Partner Offers
GH in the news- @Grasshopper
- Find some of the GH Labs crew & @Chargify at #SXSW http://bit.ly/aGLNUC
- @picobits - We have no immediate plans to implement a softphone feature.
- RT @OPENForum: 4 Employee Benefits at Little (or Zero) Cost. http://www.bit.ly/a42ABx
Archive for February, 2010
“Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” Video Helps Charity
Something very cool happened recently, and I wanted to share it will all of you.
In May of 2009 we created a video that inspired and motivated entrepreneurs across the globe to follow their passion. Our video is nearing 350,000 views, and has been translated into over 4 different languages. A very interesting (and fun) reaction to this video was the blitz of phone calls and inquiries we received. Being the employee whose phone number is posted on the website, you can imagine I took the brunt of these calls. I heard everything from “Can I use this at our conference?” to “Can we use your video and just put our logo at the end?” (shame on the person who asked that).
Months later in December of last year I got a call from an IP lawyer over at Nestle (yes the people who make Nesquik, Butterfinger, and KitKat!). Apparently they loved our video and music so much they wanted to use it for an internal video. We weren’t super open to people using our music, and just changing the words around a little as we didn’t want what started as, a jolt of inspiration for entrepreneurs, to be tainted.
However, they brought an interesting offer to the table…they were willing to give us money in exchange for our cooperation.
10 Tips for Writing Better Email
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.
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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.
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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.
Voice Mail When You Need It
You are in the zone, ideas are flowing, work is getting done and the phone rings. You don’t want to miss an important call but you also don’t want to interrupt your work flow. With the Grasshopper virtual phone system you can see who is calling and send the caller to voice mail without worrying you are going to miss important information.
Why? Because with Grasshopper you will immediately be emailed the MP3 and the voice mail transcription (if you subscribe to the “Read Your Voicemail” feature). Voice mail is a great asset for your business and we have included some of the best ways to get the most out of it below.
Voice mail when you need it:
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Out of the office?
The great thing about having Grasshopper is that you can choose when you want calls to be forwarded or when you want them to be sent to voice mail. When you are out of the office, you can have calls forwarded to your cell or home phone. Don’t want to get calls after 8 pm? Set up an after-hours greeting and send calls directly to voice mail.
Give Your Customers a Great Online Experience
If you’re lucky enough to get found in Google, a major differentiating factor between you and your competition could be the user experience you’re providing for current and potential customers on your website. I know it sounds simple, but think of all the really bad websites you’ve been to lately. There are too many. Do you know what your customers think of yours?
The caveat is that most of us aren’t web designers or user experience professionals. We’re entrepreneurs who are kicking the tires every day to take our businesses to the next level. Who has time to test or get feedback from customers?
There are no excuses anymore.
We’re excited to announce today a partnership with UserTesting.com, a fantastic service that we use ourselves here at Grasshopper to make sure we’re delivering the best user experience to our customers.
It’s simple and affordable. UserTesting.com has a panel of pre-screened users (matching demographic information you supply) who will record themselves using your website while they speak their thoughts and give you feedback on their experience. You learn where they get confused and what they like and don’t like on your site.
10 Facts About 800 Numbers You May Not Know
While we have an FAQ section on the site, I thought we could address a few things specifically about 800 numbers right here on the blog.
Here are a few common facts about 800 numbers that you may not know. 
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A “true” 800 number is simply a toll free number with an “800″ prefix.
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You own your 800 number.
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800 numbers are portable. If you change service providers, you can take your 800 number with you.
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800 numbers that spell out a company name, product, etc are called “vanity numbers”.
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800 numbers have been around for over 35 years.
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800 numbers are regulated by the FCC.
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800, 888, 866 & 877 are all toll free numbers. The only difference is the numbers themselves.
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800 numbers can be used for home numbers as well as business numbers.
The Grasshopper 2010 Entrepreneur State of Mind Survey
Today we launched the “2010 Entrepreneur State of Mind Survey” designed to learn more about you, the entrepreneur.
Yes, there are a number of boring surveys out there on entrepreneurship but nothing dedicated to finding out about your lifestyle, how you think, who you are and what keeps you up at night.
The survey will take you less than 6 minutes and might even give you a laugh or two.
Plus, if you tweet it with the hashtag #entrepreneursurvey you earn a chance to win an iPhone or Netbook.
Featured Entrepreneur: Allan Branch of LessAccounting
This week we are featuring Allan Branch. He’s the co-founder of LessAccounting and also a Grasshopper customer.
Could you explain the philosophy of Less?
We believe business software should easy. It should get out of your way, allowing you to get back to work and make money. Being a business owner is hard enough without having your software make it harder.
I’d love to hear more about your path to entrepreneurship. What were you guys doing before you started Less?
I was a freelance designer and Steve was a contractor doing software engineering. We both were looking for each other we just didn’t realize it at the time.
I’d like to focus on LessAccounting for a second. In college, I had to take this awful accounting class where we learned Peachtree accounting software. After this experience, I vowed to stay as far away from accounting as I could. How does LessAccounting help a guy like me (who can barely add)?
We like to say all bookkeeping software sucks we just suck the least. Bookkeeping should be easy, after all it’s really just adding and subtracting. LessAccounting keeps things simple, organizing your data, showing you where you’re at, who owes you money, who you owe money to, and then having a variety of reports that make it easy to understand your business. We also have bookkeepers on staff ready to help you if you have questions and even help balance your books for you. Ask Intuit or Peachtree to help you do a bank reconciliation.
Grasshopper in the News: January – February
The Grasshopper TV commercial took up most of the headlines along with a mentions from ABC News in the latest installment of Grasshopper in the News:
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Nashville Tech Feed #5 – Pseudo-Live from SocialFresh Nashville
Jonathan Kay joins the guys at Nashville Tech Feed as they record from the Social Fresh conference in Nashville.
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Grasshopper Commercial Aims to Combat Ad Skipping
AdGabber features the newest Grasshopper commercial and explores the concept of “Tivo-Proof”.
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Job Openings Drop as Hiring Remains Elusive
As job openings drop and more people remain unemployed, Grasshopper is one of the few small businesses actively hiring.
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Grasshopper Featured in New Book, “The Other 8 Hours”
In the new book, “The Other 8 hours”, Grasshopper customer Robert Pagliarini shows us how we can get more time, get more money and get a life simply by better utilizing the time we aren’t working or sleeping. He also features Grasshopper as a resource.
Top 3 Benefits of a Toll Free Number
Toll free numbers are a great tool for any business and are extremely easy to get these days. You can search and buy an 800 number as easily as you can a t-shirt (Note: A toll free number will probably have a more positive impact on your business than a t-shirt).
But if you are wondering just how a toll free number can help your business, we have listed 3 key benefits to toll free numbers:
1. Professionalism
As anyone familiar with Grasshopper knows, one of our brand promises is to help entrepreneurs sound professional. A toll free number not only helps your small business look big, but it also helps it look (and of course sound) professional.
Would you feel more comfortable buying from a business with a standard voicemail message or a company with a dedicated business number and professional greeting?
Six Feet of Snow? No Problem with a Virtual PBX
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.
