Business Postal Address

Hello and good question, I had this question when I started my business also. After much debate with my partner about it. We decided to barter with a good friend/customer that we would host some content for him for free if we were able to use his office address and conference rooms if we needed. His receptionist set up a mailbox for all our mail. On one occasion someone stopped in looking for us and she told them we were out of the office and took their info then called us.

We thought about the P.O. Box but decided that customers may think we are not a legit company. We didn't want our home address because we didn't want our personal address on the internet. We thought about a virtual address but starting up we didn't have the extra money to invest into it. On a past podcast Matt and Brandon do talk about virtual postal systems, but since I jump around to different podcast I couldn't tell you which one it was.

Hope this helps. Ryan

Hello and good question, I had this question when I started my business also. After much debate with my partner about it. We decided to barter with a good friend/customer that we would host some content for him for free if we were able to use his office address and conference rooms if we needed. His receptionist set up a mailbox for all our mail. On one occasion someone stopped in looking for us and she told them we were out of the office and took their info then called us.

We thought about the P.O. Box but decided that customers may think we are not a legit company. We didn't want our home address because we didn't want our personal address on the internet. We thought about a virtual address but starting up we didn't have the extra money to invest into it. On a past podcast Matt and Brandon do talk about virtual postal systems, but since I jump around to different podcast I couldn't tell you which one it was.

Hope this helps. Ryan

I do not think that you need a real physical address. Two pieces of info.

1. My friend runs a small online business which recently evaluated to be worth 2 million. They have been using PO box all along in spite of having an office is San Francisco.
2. Tim Ferris talks about this in 4HWW. His recommendation is to replace the words P.O.BOX with suite and it appears to be office. He is the god in this small business space, so not many would challenge this.

Yes, we did talk about using a virtual post office box that has the ability to scan and email the mail to you. Matt has been using EarthClassMail.com for a few years but the cost of scanning or forwarding the mail to you got to be very EXPENSIVE.

We have come across another service that seems to be MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE. It is called VirtualPostMail.com I have not used it, but after looking through the website, they seem to be a high quality option for a lot less.

I have been using my home address for years as a mailing address, but make it clear that it is ONLY a mailing address. I use the fulfillment company address as our "Office/Warehouse" address. For returns, delivery of parts and supplies, etc. I get emails from customers saying, "hey, I live close to your warehouse. Can I save the shipping cost and pick it up?"

At first I declined every time. Saying we don't allow customers to the warehouse. But my fulfillment company doesn't seem to mind handling those requests, so now they answer those emails with a "Yes". Check out my Contact Us page to see what I specify for each address.

I like the Scanned Mail idea, especially if you are going to use a VA to sort through your mail. This is something I've considered in the past, but have yet to try. Just watch out for the hidden "per scan fees". It could get expensive quickly.

-Brandon