Virtual Mailing Address | Alliance Virtual Offices

How to Get a Virtual Office Address: Everything You Need to Know

John Donovan — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:37:00 +0000

How do you get a virtual office address for your business?
What should you look for in a virtual office?
How do you register once you have a virtual office?

Q: How to get a virtual office address?

A: Alliance provides credible Virtual Office addresses backed by a professional workspace. You won’t have to settle for address-only mail plans. Work flexibly with professional on-demand space and a prestigious company address for your business. Read on to learn more.

A virtual office is an attractive option when transitioning to digital entrepreneurship.

In the past, starting a business was often prohibitively expensive – namely because of the cost of renting a traditional office or storefront.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case. By using virtual offices, maintaining your business no longer requires daunting loans or tenuous lines of credit.

For entrepreneurs trying to find out how to get a virtual office address, the task can seem more overwhelming than it is.

“Virtual Office” might sound wholly virtual or digital… but that isn’t the case.

A virtual office with Alliance provides a reputable address in a well-known office building.

Furthermore, a virtual office allows you to receive packages and business mail, use meeting rooms, book workstations, and enjoy secure on-demand private offices.

A virtual office helps the modern entrepreneur fortify their local presence and maximize their brand’s global reach all while keeping costs low and eliminating unnecessary bloat.

In addition to the straightforward benefit of having someone forward packages anywhere you need, a virtual office also lends credibility to your business — especially to the public and outside investors.

Not only does using a well-known physical location for your virtual office address add legitimacy to your business, but it also provides a layer of security when you’re operating out of your home.

Incorporating your home address and simply registering that address can seem like the easiest method, but putting your personal address out into the public eye is typically not a great idea.

The address you use to register your business is made public by your secretary of state. A virtual office shields your personal assets.

Once your personal address is registered, the amount of phone calls and general spam mail you get goes through the roof. When you consider the fact that any potentially disgruntled employees will have access to your information, you can see why using a virtual office address might be beneficial.

Virtual offices are also cost-effective. You’re also able to do each of these things while spending considerably less money than a traditional office building rental would cost.

Keep reading to see how to get a virtual office address, how to register, and what you should be looking for when you’re deciding on a virtual office for your business.

How do you get a virtual office address for your business?
How do you register once you have a virtual office address?
What should you look for in a virtual office?

How do you get a virtual office address for your business?

Getting a virtual office address is a straightforward process. The only difficult part is making sure you’re dealing with a trustworthy virtual office provider — but we’ll talk about how to select a provider later.

You’ll want to make sure the provider has all the features that your business is going to need.

With Alliance Virtual Offices, the process is incredibly easy, and it can be completed entirely online. With this approach, you can get your virtual office up and running in a matter of hours.

Take a look below to see how to get a virtual office address with Alliance Virtual Offices

Go to: AllianceVirtualOffices.com
First, make your way to the Alliance Virtual Offices website

Search Your Desired City
You’ll see a search bar that allows you to search for a virtual office by location. Go ahead and look up the area you’re hoping to register in
Browse the City Results Page
After you’ve searched for a location, you’ll be greeted with a selection of office addresses
Pick A Location
From the results page, click on a location that suits your needs. For your convenience, the price for a platinum plan is listed next to each option on the list
Signup
After selecting your plan, simply enter your information and click continue!
Checkout
Follow the prompts to move through the checkout. Remember to apply a promo code to get a big discount, and you’re done.

Once you’ve decided on a provider, you’ll want to choose a location. Because the tax laws are so different from state to state, this step often depends on your unique priorities and needs.

No matter your intentions, consider the tax benefits and professionalism associated with your virtual office location. Alliance Virtual Offices has several states to choose from, and each of these locations offers physical addresses that are well-known and professional.

Now that you know how to get a virtual office, let’s look at the things you should be looking for as you search for this resource.

What should you look for in a virtual office?

Because remote work is now so popular, virtual office providers are becoming quite prevalent. This means that you have a wide selection of options to choose from. So how do you narrow down your choices?

