Posted by Laura Vestanen on 6/20/07 8:44am
Msg #195929

Saving money on phone bills

Saving money on phone bills

I recently made some changes to my phone services so I pay around $110 total each month for all fax, cell phone, and home services.


SUMMARY OF WHAT WORKED FOR ME
*Port main notary business number from cell to Voip
*Use Voip voice line for main number
*Got cheaper cell plan for minimal use
*Switch to electronic internet faxing service with low monthly fee


IF YOU CAN STAND TO READ IT......
...an excruciatingly detailed description of my phone strategy is below to help you determine what might help you.


CHANGES IN THE LOAN INDUSTRY INSPIRED NEW STRATEGY
In the past, most of my time was spent in the car or at borrowers' homes. I typically used over 3,500 cell minutes a month. Now the TCs and LOs serving my area have become lowballers and bait-switch devils. Not worth my time. Now I only do well-paying general notary work and HUD-backed Reverse Mortgages.

Now I spend most of my time in my home office. Most of my non-loan clients drive to me. My Reverse Mortgage closings are in the LO's office 4 miles away. So I have little gas expense and little wear and tear on my car. I now use less than 400 cell minutes a month.


VOICE SERVICE HISTORY AND SOLUTION

For all outgoing voice calls from my home office, I was already using a Voip line. (Voip is the phone service that connects through DSL or cable internet.) When home, I forwarded all cell calls to ring on my Voip line. The reception was better but the cell phone company still charged me for all the minutes on incoming calls even though I wasn't talking on a cell phone.

Thanks to all my marketing work, my cell number is plastered all over the internet. I did not want to lose that phone number. To keep my famous cell number, I ported it to the Voip line. First I called the Voip number and had them verify they could support my exact number. Then I set up a secondary line with the cell company so I wouldn't have to sign a contract for a new cell phone line. Then my famous number was ported and I dropped the primary cell line. The new secondary cell line is my new cell number. It is on a low minutes, low cost plan.

Now all calls to my famous number go straight to my new Voip phone line. If I am out of the office, I forward all incoming calls to my cell phone's new line. That means I never miss a call and my cell minutes are minimal. No cell minutes charge on incoming calls unless I have forwarded my Voip line to the cell.

Search this board for recommendations for reliable and cheap Voip companies. That's how I found mine: BroadvoxDirect.com It's not the cheapest service, but it has features specific to my clients' needs so it helps build income.


FAX LINE DETAILS
Using a land line for faxing is very expensive. Voip lines are great for voice but unreliable for faxing. I now pay an electronic faxing service $10 a month for unlimited faxing to and from anywhere in North America. I bought a cheap scanner to be able to use this service.

Electronic faxing can be cheap and reliable if you find the right company for your needs. eFax.com was a disaster for me: I never got several urgent faxes. I needed a local area code and prefix because all my clients are local so MaxEmail.com couldn't help me. MyFax.com worked out great. MyFax.com provided me with a toll free number that works anywhere in US and Canada. A notary on this message board recommended it to me. Search the posts to find a service that is right for you.


http://www.ProfessionalNotary.com/7.html

Reply by PL on 6/20/07 9:56am
Msg #195963

That seems a bit high to me.

I have cell,local, 800 service and fax that runs me about $85.00/month without having to go through great gyrations using Qwest, T-mobile and Kall8.

Reply by LynnNC on 6/20/07 11:26am
Msg #196013

PL - How do you have all those services for $85? n/m

Reply by PL on 6/20/07 12:46pm
Msg #196042

sure

t-mobile 1500 minutes 49.75 all inclusive
qwest basic phone service 19.99
Kall8 800 service $2/month plus 6 cents a minute- 15.00 average
K7 efax free

Reply by PL on 6/20/07 12:48pm
Msg #196043

I forgot qwest dsl for 14.99 so totals 99.73. Sorry n/m

Reply by Christine Gardner on 6/20/07 1:12pm
Msg #196050

Re: That seems a bit high to me.

Wow, wish I had that available to me. I spend about $225 for land line, cell phone and cable internet. My cell phone is a family plan with 4 lines and internet capabilities, thats what gets me.

Reply by Laura Vestanen on 6/20/07 5:42pm
Msg #196131

$110 includes lots of international calls.......

I call Canada almost every day. I make long overseas several times a month.

Also included are toll-free calls from Western Canadians to me.

Some of my clients fly in from Canada, Hong Kong, and Guam because they know I will handle their notary work properly.

The $110 listed in my original post includes all my phone costs, including the international ones.

Reply by hcampersFL on 6/20/07 8:31pm
Msg #196152

Re: $110 includes lots of international calls.......

Laura I have tried to leave you alone, really! But people fly from Hong Kong and Guam to get things notarized by you? You are the only one that does it right? The whole west coast and you are it? Seriously?

Reply by AngelinaAZ on 6/20/07 9:41pm
Msg #196166

Re: $110 includes lots of international calls.......

LOL... I thought I was the only one to think this was a crock load of crap. I've got some ocean front property out here in Arizona in case anybody is interested... any takers?

I have to be honest... if a client of mine flew from Hong Kong just to work with me because 'I'm the only one to do it right'... I'd be wondering if they were involved in some scam or ID fraud or something and I was the only notary too dumb not to notice.

Reply by Becca_FL on 6/20/07 11:11pm
Msg #196185

Re: $110 includes lots of international calls.......

>>>Some of my clients fly in from Canada, Hong Kong, and Guam because they know I will handle their notary work properly.<<<

Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, right.

People, FWIW, she's trying to sell you her product.

Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 6/21/07 1:23am
Msg #196200

I don't think Laura should be dished like this

She has over the last couple of years given many notary/loan signers very valuable information on public notary work.

I have her on my recommeded list of companies for my loan signing classes.

www.joanbergstromnotarypublic.com

Reply by hcampersFL on 6/21/07 7:46am
Msg #196222

Re: I don't think Laura should be dished like this

Joan I have personally recommended Laura’s book to several newbie’s that have contacted me for advice. I think that she leads the pack when it comes to finding new and innovative ways to make money as a Notary.

Now let’s get real. Hong Kong? Guam? People buy a ticket for at least hundreds if not thousands of dollars and get on a plane for 18 hours just so that she can do their loan work? You buy this?

This is beyond self promotion.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/21/07 9:37am
Msg #196237

Re: I don't think Laura should be dished like this

Joan,

It is true that Laura has offered a lot of good info to me personally as well as to this board, however her post about foreign clients flying into Washington to get a document notarized so it will be done correctly lends a sane person to question what kind of work it is and the logic of it all.

IMHO anyone whose mind doesn't question that kind of a statement is operating on a low-level of reason.

There are not many responses one can make to Laura's posts because she won't reveal any further facts about her curious clientele under the "Gotta protect my business and can't tell you" rule...and that's fine...but nonetheless she posts these mysterious things and probably knows full-well that her wild-sounding claims are generating pairs of rolling eyes all over the US when notaries read this...or they are generating a lot of interest and curiosity.

She's a very smart woman and a shrewd marketer who knows how to drive traffic to her site. She's no dumb bunny and she surely knows this sounds pretty far out but the benefits outweigh the flack.

Sometimes dishing [sic] is an internet marketer's best friend.

(BTW,Joan, it's "dis" or "dissing" as in disrespect; to "dish" is to give the "scoop".)

Reply by MistarellaFL on 6/21/07 9:51am
Msg #196242

ROFLMAO

Yes, that happens to me ALL the time, too!
My clients fly in from England, India and France and the Carribean islands on a regular basis.
They say they can't trust ANYONE else to do it right