7 Ways a Virtual Mailbox Is a Business Owner’s Secret Weapon

by Anytime Mailbox

December 14, 2022 | 5 min read

Even though the world has gone digital, physical postal mail remains. Businesses receive much postal mail during their work week, from official government correspondence to supplier invoices and customer returns.

But postal mail has disadvantages and limitations, like making you vulnerable to mail theft. A virtual mailbox is an excellent solution that addresses these disadvantages. It is a remote business owner’s secret weapon for receiving mail, protecting privacy, establishing an address, and getting digital copies of documents stored for one simple, low-cost fee.

Here are 7 ways your remote business benefits from a virtual mailbox:

1. A Physical Address for Online Businesses

When you sign up for a virtual mailbox, you pick a location that comes with a real street address.

You can use this address for your online business. For example, you can choose a location your customers will recognize, adding the benefit of a local presence while helping with SEO marketing.
If you move, travel, or transfer your warehouse location, your business address can remain the same. This helps to alleviate any confusion, as you’ll have only one listed address that your customers and suppliers can use.

Unlike a P.O. Box, this physical real street address will not have mailbox or storage size restrictions. A PO Box is limited by the box size you pay for. If your business has limited space for inventory or documents, you can rely on the storage of your virtual mailbox to help keep items safe and organized.

Please note that a virtual mailbox address may be used to register your business but may not be accepted in some states. Kindly contact your local SBA branch or the Secretary of State’s office or website in your state to make further inquiries about using your virtual mailbox address for business registration purposes.

2. Keep Your Mail & Packages Safe While You Travel

Businesses that require multiple business trips a year for consultancy or demonstrations also benefit from the security of a virtual mailbox. With the comings and goings of staff, having all mail organized, accounted for, and digitized can make a traveling team function more smoothly.

Open & Scan - Staff at your virtual mailbox location open & scan your postal mail when you request it via the app. Helpful to stay on top of important notices or business correspondence when you’re away.

Additional actions you can request are forward, shred, or recycle or schedule a pickup of your postal mail or packages.
Business Mail Safety - When you have a virtual mailbox, you safeguard your business mail because it’s delivered to a staffed location. Mail items and online purchases are securely stored until you retrieve them or request an action. You’ll never have to worry about mail theft or porch piracy again.
Signed Delivery - Staff at your virtual mailbox location can also sign for your packages, making it easier for you to manage your supply deliveries or customer returns.

3. Protect Your Privacy

Mixing your personal contact information with business can often threaten your privacy and cause unwanted contact with clients and vendors.

Customers might find your home address information online and approach you in person.
Identity theft and fraud also rely on access to personal data. Connecting too much accurate information online with your business makes you vulnerable to fraudsters who may try to sell your information or even spoof your accounts.

How scary! But a virtual mailbox provides a real street address that you can use instead of your home or personal address. Add the virtual mailbox address to your business contact information or payment receipts to make your business digitally mappable while safeguarding your home or private address.

4. Build Up Your Business’s Credibility

Your virtual mailbox real street address can be at a premium business location. So when your customers Google your business, the address of a commercial building will pop up. This will help them take you seriously for the actual company that you are.

A P.O. Box, on the other hand, can create suspicions for customers or clients and make them think twice because of the perception your company is a fly-by-night operation.

If your business wants to attract local customers, opting for a local address can also help you look more credible.

When they search for “[business] near me” and your business comes up due to your virtual mailbox address, they will know they are purchasing from a real, local company.
A virtual business address optimizes your company for local SEO searches, which can help increase your online traffic.

5. Set Up an E-Commerce Storefront

When you start your e-commerce storefront, you’ll need to put an address down for multiple purposes, like registering your domain or assigning a return location for packages.

A virtual mailbox simplifies your business process and creates a central location for mailing, billing, shipping, and receiving.

Using a virtual mailbox with your e-commerce storefront also broadens your shipping options.

A P.O. Box drastically reduces your shipping options, preventing you from using private shipping services like UPS or DHL.
FedEx can use its SmartPost system to deliver to P.O. Boxes, but a virtual mailbox is a better alternative if you want genuinely unrestricted shipping options.

6. Receive Documents from Clients & Vendors Securely

Virtual mailboxes make it safe for you to communicate with clients and 3rd party vendors without exposing your personal address.

A virtual mailbox protects your privacy because you use a virtual business mailing address entirely separate from your private home address.
You can still receive all the items necessary for your work-from-anywhere business, but you can keep your privacy in the process.

And when you send items out to clients and vendors, you can also provide your virtual mailbox as a return business mailing address, further protecting your privacy.

7. Maintain Digital Records of Your Business Mail

Cloud-based mail document storage is an added benefit of having a virtual mailbox.

When you have a virtual mailbox, all your documents can be automatically uploaded to a secure web portal, serving as digital storage for your business mail.
With cloud storage of your mail items, you can sort scanned mail into folders, attach and forward them in emails, or download them as records to your computer. You now have a digital history of your business mail; you can quickly search come tax time or when issuing a payment without endlessly shuffling through documents.

The best part? A virtual mailbox allows you to go paperless. Your virtual mailbox operator can handle the disposal of paper documents. You can send a request to your virtual mailbox operator to recycle or even shred your postal mail.

Make Anytime Mailbox Your Secret Weapon

Whether you need tools to transition to digital nomadism, frequently move due to work, or need a permanent address for your side gig, a virtual mailbox has your back.

A virtual mailbox is every remote business owner’s secret weapon. Make it yours today when you sign up for a virtual address with Anytime Mailbox.

Experience the convenience and practicality of features like Open & Scan, Forwarding, Recycling, and Shredding when you outsource your mail management challenges to an Anytime Mailbox virtual mailbox.