Business: How to Start Your Own Chat Line Operator
Thinking of starting your chat line business? As a lot of chat line industries are springing, it is essential that you have unique, exciting and fresh ideas. One should be willing to work hard and create a unique brand that will cater to your target audience.
This business involves people and capitalizes on people seeking other people to have entertainment, advice, companionship or at times, for information. A chat line feature is a great addition if you have an existing dating website. A chat line operator charges per minute fee, wherein, the longer your customer is on the other line, the more profit you earn. Being in this line of business can give you the freedom to work from the comforts of your home. It will be your prerogative if you take calls by yourself or hire your team.
1. Select the type of operator business you want.
Wrap up your mind for the type of chat line operator business you want. There are different types of operator business out there. You can select from assisting people seeking dates/ companionship/ adult conversations, entertainment. This chat line business can even extend to you offering psychic reading and even tarot card readings. Your company can also go to the technical side. Chat line operators can also provide in terms of e-banking, purchasing items online, technical support on your electronic gadgets. Some exciting things like the latest news or gossips can also be offered.
2. Live or recorded
Chat lines can either be live or pre-recorded. In a live chat line, you need to be on your device to physically interact with clients on the type of service they will avail. On the other hand, pre-recorded services can give you more freedom or a lesser number of team members.
3. Individual Operation vs. Team Operation
You need to decide if you want to do your business on your own or hire other people to answer more customers. If you choose to go solo, remember, that you cannot entertain clients at the same time. This is very helpful if you are still trying out the waters of your business. You will also familiarize yourself on how your company operates once it grows.
Hiring a team is also helpful since you will be able to take more customers. There are different kinds of customers, so some of them can be impatient due to the long queue. It’s better for you to weigh in on how you will handle your chat line business and examine the pros and cons of how you want to feel it.
4. Review the laws in your state or country
Always consider your location or locations you want to operate. Each state or country has different requirements in producing various kinds of businesses. You may wish to contact the communications and trade departments so you will know the legalities in handling this kind of situation. Make sure that you are not violating anything since you will also be dealing with the personal information of your customers. Be prepared with all the necessary permits and paper works. A great example would be thechatlinenumbers.com
5. Create a detailed business plan
A good business should always start with a business plan. Be specific on the type of chat line operator business you want and its structure. Be detailed in terms of how you want to operate it so you can always go back to this whenever you feel lost along the way. Put in here also on how you want it to be funded. You can take out funds from your savings or get a bank loan to stay in operation.
Advertising is very crucial for a business. To attract more customers, your presence needs to be felt by them. Include this also in your business plan.
Lastly, put up on how you want to expand your business. This way, you can stay focus on your goal. Be detailed as much as possible, such as adding more chat line callers, having a future office or even expanding your services to other companies.
6. Business License
Register your business for it to be legitimate. More customers are attracted if they know you are legit with no skeletons in the closet. You can ask with your local municipality office on what are the rules and regulations. There are places which allow different business/fictitious names as long as they are under a general business license. Do not attempt to falsify other documents as this can cause you a headache as you go along the way.
You may also want to tie up with other payment centers for the convenience of your customers. Just get the right permits and registrations so you can start operating with ease.
7. Set-up your lines
There are different types of telephone lines you can order from your local telecom provider. They usually offer 1-800 or 1-900 numbers with different features of charging. In general, 1-800 numbers will ask for initial payments from you aside from the monthly charges. In 1-900 numbers, upfront, per line and monthly fees are charged to you. Now you can make money by charging your customers per minute, monthly fees and have them pay using their cards or in your partner payment centers.
8. Advertise, advertise, and advertise
Reach your target market for you to have a stable and profitable business. You can promote in different media outlets there are. You can put links in various online dating sites or even great social networks. Online stores and communities are also beautiful places for advertising. Other places you can advertise are through search engines, mobile marketing as part of the pop-up features. Do not set aside the printing industry. Even in these technological times, a lot of people still have access to newspapers and magazines.
Tips & Tricks
Learn the ropes of advertising. Check where you can advertise for more but at a lesser cost. Valuable advice: maximize ads in your local television cable companies are smaller than you think. The fees go directly to them than those of big television networks.
When advertising in magazines or newspapers, better place them in the ad section on their proper classification. This way, it will be lesser, but still, a lot of people will see your ad once they get hold of that specific section.