How New Copywriters Can Save $128.50 On Their Business Phone Line

By: John Manley
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:25
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A typical question from new copywriters putting up their freelance shingle: How much does the shingle cost? Until the promised profits start coming in, how much will you need to pay in overhead expenses?

Well, this depends. Ideally, you want to put out a fair amount of money. Purchase the best software. Hire the top designers. Get a fancy telephone wired with fax, voicemail and a digital recorder. Order top quality business cards and the fastest internet connection on the planet.

But a lot of us don't go into a six-figure business like copywriting with anything more than three figures to spare. Often we've already invested most of our extra cash in learning the craft.

A Dedicated Telephone Line Literally Pays For Itself

There's no doubt about it, you need a separate telephone line for your freelance copywriting business. You can't have your kids answering the phone. You'll lose prospects' respect (and contracts) without a business number.

And even if you live alone, you'll probably want to avoid personal calls when you're working. (Friends and family sometimes think home-based business owners are available to chat anytime of the day).

Do You Want Your Copywriting Career to Sound Liike a Real Business or a Hobby?

It's also crucial to have a dedicated phone number so that when prospects call, you can answer the phone professionally. Simply saying "Hello?" makes it sound like copywriting is a hobby not a business.

You need to be able to state your business name (if you have one) plus your own name (e.g., "John Manley speaking" or "Friendly Neighbourhood Copywriter"). Otherwise you'll be starting your conversation with a touch of confusion.

How to Avoid (For a Few Months At Least) The Costly Expense of Installing Your Own Business Line

Simply to install a second landline, where I live, costs $175 (CAN). There's an additional $55 to activate it. After that you're looking at the regular $35/month plus $10 for voicemail. (I strongly recommend voicemail over an answering machine. Voicemail allows people to leave messages while you are on the line).

In total, for your first month, you're looking at a $140 phone bill.

Here's a way to cut the bill down to about $12.50/month: Instead, ask your telephone company about "ident-a-call." This allows you to have a second telephone number for that same telephone line. It normally costs around $10/month. When someone calls with the second telephone number the phone will have a different ring.

This way, when you hear the alternative ring you know it's a business call and can treat it as such (which sometimes might mean letting it go to voicemail because you were about to have dinner).

With my phone company (Bell Canada), you cannot, however, have a separate voicemail system for the second ident-a-call number. You can, however have a separate "voicemail box" on the same voicemail system. I did something along the lines of "Hello, you've reached the home office of John and Nicole Manley. If you are calling regarding copywriting services, please press 1 now."

When they hit "1," a dedicated message can be played for your copywriting services.

By the first or second month of your copywriting career, you should have already earned enough profit to afford a dedicated telephone line. In which case, you are normally allowed to use the same phone number you had for your ident-a-call line.

Business Line Versus a Residential Line

But before you install the phone line, you'll have a choice between a "residential line" or a "business line." There are two differences: 1) A business line is more expensive. 2) If there's some kind of accident or natural disaster where your phone lines are damaged, business lines get repaired first.

My personal feeling on this is that in the case of a natural disaster, I might not be doing much copywriting work anyway. Even if I am, I suspect the amount of money I'd lose from not having a telephone/internet connection would be significantly less than the amount I'd be paying out to the telephone company each month over the years.

As well, because I don't live in a business sector, I question how fast they'd repair my "business line" anyways.

Article source: Expert Articles