How to Use a Virtual Mailbox

Solopreneurs and small-business owners alike know the importance of having a physical mailing address. A street name and number that customers and potential customers can look up gives a new organization professional polish and the impression of size and impact. Plus, having a physical address protects privacy by keeping the business owner’s home address out of the picture entirely.

What gives you all of this and more on a small entrepreneur’s budget? A virtual-mailbox service. Such a solution can give you a permanent physical address as well as the ability to view, store, forward, ship, and even shred your mail — all through an app provided by a virtual-mailbox company. 

Here, we discuss our top three tips for getting the most out of virtual-mailbox services for your business.

Choose the right one

Not all virtual-mailbox offerings are created equal. Some will give customers a place to receive mail at a cut-rate price — but the addresses they offer will be post-office boxes. A P.O. box is a dead giveaway that a business lacks a physical office. It will also do you a disservice when it comes to receiving shipments because some carriers won’t deliver to P.O. boxes. What’s more, certain federal, state, and local government forms and applications don’t allow these mailboxes to be listed as physical addresses. 

A number of top virtual-office providers also provide virtual-mailbox services, so consider looking to those companies first when exploring your options. For a fee that offers significant savings over leasing a traditional private office suite and hiring trained personnel, you’ll get instant in-app notifications concerning your mail, as well as the capability to view and virtually ‘handle’ your documents and packages — all with a high level of security and privacy you can trust. 

Remember to check your inbox

Just as go to your home mailbox or pick up the mail that comes through the slot in your door every day, so, too, must you remember to check your virtual mailbox regularly and frequently. If your virtual-offices provider offers app notifications for its virtual-mailbox service, be sure to turn them on so that you receive them in real-time. Getting photos of packages and scans of your mail is only helpful if you actually review them.

Take advantage of your plan

Some virtual-mailbox plans may include mail or package forwarding, package storage, and even check depositing. All of these features could save a new business owner even more time and effort, but make sure you know what the plan you’re set on includes. For example, if you were unaware that you had mail- and package-storage services baked into your virtual-mailbox plan, you might expend significant energy and daylight hours traveling to your virtual-office provider to pick up mail you’d actually rather have stored. Get the most of what you’re paying for and inquire about all your plan’s features. 

_____________

Looking for elegant, affordable, and flexible office space in and around Washington, D.C.? Metro Offices has been the leader in flexible office space in the nation’s capital for more than 30 years. Browse our locations to find the best one for you.

Other articles that might be of interest:

5 Tips for Running a Virtual Office in 2021

A Guide to Virtual Networking Events

2021 Guide to Virtual Office Space

Kathlene Buchanan

As the founder of Metro Offices, she has championed workspace innovation since 1989, inspired by the creativity and drive of their 30,000+ clients. Woman-owned and locally focused, the company tailors its spaces to meet the unique needs of every business.

tags: coworking | virtual mailbox | Virtual Office