Archive for category Solo Professionals

Importance of Privacy Compliance of Your Telemarketing List

Out of the annoyance consumers have felt for every cold call telemarketers make, the national government has passed a legislation that allows them to limit the telemarketing beeps they receive. The product of this movement was the National Do Not Call Registry. When a phone number is included in this list, a call center is prohibited from calling such phone number. If it insists, it must face the horrible consequences. Although these have affected the operations of those that use phone marketing, it does not thwart business organizations to rely still in the power of such medium. What they have to be careful with is the exclusion of phone numbers registered to such act.

Indeed, the approbation of this legislation has added to the challenges encountered by firms using telemarketing in their marketing programs, especially in B2C or B2B lead generation. But, if they exercise due care, then there would be no problem at all, as easy as that. Therefore, if you opt to purchase a leads database, you have to ascertain that the chosen list provider only sells privacy-compliant lists. If not, there are other companies that can satisfy this requirement. The bottom line here is to get hold of a clean, legal bank of business contact information in order to avoid committing the mistake of breaking laws.

One of the law-abiding contact list sellers is a telemarketing call center. Since they have also been generating lists for several years in order to find their own clients, they already know the best ways on how to build the right list for you. Also, they are well aware of the current events that happened and are happening in their industry. With this, they can quickly adjust with the latest regulatory, legal and privacy guidelines. Obedience to the law is one of the many attributes they live with. And you can be assured that what they offer to you will not put your company behind the bars. Instead, their lists will serve as your map in achieving success.

It is always a pre-requisite to obey what our legal system says. This obedience is not out of fear from the damages to be paid nor the possibility of imprisonment. More than that, it is giving respect to consumers and companies that want to shut their lives from unsolicited phone calls. It is about showing understanding to their feelings and circumstance, and providing convenience to them. After all, there are still thousands and millions out there who are willing and interested with your goods and services. By using an updated telemarketing list that facilitates precision targeting, you can still realize every short-term and long-term goal you have in mind.

On the other hand, submission to what the law says has brought a lot of rewards and advantages as well. For one, you get rid of cold sales leads. When somebody includes his number in the Do Not Call Registry, he/she manifests his/her clear disinterest of everything you are going to offer. This, in turn, saves you ample time and money from chasing poor leads that do not convert into sales. You can now focus all your attention and resources to those fresh leads out there that are waiting for your solutions.

Alice Clark is a sales and marketing consultant specializing in business contact database management. Alice invites you to visit http://www.contactdb.com/ to learn more about business contact lists and databases.

By Alice C Clark

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Top 5 Remote Working Tools

By Tracey Lawton

Top 5 Remote Working ToolsOne of the many requests I get from business owners is asking me for my advice on how they can work productively when they’re not in their office, i.e. work remotely. With so many technology choices available today it becomes overwhelming knowing which one(s) are the most effective.

I have the traditional solo service professional office set up – I have a dedicated office space in my home with a desktop PC and wireless all-in-one printer. But there are times when I don’t want to, or can’t be, in my office and still need to be able to work. Lately I have been doing a lot of travelling in my business but still want to stay connected to my clients and business. And sometimes I just need a change of scene, especially when the weather is starting to get so nice it’s lovely to be able to sit outdoors and work off my laptop.

So today I’d like to share with you my top five remote working tools that allow me to get out of my office but still have access to all my “stuff” as though I’m sat in my office.

1. Gmail – I’m a die-hard Outlook fan and really don’t like the Gmail setup; however for when I can’t be in my office but still need access to my emails and calendar, Gmail is a great way for me to access that information. When I go away I forward all my emails on to my Gmail account; and I have found this neat tool that syncs my Outlook calendar with my Gmail calendar so that I always have up-to-date access to my schedule. And I’m also able to access my Gmail email and calendar from my Droid smartphone too, which is another great way for me to stay connected and on top of my schedule.

2. Dropbox – in case you haven’t come across this yet, this is a great service for sharing files between say your desktop PC and your laptop without having to copy from your PC to a flashdrive, and then from the flashdrive to your laptop. The Dropbox software adds an additional folder to your PC/laptop that you simply drop your files into and you can access from any PC that has the Dropbox software installed. You can also log in to your account online and access your files from there too.

I also use this service with my clients so that they have access to all of their files too.

3. TeamViewer – I have my husband to thank for this neat piece of software! This allows me to access my desktop PC from any other PC exactly as if I were sat at it. For example, if I decide I want to go and sit on the deck to work, I simply take my laptop with me and connect it to my desktop using TeamViewer – and I can access EVERYTHING as though I were sat at my desktop.

4. Skype – for years my ‘office’ number has been a SkypeIn number. This means that I can forward this number on to my cell phone, or install Skype’s software on my laptop, and I’m able to make/receive calls exactly as if I were sat in my office.

5. MiFi – if you’re travelling and you’re in an area that doesn’t have Internet access a MiFi is a mobile wireless router, provided through your cell phone carrier, which allows you to connect to the Internet from anywhere that has a cell phone signal.

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