U.S. Local & Toll-Free Phone Numbers
One of the first orders of business for any small-business owner is to establish a professional telephone line. Having a business phone system both gives your company a professional presentation to clients and helps separate business contacts from personal ones.
There is currently a wide range of phone services available to the modern small business owner. As an alternative to traditional business phone systems, many small-business owners are turning to VoIP phone services, which provide virtual phone numbers and transmit voice communications over the Internet.
Why Choose a Virtual Number?
There are many advantages for smaller businesses in choosing a virtual number. The most obvious is that, unlike traditional phone systems, there are no expensive and complex equipment to purchase, install and maintain. In addition, if you are familiar with relatively simple software applications, virtual phone systems can be completely controlled and customized online.
Most virtual phone services provide an online control panel through which you can design most if not all features of the phone system. Also, if you are accustomed to running your business through your mobile phone, calls can be routed to it at the times when you need to leave your office and your voicemails can be transcribed and sent over as either an email or text message.
Benefits of Virtual Phone Services
Virtual phone services offer most of the popular features of traditional phone systems, such as:
- local and toll free numbers,
- customized call menus,
- professional greetings,
- international calling,
- call conferencing,
- call waiting,
- call blocking,
- call handling management to multiple extensions,
- providing multiple lines if needed.
However, virtual services often provide additional benefits that can be tailored to each business’s needs. For example, one virtual number can route the caller to a number of different mobile phones or landlines. This feature is especially helpful if your business has several partners, offices, or departments that your clients may want to reach without having to dial multiple phone numbers.
International Calling
If your company does business internationally, most virtual services also provide international calling, and more importantly, allows you to accept international calls on a local mobile phone number when you are traveling.
Porting Existing Numbers
If you already have a local phone number that you use for your business, you can port that number to your new virtual phone service. You can also choose a toll-free or vanity number instead of or in addition to a local number.
Online Fax Services
Most virtual phone services also supports internet fax services, which allows you to send faxes as well as receive them as an email attachment.
Which Virtual Provider Is Best For You?
If you make the decision to use a virtual phone service, there are a number of service providers you can choose from, ranging from free services like Google Voice to more professional, subscription companies that provide more comprehensive services, including Phone.com, and RingCentral.com.
Google Voice
Google Voice is a free virtual phone service that is popular with many individual users. Because there is no fee charged for this service, this may be a good option for very small businesses run by only one person.
However, for businesses that have two or more partners, offices, or departments, Google Voice lacks more professional features. For example, Google Voice does not offer toll-free numbers, and some local area codes are not yet available. Google Voice also does not support multiple extensions, multiple voicemails, or auto attendant service to route the call depending on the caller’s needs. In addition, Internet fax, which is a common and popular feature among the subscription services, is unavailable through Google Voice.
Phone.com
Phone.com is one of the most comprehensive virtual phone service providers available, and the winner of several Product of the Year awards.
It offers all of the virtual number features described above, and many more including global numbers, IP business phones, adapters to analog phones, and 24/7 customer support. Phone.com customers have access to a comprehensive online control panel through which they can control every detail including which phone line, extension, greeting, or voice mailbox the caller reaches based on the time of calling and the caller’s ID.
In addition, Phone.com accounts have highly customizable features such as professional greetings, on-hold music, and calling queues, all of which can be individually designed or uploaded.
Phone.com’s pricing and plan structure is based on flexibility and optional features, with their Virtual Office monthly fees starting at $14.88 per month, providing 300 free monthly minutes. More comprehensive plans go up to 2,500 free monthly minutes at a cost of $74.88 per month.
While most calling features are included in the base price, additional features such as toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, IP business phone, analog telephone adapters, and additional minutes cost extra. If you have a business that is starting out on a smaller scale, but has room to expand and grow, the flexibility of Phone.com‘s plans may be the best choice for your business.
For more info – click here.
RingCentral
Like Phone.com, Ringcentral.com is an established, award-winning virtual phone service providing comprehensive features and customer service.
