Last Friday, at Harnessing the Power of Technology and Social Media, a free event at the O2 workshop, Ural Cebeci, Product Marketing Manager from Skype highlighted some of the business features of both paid and free Skype accounts. He had me scribbling furiously as I learnt more about Skype in those 45 minutes than in my three years of using the service!

Skype is best known for free video calling. I first starting using Skype regularly when I lived in Spain (2008-9), and the number of active users were around 10 million then. Today almost 23 million users use the service at any one time.

But there is more to Skype then making calls to friends and family abroad and it can be a powerful and cost effective way of running your business. Here are some of the great features, both free and paid for, that make Skype worth taking seriously.

1. Group Video Calling

With Group Video Calling you can host team meetings, collaborate on projects, or even conduct group coaching sessions, without leaving your front room. Group video calling is only available on a Premium Subscription but only one member of the group needs to have a subscription to host a group video conference. . Premium Subscriptions can be bought for 12 / 6 / 3 month periods and you can even buy a Day Pass. 

You can take a free 7 day trial to see how Group Video Calling works for your business.

2. Screen and File Sharing

Ever been on a call with a client and wished you could demo something on your website / desktop? Well, with Screen Sharing you can and it’s available on the free Skype account.

To share your screen during a call, click the Share button in the Call window. Your colleague will see exactly what's on your desktop/screen. Great for sharing presentations or supporting a client with a task, you can choose to share your entire screen or a selected window.

You can also share documents with callers by dragging and dropping the file into the Chat Box during the call - a great way to save time instead of having to remember to follow up later.

3. Online Number

If you work virtually or travel a lot in your business, an Online Number could be the perfect way for clients and colleagues to contact you as they pay the same as a local call no matter where you are in the world. If you don’t have a fixed office, it can be helpful if you don’t want to use your mobile number as your main contact number.

When someone calls your Online Number you pick up on Skype. If you are not online, they can leave a voicemail that you pick up next time you are online. You can also forward calls to any mobile or landline. Online Number is available from £10 for 3 months. 

4. Skype on Your Mobile

Skype has apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android phones so you can make video calls when you are away from your PC. I use this extensively when I am travelling to stay in touch and it works brilliantly with a good wifi connection.

5. Skype WiFi

A new addition to the Skype family, Skype WiFi allows you to use your Skype Credit to get online at 1 million WiFi Hotspots worldwide. Just download the app to your smart phone or Sign in to Skype and select an available public access WiFi network on your laptop.

How do you use Skype for business? Are there any better alternatives out there? 

 

 

 

 

This week I was asked to give a talk on digital marketing to a group of entrepreneurial young women in east London. All are participants on the Ladies Who L-Earn project started by social entrepreneur Asma Shah.

Doing the prep for the talk had me thinking about digital marketing and the different avenues and forms it takes. With so many channels to choose from, and some more obvious than others, sometimes we can get stuck in one way of doing things, so I thought I would make this week's blog post into a Digital Marketing Refresher.  

What is Digital Marketing?

Firstly let's define what we're taking about. Digital Marketing is probably best defined by looking at what it is not i.e. radio, television and all types of print. Essentially digital marketing revolves around delivery via the internet whether that's on a PC, a mobile phone or a tablet such as the iPad.

Why use Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, like traditional marketing, must be tied to a business objective. This is an important point to remind ourselves of now and again. There's no point in writing a blog or maintaining a Facebook Page if it does not fulfil a business objective.

The main aim of digital marketing is to drive people to your website where you have your products and/or services clearly outlined and where there are clear calls to action.

What are the Digital Marketing Channels?

Here is a quick refresher of the major digital marketing channels that are accessible to small businesses:

Website

A website is essential to provide a 'base' to drive potential leads and customers to. Gone are the days of paying thousands of pounds to a web developer when you can get a WordPress website up and running in less than an hour. (If you need a website, do sign up for my free WordPress eCourse).

Blog

A blog can be a great way of demonstrating your expertise in a particular area and increasing your profile on the social web. WordPress can function as a blog as well as a 'static' website or microblogging services such as Posterous (like this blog) or Tumblr can be used to host an external blog. Or do like design and simplicity consultants minimoko and integrate your Posterous blog into your website.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is the process we use to appear as high as possible in search engine rankings (generally Google) by organic or natural search (as opposed to paid search - see Advertising below). Your WordPress site can be configured with plugins such as All in One SEO Pack that does the hard work for you or premium themes such as DIYThemes' Thesis come already optimised for SEO out of the box.

For advice on SEO and how to improve your rankings, have a read of this blog post on 9 SEO Insights.

