make your purchases in cash, you will find that you are going to have a hard time remembering what your expenses were. It is crucial that you keep accurate records of all your business purchases and it is much easier to do that when you have electronic accounts that are easy to look up.

2. Separate your finances. It is important that you make sure that you keep your personal and business expenses separate from each other. Any business owner will tell you that there is nothing more painful than having to go through a credit card statement and try to identify your business expenses when you are filing your taxes or creating an income statement.

3. Build credit. Many people take out credit cards solely to build credit in their name. As a business, you can do the same thing. Your business won’t be able to build credit if you are using your personal card, so taking out a separate card can be a great idea.

4. Improves cash flow. When you have a business credit card, you can pay one lump sum at the end of the month. That makes it much more efficient to manage your finances and avoid paying as you go.

5. Get the benefit of rewards. Business credit cards offer rewards to their users just like consumer cards. Discounts and frequent flyer miles aren’t perks anymore. They are sound business savings.

6. Effectively manage employee spending. One of the drawbacks of “petty cash” funds is that money can inexplicably go missing. This isn’t necessarily because employees aren’t trustworthy, but it is certainly harder to manage and keep track of funds when you have cash floating all over the place. When you use a business credit card it is easy to keep track of where money is spent so that you don’t have to ask any hard questions later.

Taking out a business credit card can be one of the smartest things you’ve ever done. There is no point to spending hours tracking down all your purchases when you can just look at them on your monthly statement. You can also take advantage of great opportunities to save money and get great rewards. Just make sure you use your business credit card wisely, or else you’ll be stuck paying unnecessary interest at the end of each month.

Have any other advantages to using a business credit card? Tell us in the comments section below!

Common among writers is the romantic vision of the lone author, working at home day and night on his or her masterpiece, who finally, upon completing it and seeing it published, is elevated to the status of a cultural icon. A true success story, right?

These kinds of stories are lovely to read about and believe in because they are so inspiring; look at how infatuated the world is the idea that Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook from the comfort of a dorm room, and you can understand how important these stories are to our ambitions.

And yet, for all that romance and inspiration, we have to understand that, regardless of our career path, be it that of a novelist or a programmer, the work we do at home is incredibly hard. If we want to succeed, we must stay focused and produce excellent results every single day.

As a writer, I’ve found that it’s helped to take a few steps in order to make sure I’m as productive as possible. This helps me to keep up with the various freelance projects I have going on, as well as leave time for me to do my own writing. I thought that many of these same tips could easily apply to entrepreneurs who, in order to save money, work on their dear projects from their home, apartment or other place of residence.

Create a Workspace

When I first set out on my own as a writer, I used to do all of my freelance work in my bed. I used to think I had a great life as a freelance worker: I wrote in bed all day, I wore pajamas all day. I practically lived in my bedroom for a week or two. But then I started to get more projects, and suddenly it became too much to handle. My legs would go numb after a while. I’d feel sleepy all day. My productivity suffered, as did my sleeping at nights. My body was completely confused.

I shifted all of my work into another room of the house: an unused guest bedroom and this became my study. I could close the door to this study when I needed to separate myself from the rest of the house, and I could also close the door when I was done working and didn’t need to think about it until the next day. Being able to compartmentalize my life allowed me to switch on my business personality when I needed to and switch it off when I had other things going on. As a result, my productivity skyrocketed.

Follow a Routine

Shortly after I moved out of the bedroom, I committed myself to keeping regular hours, as though I worked in a business office. I woke up at 7 and was in my office by 8, ready to work. Four hours later I took lunch, then worked another four hours in the afternoon, after which I was off the clock.

Following a routine emphasized to me the importance of my task and made me realize that the routine actually helped me keep my life organized. Earlier, when I didn’t follow a routine, I found myself working odd hours to finish projects on time, and so I was always stressed. But now that I work regular hours, I get everything taken care of in a more reasonable time frame.

Set Goals

If you’re working on your own projects at home, it’s important to set goals for your various projects, especially if you have a lot of projects going on. These goals will force you to remain focused on each project for the correct amount of time. These goals will also keep you organized; you’ll know which projects have priority over others based on your list of goals.

I found that as my business grew and I took on more contracted jobs, I had to be very organized in how I approached them. Keeping lists of goals as well as deadlines and the tasks I had to accomplish in order to meet them was immensely helpful.

Communicate Well

Finally, although communication in every aspect of business is important, it’s especially important that you are mindful of how you communicate with others, either team members or clients, when you are working remotely. Often, it’s difficult to communicate in person with others when you are working at home, so you’ll have to make an extra effort to be in touch through a number of different mediums.

What are some other tips or best practices you’d suggest people make use of when they work from home?

If you own a domain name, you can configure a free email address to be associated with your domain instead of using Gmail or another free email service provider. Doing so says you are serious about your business. This is something that all businesses can benefit from, but is particularly true for sole proprietors and individuals looking to build a personal brand.

There are a number of reasons why getting a vanity email address like johnsmith@greatbusiness.com is preferable to a free address like john.smith4768@gmail.com:

1. A vanity email establishes trust. Anyone can create a free email address. Spammers and con artists create email addresses all the time. It is virtually impossible to authenticate the identity of the sender. However, the address johnsmith@greatbusiness.com is attached to the domain name John Smith registered. It is also easily verifiable because the names and contact information of people who register domain names is a matter of public record. John Smith is making the effort to reach out and connect with his contacts on a more personal level, creating trust.

2. A vanity email address is easy to remember. Millions of people have registered Gmail accounts, so it is virtually impossible to find a simple email address that consumers will be able to remember. If you have your own domain, you can create a personalized email address that people will recognize and be able to recall more easily.

3. It shows the owner takes pride in the business. The vanity email address listed above shows that the owner prides himself on the fact that he is a business owner. Other businesses want to work with someone who is passionate about their work and pays attention to small details. Registering a vanity email address takes more of an effort than setting up a Gmail account and your business contacts will appreciate that you took the time to do so.

The process of setting up a vanity email address is relatively straightforward. You will need to register a domain name and find hosting for it. There are many options, including some just for email so you don’t need to go through the hassle of building a website. However, you will still need to own the domain and be able to send email from it.

Setting up a vanity email address is an easy way to connect with your business contacts and show that you are serious about your business. It’s a small investment, but it yields big rewards.

Question of the Day (Friday): What’s the best part about being an entrepreneur?

So, what do you have to do to participate?

• Follow @Grasshopper on Twitter.
• Tweet the best part about being an entrepreneur with the hashtag #GHSMB.

Details:

• Duration: Monday, April 25 at 9 AM EST – Friday, April 29 at 5 PM EST.
• Entry: Tweet your answer to the question of the day with the hashtag #GHSMB. NOTE: To be considered a valid entry you MUST follow @Grasshopper AND include the contest hashtag #GHSMB.
• Winners: There will be 5 winners, one for each day of the contest.  Winners will be chosen at random by Grasshopper employees.  *No purchase necessary*
• Prizes (given at random):

$100 Jet Blue Gift Card (@PatEast) $100 Marriott Gift Card (@KissesForUsAll) $50 Gas Gift Card (@LinzLovesYou) $25 Staples Gift Card (@JSandifer) $25 Fandango Gift Card (@ToolHangerz)

You can be entered to win each day, provided you answer the question of the day each day.  Entries for the daily question will be closed at 12 AM EST.  Check back to see who the winners for each day are and what they’ve won!

Winners for each day will be announced the following day via our Twitter account at 10 AM EST, and Friday’s winner will be announced at 5 PM EST on Friday, April 29th when the contest ends.  Be sure to check back for the winner and participate each day!

Good luck!

WINNERS:

Monday’s question: What is your biggest challenge as a small business? (Ended)

Winning answer: Being knowledgeable in all aspects of business while driving growth and expansion. Hard being a one-man shop and staying on budget. – @ToolHangerz

Tuesday’s question: What’s the one tool your small business can’t live without? (Ended)

Winning answer: “@grasshopper as a freelancer, I love FreshBooks to keep my finances in order and easy invoicing!” – @LinzLovesYou

Wednesday’s question: What is the best small business blog? (Ended)

Winning answer: “Secret Women’s Business Network” – @KissesForUsAll

Thursday’s question: What business has the best homepage? (Ended)

Winning answer: “www.livebooks.com” – @JSandifer

Friday’s question: What’s the best part about being an entrepreneur? (Ended)

Winning answer: “Not only do you get to change the world, you decide how you’ll do it!” – @PatEast

It’s true! When you’re talking about a virtual PBX it can be difficult to picture in practical use. Reading about something is very different than seeing it in action. That’s why we created live demos for people to call in and listen to.

We have demos for a number of industries including Real Estate, Construction and Marketing to give your business ideas on how you can use Grasshopper.

Want to try one?

Simply pick up the phone and follow the instructions in the image to the right. Dial, listen & enjoy!

Check out all of our live demos:

• Healthcare
• Marketing
• Consulting
• E-Commerce
• Technology
• Construction
• Finance
• Non-Profit

Also be sure to check out some of our other posts to see the unique ways customers like 360 Clean are using Grasshopper.

Fat Finger Dialing

As far as phone scams go, fat finger dialing falls under the “mild annoyance” category. It’s also rather simple: you (the scammer) deliberately purchase a 1-800 number that is one digit different than a popular number customers in your market already know about. Then , if all goes according to plan, you benefit from the people who mis-dial your number instead of the company they wanted to reach. Naturally, that company is a competitor of yours – so you are directly siphoning people away from them.

Think of it as a phone-based version of online URL squatting, where people buy domains confusingly similar to existing ones. According to WordSpy, fat finger dialing isn’t just a clever trick used by small-time scammers. Back in 2003, AT&T sued Sprint and other competitors for allegedly stealing their customers through fat finger schemes and tricks.

