When do You Need to Hire a Virtual Receptionist?

Call handling is an important factor in the success of pretty much every business out there. When calls get missed, or a busy employee rushes a client off the phone, your reputation and revenues always suffer. Handling menial calls when you should be focusing on other aspects of the business also inhibits growth, making the need for a receptionist to handle calls essential to success.

Virtual receptionist

Virtual receptionists are fast becoming a popular option, particularly for virtual-based businesses, but also brick-and-mortars who don’t have the office space or budget to allocate space and resources for a non-virtual employee.

The business is getting call volumes you and your staff can’t handle

It should be obvious that when call volumes are spiraling out of control and you and your staff can’t effectively handle each call coming in, you need to hire someone to help take care of things.…

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Why Virtual Phone Number is a Must-Have for an Online Business

The idea of a business phone number without any physical lines attached to it is a relative new one. In days gone by, a business would have to pay their local landline provider a premium for access to unlimited long distance, and shell out thousands in initial costs for multi-line phones, IVR equipment and software, and other physical infrastructure needed to answer incoming calls.

Using a virtual phone number

Now, everything can be done on the Internet, using a virtual phone number that routes calls to whatever device you want to use when calls come in, to any member of your team that’s available to take the call.…

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Assertiveness is Key for a Successful Sales Representative

Picture in your mind a highly effective sales candidate; it could be one presently working with you at your company who is finding consistent success, or one you imagine could fill an open position. Chances are that assertiveness is among their top qualities.

Sales representative

A good amount of assertiveness implies a secure sense of self while in the role or position; the candidate recognizes which prospects to give energy to, has an understanding of urgency on a call, but also knows when to pull back and when to give potential clients some breathing room.

To know when and how to put just the right amount of pressure also requires employees to have a highly developed sense of awareness.…

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5 Reasons Your Startup Can’t Survive Without Solid Leadership

If you asked 10 random entrepreneurs why they decided to go into business for themselves, you’d likely hear at least 3 common answers from each:

  1. The freedom of not working for someone else.
  2. The adventure of building something from the ground up.
  3. Being in ultimate control of their income level.

Whatever your reason, be it one of those mentioned above, or something completely different, you need to bear in mind that no company can survive or thrive without a solid leader at its helm.

Effective leadership

Here are 5 good reasons your company can’t survive without effective leadership:

1. Leadership establishes and maintains order

When it comes to the human condition, there’s no more scary a scenario than bringing together lots of people from multiple different backgrounds.…

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Things Every First-Time Ecommerce Vendor Should Consider

Starting your own ecommerce store can be an intimidating process. There are so many things to consider, venders often don’t know where to begin. Luckily, many people have already found success in the ecommerce space, which means there are some behaviors that are typical of a winning store. Here are a few things every first-time ecommerce vendor should consider before accepting any orders.

Ecommerce marketing tips

SEO Will Help You Make More Sales

If you’re new to the world of ecommerce, it’s possible you’re new to the world of search engine optimization (SEO) as well. SEO helps businesses attract more customers by influencing search results.…

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3 Tips – Based on Research – to Skyrocket Form Conversions

You’ve done everything correctly: built a beautiful website, added contact forms and marketed your business. Leads are pouring in, but for some reason, they never convert. Your business is suffering, and the problem may be a simple one.

Your contact form isn’t optimized for success.

Form conversion rate optimization

I have seen long contact forms spanning 30 fields before, and the first thing I thought was: “no one is going to take the time to fill out this form.”

And this leads to our first tip:

1. Limit Your Fields

If no one is going to fill out a long form, what is the ideal number of fields then?…

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3 Lesser-Known Link Building Opportunities for Businesses

Businesses, especially new businesses with a small budget, have a hard time justifying link building. You might, and I say might very lightly, be able to start generating leads affordably with pay-per-click advertising.

Every business is different, with some having very affordable pay-per-click rates.

But over time, a business will start to realize that organic traffic that they don’t have to pay for is much more economical. Enter link building. Indeed, link building remains the cornerstone of any search engine optimization strategy.

Link building strategies

To get started, QuickSprout has a great, advanced link building resource to help you get started.

So, what are the lesser-known link opportunities for businesses?…

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3 Ways to Maintain a Respectable Safety Record (plus 5 Issues to Address)

Safety in manufacturing should not be perfunctorily performed just to comply with government regulations; it should be taken seriously, but because the absence of safety exposes employees to serious workplace accidents. Human suffering and loss arise if there is an injury or death in the workplace. It affects everyone—the worker’s family and friends, his or her community, and fellow coworkers and the company’s reputation.

Welding aluminum

Fortunately, all it takes are a few simple measures to maintain a company’s respectable safety record, while addressing several issues in the process.

3 ways to keep workers safe

Here are three ways to keep your employees safe and keep your safety record at the highest level.…

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Pros and Cons of Starting Out as a Private Tutor for an Occupation

Working as a private tutor, whether full-time or part-time, is always a great way to earn good money and simultaneously helping others who are in need of such services. Anyone who has good knowledge or is an expert in a particular subject can look forward to taking up private tutoring as a business.

Private tutoring business

Being a one-on-one online private tutor is an outstanding way to send out your services to the ones in need remotely as you get the much-needed freedom and flexibility. Similar concept is followed by Preply.com which hosts about 29000 professional tutors representing 185 countries and speaking different languages.…

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Why Citizenship by Investment is The New Normal for Entrepreneurs

Economic citizenship was once seen as the exclusive domain of the ultra-wealthy, but now it’s becoming the new normal for entrepreneurs hoping to expand their reach internationally. First formally established in St. Kitts and Nevis, before being picked up in other nations across the world, citizenship by investment (or CBI) provides those who can afford it with a second passport and all of the advantages which come with it.

Citizenship by investment (CBI)

But what can entrepreneurs stand to gain from economic citizenship to a second nation, and which nations will provide small business owners with the widest range of opportunities for success? Read on to find out why CBI could be of use for any business, and where the best place to apply for a new passport is.…

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