There are a few opportunities which deliver true residual income and a VoIP home based business is one of them.

So what is VoIP ? VoIP stands for Voice over IP. Simplified it is the means by which voice (& images) are transferred over the internet.

Instead of making a phone call on your home phone (landline), you can call people from your computer or one of a number of special phones which use the internet instead of a regular phone line.

Most VoIP service providers allow free calls between subscribers who have signed up for their service. There is a charge for calls to ordinary phone numbers and these are generally a lot cheaper than standard toll (long distance) rates.Usually there is no monthly charge for basic VoIP service.

Quite often people calling from ordinary phones, dial a special access code to make calls to VOIP phone numbers.

A number of VoIP service providers have affiliate and reseller programs as part of their marketing strategy.

Affiliate programs are pretty standard. When someone pays to purchase call minutes, hardware etc the affiliate that referred them is paid a one off commission.

More interesting is the reseller opportunity. As a reseller you are usually provided your own website/code where your customers buy VoIP hardware, call minutes etc. They are treated as your customer and you get a percentage of your customers ongoing spend. Most often the client is tagged to you for as long as their account is open with your VOIP supplier.

Being a reseller means that as you grow your customer base, your income also grows.

Among the advantages to using a VoIP connection for your phone calls are:

  • Long distance calls are usually significantly cheaper than for a standard phone line
  • As long as you already have a DSL internet connection you can use your existing computer to make the call
  • There are now VoIP cordless and corded phones available, so making a call is as easy as using a standard phone
  • If you have a VoIP phone, you can carry it around with you and make and receive calls from anywhere you can get internet access.
  • Some nice add on features are available like automated recording of phone calls, seeing when your friends have their phone on, video conferencing and sophisticated messaging options.
  • Its a growth market with good uptake and increasing number of hardware product releases.

There are some weaknesses too:

  • Call quality can be variable
  • You can only talk to someone if their computer or hardware is turned on
  • Dialing into a VoIP phone from a carrier network can be complicated with some VoIP service providers.
  • You are unlikely to be able to use the phone when the power goes off. i.e. no emergency calls

In assessing the opportunity, understand that VoIP is a maturing technology. It isn’t suitable for every one, but there are some market segments which show promise

  • Home based business owners – they make lots of calls and VoIP will save them money
  • Anyone who makes lots of international calls
  • Parents with teenage kids – if they have a PC or PSP they can get a VoIP number for free, so the home phone line isn’t tied up by the youngsters.

What to look for in from a VoIP reseller agreement

  • Assess how long you think the VoIP service provider will stay in business for. You need a company with good financials and a serious long term commitment to the industry. Your going to be building a customer base which will generate income for a long time to come – your supplier has to be in it for the long haul.
  • Call quality. Probably the number one consideration to reduce customer churn. If the supplier’s call quality is poor, it doesn’t matter what their price is or what commission you are paid, as there will be no one who will stay as your customer for long.
  • Overall pricing. To be attractive to your customers this needs to offer tangible savings compared to using an ordinary telephone carrier.
  • Features – the more the better. Use features and options to differentiate yourself from the other VoIP offerings. Especially look for a supplier which has a good range of free local call options. This is better for margins and provides you with more reasons why your customers should buy.
  • Existing customer base. The more customers your VoIP reseller has the more people your customers can call for free.
  • International presence. Being able to order DID numbers in a range of countries opens up the opportunity for your customers to look like they have a local presence in a number of countries around the world.

Some Reseller programs to start your search:

Filed under: Opportunities

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!

Possibly related posts