Auto-Dialers

Fat finger dialing is certainly a questionable practice, but it’s more annoying than damaging. Auto-dialers are another story. Rather than merely misleading people (who are free to hang up upon realizing their mistake) an auto-dialer can literally inflict hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of unwanted phone charges onto a person without their knowledge. Unfortunately, this scam can take many different forms and is hard to guard against in just one way.

For example, an auto-dialer can call your cell phone and display a return number which is actually a “premium rate” line that racks up huge charges. Or, it could lead to advertising messages. Auto-dialers have even been used to facilitate telemarketing fraud. The best defense? Regard any strange-looking calls with skepticism, and Google around before instinctively calling it back. Chances are, if it’s a scam, others have fallen victim before you and written about their experiences.

Telemarketer Fraud

Telemarketing fraud has been a problem since telemarketing itself was invented. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lose “billions of dollars a year” to phone-based marketing scams:

“The heart of a fraudulent telemarketing operation is usually a “boiler room,” where seasoned operators try to scam hundreds of thousands of people across the country every day. Telephone fraud knows no race, ethnic, gender, age, education or income barriers. Anyone with a phone can be victimized by telemarketing scam artists.”

Travel packages, “free” bonuses and “special offers” are all tell-tale signs of a possible telemarketing scam in the making, the FTC says. The most egregious con artists will actually swindle elderly people into turning over their bank or credit card information and simply drain their cash.

Pre-Paid Phone Cards

We’ve all seen pre-paid phone cards like these at gas stations or convenience stores in our town. Unfortunately, you aren’t always buying exactly what these cards promise. In October 2008, The Consumerist discussed FTC research showing that pre-paid phone cards deliver “about half of the minutes promised” on their packaging.

Two major calling card distributors were formally charged by the FTC for cheating their customers. Among the allegations were “hidden fees” and “false statements” about the number of minutes being sold. When you remember that “customers are charged connection fees, special fees for using a payphone, minutes are deducted for calls that did not connect and minutes are rounded up by three or four”, the fact that half your promised minutes actually don’t exist just adds insult to injury.

“809″ Scams

The 809 scam is a way of manipulating you into an astronomical long-distance charge. Here’s how to tell if you’re being targeted by one. Typically, you will receive a voicemail or text message instructing you to call back a stated phone number in connection with some important-sounding event, such as a “legal matter” or contest winnings. Invariably, that number will contain the area code “809″ – which is from the Caribbean and costs a small fortune to dial.

According to ScamBusters, the rates for these scandalous calls can be as high as $25 per minute. Also keep in mind that this scam is carried out with area codes other than 809. It can technically be used with the area code of any far away, expensive-to-dial country.

Your Phone Statement: The First Line Of Defense

It’s easy to ignore the phone bill statements we receive each month. “What’s the point – I made the calls, I obviously know what’s in there” is the common attitude. Yet when it comes to phone scams, the billing statement is actually a strong line of defense. If any suspicious dialing has occurred (incoming or outgoing), this is where it will be listed.

By nonchalantly tossing your statement into the trash, you risk being unaware of a scam until it’s too late – until after it inflicts hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of damage.  Resolve to devote five minutes per month to reviewing this important document. You’ll be glad you did!

It’s that time of year again! With the March Madness tournament just hours away, productivity all over the U.S. is set to  decrease dramatically. For those of us in the office, we can check the scores online and for some brave souls, watch the games at CBS.com with the infamous “Boss Button”.

But what about those who are in meetings or on sales calls and can’t check the score? What if your favorite team is on?

With Grasshopper, this tragedy can be averted.

While you may not be able to break out your phone to check the score, you can take an important call right?

• Using your Grasshopper 800 or local number, set up a March Madness extension.
• Tell your friends who are not working to call this extension to provide updates (let’s just stick with half-time, 12 minutes and final).
• When the call is forwarded to your cell phone, you will see the extension and immediately know it’s a score update.
• Politely excuse yourself, stating you have to take this call, and immediately get the latest news.

Colleagues and associates will be none the wiser and you won’t have to worry about missing any news about your team.

*We don’t actually recommend doing any of this but hey, do what you have to do.

How do you plan to stay up to date with all the March Madness action?

With over 300,000 apps available in 2010 and more being created every day, there are a number of really great apps…especially for those working in a virtual office! So here we go:

Chat

At Grasshopper Group, we have team members in Boston, Austin, San Francisco, North Carolina, Oregon and even Brazil. It’s important that everyone is on the same page and we’re able to reach one another when necessary. A couple of apps we keep handy for chat:

• Campfire

  Campfire is an online collaboration & chat tool put out by 37 Signals. It’s “like instant messaging, but designed exclusively for groups”. They currently have an iPhone version for mobile but have yet to come out with one for Android or Blackberry.

• Skype

  Most everyone is familiar with Skype and for good reason. Skype is an excellent way to communicate with one another on the fly. Plus, with Skype mobile you can stay connected on the go (just like Grasshopper of course).

Files & Collaboration

Have you ever spent hours putting together a doc only to find that you saved it on a different computer? Or asked for feedback from someone and were forced to email it back and forth, forgetting which doc was the right one? Me too. The great thing about these apps is that they let you store files & collaborate with others from ANYWHERE.

• Google Docs

  Google docs is an easy (and free) way to store and share docs with friends or colleagues. Simply upload your doc, choose who you want to share it with and access it from anywhere (including your phone)

• DropBox

  If you haven’t checked out DropBox, you need to. DropBox offers “online backup, file sync and sharing made easy”. You can upload, download & update files from anywhere and you get up to 2GB free. They have mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android.

To do Lists/Notes

When you’re building a business there are a million things you want and need to do. If you’re like me, you need lists and notes and are constantly reminding yourself of new things. Whether you’re on the go, or even just sitting in front of the TV, you need a way to quickly jot things down. Well there’s an app for that:

• Awesome Note

  Awesome Note, while only currently for the iPhone, is one of the highest rated notes apps. Combine notes and to do’s, setup your calendar, create folders and backup your data to the web (it also syncs with Google docs and Evernote). Awesome Note is only $3.99 in the app store.

• Springpad

  Springpad “gives you a place to quickly and easily save anything you want to remember. Take a note, create a task, scan a product barcode and look up the book your friend mentioned.” Available for desktop, Android & iPhone, Springpad is free.

• Evernote

  Another highly rated notes app, Evernote lets you “Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see.” Evernote is available for almost all mobile devices, free.

Time Tracking

When are you really into what you are doing, it’s easy to lose track of time. It’s even easier when are you aren’t in an office. Whether you are a consultant tracking your hours or an entrepreneur just trying to figure out how long things are taking, it’s nice to be able to track that time. There are a few good time tracking apps that can help:

• TimeWerks for iPhone

  TimeWerks is a more billing focused app and it’s pretty robust. It lets you track projects, add billing rates, includes a built in stopwatch, and allows you to store contacts and export data. It runs for $9.99 but has some outstanding reviews.

• TimeCatcher for Android

  Put out by Intuit, TimeCatcher lets you enter time after completing work, start a timer, track time on calls and export your timesheet via email or text message. Nice thing about it, it’s free.

Passwords

How many passwords do you have? Do you even know? Personally, I have two spreadsheets (one work, one personal) each containing multiple tabs. Wouldn’t it be easier if I had them all in one place, and it was handy? Here are a couple password keeping apps:

• Keeper Mobile

  Made by Callpod, Keeper Mobile offers a password and data “vault” that lets you sync between your desktop and mobile phone. They offer an app for the iPhone, Blackberry & Android. A free version is available but they also offer premium features for $29.99 per year.

• My Eyes Only

  A password manager for the iPhone, My Eyes Only promises encrypted information that is never sent over the network. Store credit cards, logins, financial accounts and more. The app runs for $5.99.

Travel

When you have several teammates working in a virtual office, it can be hard to keep track of one another, especially if you are travelling. When does their flight land? What time are they coming back? With all the travel apps coming out, knowing these things is much easier.

• TripIt

  TripIt is probably the best known travel app. It lets you store itineraries, get maps, link to hotels, restaurants and will even send you flight alerts and alternate flight options (only with TripIt Pro). They have free apps for iPhone, Android & Blackberry phones. Look for big things coming from TripIt as they recently were acquired by Concur.

• WorldMate

  Synchronize your travel plans with WorldMate and then share it with your colleagues. It’s that simple. There’s an online travel planner, flight alerts, maps, directories, LinkedIn integration and much more. For free! They also have a Gold Status for those who are constantly on the go.

With all of the new apps on the market and the new ones on the way, working in a virtual office has never been easier. Which apps are your must haves?

360clean opened our eyes to a very unique and innovative way to use our virtual phone system – As a timecard system!  A virtual phone system as a timecard system? Let us explain…

360clean’s story

360clean is a complete facility care company who specializes in janitorial, maintenance and landscape services.  They innovated “cleaning for health” and use this specialized approach to cleaning in all office buildings to protect employees and clients from illness causing germs.

360clean’s mission is, “To satisfy our customers’ needs on a daily basis while providing the best combination of quality, price and delivery in workplace cleaning services, by continuously improving and developing our systems of operation.”  As a growing business, quality control can be a challenge when teams are spread out across the country and go from client to client providing services.

The problem

With this type of business it’s hard to manage and document the employees’ attendance without actually being present at the client’s office.  It‘s also impossible to be at every client’s office, checking in on employee’s attendance and making sure that employees are doing the proper amount of work for each client.  360clean needed a better way to manage their employees while they were onsite providing services at a client’s location.

The solution

360clean found Grasshopper to be, “a great resource for [their] service employees to clock in and out when they reached their client’s office to provide a service,” says Barry Bodiford founder and CEO of 360clean.

360clean used the unlimited extensions feature from Grasshopper to set up an “employee time center” extension that employees call in to (from the client’s office phone) and leave a voicemail when they are clocking in and then again when they are clocking out.

