You make more money by building a business with a good number than you do by marketing numbers

Now this comes from someone ‘marketing numbers’ so why would I say that?I realized this a year or two after I started this business in 1995. I had a good number, 1-800 4REFERRAL and 1-800 REFERRAL and knew it could be an Angies List kind of business a decade ahead of them. But I had a daughter and an ex-wife that had no ties in the area, and I was afraid she’d move to some other distant part of the country and if I built a big business like that, it would be difficult to relocate. So I decided that a small toll free number consulting service would be a lot easier to do from anywhere, and I pursued this rather than build the bigger referral service.



Today my daughter’s 26 and has a new daughter of her own, but I’m still helping customers find the best available toll free numbers because I enjoy it. It’s been hard at times. Every small business has ups and downs and it seemed like it might not make it at a few points. But I really love this small niche and helping customers. That’s why I’m still doing it, answering the phone and helping customers over 25 years later, and a grandparent now too!



I don’t say this to discourage people from marketing numbers. In fact I get numbers for a lot of people that market them, and a lot of the people in this business started as my customer, even if they’re not any more. If you’re thinking about getting into this business that’s fine, it’s a fun business. But I’ll still tell you the same thing I have people for two decades, “You make more money using a good number to build YOUR business, than you do by marketing numbers to the people building businesses.” On the other hand you do get to know a lot of great people doing this. That’s one of the reasons I still do this even after 25 years too. And being small isn’t a bad thing either if it means you get to do what you love.



I put the phone number (1-800 MARKETER) on every page of the website for a reason. The lookup tool is better at doing the searches and is very fast and powerful, but sometimes it helps to talk to a real person who knows what they’re doing too. And I love to help companies find great numbers that make a big difference in their business. I know it's probably more work to dig and come up with a great phone number than you realized it would be. It’s much easier to just settle for whatever your phone company offers, but this is the front door to your business and it’s more than worth it!