New Database update is out Today!

08/14/2008

The August database and numbers is out today, and there are a lot of great numbers available right now. The updated reports 800 Watch reports are all sent or on their way to about 36,000. So let the race to get the best numbers begin!

How to find the Vanity Numeric Numbers

08/19/2008

Most people on our site look for vanity numbers related to the keywords for their business. But some people look for nice numeric numbers too. We have a section of the site that explains and goes into these easy to dial numbers and how they break down. But I wanted to share a tip on how to find the best numeric numbers for your business.

Read the rest of the tip to combine Words and Repetitive digits.

Do you want a toll free number to match your local number?

08/18/2008

Some visitors look for a toll free number to match their existing local number. This can look good on your business cards and give you some additional credibility. But it’s really only memorable to people that already remember your number. Matching your local number is certainly better than getting a random number, although it doesn’t create the image or memorability of a vanity number that spells something relevant. But sometimes if you can’t find any memorable vanity number matching your local number is still helpful and we can definitely help you find a good number to match or almost match.

3 tips you can use to find numbers to match your local number.

Geo specific increases your options and creates an advantage

08/15/2008

One of the best ways to get a number centered on a generic term is to add some type of geography to it, usually by adding your state abbreviation in front of the generic term.

This separates you from everyone else in your business chasing after that generic term and increases dramatically the likelihood of getting a number using that term.

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Adding your state initials will give you a home field advantage.

Monthly Recap for August 08

08/14/2008

It’s the 14th and time for our monthly summary. It’s by a very busy month. Traditionally the summer slows down for us but this summer has not only didn’t slow down but seems to be speeding up. And stay tuned because within the next couple weeks we’re going to be announcing our biggest change ever in the web based search tool too.

In terms of the website, in the past month we’ve had 23 unique new articles or posts on our website, during the past 30 days. They cover, Shared Use, Our Biggest Sale ever, Random 800 numbers, voip, Phone companies Stealing numbers and locking them up, as well as several articles in the Simplified series about Search, Transfers, Premium numbers. We pretty much have a new article ever day, so make sure you check back or get our RSS feed.

See the list of all 23 posts for the past 30 days.

Easy Buttons coming

08/14/2008

One of the things I’ve heard is that we have a lot of great information but it gets a little confusing. That comes from writing more and more about all of the different aspects of toll free numbers, our service and related topics. So to simplify things especially for new people, I’ve been writing simplified summaries of several of the main things we do, such as Activations, Backorders, Premium Numbers, Transferring and Searching for numbers.

We’re also making videos later the end of August, to go with these posts that explain the basics. These will be linked from a variation of the Easy Button to make it ‘easy’ for visitors to find the basics.

Don’t give anyone else ultimate control over your business.

08/13/2008

Building your business on a shared use rented number is like borrowing money from a loan shark or even the mob, to start your business. They may look nice in the beginning like they wouldn’t take advantage of you, but any time you put your business at the mercy of someone else, it creates a bad situation.

800 Number Portability is what keeps them honest.

Toll Free Test Drive

08/12/2008

When you’ve narrowed down the list of potential toll free vanity numbers down to a handful, one good thing you can do to figure out which is the best for your project is to take them for a “toll free test drive.”

A toll free number isn’t a car so you obviously can’t drive it, but you can put it into your actual use and see how it feels in context. Make up a mock flyer or ad, or commercial and put the number into it. Make a couple versions and show them to a few people. Sometimes a certain number will flow better or sound better or fit in with the rest of the advertising better.

Even something as simple as putting the prospective toll free numbers onto your business cards and showing a handful of people will give a mini focus group and may make it easier to know which one or ones to go with. So pick the best couple numbers and put them into your actual advertising and see how much more memorable they make your advertising.

5 times more 800 numbers than ever before

08/11/2008

Toll Free Day (8/8/8) was more than a huge success. The $8.88 activations were even a bigger hit than we had anticipated, probably too good. We didn’t just set a record for orders, we did over 5 times more than we have ever had in a single day. Customers saved over $15,000 on numbers in that one day sale but I think we nearly killed our selves doing it!

We’re working as fast as we can and on all of the processing but some of the last activations and toll free manuals should be done by the end of the day on Monday. We’re sorry for the dealy and appreciate your patience.

It was fun doing something crazy and it was good because we saw a lot of people we haven’t seen in a while. We really have a lot of great customers and we were very happy to give so many people so much value. So thanks to everyone and as always we’ve very happy to get you great 800 numbers for your business.

Can we Bend the Rules?

08/09/2008

I wanted to post something here though so that everybody understands I’m not making this decision just for them. Our 888 day sale was obviously a popular sale and a GREAT deal. So it’s natural for people to want to bend the rules a little to slip in afterwards. That’s a compliment and there’s nothing wrong with asking. I probably would if I missed it.

However I’m posting this here so everyone who asked to be let in afterwards knows that I’m not just picking on them. After the door closes on this sale, the door is closed. I’m not deciding to let some people in and not others based on how many they have bought or anything like that.

If you know me I’m a very straight forward up front person and I try to run my business that way. You don’t have to wonder about whether I’ll take the number you want and offer it to someone who’s willing to pay more money or rent it to you like other websites. You don’t have to worry whether I’ll sell your email address or whether there’s some hidden fee or fine print to take advantage of you. And for the same reason you don’t have to worry that I’m giving someone else more access to better numbers or specials either.

That may not sound like an advantage if you’re trying to get the sale price after it ended. But I think you’ll agree that not bending the rules is the best way to run this business and does help people more than bending them for you in this case really would.

Today ONLY (8/8/8) Activations are just $8.88

08/08/2008

Today only from 12:01am till 11:59pm on August 8th, 2008 (aka 888) all regular activations are just $8.88, instead of $49.95. Yes, we’ve probably gone crazy and are definitely losing money on this. This is the only time we’ve ever done anything like this before and we’re definitely NOT going to do this again. There’s a strict limit of 8 numbers per customer and this ONLY applies to standard activations that say they’re Currently Available in the Instant 800 Lookup.

Just use the regular activation form on our website at TollFreeNumbers.com and there’s no codes or tricks necessary. We’ve just changed the price (to less than our cost!) for one day. There won’t be another toll free day like 8-8-8 in our lifetimes so we figured it’s OK to be a little crazy. And it’s a Friday so we can work all weekend if we have to, to catch up. But at midnight the prices goes back to $49.95 so don’t delay!