For this system to work, Bodiford emphasized the importance of employees clocking in from the phone at the client’s office so that you can be certain your employees are really there.  Plus, using the read your voicemail feature, when employees leave a voicemail to check in, the voicemail is transcribed and converted into a WAV or MP3 audio file and sent to Bodiford via email.

Why Use Grasshopper as a time clock?

• No time clocks are needed as this is your source for payroll hours.
• You have the ability to manage employee attendance remotely via Blackberry or other mobile email device.
• You can have confidence in knowing your employees have arrived on time to your client’s facility.
• Voicemails are time stamped, provide caller-id and you hear the voice of the employee, giving you peace of mind that employees are on time and actually where they are supposed to be.
• Lastly, for quality control. This program gives a business owner the assurance that the proper amount of work hours has been spent on each job.

Interested in learning more about 360clean? Check out their website, or follow them on Twitter.

What innovative ways are you using Grasshopper? We would love to hear about them!

With a virtual PBX, your business doesn’t have to stop just because your employees are snowed in. When the roads aren’t travelable and you and your employees are stuck at home, here are some ways you can stay connected:

• Forward Your Calls – You can manage your virtual phone system online or over the phone so when a snow storm hits all you have to do is set up call forwarding. Log in and set your local or 800 number or extensions to be forwarded to you or your employees’ home or cell phones.
• Let Them Know Where You Are – Winter storms can take their toll on more than just the roads, so when weather prevents you from being able to work, even from home, turn on your away greeting and let your customers know the office is closed.
• Get Your Business Calls – When a snow storm turns into a snow day for the kids, your plans for the day go out the window. No matter how crazy your day is, some calls you just can’t afford to miss. With call screening and announce, you can pick and chose which calls are important enough to answer and which calls can be sent to voicemail and addressed tomorrow when you can think straight!
• Virtual Fax – Your toll-free or local number can double as a fax line, allowing you to receive faxes without any equipment, so that business can run as usual. You can access your faxes online, have them forwarded to a fax machine or even have them delivered via email as a PDF.

Just because you can’t make it into the office, doesn’t mean you can’t work! With a virtual PBX, you never have to worry about missing work or that important call because of the weather. Enjoy the snow!

Over the past few months, Grasshopper headquarters have been “going green”. A new solar power system is in the final stages of installation and pretty soon, about 20% of the building’s power (including HVAC) will be generated by sunlight.

This is an exciting step for Grasshopper and it got us thinking, what else can we be doing to green up this place?

As it turns out, our own product actually helps with that! A virtual phone system is a great way to help your company go green.

Work from home

With the Grasshopper call forwarding feature, you can work from home and never miss a call. More importantly, you don’t have to commute to an office.

According to a Huffington Post article by Jason Seeger, if more companies encouraged telecommuting, the U.S could use 625 million fewer barrels of oil each year, cut greenhouse emissions by 107 million tons of carbon dioxide and save $43 billion on gas. Wow!

Save a few trees

Did you know that every year each person in the United States uses roughly 749 pounds of paper? That’s a lot of paper and a lot of trees!

In most offices, faxes use more paper than any other piece of equipment. Think about it. You send a fax cover sheet, the actual fax and of course it prints a confirmation (or a page telling you it failed). A single page fax could result in four pieces of paper being used.

With virtual faxing, you can save paper and reduce your annual usage. Simply have your customers send faxes to your Grasshopper number and they will arrive in your inbox. You can even store them in your account.

No handouts

You walk into a conference room and there on the table is a presentation printed out for you. Why? With today’s technology it seems unnecessary to print out copies for everyone involved in a meeting.

Virtual meetings are easy and especially with remote team members or out-of-state vendors, sharing a screen is much easier than trying to go over a printed document. Free services like Join.me are great for screen sharing and combined with your virtual phone conference calling feature, you can have a virtual meeting in minutes…without all the extra paper.

Companies across the US are taking steps to go green. Whether it’s using a virtual phone system, offering employees work from home days or greening your building, there are a lot of great things happening.

What is your company doing to go green?

While any vanity number is certainly preferable to a normal one, they, too, can be problematic unless proper precautions are taken. Indeed – picking out the perfect vanity number is something of an art form.

Here are a few key steps:

Stay Away From “Hybrid” Numbers

The whole point of a vanity toll-free number is letting viewers abstract the numbers away by remembering letters instead. Unfortunately, some business owners manage to mess this concept up by using what are known as “hybrid numbers.” We’ve all seen these. It’s when a company uses a telephone number like 1-800-642-PETS.

While PETS is surely easier to remember than 7387, there’s still that pesky 642 to worry about. Chances are, more than a few viewers wont remember it. Instead, strive to get a full word or phrase, such as 1-800-PET-FOOD.

An excellent real-life example of what to shoot for is 1-800-FLOWERS (of course we know these aren’t always available but you can also check the 866, 877, 888 or 855 version)

Company Name Or Specific Benefit?

There are two basic choices a business owner has when deciding what his or her vanity phone number will spell:

• The name of their business
• The specific benefit or message being offered

Unless the name of your business also happens to express the specific benefit you offer (as is the case with 1-800-FLOWERS), always err on the side of putting the specific benefit in your vanity number. The reason is that unless your company name is already established and synonymous with your industry, it will not have real staying power with your target audience.

After all, how many people will automatically associate 1-800-BIG-DAVE with “Big Dave’s T-Shirt Shop” when the phone number offers no clue that you sell t-shirts?

Simple, Unmistakable Spelling

It should go without saying, but any vanity toll-free number you choose should be easy to spell. First, rule out any number containing the letters “Q” or “Z”, which are only available on relatively new and modern keypads.

More generally, think about how your vanity number will be sound when repeated in verbal conversation, TV or radio. Slang words usually have several different spellings and are thus a bad idea.

Same goes for possessive pronouns before words that begin with “S. For instance, if your company’s name is Sam’s Sandwiches, using this as the vanity number could confuse people. Do they dial one “S” or two? Avoid problems like these by using only vanity numbers with one, clear, unmistakable spelling.

If in doubt, practice verbally saying your proposed number to a friend or co-worker and asking them to dial what they heard. When more than a few people can effortlessly do this on the first try, go ahead and get the number.

Branding Your Number

Once you decide to do business with a vanity phone number and select a good one, don’t be shy about using it. In fact, some of the most successful companies in the country use vanity numbers as core elements of their branding. FexEx, for instance, slaps its 1-800-Go-FedEx number on all of its delivery vans, airplanes and packaging.

This is exactly the approach to emulate with your own vanity toll-free numbers. Make it the focal contact point in your TV commercials, radio spots, billboard ads, and even online campaigns like PPC and media buying. Done correctly, viewers will gradually come to associate that phone number with your business and using it to place orders will become second-nature.

Vanity numbers can be a huge benefit to any company so be sure to choose the best one for your company!

Today, we will assume that you support the idea of a virtual office, need no further convincing and would like to get up and running immediately. Here’s how to set up your very own virtual office in under an hour:

Map Out Your Strategy

Not everyone’s virtual office will look exactly the same. Perhaps you do have a physical office, but would like to complement it with virtual assistants. Or, maybe you truly are starting with nothing and want to go 100% virtual from the beginning. No matter what your ultimate goals are, it helps to map out your strategy before diving in.

Possible elements of a virtual office include:

• Virtual receptionists

• Virtual assistants

• Virtual phone systems or answering services

• Virtual call centers

• Professional mailing addresses

• Rentable meeting spaces

How many of these things you wish to utilize will decide how much work is involved in getting started.

Selecting a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are one of the most popular virtual office fixtures of all. However, beyond the idea that a VA would be helpful to have, many of us get stock in the process of actually finding and hiring one (much less training one.)

As it turns out, dozens of different companies offer virtual assistants on flexible pricing models that let you buy only as much service as you will individually use.

In a blog post entitled “How To Get Your Virtual Assistant To Schedule Your Doctor’s Appointments”, author Ramit Sethi recommends AskSunday.com as his VA service of choice.

Depending on your exact needs, you can choose a dedicated assistant (which gives you access to your own agent, dedicated to your needs, available 10:30AM EST – 7:30PM EST by email and phone) or 24/7 assistance (which gives you 24/7 access to a team of personal assistants accessible by email, phone, and the web.) Pricing details are available here.

Note: Your life will be made infinitely easier by requesting a VA (from AskSunday or any other provider) with excellent command of English.

Training Your VA

The actual hiring of a virtual assistant can be executed in under five minutes. The next, slightly more time-consuming task is training them to perform to your expectations. Here, it’s all about specifics.

Because you will not be supervising a VA the way you would an in-person assistant, instructions, rules and procedures are a must. Luckily, you need not guess at how to effectively train your VA. The above post from Ramit, for instance, includes a detailed instruction script used to train his VA on selecting a nearby doctor.

Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Workweek, wrote a blog post about how to outsource your entire e-mail inbox to a virtual assistant and check it only two or three times a week. In it, Ferriss offers concise guidelines for training the VA to respond, delete, file and categorize exactly like you would.

No matter which tasks you envision a VA carrying out, you will need a similar but modified list of rules for them to follow. In this way, the VA you hire will cease being merely an assistant and become your assistant.

Getting a Virtual Phone System

If you’ve owned a “real office” before, the idea of getting a phone system installed in an hour might sound like a pipe dream. But with virtual phone systems, the fantasy is reality. A virtual phone system lets any business get up and running with a serious, in just a few quick steps. All it takes is:

• Picking a business phone number

• Recording a customized main greeting

• Adding departments and employees

That’s it. Following these simple steps, you and your team will be able to take calls and receive faxes and voice mails from anywhere you happen to be.

Obtaining a Professional Mailing Address

No virtual office is complete without a professional address to receive mail at. As we noted in May’s article, you need not actually reside at the mailing address your mail gets sent to.

