As far as the brand goes, I’m going to go with a Toshiba. I’ve had one of these for a while and I think it’s one of the best brands out there still. I used to be a fan of Dell, but I’ve had a couple of bad experiences with them and I’m not willing to go that route. I’ve checked out Office Depot, Best Buy, Amazon, and a few other places but it seems like the best place to buy one is at ToshibaDirect.com.

Please shoot me an email or give me a call if you have any relevant feedback as far as my decision goes.

Quick Note: It’s Not Your Biggest Cost
Before I get into the techniques, I thought I’d share a concept. When you are considering a conference call style training session, long distance charges don’t represent most of your investment. It’s your very valuable time that you need to consider. Example: If you value your time at $20/hr (low I know), the potential long distance charges of 10 cents a minute ($6/hr), is really a drop in the bucket.

Cell Phone
Most cell phones include free long distance. You are being charged for your minutes. That said, if you are one of the many people who never reach the limit of their monthly pool of minutes, this may work well.

Magic Jack
Would you like to never pay for long distance again? You can invest $40 in a magic jack and that includes a year of phone service. Not only does this give you a way to call people without paying for long distance, you can also use this as a second line, maybe to give to telemarketers, or use for classified ads. After your first year it’s only $20/yr, or about $1.67/mo. If you currently have long distance charges of 10 cents a minute, you would need to use 400 minutes within the first year for this to be a break even prospect.

While I plan on getting a magic jack, I haven’t yet, so I can’t give you my personal experience with it. I do know someone who uses one all the time and she is happy with it.

Skype
While it Skype used to be free, and still is if you are calling another Skype number, it costs money otherwise. It is inexpensive and probably the best computer to phone voip (Voice Over IP) service available. They have a pay as you go plan for as little as 2.4 cents per minute within the US (except Alaska & Hawaii). They also have a $2.99/mo unlimited plan. This doesn’t give you a phone number that people can call you on, so I think Magic Jack is a better value, however the quality may be better on Skype. I have no experience with the quality on Magic Jack, but I’ve used Skype and the quality was very good.

Why Not Use a Toll Free Number
I’ve done a lot of research on this. While I can do a conference using a long distance number for free, the least expensive Toll Free service I’ve found is 3.9 cents per minute, per person. If I have a call with 25 people on it, the cost would be nearly $1/minute. I would be willing to pay this except the majority of people.

I hope this helps you save money if you don’t have free long distance. Feel free to contact me with any concerns.

A few years ago I had the good fortune of meeting Scott. Scott works for a local software company (Sage Payment Solutions) that offers credit card processing / merchant services. I can hear you now, “So what? Those people call me all the time.” Well I have a few reasons to feel lucky to know Scott. Here are the reasons I think you should use Scott at Sage Payment Solutions.

Wholesale Pricing
He sells his services to the banks, they turn around and resell them to you. In other words, he’s the wholesale source.

Low Pressure
You are probably sick of hearing from merchant service people. Maybe you’ve been burned by one. Maybe you have just started hanging up on them when the call. Scott is different. He’s been in business for a several years (significant in that industry), and he has strong values.

Online Integration Tools
Sage also has great tools for integrating payment within your website. I haven’t found an easier or more cost effective way to accept credit cards using your own merchant account. It makes a great alternative to PayPal.

Expert in Your Corner
Merchant services have some of the most complicated billing practices. It’s so easy to get fooled by someone who is showing you one number and not all of the hidden extra costs. This is why having Scott in your corner is such a great way to make sure you aren’t ripped off. It’s like having a mechanic you trust.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must let you know that I have incentive to recommend Scott & his service. He sends business to me, and I get paid a nominal fee per account I send him. It’s even more important to note that even without these incentives, I would still recommend Scott, all day long. I was sending him referrals for a long time and that is why he put me on as an affiliate to get paid, so you understand the order of things. I would suggest that you call Scott and have him review your credit card statements. He will be honest with you and let you know if he can save you money or not. You can contact Scott at 503-307-1331, or for more information look at his website http://ScottLongacre.com (Note: I didn’t design the site, it’s provided by his company)

The faxes come in as TIFF files that open fine in Microsoft Image Viewer. I didn’t need to set that up. When I clicked on the attachments they just opened. Some free services require you to use their software.

Note: I used to have another number, and I lost it. The reason is I don’t get very many faxes. If you let your account stay inactive for too long, you’ll get your number taken away. To make sure this didn’t happen I signed up for a weekly fax advertisement to come to my free fax number. This means I know I get a fax once a week, and that my fax number is staying active. I’ve included the link below to the one I use, but you can also just google “Weekly Fax Advertisement.”

http://www.busbook.com/busweekly.freesubscription.html

Additionally, this is an opportunity to tweak my business and make it more efficient. My goal is to spend more time building sites, and creating video training. I will be exploring tools like web based video conferencing and other online collaboration systems.

Questions & Answers

Why are you making this move?

My short answer is, “Why not.” Seriously though, we feel this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Currently we are not tied down by a mortgage, kids, etc., and we can build websites from anywhere.

Are you still going to be able to provide me good service?

With more focused attention, as well as better quality rest periods, it’s my sincere belief that I will be providing as good or better service.

Will I still be able to have meetings with you?

Yes, by phone and video conferencing we can accomplish the same things that we would in a sit down meeting..

Will you have a new phone number?

No, any number you have for me will still work. By the way, the best number to reach me at is 503-828-1763. That number rings all of my phones.

Will you have a new address?

Yes, please look closely at your next invoice as it will have the new address for sending in payments.

I have a different question…

Please send contact me with any questions or concerns.

I hope that you will join me on this adventure, by giving me feedback and helping me become an even more effective business partner.

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