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I have been doing freelancing for over a decade now. In all these years, I have noticed many changes in the business pattern of freelance marketplaces. I started in a era when Elance, RentACoder and ITMoonlighter were the talk of the town, primary because the concept of finding service providers online was still very new.
With less saturation and mimimum competition, early bird freelancers got their work plate full of work. 1 out of 3 bids not only earned a response but also the project. As these marketplaces grew and influx of freelancers got higher from all over the world, the saturation began to strike.
to convert more leads, the primary business tool I used was to have a US phone number. I bought Vonage.com phone line, got a US phone number with a monthly package and used the facility to beat my competition.
Clients, specially from USA prefer talking over the phone as for them getting on Skype or calling an overseas phone number is not a preferred option. With the introduction of Vonage phone to my business, my sales grew. The bulk of freelance business comes from USA, 1 out of 3 Americans are doing freelance and that is 53 Million people in the country.
After using the phone for some time I realized its back draw. I wanted to avoid a proper phone line because for that I have to be in my office, connected with internet 24/7. While searching for an online experience, a facility where I am connected with a US phone number using my laptop when ever I am online, I finally came across this amazing “Free” website.
Textnow.com, lets you have a USA number for free and create unlimited TEXT, Phone calls from your laptop to any USA number. Not only that, the website lets you receive voice mails when someone calls on your number and you are not online. Oh yes…also the text messages.
After using the site for 1 month and fully satisfied, I am writing this blog to let everyone know about this amazing thing.
Signing up is 100% free. When you receive a call the website prompts with a dialogue box which looks like this picture below
The dashboard is self explanatory, you can send text message to any US number and also make free calls. It shows the voice mails you have received when you were not online, text messages.
Good luck and hope this helps in converting your sales lead.