Services like NYMail.com, for instance, allow you to give key contacts and business partners a prestigious, professional-looking, 5th Avenue business address. Using such a service, you can:

• Check by phone to see if mail has arrived

• Get automatic e-mail notifications when mail has arrived

• Take advantage of extended pick-up hours

• Have your mail automatically and confidentially forwarded to you at home

A $20.00 business pricing plan is available which enables business owners to obtain a prestigious business mailing address in 24 hours. Theoretically, you could sign up today with NYMail.com or a comparable service and accept mail at your new, professional address the very next day.

One of the great things about our phone system is that it can be used in different (and creative) ways. While yes, it’s intended to be used as a full-featured, make your company sound big phone system, our customers have made it their own. Some people use it strictly as a voicemail service, some use it as a call forwarding service and one customer uses it to provide clients with personalized extensions.

A new use we came across recently was a customer using their Grasshopper number as a dedicated support line. What a great idea! We certainly have customers who use extensions for support/sales/departments/etc, but I’d never really thought about using an account just for Support.

As it turns out, there are actually quite a few benefits to this:

Professionalism

One of our main priorities here is to “Help entrepreneurs stay connected and sound professional”. Why? Because to customers, perception is reality.

A dedicated support line certainly shows customers that you are professional, successful enough to have a support team & you are there to help them when they need it. Whether this line forwards to a 100-person support team or your home office doesn’t really matter.

Simplicity

Have you ever called a company for support and been forced to listen to 10 different menus? Of course you have, we all have! It can be extremely frustrating, and when you are already frustrated it certainly doesn’t endear you to the company you are trying to reach.

With a dedicated line, there’s no sifting through the phone tree. Your customer reaches the right department and can then be directed based on need. Remember the old adage, Keep it Simple Stupid.

Minute Usage

If you’re using a virtual phone system, your plan is most likely based on minute usage. One of the common traits we’ve seen in companies who go over their minutes, is they typically have a sales or support line, which can take up a ton of minutes as your business grows. Having a separate line/account may be just the answer.

To break it down, for a company on the Ramp plan ($24/500 minutes), it may make more sense to upgrade to the Grow plan ($49/2,000 minutes), but for those on the Grow plan, it probably doesn’t make sense to upgrade to the Max plan ($199/10,000 minutes). A better solution may be adding another Ramp plan to use for the support line. You don’t have to worry about minute overage and it won’t cost too much more.

Using a Grasshopper number as a dedicated support line (a Sales line would apply here too) appears to be a pretty good idea and one I’m glad was brought to our attention.

Enter the B corporation (or “Benefit Corporation.”) It’s a new legal structure that designates a business as “socially responsible.” Unlike a standard S or C corporation, B corporations exist to codify explicit commitments to societal stakeholders.

Origins

The B corporation is a relatively new development. Created in 2006, the entity was first conceptualized by Pennsylvania firm B Lab. Essentially, the B corporation was envisioned as a way for any company to codify and advertise its commitment to “socially responsible” business practices. Becoming a B corporation occurs only after a lengthy certification process during which companies are evaluated on social and environmental matters.

As B Lab’s “sneak peek” indicates, large companies are made to fill out a 26 page assessment containing questions pertinent to corporate governance, employee compensation, energy usage, manufacturing practices, charitable giving and more.

The assessment includes multiple choice questions and also some open-ended questions calling for 2-3 sentence responses. A company’s mission statement, for instance, is evaluated for social commitments and promises. Whether a company has been fined in the last three years, whether employees receive a “living wage” and whether its products “promote the arts, sciences or the advancement of knowledge” are other items weighted by the B corporation assessment criteria.

Not every business needs to fill out the entire assessment, however. As B Lab explains, “a manufacturing company answers more questions on their environmental footprint than a service company” and the assessment changes based on company size. In any case, the purpose of the assessment is to “distinguish good companies from good marketing.” Companies qualify for B corporation status if a minimum score of 80 (out of 200) is achieved. Re-certification occurs every two years thereafter.

Differences Between S & C Corporations

As noted, the other long-standing corporate entities differ mainly in terms of taxation and corporate formalities. While S corporations feature flow-through taxation, C corporations involve a corporate income tax in addition to the personal income taxes of the owners. S corporations are also limited in how many foreign shareholders they can have. C corporations have no such limits. Accountants and tax attorneys frequently advise prospective business owners on which entity is best suited to their unique corporate needs.

As of yet, B corporations lack an official tax status distinguishing them from S or C corporations. In fact, B corporations are not yet a full replacement of those long-time entities. Reportedly, however, efforts are underway to change that. The Christian-Science Monitor reported that B Lab founders proposed taxing B corporations at lower rates to Obama administration officials in 2009 to encourage more widespread adoption.

Life as a B corporation also involves obligations to stakeholders outside the company, including community and environmental organizations. Each state and corporate entity has its own unique legal framework that must be agreed to before a company is B corporation certified. At minimum, every B corporation must amend its governing documents to “redefine the best interests of the corporation to include the consideration of employees, consumers, the community and the environment.” Additionally, businesses wishing to remain B corporations are required to pay yearly licensing fees to B Lab. Finally, the amended documents must be officially recognized and filed with your Secretary of State.

Popularity

Despite the unproven and still-evolving nature of the B corporation, the concept is rapidly catching on. According to B Lab, there are currently over 300 B corporations which earn more than $1.1 billion in annual revenue across 54 different industries. B Lab maintains a frequently updated list of every company currently certified as a B corporation. The cause won a major victory in April 2010, when Maryland became the first state to formally recognize B corporations as official entities. Vermont followed suit in June, becoming the second.

In an OutdoorNews.com press release, it was clarified that “qualified shareholders can sue a for-benefit corporation for failing to produce” the various social benefits provided for in the charter. Nor do Maryland and Vermont figure to be standing alone for very long, as it appears lawmakers in New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, Washington and Oregon have “significant interest” in passing B corp legislation. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has taken the lead by becoming the first city to offer tax incentives to B corporations and already houses 41 of them, according to SustainGenuity.

The Future

It remains to be seen whether the B corporation has staying power or becomes a passing fad. Early adoption is impressive for an entity that is barely four years old. In all likelihood, the future of the B corporation will depend on how well it withstand legal scrutiny. Some experts have pointed out that it could be difficult to uphold a B corporation’s ambitious and far-reaching charter in court. Assuming such fears fail to materialize, the B corp could be here to stay.

In today’s society, people are working less in the office and therefore the need for a virtual phone system is growing. One industry where this is especially true is Real Estate. Based on feedback from customers in the real estate business, here are a few ways Grasshopper can help:

1) Informational Extensions

You can give your clients information they need without even talking to them! When a client calls an 800 number listed outside a property they’re interested in, they can hear specific information about the property, including housing details, address, and contact information.

2) Call Routing Extensions

In any industry involving sales, it’s important that customers never hear a busy signal or wait on hold too long. It’s also important in Real Estate that your employees get an equal number of incoming sales calls. Call Routing Extensions make this happen. Call routing extensions can help ensure that all of the agents in the office get an equal number of calls and your customers don’t become frustrated by your phone service.

3) Voice mail Features

Being out of the office a lot it’s important you don’t miss an important message. The great thing about using Grasshopper is that you can have your messages delivered to you no matter where you are. Your voice mails will be emailed to you (along with an MP3) and with the new read your voice mail feature, you can read your message without every having to listen to it. With Grasshopper, you can always check your voice mail when you need it.

Get more information on how Grasshopper can help with your real estate company or check out our full list of features.

Working from a virtual office can be difficult, especially when that virtual office is your home. Maybe you don’t have a separate office space, your kids are running around, the dog wants to go out, you’re hungry, etc.

We’ve put together a few posts over the past couple of months to help you create a successful virtual office but we thought we’d share some other great posts from around the web that can help you not only create a virtual office but get your work done. Check them out!

• Virtual Office is What You Make It

  Well known blogger Penelope Trunk writes a great post on Boston.com about the rise of the virtual office and how it can not only save you money but increase productivity.

• How to Set Up a Productive Virtual Workspace

  Web Worker Daily covers three main needs of a virtual office and offers a ton of solutions to help solve these needs.

• Ten Tips on Creating a Virtual Office for Your Home-Based Business

  All Business provides ten great tips on building a productive off-site company, including finding the right phone system.

• What Office?

  Entrepreneur.com shows how various companies are succeeding in a virtual office environment and the things you should be aware of.

• Create a Virtual Office

  Women Entrepreneur gives us 7 great tips on creating a virtual office for your company. Their advice includes embracing technology and remembering that culture still matters, virtual or real office.

• 10 Tips for Setting Up a Virtual Office

  Deb Ng of the Freelance Wirting Network gives us ten tips to set up a virtual office, including the obvious, “keep your virtual office as far from the kitchen and tv as possible”.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/06/setting-up-a-virtual-office-best-posts-from-around-the-web/feed/ 1 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/05/great-8-top-entrepreneur-forums-on-the-web/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/05/great-8-top-entrepreneur-forums-on-the-web/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 15:14:37 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1945 One of the great things about the entrepreneur community is the willingness and desire to share the trials and tribulations of starting and running a business. From blogs to forums to podcasts and books, there is a lot of really great knowledge out there. We have chosen eight of the best entrepreneur forums where you can ask questions, find info and share your own stories.

Entrepreneur.com – Industry Groups

Link: http://econnect.entrepreneur.com/browse_groups.php



What is it: Entrepreneur.com is a great forum that covers everything around entrepreneurship and business. The forums are even split up into industry-based groups ranging from construction professionals, to franchising, to sales and marketing to online business and young entrepreneurs.

Why you should read it: Entrepreneur.com has long been a trusted source for all kinds of entrepreneurs. Their forum allows people to connect with each other and share their experiences and knowledge. The starting a business section has nearly 1000 discussion topics!

Intuit Community

Link: http://community.intuit.com/start_and_grow



What is it: The Intuit Community splits its forums into two major sections – business forums and industry forums. The business forum encompasses all aspects of starting and running a business, while the industry forum is geared to connect those in the same industries.