While RingCentral’s list of available features is similar to Phone.com’s, it offers a slightly different type of pricing structure, and may be best for businesses that are already growing and need more built-in features than optional ones. While RingCentral also offers a basic Professional plan at $14.99 per month, its more business-oriented Office plans start at $49.99 per month and includes unlimited calling and faxing, toll-free numbers, and IP phone systems as well as analog telephone adapters for your landline phones.
RingCentral’s Office plans are more ideal for businesses that already have substantial client bases, or use the phone frequently in conducting their business so that unlimited monthly minutes is an important feature.
For more info – click here.
How To Print Business Cards
Business cards are widely used across all industries as an inexpensive, convenient marketing tool. Frequently exchanged at both formal and informal meetings, it provides you with a professional presentation as a representative of your company, as well as serves as a reminder for the recipient of your company and contact information.
Advantages of Online Printing
Like many other aspects of commerce, an increasing number of businesses are moving their printing needs online. Getting your business cards printed from an online printer is not significantly different from getting them at a traditional printer: you select a paper stock, color theme, and insert your company information and logo. However, because of competition and to attract customers, online printers often offer competitive pricing and several other convenient features:
Instant Pricing and Adjustment
Most online printers have an instant pricing tool that lets you see the total price of your order as you adjust the quantity, quality, and other options on your business cards. This tool also takes into consideration factors such as shipping and handling costs. This feature is convenient if you have a set budget for your business cards, so that you can adjust your options freely before you order.
Free Templates and Design Software
One of the best features of online printing is that most online printers make available a wide selection of free templates, color themes, as well as online design software and customer support. While traditional printers offer templates as well, they are usually more limited in number and format. Online templates are mostly in downloadable PDF or Microsoft Word format, and can range from a few dozen to hundreds of designs, formats, and themes. Many online printers also separate templates into categories such as Real Estate, Medical, Legal, or Technology.
In addition to templates, almost all online printers also offer some form of design customer support. This usually comes in the form of a basic design software that helps you design your business cards step by step, by choosing colors, themes, formatting, and then either designing or uploading company logos. Some online printers also offer a team of design specialists that can help you design your business cards, usually for a fee.
Finally, perhaps the biggest advantage of using online templates and design software is that you can input all of your company information into the design and see a copy of the final product before you order. There are times when a template can seem suitable for your company, but later the final version does not seem quite right after all your information have been inserted. This can be avoided with the instant viewing technology that online printers offer.
Internet/PDF Proofs
Instead of waiting for a printed proof, most online printers will send you a final proof over the Internet, usually in PDF format, within 1 business day. Some online printers send the proof immediately after receiving your order. Once you approve the proof, your order will then get printed.
Convenience
Finally, using an online printer is often more convenient than traveling to a local printer. Other than saving travel time, online printers allow you to upload your company information and logos directly from your computer, eliminating the need to transfer files onto flash drives or other portable devices.
Choosing a Business Card Printer
When choosing an online printer, there are several factors to consider. You want to make sure to choose an online printer that has reputable service and quality, good customer feedback, and is able to provide the format and delivery times you require. Of course, you also want to consider pricing and shipping costs.
In addition, you will also want to look into how your business cards will be printed. Most reputable online printers use offset printing, which is a high-quality, 4-color printing process and creates more premium products over cheaper digital printing. The companies listed below all offer a free sample pack so that you can see their color quality and paper stock samples before deciding on options for your own business cards.
PrintPlace
PrintPlace is a reputable, large online printer offering a wide range of printing services. As with most online printers, it offers a wide variety of business cards along with many other printing services, such as brochures, catalogs, and postcards. PrintPlace offers many of the features described above, including instant pricing, free templates, free PDF proofs, and real-time order tracking. The company also offers same day and 1-day turnaround time for rush jobs, for an additional charge.
Like other online printers, PrintPlace allows you to upload your company information and logo onto their site and to use with their templates. However, do note that their template files are in ZIP format, requiring a ZIP file program such as WinZip to open.
PrintPlace also offers a Price Match Guarantee, offering to match any price quote from a competitor online printer for the same order, quantity, and quality of business cards within 7 days of your order. The quote must be for the total price including shipping charges.
For more info – click here.