Email Marketing

A sometimes overlooked medium in this world of social media, email marketing can be your strongest marketing channel if used correctly. They say 'the fortune's in the list' and I agree that a well cultivated and engaged email list are far more likely to buy from you than your social media followers.

With so many free (and paid) options for email marketing software, I don't think there's any excuse for sending email blasts through your Gmail or Outlook contacts. Using an email marketing platform will ensure you keep on the right side of data protection (with many having double opt-in and easy unsubscribe) as well as having a ability to embed a sign up form on your website and send great looking emails.

My top three recommendations are Mailchimp, Madmimi or Aweber.

Social Networks

Social networks can be a great way of getting your marketing message out there but have to be used in subtle way. Think of social media like a cocktail party, no-one wants to speak to the bore in the corner who only talks about himself!

The holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been joined by new kid on the block, Google+. My recommendation to clients is to pick one or two to focus on and do them well rather than trying to be everywhere at once.

And don't forget the power of social sharing. People are more likely to sign up for something or buy if their friends have recommended it, so do make sure your content is easily sharable via social media buttons etc.

Video

Video is an underutilised channel by many small businesses. With YouTube being owned by Google, a keyword optimised video can be a great way of getting to the top of the search results. Video is also a good way of connecting with your audience as they get to see (or hear) the person behind the brand.

Recording video can be as simple as using the inbuilt camera on your laptop or investing £100 in a mini HD recorder such as the Kodak Zi8 or The Flip. Editing can be done for free using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie or, for a more professional finish, use Camtasia. Host and share your videos on sites such as YouTube or Vimeo for free.

Podcasts

Another underutilised area is podcasts. I follow several (all US based) podcast shows on small and online businesses and think it's a really effective marketing channel as the listener can subscribe to the content and it builds trust with the podcast host.

Recording podcasts on Audacity or GarageBand for the Mac is easy and free. Submit your podcasts to the iTunes store and you have yourself a show!

Advertising

The early days of online business were all about advertising especially using banner ads and Pay Per Click through Google Adwords. I think they have been slightly taken over by social sharing (see above).

However, a well targeted Adwords or even LinkedIn or Facebook Ads campaign can be a good way of driving targeted traffic to an event or promotion. Just don't let a campaign run for ever without measuring and tweaking the outcomes. Set yourself a budget and give it a trial. 

Affiliates/Partners/Joint Ventures

Affiliate marketing is well known as a business model for internet business - it works by recommending a product or service in exchange for a percentage of the cost. If you are running an event via Eventbrite, you can set up partners with a referral link who can then promote your event for you. Using the web and the power of your networks can be an inexpensive way of widening your marketing reach.

Mobile/Location-Based

With many of us carrying around a GPS enabled mini-computer in our pocket everyday (it's your mobile), mobile marketing and especially location-based marketing is on the rise. This can be as simple as SMS (text messaging) or using location-based services such as FourSquare or Facebook Places to connect with potential customers.

There are other ways of using mobiles and tablets to connect especially with Apps, however without being a developer, I think much of this is out of reach to small businesses.

What does your digital marketing mix look like at the moment? Are you missing any potential opportunities? What are you currently doing that is not delivering any value?

Do let me know in the comments below.

 

Chris Sacca is a a venture investor, public speaker, and former employee of Google and was one of the early investors in Twitter. Here at the Wanderlust Festival in Vermont, CA last year, he talks to Soren Gordhamer from Wisdom 2.0 about being mindful in our Twitter and digital use.

As someone with 1.3 million followers and, by his own admission, a pretty busy guy, Chris gives a refreshing and candid perspective on his social media use and how he makes time for other things in his life outside work.

Enjoy!

I have been a big fan and follower of Tim Ferriss since I read his best selling book The Four Hour Work Week in 2008. This book and his ideas spawned an entire 'lifestyle design' and location independent lifestyle that many around the world, including me, are working to achieve.

His talk at the 2009 Do Lectures in Wales talks about the art of thinking, and doing, big.

An inspiring video which will make you think how you can accomplish the impossible.

Sir Ken Robinson is a leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He is also a fantastic story-teller and speaker and I was thrilled to come across his School of Life Sunday Sermon on Passion recorded at Conway Hall in London a few weeks ago.

It's an entertaining talk but one with a serious message. He talks about a crisis of human resources to equal the crisis of natural resources that we are experiencing. What he means by that is we only get one go at this very short life so we might as well make the most of it. Let's not squander it by doing things we hate or by being mediocre.