Why you should read it: The Intuit Community has some really great information for all entrepreneurs. Their moderators are very active participants in the forum which is helpful to newcomers. One of the best features on this forum is being able to sort through answered and unanswered questions depending on your reason for visiting the forum.

Startup Nation

Link: http://www.startupnation.com/community/



What is it: Startup Nation is exactly what it’s name implies – a great forum for anyone interested in learning about start ups.

Why you should read it: With over 83,000 users, you can bet the Startup Nation forum has information on just about ANY ISSUE that entrepreneurs face when starting up a business. There is quite a bit of basic information but there are also some good discussions around planning and marketing.

Warrior Forum

Link: http://www.warriorforum.com/



What is it: The warrior forum mainly covers internet marketing but is a useful resource for entrepreneurs looking to start an internet-based business. While the forums are free, they do offer a premium forum for a onetime fee of $37.

Why you should read it: Referring to each other as warriors, the users on this forum are all about helping each other and sharing stories about their internet marketing and online business successes as well as failures. Be sure to check out “The war room” with it’s valuable articles and access to a few well known internet marketers.

Young Entrepreneur Forum

Link: http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/forum/



What is it: The Young Entrepreneur forum is a place for young entrepreneurs to discuss a wide range of topics and connect with other young entrepreneurs from all over the world. They also offer two levels of premium membership. Gold members ($29.95 for 1 year, $39.95 for 2 years) receive exclusive monthly premium members-only competitions, access to premium members-only forums, exclusive premium members-only contests as well as the ability to engage in private messaging with other members. Platinum members ($199.95 for 1 year, 299 for 2 years) receive access to a free webinar coaching webinar, website review from experts, invitations to events hosted by the founders of YoungEntrepreneur.com and all of the benefits of being a gold member.

Why you should read it: Young Entrepreneurs are quickly making their mark on the business world. With nearly 65,000 users and 270,000 posts this forum is certainly one of the most popular forums for young entrepreneurs everywhere.

Startups

Link: http://www.startups.co.uk



What is it: Startups is a UK based community with over 10 different forums. Asides from the general discussion forum which has 35,000 posts, the Rate My Website forum is the next most popular forum in the community and can provide you with candid feedback on your site.

Why you should read it: Based in the UK, this forum a great place to help connect with entrepreneurs from all over the world as well as get different perspectives on issues entrepreneurs may face. This is especially helpful for those looking to do business around the world.

The Fast Lane to Millions

Link: http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/



What is it: The Fast Lane to Millions is a forum designed for entrepreneurs to share their experiences in growing their businesses, as well as a place for them to document their successes and failures.

Why you should read it: Many participants in the Fast Lane to Millions are eager to get/share ideas and stories about money making strategies. Forum topics are dominated by building online businesses and discussions about real estate so if you are looking to make money through real estate, this may be a good place to check out.

Retire at 21

Link: http://www.retireat21.com/forums/



What is it: The Retire at 21 forums gives young entrepreneurs a chance to share stories about how they became online entrepreneurs as well as an open community to ask and answers questions about their experiences.

Why you should read it: The forums at Retire at 21 are saturated with valuable information related to website critique (90% of the post volume is in the website critique portion of the forum). This is a great place to go if you are starting an online business or if you are debating making changes to an existing online business.

What other forums do you visit to get and share ideas?

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/05/great-8-top-entrepreneur-forums-on-the-web/feed/ 3 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/04/12-b2b-blogs-every-business-should-read/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/04/12-b2b-blogs-every-business-should-read/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:32:53 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1770 With so many blogs and so little time, it’s often hard to know which ones to read. We’ve listed 12 different blogs based around B2B (business-to-business) marketing, sales, technology and more. If there are any others you think we missed, leave them in the comments.



1 ) Dianna Huff’s B2B Marcom Writer Blog

• Link: http://www.dhcommunications.com/blog/

• What it is: Dianna Huff specializes in B2B web marketing strategy and content development also known as copywriting. In her blog she covers everything related to B2B Web Marketing.

• Why you should read it: Dianna is able to help your business adapt to the quickly changing web marketing world. Her polished writing style makes her blog very clear and an interesting read, while her unique path and creativity gives her a point of view rarely seen by traditional marketers. She is wonderful!



2 ) Savvy B2B Marketing

• Link: http://www.savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog

• What it is: This B2B Marketing blog is written by the Savvy Sisters (6 diverse and multi-faceted marketers and writers) with content ranging from Case studies, Marketing Basics to Viral Marketing and even some Trade Show advice.

• Why you should read it: All of the Savvy Sisters come from different backgrounds and really work together to give differing views and options on how to tackle or approach various marketing tasks and objectives.



3 ) Forrester – B2B Market Research Blog

• Link: http://blogs.forrester.com/b2b_market_research

• What it is: Forester is an independent technology market research company. This particular Forrester blog is geared towards B2B market research. The content is written by Forrester analysts who serve market research professionals.

• Why you should read it: I find that there are far fewer blogs about market research than there are about internet marketing. The Forrester team does a good job explaining some marketing research and how your business can utilize it!



4 ) MarketingProfs B2B Blog

• Link: http://www.marketingprofs.com/topic/all/b2b-marketing/

• What it is: Marketing Profs is one of the most popular premium subscription marketing resources for all kinds of marketers. They cover everything, including search engine marketing, brand management and social media

• Why you should read it: MarketingProfs really is like a one stop shop for everything B2B marketing. If you’re looking for some specific advice, a how-to guide or just want to browse some new blog entries and articles pertaining to marketing, then MarketingProfs can help you. It’s important to note that some of the features and resources are only available for premium subscribers but don’t let that scare you away. There are plenty of good free resources.



5 ) Search Engine Land – Strictly Business

• Link: http://searchengineland.com/library/strictly-business

• What it is: Search Engine Land is one of the top websites out there when it comes to SEO, PPC and Social Media. With a number of different sections, Strictly Business focuses on all things B2B marketing related.

• Why you should read it: The Search Engine Land team is one of the best. Content is always new, up to date and provides information on the latest industry news and headlines. The great part about SEL is that it offers something for all knowledge levels.



6 ) Ask Enquiro

• Link: http://ask.enquiro.com

• What it is: Ask Enquiro takes an interesting approach to blogging. The blog is set up for its readers to be able to ask questions and then have the Enquiro team research and respond to the questions with blog posts

• Why you should read it: For those of you who like to ask a lot of questions like I do, this blog is for you. AskEnquiro focuses on B2B search engine marketing and research but can be a valuable resource for many aspects of internet marketing.



7 ) HubSpot – Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

• Link: http://blog.hubspot.com

• What it is: The Hubspot Internet Marketing blog covers everything on the inbound side of internet marketing. Topics include – SEO, blogging, social media, landing pages, lead generation and analytics.

• Why you should read it: Hubspot is fast becoming one of the go to places on the web when it comes to Social Media. While the blog isn’t entirely B2B focused, they have tons of great content around B2B including a B2B category.



8 ) B2B International

• Link: http://www.b2binternational.com/b2b-blog/

• What it is: B2B International specializes in business-to-business research. In their blog they present some of this research and do a pretty good job of highlighting the most important aspects.

• Why you should read it: As you may have guessed they have several offices spaced throughout the world which helps them offer an international view on marketing research and marketing issues.



9 ) Pen Station –Proteus B2B Marketing Blog

• Link: http://www.proteusb2b.com/b2b-marketing-blog/

• What it is: Pen Station focuses on strategies, insights and perspectives on B2B marketing.

• Why you should read it: ProteusB2B has some pretty good stats around B2B marketing and social media. While the blog hasn’t been updated in a few weeks, we are hoping they start up again soon.



10 ) Chris Koch’s B2B Blog

• Link: http://www.christopherakoch.com

• What it is: Chris Koch is an expert on B2B marketing in the technology industry. His blog offers original content as he posts about a variety of internet marketing issues.

• Why you should read it: While Chris is a B2B marketing expert his blog is very independent and based on his personal thoughts. He quickly points out companies “making mistakes” and praises others who seem to “get it.”



11 ) BaseOne – Beyond

• Link: http://www.baseonegroup.co.uk/beyond/

• What it is: BaseOne is a European B2B marketing agency. The “Base One Beyond Blog” is geared at shaping the B2B Mindshift. Their posts frequently include studies and useful information for marketers with a wide range of experience.

• Why you should read it: Being based in Europe (no pun intended) BaseOne is a great resource for all marketers.



12 ) B2B Marketing Zone

• Link: http://www.b2bmarketingzone.com/

• What it is: B2B Marketing Zone is an aggregator of a bunch of B2B blogs covering everything related to B2B Marketing. It covers a wide range of topics from top B2B marketing blogs

• Why you should read it: Want more blogs? The B2B Marketing Zone takes posts from many different B2B blogs and conveniently lets you read them..without stealing content!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/04/12-b2b-blogs-every-business-should-read/feed/ 7 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-fun-ways-to-use-your-virtual-number/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-fun-ways-to-use-your-virtual-number/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:13:07 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1731

One of the things we talk a lot about is using Grasshopper to help your business sound more professional. Yes, it’s true, a virtual number with custom greetings, on-hold music and voice mail can help your business sound bigger and certainly more professional, but it can also be fun.

Having your own 800 number with unlimited extensions, voicemail greetings, custom music…imagine the possibilities!

Here are three fun ways you can use your virtual phone number:

• Joke of the Day

  What if you were put on hold, only to be told a joke? Being on hold wouldn’t be so bad would it? Knock knock jokes, kids jokes, puns, jokes about your industry or profession, etc. Just be sure to keep it tasteful.

• Dating Extension

  Single? What if you could know it was a personal call before you even picked up? Just like you can create dedicated extensions for specific clients, you can create dedicated extensions for love interests. No more awkwardness, no more wondering who is calling or what you are going to say. When the caller ID shows your dedicated extension, you can be ready.

