The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Update - Timothy Ferriss [88]
Upon speaking your name or selecting the appropriate department, the caller is forwarded to your preferred phone or the appropriate outsourcer—with on-hold music and all.
4. Do not provide home addresses.
Do not use your home address or you will get visitors. Prior to securing an end-to-end fulfillment house that can handle checks and money orders—if you decide to accept them—use a post office box but leave out the “PO Box” and include the street address of the post office itself. Thus “PO Box 555, Nowhere, US 11936” becomes “Suite 555, 1234 Downtown Ave., US 11936.”
Go forth and project professionalism with a well-designed image. Perceived size does matter.
COMFORT CHALLENGE
Relax in Public (2 days)
This is the last Comfort Challenge, placed prior to the chapter that tackles the most uncomfortable turning point for most office dwellers: negotiating remote work agreements. This challenge is intended to be fun while showing—in no uncertain terms—that the rules most follow are nothing more than social conventions. There are no legal boundaries stopping you from creating an ideal life … or just being self-entertained and causing mass confusion.
So, relaxing in public. Sounds easy, right? I’m somewhat famous for relaxing in style to get a laugh out of friends. Here is the deal, and I don’t care if you’re male or female, 20 or 60, Mongolian or Martian. I call the following a “time-out.”
Once per day for two days, simply lie down in the middle of a crowded public place at some point. Lunchtime is ideal. It can be a well-trafficked sidewalk, the middle of a popular Starbucks, or a popular bar. There is no real technique involved. Just lie down and remain silent on the ground for about ten seconds, and then get up and continue on with whatever you were doing before. I used to do this at nightclubs to clear space for break-dancing circles. No one responded to pleading, but going catatonic on the ground did the trick.
Don’t explain it at all. If someone asks about it after the fact (he or she will be too confused to ask you while you’re doing it for 10 seconds), just respond, “I just felt like lying down for a second.” The less you say, the funnier and more gratifying this will be. Do it on solo missions for the first two days, and then feel free to do it when with a group of friends. It’s a riot.
It isn’t enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.
TOOLS AND TRICKS
Looking Huge—Virtual Receptionist and IVR
Angel (www.angel.com)
Get an 800 number with professional voice menu (voice recognition departments, extensions, etc.) in five minutes. Incredible.
Ring Central (www.ringcentral.com)
Offers toll-free numbers, call screening and forwarding, voicemail, fax send and receive, and message alerts, all online.
CD/DVD Duplication, Printing, and Product Packaging
AVC Corporation (www.avccorp.com)
SF Video (www.sfvideo.com)
Local Fulfillment (fewer than 20 units shipped per week)
Mailing Fulfillment Service Association (www.mfsanet.org)
End-to-End Fulfillment Companies (more than 20 units shipped per week, $500+ setup)
Motivational Fulfillment (www.mfpsinc.com)
The secret backend to campaigns from HBO, PBS, Comic Relief, Body by Jake, and more.
Innotrac (www.innotrac.com)
They are currently one of the largest DR marking companies.
Moulton Fulfillment (www.moultonfulfillment.com)
200,000-square-foot facility with real-time online inventory reports.
Call Centers (per-minute and/or per-sale fees)
There are generally two classes of call centers: order takers and commissioned reps. Interview each provider you consider to understand the options and costs involved.
The former is a good option if you give the product price in an advertisement (hard offer), are offering free information (lead generation), or don’t need trained salespeople who can overcome objections. In other words, your ad or website is pre-qualifying prospects.
The latter would more appropriately be called “sales centers.