One of the biggest criteria for a good virtual office is a wide variety of locations. Because of the different tax laws in each state, you might want to strategically register your business in a state to maximize post-tax profits.

Providers that offer at least one location in each state provide the greatest range of potential tax benefits.

If you’re providing financial services, using a Manhattan address to register your LLC will provide a level of legitimacy that a random address in Nebraska will never achieve. If you’re looking for a business address close to other tech startups, it’d make sense to procure an address in Silicon Valley.

It’s important to put your virtual office in any area that makes sense for your business. You get all the benefits of these well-known locations without paying exorbitant monthly fees in rental or lease costs.

Another key aspect of a worthwhile virtual office is a strong mail forwarding system. Because you’ll be receiving key government documents at your business’s registered address, you’ll need to have regular and consistent mail forwarding so that you’re able to respond quickly and effectively.

When you’re dealing with government documents and other time-sensitive materials, responding promptly will eliminate stress and save you an inordinate amount of time.

Alliance Virtual Offices offers a robust, reliable mail forwarding service to ensure that you have convenient access to all the important documents and other communications you may receive.

If you’re hoping to learn how to get a virtual office for free, you’re unfortunately out of luck. While there are some free virtual office options available, these services typically exist without a physical address or operate out of a PO box.

Registering your business with a PO box is impossible, and beyond the registration issues, you wouldn’t get any mail forwarding with these services. While these free options aren’t viable for any kind of business, Alliance Virtual Offices offers business addresses for as low as $48.00 a month.

It’s important for your virtual office to be tied to a physical location. As previously mentioned, PO boxes won’t work for registration, so any other kind of address that isn’t tied to a physical location isn’t going to cut it either.

Fortunately, Alliance Virtual Office’s locations are all credible and professional physical addresses that are very well known in their respective areas.

Virtual mailboxes, unfortunately, suffer from the same issues.

Because of the lack of a physical address, you won’t be able to register this address with your LLC. There’s a strong chance that using this service will prevent you from receiving mail in a timely fasion.

Outside of these negatives, virtual mailboxes would erode your business’s credibility in the eyes of the public.

After choosing your city, completing the necessary research, and acquiring a virtual office, it’s time to get started on registering your business or updating your address. Keep reading to see how to keep things moving for your LLC!

How do you register once you have a virtual office address?

After you’ve learned how to get a virtual office address, the next step you’ll need to take is to register your business with your newly acquired business address. Of course, because of the various state tax laws, this will involve filing a change of address form for your LLC.

Simply check in with the local tax laws and statutes to make sure you know exactly what kind of process you’ll need to go through to register successfully.

More often than not, the process will be as straightforward as filling out a form. The hardest part of the process will usually be navigating through the complicated web pages of the state you’re making the change in.

Below, we’ll take a look at the process for filing a change of address form in New York and in California, just to give you an idea of the kind of process you’re going to be looking at.

California

The State of California Franchise Tax Board is one of the more confusing state websites, largely due to the sheer volume of information. We’re going to look at the steps you’d take to find this form online. Unfortunately, California requires you to mail this form in, but we’ll leave the address where you’d need to send it below as well.

First, you’ll need to go to the State of California Franchise Tax Board
Here, you will see four main sections at the top of the page; click on ‘Forms’
Next, head to the search bar up at the very top
In the search bar, go ahead and type ‘FTB 3533-B’
The number of forms provided on the website makes it difficult to navigate through all of the options effectively, which is why we’ve provided the actual name of the form rather than directing you through the website
Clicking the first option after your search should take you here
Once you’ve made it to this page, you’ll see a link to a PDF of the FTB 3533-B Form
You’ll need to print a copy of this PDF out, but once you’ve done so, all you need to do is fill in the necessary information
After you’ve filled it out, send the form to this address: Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942840, Sacramento, CA, 94240-0002

California doesn’t make changing your business address anywhere as simple as New York. Just to make it a bit more straightforward, we’ve provided a link to the FTB 3533-B Form right here.