  Can’t pick up the phone? Create a voice mail message just for that person (I don’t recommend this before date three as it might seem creepy).

• Meeting Planner

  Who needs a secretary when you have Question and Answer extensions? Set up a dedicated extension for meetings and stay efficient. Who is calling? What is the meeting about? What time and date?

  An MP3 of the call will be emailed to you (or with voice mail transcription, a script of the call) and all you have to do is call back and confirm the meeting. You can save time and never have to worry about being out of the office or missing a call.

There are many different ways to use your virtual phone number and there are probably people out there doing things we don’t even know about. How are you using your virtual number?

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-fun-ways-to-use-your-virtual-number/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/stay-up-to-date-on-march-madness-with-grasshopper/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/stay-up-to-date-on-march-madness-with-grasshopper/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:49:22 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1532

As the tournament kicks off today, productivity all over the U.S decreases dramatically. For those of us in the office, we can check the scores online and for some brave souls, watch the games at CBS.com with the “Boss Button“.

But what about those who are in meetings or on sales calls and can’t check the score? What if your favorite team is on?

With Grasshopper, this tragedy can be averted.

While you may not be able to break out your phone to check the score, you can take an important call right?

• Using your Grasshopper 800 or local number, set up a March Madness extension.

• Tell your friends who are not working to call this extension to provide updates (lets just stick with half-time, 12 minutes and final).

• When the call is forwarded to your cell phone, you will see the extension and immediately know it’s a score update.

• Politely excuse yourself, stating you have to take this call, and immediately get the latest news.

Colleagues and associates will be none the wiser and you won’t have to worry about missing any news about your team.

*We don’t actually recommend doing this but hey, do what you have to do.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/stay-up-to-date-on-march-madness-with-grasshopper/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-ways-to-not-suck-at-chat-support/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-ways-to-not-suck-at-chat-support/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:40:16 +0000 Darren Rosebrugh http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1420

I don’t think online chat is the best way to communicate. In fact, it’s probably the worst. So it may surprise you to hear that we’ve been considering adding chat support to our lineup of support options at Grasshopper.

Why do I think chat sucks?

For one thing, you never really know if the other person is still there, if they’re AFK (that’s chatspeak for away from keyboard) or if they’ve fallen off the face of the planet (that’d be FOTFOTP).

Still, I’m convinced that there are great uses for it. For example, asking quick pre-sales questions when you’ve got laryngitis. That’s why I go out of my way to try other company’s chat support. I’m looking for the company that’s finally found a way to make it work.

I’m told that chat is great because it’s instantaneous and convenient. Well, if that’s true, why do I always feel like I’m waiting for the service rep on the other end to finish their 15 other chats before they finally get back to me? And why does it seem to take forever to finally get across the nature of my issue? I’m always wondering did they really get what my issue was or are they now just too embarrassed to ask me the 5th time around for further clarification.

But I’m like most people, when I have a problem, I’ll go for chat if I think that I’ll end up on hold for a long time when I call.  Unfortunately, I often find that I’m instantly chatting with a lower tier of service staffed by agents with the least experience. I’ve had more than one chat session end by the agent asking me to call instead because they don’t have the ability to help me. That was a real time saver.

So what’s a good solution for offering chat support that doesn’t suck? As far as I know, It doesn’t exist yet, but here’s my dos and don’ts:

• Do have a click to call button directly on the chat window that allows someone to simply call whoever they are chatting with. Instead of telling me to call in and then start all over explaining myself to a new agent, let us pick up where chat fell short and solve this issue quickly.

• Don’t force service reps to cover multiple chat sessions. It’s okay to take on another client when I’m not responding. It’s only fair. But when you’re chatting with, say, 10 clients simultaneously, you’re making no one happy.

• Don’t use chat as the training ground for support staff. Unlike the phone, you can’t immediately sense a client’s mood or assess their tone of voice. You need knowledgeable people staffing the chat so they can read between the lines.

Do you have any tips on how to make chat support better?

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/03/3-ways-to-not-suck-at-chat-support/feed/ 2 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/10-tips-for-writing-better-email/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/10-tips-for-writing-better-email/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:00:39 +0000 Guest http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1334 Sonja Jacob, the Founder and Chief Cultivator at The Cultivated Word LLC, and the creator of the Grasshopper “Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” video, gives us ten tips for writing better email.



People receive more email in their inboxes today than ever before–an estimated two million email messages are sent every second–so why not make the email you send stand out for its concision and clarity? By following these ten simple steps, you’ll increase the likelihood that people will understand and act on your email.

1. Hit the right note.

   Sounding positive over email makes people want to communicate with you in the future. Be aware of how terms such as “good” come across as, “eh, it’s ok” in email. If you’re genuinely pleased with someone’s work, avoid “good” and opt for more effusive language.

2. Avoid sarcasm.

   Ever joke in an email only to have it misconstrued by the recipient? Email relies on fewer senses to convey messages, so you don’t see any physical clues to the meaning of words. Avoid sarcasm or jokes in email unless you know the recipient well.

3. Use bullets when conveying large amounts of info.

   Sharing a lot of info with a recipient? Rather than writing lengthy paragraphs, use bullet points to break up info and convey the overall message.

4. Beware the “to” field.

   Most of us feel the need to fill out the “to” field first when writing an email, but consider keeping the “to” field blank until you’ve written the entire email and reviewed it.

5. Address people by name.

   Sending out an email to multiple parties with numerous action items? Address individuals by name when you want to spark action. For example, rather than asking no one in particular if you’ve sent a client an important file, address people directly by name, “Jane, have you sent the client the latest files?”

6. Remember to review.

   Reading over your email before you send it seems like a no-brainer, but many people don’t do it. Give your email a quick review before sending it and you’ll avoid sending email with careless errors.

7. Show a little gratitude.

   Thank people for their time—they probably get tons of email and if you show you’re grateful they’ve taken the time to read yours, it’ll leave a lasting impression.

8. Leave readers with a question.

   Summarize the purpose of your email in closing. This gives people a “refresher” and motivates them to act on the info they’ve just received.

9. Provide all of the information.

   Assigning a project? Give the recipient a deadline in the email, otherwise they’ll have no idea how to prioritize the task you’ve assigned.

10. Utilize the subject line for action items.

    Vague subject lines in emails lead to less than ideal project outcomes. Try to be as specific as possible with your subject line so people know what your email is about right away.

Sonja Jacob is the Founder and Chief Cultivator at The Cultivated Word LLC, a copywriting and creative strategy firm located in Boston. www.thecultivatedword.com. Follow her on Twitter: @tcwsonja.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/10-tips-for-writing-better-email/feed/ 1 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/six-feet-of-snow-no-problem-with-a-virtual-pbx/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/six-feet-of-snow-no-problem-with-a-virtual-pbx/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:21:44 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1178 As the half the United States becomes inundated with snow today, offices across the country become empty and productivity is lost.

With today’s technology, many people can work from home using a computer and VPN with no problem but what about those important phone calls? Support, sales, etc.

Can you really afford to miss one, two, five days because of weather?

The nice thing about a virtual PBX is that you can forward calls to ANY number on ANY phone. We say it all the time but it really is a great feature for any business.

An employee simply has to log into your Grashopper account and change their call forwarding number to their home or cell phone. All those calls you could potentially be missing are avoided and the employee doesn’t have to worry about giving clients their personal phone number.

As a business, being able to ensure your customers can reach you and no important calls are missed, despite what is happening with mother nature, is a great feeling.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/six-feet-of-snow-no-problem-with-a-virtual-pbx/feed/ 1 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/unlimited-extensions-create-personal-touch-with-customers/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/unlimited-extensions-create-personal-touch-with-customers/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:49:12 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1169 It recently came to my attention that one of our customers, The KARS Consulting Group, is using our Unlimited Extensions feature in a brilliant way.

As a small consulting company or freelancer with a handful of clients, your relationship with each client is imperative to the success of you and your business. Any extra effort or personal touch goes a long way.

So what is this entrepreneur doing that is so great?

Creating personalized extensions for each client.

Each client has their own extension with a personalized name greeting and voicemail. When the client calls in, they’re addressed with a greeting specifically for their company, the business knows who is calling so the call can be routed to the right person, and even when no one can take the call, there is a personalized voicemail message. What a great concept!

By creating these personal extensions, your business is able to accurately track call time through online call reports, save time by automatically directing calls to the right people and eliminate miscommunication issues. All without any extra costs.

While there are companies out there that help your business handle this process internally, what makes Grasshopper’s virtual phone system so unique is that it actually makes it easier for your customers to communicate with you.

What are the benefits to your customers?

• A personalized number, with personalized greetings immediately tells the client they are important to you. The customer has something that is dedicated to them.
• Imagine if you called up a business and they greeted you by name before you even said who it was. This isn’t something that commonly happens and can go a long way toward transforming a customer into a brand loyalist.
• A customer calls, you see the number and immediately are able to pull up all their information before you even say hello, saving them time.
• With a dedicated extension & voice mail, the client knows even if they have to leave a voice mail, it will not get lost in a sea of others.

Creating personalized extensions and greetings is really a great way to use the unlimited extensions feature and definitely something other small businesses should consider. It is an invaluable way to make your clients feel special and helps both parties be more efficient.

Are there any other creative ways companies are using their phone system to make customers feel important?

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/unlimited-extensions-create-personal-touch-with-customers/feed/ 3 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/create-a-good-first-impression-with-custom-greetings/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/create-a-good-first-impression-with-custom-greetings/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:35:00 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1154 Remember the Seinfeld episode where George decides to create a catchy jingle for his answering machine?

Aside from a website, your phone greeting could be the first impression customers or potential customers have of your business. While it doesn’t have to be as clever as George’s, it’s important that it sounds professional and helps the caller with what they are looking for.

