Let’s face it, there are many, many challenges to running an online boutique or business from your home. One of the myriad of obstacles is how to receive phone calls.

I used to use my cell but when my business took off, the cell phone didn’t quite feel professional enough. I needed a way to bridge the gap between WAHM and professional.  A client of mine who had just started a home business selling baby keepsakes, mentioned that she used Ring Central and it was a perfect fit for her.

I researched it for a couple of days and then signed up after I realized that it was SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than installing a business line. I have never regretted it. With Ring Central I could get my own 800 number (or local number if I preferred, or both) that rings through to any mobile or landline I designate.  I can have it ring to my home number, my cell number, my computer or another number if need be. I can set it to ring to different places at different times, and I can set business hours so when I’m off hours the answering machine can pick up. Voicemails are sent to my email or I can login to retrieve them.

Ring Central is a small office phone system “on the go.”  It’s truly a fantastic and highly recommended resource!  If you don’t have a business phone line solution that you love, sign up for Ring Central’s free trial TODAY.  You can always cancel if it doesn’t work for you.  Post a comment and let us know how it goes!

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“30 Principals of Landing Page Design” is a must read for anyone interested in decreasing their bounce rate and increasing their conversion rate.  For those just getting started with your websites, your landing page is your first page, sometimes called a splash page.  Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site after coming to your landing page.  Your conversion rate is how many visitors follow your call to action (this would be dependent on what your website’s goal is – a boutique’s goal would typically be to make a sale).

Take a peek and discover the 30 tactics that claim to increase your conversion rate by 300%!

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Wow…that’s just about all I can say!  I just discovered Pixlr.com and I’m amazed.  This FREE, easy to use (ok, maybe easy to me because it emulates photoshop which I use every single day) online photo editor lets you resize, edit, crop and optimize your photos right in your browser window.  I won’t say it’s going to replace my version of Photoshop, but it is a great option for anyone who needs to edit photos but doesn’t need the full scale functionality of Photoshop.  This user friendly online photo editor will help you make sure your product and site images are optimized and professional looking.  Check it out at Pixlr.com.

Love it or hate it, a phone is often a must for running a small business. For me, there are many reasons why the phone is not my preferred method of contact. For starters, my work, by nature, requires that I have notes of client conversations – if those conversations occur in email format – presto, notes are already there. If the conversation happens on the phone, much can be lost in translation. More importantly, as a work at home mom (WAHM) at any given time there are distractions – the baby is crying, my 6 year old needs attention immediately (mama, can I have another snack), the dog is barking, the buzzer on the dryer that I share office space with goes off – it’s not the ideal setup for a business call. I’ve had more than my share of phone calls where I’m frantically trying to meet the needs of my family while still attend to my client. If I had it my way, I would never take phone calls.

And, I can pretty much guarantee that I never look like this woman – a happy, smiling, quiet baby is sitting in front of the computer with their hands to themselves while I cheerfully conduct business over the phone – ha! Not quite. But still, if I had a dollar for every client who told me that they were so glad I actually had a phone number to call, or who felt that they could express themselves so much clearer over the phone, or who was just grateful to feel like there was a human on the other side when they were about to spend their money on a service. My business went up by about 1/3 when I added a number to my website. Sure, it didn’t happen overnight and I can’t say that it was the only factor, but I know that if not weekly, than at least monthly, I gain a client who would not have paid for my services if they could not reach me by phone.

I’ve tried handling the phone number thing various ways; not having one, having people request a call back via email, using my cell phone as a business phone and finally, what has worked the best – using a phone service. I think that the last 3 options are all fine, as long as people have a way to contact you by phone, but I have found that people can sometimes get frustrated when they have to email you for a phone call back. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with that – if you just can’t do phone calls, then you can’t do them. And you will find that some people will “abuse” your phone number by calling for every little thing. But in the end, if running a successful online business is dependent on good customer service, and I think it is, then putting up with some of the annoyances of taking phone calls is worth it if it means more satisfied customers (or even just more customers).

So now I use a phone service, it allows me to pay less than I would for a full business line.  I get an 800 number that will ring through to any phone I want, or my computer, or any combination (it currently rings through to my computer, home phone and cell phone). I can set the business hours, create extensions, set voicemail preferences, check my voicemail via phone or computer and receive faxes. One of the biggest selling points for me was the plan pricing, which was perfect for my budget. I think there are several phone services out there, I have been using Ring Central for about 2 years and would highly recommend it if you need a phone line solution. You can get a Free Trial Plus $10 Off by clicking on the link.

Whatever you do about your phone options, make sure it makes sense for you and don’t be afraid to change it along the way. When Aiden was a newborn, I took my phone number off my website for about 3 or 4 months. I really needed to maximize every second I had to work and didn’t want to be distracted or feel compelled to answer business calls. I went on a no calls policy, and while I think it did hurt business a bit – it was the right decision for me at the time. In the end, I’m a WAHM because it allows me to make decisions about my work that are truly the best thing for my family – I think as long as I stay true to that along the way then I can’t go wrong.