New York

In New York, the process can be handled entirely online or by mail. We’ll go over the online steps below because the website has a lot of information and can be a bit overwhelming.

First, head over to the NY Department of Tax and Finance’s website
Next, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page

On the left, you will see a Get Help column with a “Contact Us” option; click through
Now you will see a section titled ‘Your Tax Account’ with a few options beneath it
Click the first option, ‘Update your business or personal address’
Now you will be on the correct page; scroll to the business section to update.
After clicking ‘Login to update’ you will be directed to fill out a DTF-96 Form

That will take care of it! And in case you get lost, here’s a link to the page you’ll find the login button on

As you can see, the process isn’t complicated, but with so much information on any state’s website, it’s nice to know what you’re looking for.

After you’ve submitted your form, processing can take as long as a few weeks. This is why it’s crucial to start making these submissions as soon as you’ve procured a business address.

Most states will start utilizing the new address you’ve listed as soon as the forms are submitted, once again showcasing how important it is to have easy access to mail pickup or a trustworthy mail forwarding service.

After you’ve taken care of the registration, it’s time to focus on expansion.

Keep reading for some essential tips on expansion, a recap of the lesson on how to get a virtual office address, and more information about the services provided by Alliance Virtual Offices!

Expanding on how to get a virtual office address and how to manage growth

When you’re hunting for a virtual office address, the process can be broken down into a few easy steps.

Ensure Your Virtual Office Provider has:

Locations in every state
Physical address locations, as opposed to PO Boxes and Digital mailboxes
Worldclass Staff to support your business needs

After handling your due diligence and deciding on a provider and a location, the next step is as simple as submitting a change of address form with the state government where you’re now located.

The current trend of work-from-home initiatives and the widespread appeal of remote work mean that this transition to a less office-based landscape isn’t just temporary. Many companies are already focused on setting their operations up for long-term virtual work.

Entrepreneurs are in an interesting position today. Instead of making a broad shift to this virtual style of work, they’re able to begin operations from this remote starting point. That said, there are still several entrepreneurs that are making a shift from brick-and-mortar locations to a wholly virtual business model.

If you’ve made the transition from traditional office space to a virtual office, the savings can be astronomical. Renting any office space will cost you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each month for fairly small locations that offer no amenities.

If you’ve landed a virtual office outside of your home state, it’s a great time to better familiarize yourself with the market you’re hoping to break into.

If possible, visit your new virtual office’s physical address. Get to know the businesses surrounding you.

Taking a trip like this allows you to identify the competition and start networking in the market you’re hoping to corner.

For example, if your business is a tech startup with a new virtual office in Silicon Valley, go meet other tech-focused entrepreneurs in the area! Social media is a trove of local information, and many of these locations have various meet-ups, groups, or other networking opportunities that are available for anyone who cares to look.

Networking and knowledge will go a long way if you see them as just another part of running a successful business. A robust network of other business owners and a deep understanding of your market is equally as important as a useful product or service.

Further Reading

We strive to ensure that Alliance Virtual Offices’ solutions are far and away the best on the market. Not only do we offer a wide variety of locations in all 50 states, but we also provide locations tied to physical addresses with fast, reliable, and secure mail forwarding and a world-class concierge service backed by our industry-leading support staff.

Need a virtual office address AND number? No problem — Alliance provides a virtual phone service that gives you a business phone number, protects your privacy, and effectively connects your employees with your clients.

Are you expanding rapidly? Need some help answering phone calls? Looking for a meeting space to speak with remote employees? Again, Alliance Virtual Offices has the answer.

With a live receptionist, you can focus on running your business while your calls are all screened by a friendly and professional receptionist.

Meeting rooms available in every state provide a comfortable and secure location for you to meet with your team and clients alike — without having to use a coffee shop or hotel room.

