Bulk SMS is a means devised to send out messages through the internet to the phones of a large number of individuals and organizations to instantly present information which may be announcements, invitations, meeting notices, sales communications, advertisements, new products, updates, security alerts, health information, gaming, jokes, seasons greetings and other forms of social communications, this is what most businesses look for when trying to get the best business sms service provider.

For the reason of its efficiency and low cost, individuals and organizations with the need to reach out to large numbers of contacts easily adopt the bulk short messaging option.

With demand for billions of short messages by a wide range of potential customers, bulk short messaging clearly presents a business opportunity for anyone who is interested.

However, just like any business, bulk sms services for small business requires some know-how and pre-entry precautions to ensure a successful business endeavour.

So, how do you set up a bulk SMS business?

There are two approaches.

A. Operating From Own Website

Although this route is initially expensive, it will enable you to put in all the service features that you wish to offer for customer satisfaction.

For example, features that can enhance delivery rates like automatic removal of duplicate numbers and phone number validation may not be available from free provider platforms.

Other features like send-time scheduling can also be structured for your site.  And with an API SWAP option, which is a must-have if you are building your own site, you can switch between providers to get the desirable service.

Here are the steps to follow to establish bulk SMS business, using your own website.

1. Build an SMS website with an appealing design and coded to send sms, allocate credits, save user details and to do other tasks associated with the bulk sms business. Unless you are a programmer, you will need to engage the service of a programmer to do this.
2. Register a domain name for your website.
3. Acquire a web hosting plan. It is through web hosting that your website can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
4. Acquire an SMS Gateway Account from an SMS gateway provider. Consider rates charged by the provider so that you will be able to offer competitive rates in turn to your customers.
5. Determine how much you will charge your customers. To do this, take into account how much you are paying for the units acquired from your provider.
6. Link your SMS website to the SMS gateway provider with whom you have created an account.
7. Fund your account with the service provider.
8. Market your service.
9. Provide bulk sms for your customers.
10. Ensure customer satisfaction through timely delivery, high delivery rate and good customer relations.

B. Operating from a provider’s platform

Instead of building your own website to be linked to a provider’s site, you can simply avail yourself of the use of a platform provided free by a provider.  This way, you avoid the expense of building an SMS platform.  Here are the steps to follow to go this way.

1. Register with a bulk sms provider. Since you will be using the provider’s platform, care should be taken to select a provider whose platform offers a package that is as comprehensive as you can get.  Also consider rates charged by the provider so that you will be able to offer competitive rates in turn to your customers.
2. Determine how much you will charge your customers. To do this, take into account how much you are paying for the units acquired from your provider.
3. As soon as you have registered, the provider will provide you with a portal or platform from which you will operate.
4. Get your portal customized. This is done for you by the provider, using information that you provide.
5. Fund your account with the provider.
6. Market your business.
7. Provide bulk sms to your customers.
8. Ensure customer satisfaction through timely delivery, high delivery rate and good customer relations.

Whichever method you choose, the basic requirement for the business remains the computer and internet connection. Very little space is required but marketing will need a lot of time and attention. Entry into the business is easy and accounting for profit is straightforward. Latest can be as well managed by professionals in taxation and accounting services Milton, so that you concentrate on the business process only.