His theory is that most people have no idea what they're capable of. In his 2009 bestseller The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, being in your element is when aptitude combines with passion i.e. is not enough to just be good at something, to be in your element you have to be passionate about it too. The book outlines how you can find your 'passion' and it is well worth a read.

I hope you enjoy this talk as much as I did.

How I would have loved to attend the Wisdom 2.0 Conference last month. A three day event all about living with awareness and compassion in the digital age - it was slightly up my street : )

Finances and time did not lend themselves to a trip to Silicon Valley but thanks to the wonders of live-streaming, I was lucky to catch some of the talks, one of which I want to share with you today.

David Rock is the author of 'Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus and, Working Smarter All Day Long'. He has spent the past three years working with neuroscientists and workers to discover what happens with our brain at work. David's straightforward ideas about how we can work better with our brain rather than against it echoed with the work I have been doing around mindfulness at work and I bought his book on Amazon before he had even finished speaking (how's that for paying attention!).

Seriously, though the ideas in this talk and David's book might just change the way you work forever.

And that's worth paying attention to.

Your Brain at Work from Wisdom 2.0 Conference on Vimeo.

I attended the Do Lectures last September in a far flung corner of Wales. The brain child of Howie’s founders David and Clare Hieatt, the Do invites 26 ‘Doers’ to come and speak about their journey to a small number of attendees. Essentially the Do is all about inspiring people (speakers and attendees alike) to Do something. The motto of the Do is:

Ideas + Energy = Change.

The youngest, and most impressive speaker of the weekend was 23 year old Maggie Doyne and to celebrate International Women's Day I wanted to share her story and talk.

After a privileged North American upbringing, Maggie, like many of her contemporaries, postponed university and set out to travel the world. After a stint volunteering in India she met a Nepalese girl who had been forced to leave her country due to the civil war. When the border to Nepal finally opened up, Maggie and her new friend went in search of her home village. Once in Nepal Maggie was struck by the poverty of the children that she met. Determined to make a change, she took $5,000 of her own savings and started to build Kopila Valley Children’s Home. Today Maggie and the community look after 30 children at the home and have built a school to educate 200 more.

Maggie was an inspiring and heartfelt speaker and even the grown men in the tent were in tears at her story. Maggie’s message that we can all learn from is:

Do not wait if there is something that you really want to do.

This is the theme of tonight's Enabling Women event that I am hosting at Happy in east London. We will hear from 6 inspirational women all doing their bit to make change in the world for women, children and men. (There are a few tickets left so join us for the free event if you can).

I hope Maggie's talk inspires you as much as it did me and inspires you to take your idea, mix it up with some energy to make some change.

Happy International Women's Day!

 

 

 

While you may not agree with former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's politics, this Q&A with Pat Mitchell from the Paley Center filmed at TEDWomen last year is an intriguing insight into being a successful woman leader.  

A key highlight for me is when she talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the centre of foreign policy and explaining that societies are better off when women are both politically and economically empowered. 

If you are interested in how you can make a difference to women around the world, join me, 6 inspirational speakers and 100 other women for the free Enabling Women event on the 8th March in London. 

Colin Wright is the fresh-faced founder of Ebookling, the ebook publishing site that is disrupting the business model of ebooks. He is also a lifestyle designer and blogs about living in a new country every four months, and other lifestyle experiments, at his blog Exile Lifestyle.

At a recent TEDxPhnomPenh, Colin taked about the importance of Extreme Lifestyle Experiments - a way Colin approaches problems by attacking them from a different angle, and how even the smallest lifestyle experiment can help you get the perspective you need to find that new approach.

To try out your own Extreme Lifestyle Experiment, follow these steps:

Step one: Identify exactly what the problem is that you are facing in your business/lifestyle right now. Don't just start, as many of us do, with just looking forwards to the goal. Start with the problem and the solution may be easier to find.

Step two: Plan on how to get to your ideal business lifestyle. Design it backwards by looking at the final step in the process and the step behind that and so on.

Step three: Set rules and boundaries for your Extreme Lifestyle Experiment. Colin lets his readers chose his destination but because the time period is only four months, the risk is minimised. How can you minimise the risk if you experiment?

Step four: Jump! We all suffer from 'analysis paralysis' and can spend months if not years planning but not making a change. Colin urges us to just go for it.

Enjoy a little lifestyle design boost on a grey Tuesday afternoon!

The Australian, straight-talking author of "Fat, Forty and Fired" and "Overworked and Underlaid", Nigel Marsh on how to make work-life balance really work. Funny and informative.

Glab a cup of tea and take a well deserved break.

Enjoy.