Regardless of what your business needs, Alliance Virtual Offices is here to help. Understanding how to get a virtual office address is just the first step. A whole world of virtual office tools and services is waiting to help your business grow.

Contact us today to find a virtual office in a location that fits your needs. Our virtual offices are available in every state and provide savings, convenient mail forwarding, and a credible physical address you can use to build legitimacy for your business.

The post How to Get a Virtual Office Address: Everything You Need to Know first appeared on Alliance Virtual Offices.

Virtual Mailing Address for Your Business

Ceci Amador — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Q: How do I get a virtual mailing address?

A: It’s easy to find the right address for your business. Search for a virtual office plan in the city of your choice, customize the services you need, and fill out the USPS mailing form to set up your virtual mailing address.

What Is a Virtual Mailing Address?

A virtual mailing address is a physical address that provides individuals and businesses with a recognized business address and a place to receive mail.

A virtual mailing address is one of many services included in a Virtual Office plan. A virtual mailing address is a key component of a Virtual Office that can be used for multiple purposes, enabling entrepreneurs and business owners to save money on full-time office rental.

How Businesses Use Virtual Mailing Addresses

To send and receive mail

To use as a permanent business address.

For privacy and security

Credibility and professionalism

How Individuals Use Virtual Mailing Addresses

How individuals can take advantage of virtual mailboxes:

To receive mail while they are traveling out of state or out of the country.

To set up a new business while protecting the privacy of their home address.

In addition to a mailing address, a Virtual Office plan offers key business support services necessary to run your business’s day-to-day operations. These are customizable and can include the following:

Mail is received and safely stored for local pickup or forwarded to your home
A front lobby receptionist greets visitors and manages your mail
Gain on-demand access to well-appointed meeting rooms and office space
Online notary service included with your Virtual Office setup
Friendly, professional Live Receptionist service to answer calls and schedule appointments
Virtual Phone with a local or toll-free business phone number
Powerful VoIP phone system call screening, auto attendant, unlimited extensions, voicemail, call forwarding, and more
Lobby listing at your Virtual Office center.

These services can be added to your plan on-demand and customized to suit your specific business needs.

How Does a Virtual Mailing Address Work?

If you purchase a plan to take advantage of the virtual mailing address service, here’s how it typically works.

Search for a Virtual Office here by entering your city or state in the search bar
Pick your location, plan, and options
Fill out Form 1583 with the included online notary service (details below)
Start using your new address on your website, email footer, social media, online directories, business cards, and more
Receive mail!
Pick up your mail or have it forwarded to your door on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis

What is Form 1583?

Before you can start using the virtual post mail service, you will need to fill out USPS Form 1583.

Form 1583 authorizes a third party (your Virtual Office center) to receive and handle mail on your behalf. The form needs to be notarized; this can be done in-person or you can use an online notary service provider included with your Virtual Office purchase.

Once the form is submitted, you can start receiving mail at your virtual mailing address. Many service providers will notify you automatically when mail arrives. You then have the option to:

Pick up mail from your Virtual Office
Have your mail forwarded to your current address on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis

It’s as simple as that!

Don’t forget, you can further customize your virtual mailing address plan to include additional services designed to support your remote business—like a live receptionist or a Virtual Phone number.

Who Uses a Virtual Mailing Address?

Home-based Businesses

If you run a business from home, whether you’re a consultant, a writer, an accountant, or a plumber, you stand to benefit from a virtual mailing address for business.

Virtual mailing addresses can help keep your home life and your business life separate; starting by keeping your home address private and off of public records.

Rather than use your home address as your business address—which would mean your home address would be publicly available through your website, social media, and legal records—you can use a virtual address to receive all business-related mail.

Along with your virtual mailing address, a full virtual office plan also provides you with access to day offices and hourly meeting space. This can come in handy when you may need to meet with clients or vendors.

