The Client’s Email
Hi Marc
Let me first thank you for all the information you provided, well I will go straight ahead with my question.
You see, I have struggle to get a DUNS number but it seems every time I get to the part of the application that asks me to insert a SIC number, I do it, but I doesn’t seem to respond. This has happed for about 3 days straight in a row and it won’t allow me to go on with the application without inserting that SIC number, I can’t even add it. What am I doing that its giving me a problem?

Leonard

2 Possible Ways to Obtain Your DUNS Number
So currently there are two ways to get your DUNS number:
So for the moment I am writing this post, there are 2 ways to obtaining your DUNS number:
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1. Apply for the DUNS number on their website.
This may seem like a no-brainer and the obvious answer to the problem, but DnB can be a pain to deal with if you do not know what you are doing. You can go to DnB.com and click on the D&B DUNS number tab at the top and apply for your number. You will be forwarded to the iUpdate web pages which will aks you for various information on your corporation which will allow you to register for the DUNS number. Sometimes they send it to you within a couple of days but in many cases you will receive a call from a DnB Rep claiming that youpaur file is not complete and you have to pay to complete your file and to acquire your DUNS number. Although much of what they tell you is not true, they basically control the business credit reporting industry so in some cases you have to submit to their requests. The unnecessary interaction with DnB is why I do not like this method of acquiring your DUNS number.
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2. Get one of the initial companies to report and then request your DUNS number online(my preferred option)
Using this method, you do not have to deal with a DnB rep. When you set up your company, get your phone number, address, tax id number and so on, you usually go for your DUNS number next before applying for credit. The truth is, you do not need your DUNS number to start applying for credit with some of the very first vendors. If you do not know what the initial vendors are I suggest you download the Business Credit Bible. But just to give me an example of a few of these initial accounts, we are talking about accounts like Uline, Reliable, Quill, RapidForms and so on. These guys are the very first net 30 accounts that you should apply for if you are just starting out. None of them require a DUNS number although some may ask you to pre-pay. Once you acquire some of these accounts, order something on net 30 terms and repay it on time. Once you pay them they will take a few weeks to report to DnB. If they report and you do not already have a DUNS number, a DUNS number will automatically be created. Once the number is created you can easily get it online. So let me get into finding out when the number is generated.
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Once you have followed the first instructions in getting an account and ordering and paying it off, you need to now go to the DnB home page. There is a little box in the center on the right of the home page where you can search for a business. You go to that box and fill out your company name, state and country and hit search. If one of the accounts reported and the number was generated, your company will now show up in the search results. Once it does show up in the search results, you can simple click “request DUNS number” and your number will be sent to you via email immediately. Once you have got the accounts and paid them off, I will check DnB at the end of every week for 4 – 5 weeks and it will be there. The more accounts you get the faster your company should show up in DnB as each company reports at different times.
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I hope this helps and feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.

So the second step is here. We now have a Texas corporation and I applied for the DUNS number online and got it in 24 hours. I next went to vumber.com and got me a virtual number for the corp with the right area code for the city it is in. I then went to listourself.net and got the phone number listed.

past 3 days I then called the 1800 number to update my dnb credit report. I waited until the phone number shows up in 411 for me to update the information so that the number on file will match the one  in 411. I ensured that the information updated included the fact that I have more than 10 employees and estimates that I will do more than $1MM in revenue for the year. I also requested my eupdate information with this same number.

Once I confirmed that my information was updated on eupdate, I then got the DNBi SelfMonitor Benchmarking – Monthly which is now $69 per month. What this did is allow me to keep an eye on who is pulling my credit, but what we actually want it for is to input the three credit references. This insures that we get an 80 paydex quickly, but we will still use our net 30 accounts that report in order to build a stronger file by having more tradelines. (if you do not know what I am talking about with the net 30 accounts, I suggest to go to the menu bar and go to the “Start Here” Link)

So we have the self monitoring but I am yet to input any references. The next step is to get some goods ordered from some of the net 30 accounts but the truth is, they will be pulling my credit so I do not want all this activity to happen to quickly. So I am waiting 3-4 days to start ordering from my  net 30 accounts. I will be posted next which net 30 accounts I am ordering from and how much I am spending so that you can follow me step by step.

Marc Augustine

Happy Business Credit Building

- rod

- mike

a little good news. Rod, the guy who bought the credit builder found out that he has an 80 paydex… woohooo… a little over a month and he is there…he called dnb to get his eupdate password and obviously they tried to sell him something.The rep who sold him the credit builder was the one who informed him of the paydex score. now he has to go online and get the eupdate password so that he can continuously check his score.

- mike

rod

Hope all is well, from my previous post I mentioned that I have paid two net-30 invoices so far…. This morning I just paid for my Reliable and Nebs invoice($18.32) and ($61.37) respectively….

FYI – Reliable is actually a Net-10 account and Nebs is a Net-15. This almost caught me off guard as if you’re like me you’d assume they are all net-30′s.

I’m still waiting for my invoices from Grainger and Rapid Forms…. The lovely cust service rep at nebs knew I had a rapid forms invoice as well (creepy at first)…. She let me know both of these will appear as Nebs invoices since Rapid Forms and Nebs have been merged since the acquisition by Deluxe…   I’ll let everyone know how these appear on DNB if they EVER appear.

I’m also thinking of tapping out and paying DNB for the 599 Credit builder as I’m not in the mood to wait for my trades to trickle on… I’ll let you guys know what I decide…

ttyl

Jerry

All specifics will be left out for the privacy of the client and the company.
Business Name -Real Estate Company aka CS4

Owners Name:Nick
Inc Date: 2008
Reported Trades: ?

Paydex: 80

Type of Business Line: NA
Listed: have tocheck

Paid for any Business Credit Services?:no
Business Address Type: UPS Box
So as we progress with CS4 aka RealEstate you will be getting posts from Nick.
- Mike