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When Adding Your Phone Number To Your Website Is a Big Mistake

By: Carole Nickerson

Article Word Count: 770 words  [Comments (0)]
Total Views: 29 Views






I had been listing my phone number on my website for a while,



but when traffic took a surge, I knew that it just wasn't going



to work. Being a staff of one, I soon found out that this would



be more than I could handle.







That 'Foreign' Guy







I still feel so badly about this, but I couldn't understand a



single word from a man who called me one day inquiring about



either 'tampelaters" or "timpolters". He had a thick accent



which I was completely unprepared for. I assumed he was talking



about buying templates, but other than that I just don't know!



The only thing I could do was say 'yes' repeatedly until he



finally said in a somewhat normal cheerful tone, "A thankoyoua



mamma" and that was that. He sounded content with our



conversation, so I guess that's all I could hope for. This



problem occurred a few times.







Advice Seekers







I don't know how many times people would call just to talk about



their problems! They didn't want to buy anything, they just



wanted advice on everything from, "How do I increase my



pagerank?" to "Can you help me figure out this cgi code?" Don't



get me wrong, I enjoy helping people, but I can't sit for hours



with one person on the phone trying to help them solve problems



which could easily be resolved with a trip to Google.







God's Gift To Women







Oh my, I've had a few interesting calls from guys who just



wanted to see if they could "have a date" (which is putting it



mildly). One even offered to send me a Paypal payment. Yikes.







Telemarketers







I didn't mind these guys as much because they're pretty easy to



handle. If they persist after repeatedly telling them "not



interested", I simply tell them where to put their script and



hang up the phone. I don't have time for their nonsense.







Pranksters







I guess kids still get their kicks pranking people on the phone.



What's not funny is when you're alone in the house and someone



is claiming they are standing in the bushes watching me as they



talk on their cell phone. (My paranoia had been fueled by a



documentary I saw on internet stalkers who become obsessed with



people they meet online even by just looking at a photo - eek!)







Midnight Callers







Despite putting a notice on the site along with a clock showing



the actual time in my area, I had a number of people call late



at night. The lesson here being: Don't count on people reading a



single word on your site, but do count on them bugging you



because they can't seem to figure out that the FAQ section was



created to specifically answer their questions.







In the end, I had a decision to make - get an extra phone line,



or simply remove my phone number. I decided removing my number



was the best choice because the majority of legitimate calls



could have been easily addressed through the FAQ section and by



email. This would also eliminate the problems I was experiencing



with strange callers, people I simply couldn't understand, and



other annoyances.







Maybe it was all just bad luck?







If you've published your phone number online for a while and



haven't had any problems, then you likely have nothing to worry



about. But if you are new to web business, especially if you are



a woman, you might want to consider having a separate phone line



or simply not publishing a phone number online at all.



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