Below are some professionals that may benefit from a virtual mailing address when working from home:

Consultants
Writers
Editors
Real estate agents
Accountants
General contractors
Plumbers
Landscaping companies
Stockbrokers

Remote Business Owners

If you run a remote business—drop shipping, eCommerce, or a social media marketing agency—a virtual address can help your business establish a presence in new markets.

Having a local business address for the market in which you do business helps customers trust your brand and company. For many consumers, it is still quite off-putting when a business doesn’t have a local address or only has one in an area they aren’t familiar with.

Virtual mailing addresses can also help save costs. After all, a Virtual Office plan with flexible access to workspace is much more cost-effective than leasing out office space. If you manage a remote team and wish to provide employees with access to office or meeting space, you can book onsite space by the hour as-needed.

For more frequent use, purchase up to 16 hours of workspace usage each month with Alliance’s Platinum Plus plan.

Digital Nomads

Digital nomads are remote workers that tend to travel frequently to new places. For example, an American digital nomad would purchase a virtual mailing address in the USA while they travel abroad in order to continue receiving important mail like tax documents and contracts.

Digital nomads that use a virtual address typically request a mail scanning or remote mail management service in addition to the address. This is available with some centers and enables digital nomads to have their mail opened and scanned on their behalf. This ensures that they respond to important mail in a timely manner.

Companies that Require a Registered Agent by Law

Virtual mailing addresses are also regularly used by large companies and SMEs that are registered as an LLC, partnership, or corporation.

For these types of legal entities, the law stipulates that they must have a registered agent. A registered agent acts as a point-of-contact between your business and the state.

For these types of legal entities, home addresses are also not valid business address. While P.O. Box addresses can be used as a business address, they are not a valid registered agent address, so you won’t be able to act as your own registered agent.

You can learn more about registered agents here.

Key Benefits of a Virtual Mailing Address for Business

Business Credibility and Professionalism

If you’re running a remote business or a business from home, having a renowned address can go a long way in establishing trust and credibility with potential clients or consumers.

People are more likely to do business with a company if they recognize the address they list. On the other hand, if a potential client searches for your address online and finds that your business is based out of a residential neighborhood, they might be discouraged from buying your products or services.

The same goes for a business that seeks to expand its presence into new markets. Part of the strategy to expand should include having a local address that people can search and use if they should need to return an order.

Many virtual mailing addresses in the US and elsewhere are found in central business districts, business parks, and prestigious office buildings.

Virtual mailing addresses as part of a Virtual Office plan can also help establish trust and credibility in case you need to meet with someone in person—whether it be a business partner, client, or vendor. Workspace is available to book by the hour, or you can choose a plan with inclusive access to office and meeting space that you can use for a number of hours each month.

Privacy and Security for Business Owners

In today’s digital world, security is paramount.

Even though you can successfully run a business from home, you should avoid using your home address for business purposes.

If your home address is your business address, then it means your home address will be published online and easily accessible to anyone. Why expose your address and risk strangers show up unannounced at your home?

There’s also the issue of privacy and security when handling sensitive information about clients or vendors.

If you must meet with someone, you want to make sure you’re meeting in a place where others are not privy to sensitive information about your business and its clients.

Cost Efficient

SMEs, entrepreneurs, and startups can get the benefits of an office without having to incur in the full cost of one. This is especially helpful for businesses based in expensive cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

For a couple of hundred bucks a month, Alliance users can get:

Virtual mailing address
Access to office space
Access to meeting space
Mail handling and forwarding
Business support services (e.g. live receptionists, printing, faxing, copying)
Local phone number
VoIP phone system

Mail Handling and Forwarding

One reason why many businesses and individuals choose to purchase a virtual mailing address is for the mail handling and forwarding service that they offer.

This service allows people to manage their mail from anywhere in the world, without having to change their address or worry about important mail getting lost in the process. Virtual mailing addresses have become a popular solution for digital nomads, remote workers, and frequent business travelers.

Improved Customer Support

Customer experience has become a key factor in determining business success. Recent research has found that consumers are increasingly choosing companies that provide exceptional customer service.