PsPrint
PsPrint is also a large, reputable online printer offering a wide variety of printing services. It offers all of the standard online features, such as instant pricing, real-time order tracking, and online templates and design software. Like PrintPlace above, PsPrint also offers same-day turnaround for rush orders, and a 7-day Low Price Guarantee.
There are several special features that set PsPrint from other online printers. Notably, it is the only online printer from our research that offers 4 different sizes for business cards, whereas the other online printers usually only offer the standard size (3.5” x 2”). PsPrint offers in addition Slim (3.5” x 1”), Mini Square (2” x 2”), and Jumbo Square (3.5” x 3.5”). Companies in creative or design-focused industries may find these options especially useful.
PsPrint is also the only online company that we have found to offer digital printing for small quantities (50-count). Other online printers usually offer only offset printing, which due to its quality and cost requires a 250-count minimum order.
Finally, PsPrint’s design software, Design It!, offers a usually wide selection of free customizable templates, including 304 designs for business cards in 16 categories.
For more info – click here.
PrintingForLess
In terms of services and features, PrintingForLess is similar to the online printers above, and offers instant pricing, PDF proofs, and free templates and design support. PrintingForLess uses a trademarked InstaCard application to help each client customize their own business card design, using various colors, themes, and categories such as Legal, Medical, Technology, Scenic, and Flowers. In addition, PrintingForLess offers a free pre-printing review process where your submitted final design is carefully reviewed to make sure it conforms with the bleed and trim requirements for final printing.
For customers with more specific requirements, PrintingForLess also offers a custom design team that will work with you to design your own special business cards. PrintingForLess does not offer price matching.
For more info – click here.
VistaPrint
VistaPrint also offers all standard online printing features listed above. In addition to providing a range of free business card templates, it uses a Design Wizard software that has a free logo designer application, which is helpful for small companies that have not yet designed a company logo.
VistaPrint has a slightly different pricing structure from other online printers. Instead of built-in prices for some features, it offers a pricing list where many features are listed as additional options available for extra charge, such as uploaded logos/photos/designs, matte or recycled paper, and PDF proofs. Companies that do not want to use these optional features can choose a base price and avoid the additional costs.
Notably, VistaPrint also offers 250 free business cards if you choose from one of several dozen basic designs. The caveat is that these free business cards contain a 1-line VistaPrint advertisement on the back of each card. The customer is also responsible for shipping costs. The sample pack, however, is still completely free, with no shipping costs.
For more info – click here.
U.S. Bank Account for Foreign Business Owners
As you probably learned by now, after 9/11 and with the passing of the Patriot Act it became really hard for foreigners to open U.S. bank accounts. Today all U.S. banks are required to document verification that the person opening the account is the person on the I.D. they’re receiving. The easiest solutions practically all banks chose to go with is simply having one of the employees in their branches make sure that the person opening the account in the branch is the same person on the photo I.D.
From time to time we find opportunities with certain branches of big banks that allow us to open accounts for our clients without requiring their physical presence. Once we discover a way to do that we will publish it in this article. Below you can find all the recent working solutions, their cost, terms, and statistics.
Currently we have no available solutions for remote bank account opening. Our past solution can be seen below (those solutions are unfortunately no longer offered by the banks).
You are welcome to research other options and alternatives for banking here.
Past Solutions (No Longer Offered)
| Solution #1: |  |
Remote Business Bank Account opening in Citibank® (California). |
| Available From: | October 2013 | |
| Unavailabe From: | May 2014 | |
| Successfully Opened: | Per applicant’s country: | |
| Australia: | 1 account | |
| Germany: | 1 account | |
| India: | 2 account | |
| South Africa: | 1 account | |
| Sweden: | 1 account | |
| UK: | 2 account | |
| Failed to Open: | Per applicant’s country: | |
| Libya: | 1 account | |
| Solution #2: |  |
Remote Business Bank Account opening in East West Bank. |
| Available From: | February 2014 | |
| Unavailabe From: | June 2014 | |
MyUSAOffice
Welcome!
MyUSAOffice is a service provided by MyUSACorporation.com. You can use it as a business address for registration purposes, as well as a business mailing address. Please note that all of the addresses, except Cheyenne, Wyoming and Anaheim, CA, are US Post Offices with a street address.
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