How to Get a FREE Phone Number to Use in Your Business – Part 1

Today, I’m going to combine marketing & technology to share an extremely powerful tool that you can use for a TON of different uses in your home or office – all for absolutely FREE!

As anyone in marketing knows, the PHONE is one of the strongest weapons you need to use. Making calls, taking calls, and sending or receiving text messages or even broadcasting voice blasts are all things we need to do to reach and serve our customers.

If you’re buying houses, you need a phone number to use in your marketing to get your motivated seller prospects to contact you. If you’re selling houses, you should have a separate phone number for that. If you’re offering any other type of services, such as consulting, etc., guess what? You should use another number for that!

The trouble is, getting all these phone numbers & systems can add up to be substantial sum, and can add to your overhead expenses very quickly.

So what can you do? Well, the major phone companies don’t want you to know about your options, because they want your money – as much of it as they can squeeze out of you! That’s why companies like Vonage & MagicJack have gained so much popularity recently – because they essentially give you the same services for a much cheaper price.

But today, I’m going to even beat THEM. And I’m going to show you how to get as many phone numbers as you need – for FREE. I’ll even show you how to get unlimited FREE phone service in your house or business! Yes, it even includes all the features you’ve grown to love, like call waiting, caller id, even voicemail. In fact, what I’m about to share with you probably has even MORE features than you currently have.

So What is This “Magic Phone Bullet?”

If you haven’t heard of Google Voice, then you’ve been missing out. Shoot, even if you have heard of it – or even already have a G.V. number, keep reading. This is valuable info here!

Not too long ago, Google acquired a little-known phone company, then renamed & repurposed the service, calling it Google Voice. Essentially, what it allows you to do is get a FREE phone number through Google. While that’s pretty cool on its own, that only scratches the surface of what you can DO with that number and this service!

For starters, you can have that number automatically forward any & all calls to another phone you set to receive those calls. For example, your current cell phone. As a matter of fact, you can set it up to automatically ring several phones at the same time, and whichever phone picks up first, gets the call.

You also get online voicemail with free transcriptions, which you can get sent to you by email or text – or both. AND you can even create customized greetings! Oh, and you can also send & receive TEXT messages. All for free (message/data rates may apply for a cell phone).

One great idea would be to get a new Google Voice number and set that number to forward to your current cell phone. Then start giving that number out to everyone from now on. Why? Because if you get tired of your current cell phone provider & want to change, but don’t want to worry about them holding your phone number hostage, you’re already ahead of the game. All you’d need to do is get a new phone number, then have your G.V. number forward to your new line. And no one would ever know!

But what if you’ve become rather attached to your existing phone number, and want to keep it? Simple! You can simply ‘port’ it over to Google Voice (for a one-time fee of only $20), and you get to keep that number!

To Get Your FREE Google Voice Number, Here’s What To Do:

1. Either create a new Google account (or login in to your existing account if you already have one) at https://accounts.google.com/SignUp. NOTE: You’ll be creating/using a new GMAIL account, which has a TON of powerful features.
2. After you login to your Gmail account, look at the top of your screen & click on the “More” tab, which will make a drop-down menu appear. Click on the words “Even More”, then scroll down to where it says “Home & Office,” then click on “Voice.” NOTE: This assumes that you’re using a desktop/laptop computer, not a mobile device.
3. Read what it says, then click on the box to accept the Terms & Privacy Policy, then click “Proceed.”
4. Now here’s where you get to choose what you want to do: Get a NEW number, or see if you can use your existing one. So pick one & move on.
5. Assuming you’ve chosen a NEW number, you’ll need to set up your first phone to forward your calls to. I suggest your existing cell phone, if it’s close to you. So enter in the phone number & type of phone, then click Continue.
6. Next, you’ll see a 2-digit number on the screen. Click “Call me now,” answer the call, then enter that number on your phone’s keypad.
7. Congratulations! You now have a NEW phone number that will automatically forward to your phone.

To adjust your settings is a little bit tricky – especially the 1st time. You’ll simply need to login to the Gmail account you have associated with this number, then repeat Step #2 from above. Towards the top right of the screen, there will be a cog-looking button you’ll need to click. Then click ‘Settings.” You’ll now have access to your menu of Google Voice features. You should definitely take a few minutes to get familiar with and adjust a few things here.

Not sold yet (on this FREE service)? Want to check it out even more? Ok. Here’s a page where you can see some short, yet informative videos about the awesome Google Voice: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

In my NEXT article, I’m going to show you a few more advanced, secret tips on how to use and leverage Google Voice for your business, marketing, and home. I’ll show you how to fine-tune your settings. You’ll learn how to get multiple phone numbers. I’ll expose a couple of the limitations of Google Voice. And yes, I’ll even show you how to get that FREE, unlimited phone line in your home or office – I promise!

So be sure to read next month’s Amazing Article. You’re gonna love it!

Until Then,

Tony Pearl