Here are a few tips for creating a main greeting:

• Make sure there is no distracting background noise i.e. ambulances racing by, phones ringing, tv commercials.

• When using background music, make sure you choose music that fits your business. Pop music for a spa probably isn’t the best strategy.

• Enunciate your words clearly to ensure the caller can understand your greeting. Avoid strong accents.

• Keep it succinct. No one wants to listen to three minutes of talking before even hearing their options.

• Make sure callers feel welcome. Thank them for calling and let them know how you are going to help them.

• Your extensions should be easy to follow and cover the most common topics. Sales, Support, Speak with Customer Representative, etc.

• For customers who don’t want to worry about creating their greeting, the Grasshopper voice studio features professional voice talents who can create it for you.

Remember, a poor phone greeting could turn away customers, potential customers, clients, and leads. Take all the necessary steps to create a professional image for your small business.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/create-a-good-first-impression-with-custom-greetings/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/using-phone-numbers-to-track-marketing-roi/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/using-phone-numbers-to-track-marketing-roi/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:01:34 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=1021

As a small business it is often hard to track exactly where your customers are coming from; Television, radio, web, partners, etc, etc. While analytics have certainly made it easier to track web traffic, offline efforts aren’t as clear cut.

A great way to track offline marketing efforts and determine ROI is to use multiple phone numbers. Using separate phone numbers for separate campaigns can help you track where your visitor came from and give you insight into which campaign is working the best.

Using Multiple Phone Numbers to Track ROI:

• Place a phone number on your website that is found no where else. This will allow you to track conversions from people visiting the site and then picking up the phone and buying. You can even create use separate numbers for your pay-per-click ads.
• Use a specific phone number in your television or print ad. This can be as easy as creating a new extension for your toll free number or using a completely separate phone number. Perhaps you want a local number for your television ad but an 800 number for your print ad since it will be less geo-targeted.

The more accurately a business is able to track marketing efforts, the more efficient they will be and the more money they will save.

Remember, with Grasshopper, additional phone numbers are only $5 each and additional extensions are FREE! Start tracking your marketing efforts now!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/02/using-phone-numbers-to-track-marketing-roi/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-800-forwarding-with-grasshopper/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-800-forwarding-with-grasshopper/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:01:36 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=992 One of the top features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system is the ability to forward your 800 number to any number on any phone. No really, ANY phone/phone number in the entire world! Your home phone, your office phone, your cell phone, your mom’s cell phone…it doesn’t matter.

Setting up call forwarding for your 800 (or local) number is easy through your online account manager.

We have broken it down into 3 simple steps:

1. Login to your Grasshopper account, choose “Settings“

2. Under Settings, choose “Call Forwarding“

3. Choose “Add Number” & Put in the desired forwarding number (click image to see full size)



That’s it!

Those simple steps are all it takes to forward your 800 number with our virtual phone system. Easy huh?

Once you put in the number, or numbers (yes, you can forward calls to more than one number), you can choose your call forwarding settings:

• Forwarding Schedule (Set specific times)

• Call Announce

• Direct Connect

• Call Screening

• PBX Connect

• Caller ID (Show your callers # or your Grasshopper #)

Along with 800 number forwarding there are a ton of other great features with the Grasshopper virtual phone system including unlimited extensions, custom greetings and voice mail transcription. Check it out and be sure to contact our 24/7 support with any questions you may have.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-800-forwarding-with-grasshopper/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/grasshopper-vs-google-voice-what%e2%80%99s-the-difference/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/grasshopper-vs-google-voice-what%e2%80%99s-the-difference/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:21:09 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=856

With the launch of Google Voice this past year, awareness surrounding the virtual phone, virtual pbx, hosted pbx industry has skyrocketed, and here at Grasshopper we have been fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits. More awareness means more people wanting to know what a virtual number is, what a virtual phone system is, how it works, who does this, how it can benefit them and how they can get it?

It also means more people asking, “What is the difference between Grasshopper and Google Voice?”.

The first thing we say is, Grasshopper is designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs versus the general consumer. We are dedicated to helping our customers sound professional, stay connected and ultimately grow their business.

That being said, our feature set has been built as a focused set of tools for entrepreneurs and their businesses – that is really the key difference.

Below we have highlighted just a few of the core features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system – all items not available with Google Voice:

Toll Free 800 Numbers

• A primary difference and business essential – A toll free number is a great way to help a business grow, look bigger and more professional, and provide customers with a means to reach you. With Grasshopper you can get general 800 numbers (800,888,877 & 866 numbers) along with custom vanity numbers (i.e. 1-800-AWESOME) and have them forwarded to any number on any phone in the world.

Phone Number Ownership

• As a Grasshopper customer you own the rights to your toll free or local number. If you decide to change service providers you can take the phone number with you. For businesses this is extremely important as the majority of marketing materials (business cards, website, etc) contain a business phone number. When you own the phone number, you don’t have to worry about adjusting all of your current materials just because you change providers.

Multiple Extensions

• As a business you probably want to add extensions for your employees. This is not only possible with Grasshopper, but also extremely easy and you are never charged for adding extensions. We offer unlimited extensions! That’s right we said an UNLIMITED amount at no extra charge ever. Each extension includes voice mail, call forwarding, custom greetings and more.

Multiple Numbers in ONE Account

• With Grasshopper you have multiple numbers within the same account. These numbers can all forward to any number you wish without limitations. This is important when you have several local numbers and a toll free number for your business. You need the ability to forward all numbers to one phone (whether this is home, office or cell). With Google Voice, you currently have the ability to forward two numbers to landline but only one to a mobile phone.

Human Voice mail Transcription

• One great feature with Google Voice is the voice mail transcription. As a general consumer, using my phone just for personal use, it is an awesome feature. The problem is, sometimes what you read, isn’t what was said. We know this can be the case with transcription which is why we offer a human transcription option included with our Read Your Voicemail feature.

• Example: Say you’re in a business meeting, can’t take a call, see the voice mail is from an important person but the transcription just doesn’t read correctly…choose human transcription and someone will actually listen to the voice mail, type it up for you and send it back. You never have to listen to your voice mail and perhaps miss an important message.

24/7 Live Support

• This is probably the biggest difference when it comes to our service and Google Voice. With our users being business men and women, we know how important it is to make sure service is always available and reliable. Just as we wouldn’t want to miss a call, we don’t want our customers to either. Our 24/7 dedicated support team offers help with set up, online account management and any issues or questions you may be having.

• That means if you live in California and decide to improve your business at 3am PST a real live Grasshopper support team member (yes we understand it is a rare occasion to get a real person on the phone nowadays) is just a phone call away at 800-820-8210 to help you out.

Away Greetings (After Hours, Vacations, Holidays etc.)

• You are a 1-2 person operation who has business calls forwarded to your cell phone using Grasshopper. Do you want to be receiving calls at 9 o’clock at night when you have settled down with your family? Probably not. With Away Greetings you have the option of creating a specific greeting for designated hours each day. Phone calls will not be sent to your phone and callers will hear the message you want them to.

On Hold Music

• You are on your cell phone, you put someone on hold, what do they hear? Silence. With Grasshopper you are able to upload your own on hold music or commercial. Choose music, commercials, jokes, whatever it is you want your customers to hear. Again, it helps your business sound professional and maybe even promote your lasted product to your customer, which is our goal.

We hope that answers any questions you have but if not, please feel free to contact our previously mentioned “live 24 hour/7 days a week” support team at 800-820-8210.

Interested in more information on Grasshopper vs. Google Voice?

• Grasshopper vs Google Voice – Live Crunch
• Your Hidden Potential Interviews David Hauser
• Grasshopper vs. Google Voice for Small Business – Longer Days
]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2010/01/grasshopper-vs-google-voice-what%e2%80%99s-the-difference/feed/ 6 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/balancing-life-work-in-a-virtual-office/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/balancing-life-work-in-a-virtual-office/#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:52:39 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=782

Many of the customers who use our Virtual PBX service are entrepreneurs starting out in a 1-2 person operation, working out of their homes or even their cars. They have created a virtual office for their business.

There are plenty of articles out there on creating a virtual office but there are not very many on what to do once you have done so. Working in the place you live can lead to unhappiness, burnout and tension at home. However, it can be an ideal situation if you properly balance life & work responsibilities.

Here are three tips for creating a work/life balance in your virtual office:

#1 – Create Boundaries

Set Up an Area Specifically for Work

Having a dedicated area will help you remember that there needs to be a separation between work and the rest of your life. Whether it’s an office in the house, a spare bedroom or a certain corner of the kitchen table, make sure that spot is where work takes place and nothing else.

Establish Work Hours

This is especially important if you have a family. While many of us tend to work longer than we planned at the office, it can be even worse when you are at home. Decide how many and what hours you will be working each day. Don’t forget about weekends. If you are going to work on weekends great, but don’t forget to set hours.

#2 – Stay Organized (At Work & Life)

Technology is really your biggest asset here. Your Blackberry can be your best friend and combined with the other elements of a virtual office (phone system, computer, fax, etc), can keep you organized instantly.

Create appointments on your calendar, make yourself weekly and daily to-do lists (check out TeuxDeux.com – No phone app yet but great list creator), keep your contacts in one place and oh yeah, don’t forget about birthdays and anniversaries.

Whether you do this on your phone, computer or 1990′s-style planner, organization is a huge factor in your professional and personal success.

#3 – Get the Hell Out

No really, get out of there! If you are working from home, take a walk, go to the store, get some lunch. Just like you would take a break in a physical office, you need to take breaks in your virtual office.

This also goes back to creating boundaries. Mental breaks are important and stepping away from work can be the best way to boost creativity. If you don’t separate work space from non-work space, the lines can easily blur.

Working in a virtual office, whether it be from your home, car, or your friend’s basement, can be a great experience. What are some of your personal tips and tricks for working at home?