US consumers say they’re willing to spend 17% more to do business with companies that deliver excellent service.
Nearly 90% of consumers who give a company a “very good” CX rating are likely to trust a company to take care of their needs.
CX drives over two-thirds of customer loyalty, outperforming brand and price combined.
Even if people love your company or product, in the U.S. 59% will walk away after several bad experiences, 17% after just one bad experience.

For startups, SMEs, and recently established businesses, hiring a customer support team can seem daunting; not to mention quite expensive.

Strategic use of readily available virtual business solutions can help these companies with their customer experience efforts. Think virtual live receptionist. The live receptionist service is frequently bundled with a virtual mailing address to strengthen client relationships and establish a professional business reputation.

Live receptionists help improve customer support and experience by:

Taking calls
Scheduling appointments
Answering FAQs
Lead capturing
Call screening.

Other virtual services that improve customer support include:

Live chat
Chat bots
Toll-free numbers.

What’s the Best Virtual Mailbox?

The best virtual mailing address service for you will depend on your specific needs.

While it may be tempting to go for the cheapest virtual mailbox available, it’s important that you make sure that you are hiring a reputable service provider. While there are a few barebones plans available, opting for a plan designed for professionals will get you the reliability and service you need.

Word of advice: there is no such thing as a free virtual mailbox. If you stumble across a site offering a virtual mailing address for free, make sure to read the fine print carefully, as there are likely hidden costs somewhere

If you’re hoping to purchase a virtual mailing address plan for your business, then the best service provider available is one that caters specifically to businesses and offers a wide array of locations. One way to find the best virtual mailing address for you is to check out TrustPilot reviews for different service providers.

We at Alliance offer virtual mailing address services that are designed specifically for businesses:

100s of Virtual Address Locations Worldwide

Custom Plans to Suit All Business Sizes

Virtual Mailing Address Uses:

Use as a registered agent company address
Obtain an online business license
Register a business as an LLC, partnership, or corporation
Receive mail
Apply for credit
Use on your website, social media, and marketing materials

Our virtual mailing addresses are located in prestigious buildings that can help boost your marketing and SEO efforts.

Our plans offer mail handling and mail forwarding, to protect your privacy and also protect your home from overwhelming amounts of junk mail – and prying eyes.

All of the mail received is received, signed for, and stored securely.

You can pick up your mail from the business center directly or have it forwarded to the address of your choosing.

In addition to a renowned business address, our plans offer the following business services

Hourly office space rental
Meeting space
Live receptionists and call answering
Local and toll-free Virtual Phone numbers.

Is a Virtual Mailing Address Worth It?

Yes!

As more companies embrace remote work, these virtual tools are becoming an increasingly popular business solution. Alliance’s plans allow remote businesses access to benefits that a physical office offers, but at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s a quick recap of why businesses and individuals are choosing virtual mailing addresses to support their business needs:

Brand Credibility

Choosing the right virtual mailing address can help companies establish a credible business image, which can improve customer trust, loyalty, and satisfaction.

Meeting Rooms and Hourly Private Office Space

Access to meeting rooms and office space that can be used on an on-demand basis.

Local Business Presence in All Markets

Businesses can purchase virtual address plans in several locations, this means that they can have a local presence in all the markets they operate in—for example a company selling products in different cities can have a local address and phone number for each of the cities their products are shipped to.

Mail Forwarding and Mail Handling

Virtual mailing addresses enable professionals to travel the globe without having to worry about missing important mail. Virtual mailboxes also help them maintain a professional appearance and a project stability while they are off globetrotting.

Maintaining Your Corporate Veil

Utilizing a virtual mailing address for LLC registration helps owners keep personal assets separate from business assets.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, startup, SME business owner, or a large company, you can benefit from the wide array of services that these plans offer.

Virtual mailing addresses are secure and super easy to set up. They are a part of a fully customizable business solution, and they are completely flexible —which means you can hire them for the short or long-term and you can add or remove services depending on your existing business needs.