Thread: Business Phone Number?

I have a question for those who aren't a full-time pro (occasional gig here & there) or for those who recall when they were a more recreational dancer

If/when I decide to set up my website and business card, I assume I should have a phone number listed for potential clients. Am I right - do you need a phone number? If so, do you have a separate business number, or do you list your regular number?

I only have a cell phone - no landline. I could add a line at $9.99/month through a family plan but am not sure I can justify the expense...if I only have a call here and there, is it really worth it? I guess if (when? lol) I find myself with performances all over the place, it would be necessary to have a business line with a voicemail message related to dancing. But I'm not anywhere near that point...I want to be as professional as possible, but need to be somewhat frugal considering the amount of $$ that's coming in from my gigs.

Try looking into a pager w/VM... they're very cheap these days since everyone has cell phones. The pager will let people leave messages and you can just call them back from your blocked cell phone.

I use my cell phone for business purposes. My number is private, so that anyone who may have call display cannot see my real name. It only costs me $17/month for my plan, and it serves me well.

Sign-up for a Grand Central Account: GrandCentral: The New Way to Use Your Phones

They are free and you can have the number forwarded to your cell phone. Right now, it is a beta test so you have to sign-up and wait for an invite. Very cool - I love it!

Hi Ravena,

Thanks, I looked through the website and asked for a number to be reserved for me. So they'll generate a number for you, and I can pass that number out as my "dance" number, and it'll still ring on my cell? And I can have a special voicemail for those who dial the "dance" number? If that's all true, google has an amazing service on their hands!

I'm setting up my grand central account now! Can I just say WOW!! It is really cool - thank you SO much for the suggestion, Ravena. There are so many neat features on this thing

I love it! i have my voicemail setup to take calls and then I am alerted on my cell that I have a call. Glad I could help :-)

Originally Posted by ravenadesigns

Right now, it is a beta test so you have to sign-up and wait for an invite. Very cool - I love it!

Does anyone know how long it might take to get an invite?
Or know of any other similar service?

Dancingstar,

I got my invite really quick; I requested a number on a Friday evening and woke up with an invite in my inbox Saturday morning. But one of my coworkers hasn't gotten an invite yet at all. I guess it just depends on if they're looking for people in your area or maybe it's a luck of the draw thing. I wish I could pass out invites, like gmail had, but I can't

I use my cell phone for both personal and business calls. My voice mail message says, "Please leave a message for either Julie or Shira."

Oh that looks awesome.... I hope I get my invite soon.

I just requested one, so I'm curious to see how long my invite takes to arrive.

Originally Posted by Safiyah

Dancingstar,

I got my invite really quick; I requested a number on a Friday evening and woke up with an invite in my inbox Saturday morning. But one of my coworkers hasn't gotten an invite yet at all. I guess it just depends on if they're looking for people in your area or maybe it's a luck of the draw thing. I wish I could pass out invites, like gmail had, but I can't

thanks. if anyone has an invite to give away, i would really like to have one. especially b/c i am trying to get business cards made! i'm not sure why they offer such a great service, and then make it so hard to get. argh.

I asked for a number, too, but I noticed on th page it said they would contact me when numbers become available again, so apparently they're not signing up new members at this time (or at least not in my area???).

Yeah, I think they're limiting the number of people right now...they are still in beta so all of the kinks haven't been worked out yet anyways. I don't think anyone has invites to give out unfortunately; I think it's up to the company to determine if you'll be able to get a number.