Here are some other great articles on working from home:

• 6 Tips for Working from Home
• Top 30 Tips for Staying Productive and Sane While Working From Home
• Top Tips for Working at Home
]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/balancing-life-work-in-a-virtual-office/feed/ 3 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/choosing-the-right-toll-free-number-for-your-business/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/choosing-the-right-toll-free-number-for-your-business/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:06:26 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=756 As most people know, Grasshopper is a virtual phone system designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses. We have tons of great features (if we do say so ourselves), including call forwarding, unlimited extensions, voice mails delivered to your email and more. Our most popular feature is, of course, toll free numbers.



Toll free numbers can be extremely valuable to a business when they are looking to project a professional image, sound bigger or just give their customers an easy phone number to remember. 800, 888, 877 and 866 numbers from Grasshopper have helped tens of thousands of small businesses grow over the past six years and will continue to do so in the future.

How do I choose the right toll free number for my business?

Vanity Numbers

Everyone wants a number like 1-800-Flowers or 1-800-Mattress but it turns out that many of these numbers are taken. That doesn’t mean you should give up. Here are a couple of things to think about in choosing a vanity number:

• “What keywords best represent your business?” Think of a few to search for.
• “What number will be easy for customers to remember?”
• “Can the number grow with my business?” Don’t pigeonhole yourself into a niche if you plan on growing your business beyond that product/service.

When selecting a vanity number, try a variety of keywords until you find what best fits your business. If you have a specific request let us know and we can try to help you locate it.

True 800 Numbers

When people hear “toll free number” they automatically think of the “800″ prefix. These are called “True 800 Numbers”.

If you aren’t looking for a specific vanity number but would prefer having the “800″ prefix there are plenty available through Grasshopper. A True 800 number is a great way to help your business sound professional.

General Toll Free Numbers

866, 877 & 888 are the most common toll free prefixes outside of the 800 number we are all familiar with.

If you are simply looking for a general toll free number for your business, this is certainly the way to go. Any of these prefixes will provide you with a toll free number that helps your business project a larger image.

Choosing a toll free number shouldn’t be difficult but it should be given some thought. Grasshopper offers each of the toll free numbers mentioned above and searching for them is easy. We want your business to succeed and a toll free number combined with the Grasshopper virtual phone system will definitely help you stay connected and sound more professional.

*If you already have a toll free number, we also offer number portability.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/choosing-the-right-toll-free-number-for-your-business/feed/ 1 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-do-i-dial-a-vanity-number-on-my-blackberry/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-do-i-dial-a-vanity-number-on-my-blackberry/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:31:37 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=734 While this may seem like a no-brainer for some, it’s actually a common question!

“How do I dial a vanity number on my Blackberry?”

If you don’t know what a vanity number is, it is a custom phone number (toll free or local) that spells out a particular word. Here are a few examples:

• 1-800-Flowers
• 1-800-Contacts
• 1-888-BestBuy

So, how exactly do you go about dialing a vanity number on your Blackberry?

Well you could try to figure out what letter corresponds to what number, or you could simply hold down the ALT key. That’s it!

By holding down the ALT key, you can dial every letter on the keyboard, spelling out any number you need, including your Grasshopper vanity number!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-do-i-dial-a-vanity-number-on-my-blackberry/feed/ 3 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-to-manage-tag-map-messages/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-to-manage-tag-map-messages/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:16:02 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=699 Instead of the usual Friday Flix videos we present on the team blog, this week we thought we would provide a “How To” on managing messages in your Grasshopper account.

This video gives a quick overview on managing voice mails, including mapping the call to a specific location on a map, adding contact info, sending an email and storing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUy6BJlYP4k]

Log in to your Grasshopper account to get started. Don’t have one? Sign up today!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/12/how-to-manage-tag-map-messages/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/call-forwarding-stay-connected-while-traveling/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/call-forwarding-stay-connected-while-traveling/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:31:59 +0000 Gary G http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=545 Whether you are across the world on a business trip or on your way to the office, the call forwarding feature from Grasshopper can keep you connected to your small business. No missed calls, no missed sales and no angry clients.

With that in mind, we have prepared a few quick tips to make sure you stay connected on those days you aren’t simply traveling to the office.

Going Abroad

With Grasshopper and your cell phone, you can be reached just about anywhere you go. But what happens when you’re abroad? Many cell phones don’t work out of the country, or they are just too expensive. Renting a phone or buying a SIM card could mean you’d have to give everyone your new number and hope for the best.

Make it easy. Even if you do get a different number, simply update the call forwarding number in your account and have calls forwarded to the number you will be accessible at. Callers will dial the same toll free or local number they always do and you are reached on whatever phone number you’re using while traveling.



Switching Time Zones

If your travels take you to a different time zone, it may be worthwhile to change the call forwarding hours on your phone extension. Calls will only be forwarded to you during the hours that make sense for your area. You can even change the time zone for your phone extension to adjust the call history and voice mail timestamps for your location.

If you won’t be able to take calls while traveling, you can easily turn call forwarding off completely. Calls will go directly to voice mail.



Hitting the Beaches

Ok, this doesn’t involve call forwarding but it is another easy way to let your clients know that you will be unavailable. When you are heading out on vacation, changing your voice mail greeting is probably the last thing on your mind.

However, you’ll be able to enjoy yourself much more knowing that callers are not expecting a call back right away. It is a small thing that can make a big difference. Your account even offers a vacation setting in which you can choose when the greeting will play.



With these simple changes you can head on your way without worrying you might miss that next sales opportunity or important call.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/call-forwarding-stay-connected-while-traveling/feed/ 3 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/hate-traffic-try-talking-to-customers/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/hate-traffic-try-talking-to-customers/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:40:48 +0000 Christopher Buchino http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=418

In an effort to engage our customers and help them get the most use of our service, we at Grasshopper make sure that every new customer gets a personal phone call within the first week or so, asking them if they need any help, have any questions, etc.

As a manager, I make a handful of these calls each week and I always end up learning something new from talking to customers – seeing how they use our service to run their business and the types of questions that they have.

I really enjoy making these calls but one of the challenges I face each week is finding the time to make them. Often times the end of the week comes around before I know it and I start stressing out because I have so much left to do – and I still need to make my customer calls. This stress sort of bums me out because I know that the best calls I have with customers are the ones where my full attention can be devoted to them. The last thing I want to do is to haphazardly rush through these calls at the end of the week just so I can get my other work done and also put a checkmark next to my name stating that I made my calls that week.

One day recently, as I was about to leave the office and begin my 75 minute trek home in rush-hour traffic, I again realized that it was Thursday evening and still had not made my customer calls. I then had an interesting thought:

Could I make these calls in my car while sitting in traffic?

At first I told myself that this would not be good for the customers I talked to because I would not be at my computer to assist them. I then challenged that thought with the fact that I was pretty sure I could answer any questions people had off the cuff as I do have a decent amount of product knowledge. I also knew chatting with customers in traffic would allow me to really engage with them in dialogue and not be rushed – like it or not, I was not leaving my car for a good, long time.

I decided I’d conduct this little experiment and see the results. If it went well I’d continue and if not, I wouldn’t. Pretty simple. The results of the experiment were actually quite good. Minus the struggling to dial the phone numbers (I’ll pre-program them next time), the calls were some of the best I have had with customers. I was able to help out a couple of customers with basic setup questions as well as have a nice conversation with someone who has a couple of accounts and really loves our service.

So…if you hate traffic as I do and want to use this time in a more meaningful way than cursing at the people in front of you, try talking to customers and making personal connections with them!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/11/hate-traffic-try-talking-to-customers/feed/ 0 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/09/get-more-from-your-grasshopper-virtual-number/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/09/get-more-from-your-grasshopper-virtual-number/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:05:16 +0000 Casie Gillette http://grasshopper.com/blog/company/?p=3 Your Grasshopper virtual phone system makes it easy to organize yourself AND your small business. There are many simple tricks you can use with Grasshopper to avoid the chaos and clutter often associated with trying to run a company. Below are several tips to help you get organized:

1. Only Give Out One Number

Giving out just one phone number instead of an office, fax and cell phone makes things simple for you and even simpler for those trying to reach you. Clients, colleagues and friends will know they can always reach you when they dial your Grasshopper number.

One phone number can ring up to six numbers including your home, office and cell phone.  And if you can’t take the call (or simply don’t want to), our advanced voicemail and fax handling options allow you to easily check and manage messages.

2. Throw Out Your Fax Machine

While we don’t advise actually throwing away your old fax machine, our virtual fax feature will ensure you use it a lot less. With our virtual phone system you can use your toll free or local number to receive faxes.  Each fax can then be viewed from any computer or compatible mobile device.

If you have an advanced number then you are already capable of receiving faxes. Callers can simply send faxes to your number just like any other fax number.

To set up forwarding faxes via email:

• Click Settings
• Click on Notification
• Enter the email addresses where you would like to receive your faxes



3.  Save Voicemails and Faxes to Your Computer

Have you ever had to listen to saved message after saved message to find the one you were looking for?  Grasshopper’s virtual phone system allows you to save all of your messages and faxes and then download them to your computer.  Keep your messages organized and your inbox clean.

To save voicemail messages:

• Click to play the message
• Click the download icon (arrow under type)
• Click Save
• In this next window choose file name and location to save



4. Give Clients 24/7 Access to Frequently Requested Documents

Fax-on-Demand allows your callers to instantly access important forms and printed information without needing your help. This is a great way to get menus, order forms and other documents into the hands of your customers faster.

• Call in to your Grasshopper account from a fax machine
• From your Main Greeting press *
• Enter 6 followed by #
• Enter the PIN for the Fax-on-Demand extension
• Continue to follow the voice prompts to store or delete documents

If you want more information about any of our features, take a look at our How It Works page.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2009/09/get-more-from-your-grasshopper-virtual-number/feed/ 0