Web Design Blog

How To Setup Skype For Your Business

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:44:00 GMT

What Is Skype?

Well first lets just take a few quick sentences to describe what Skype is to those of you that aren't completely familiar with it. Skype is basically a piece of software that you can download to your PC or Mac and acts as both an Instant Messenger with Video and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone. That last bit about VoIP essentially means that you can make phone calls over the internet to any landline or cell/mobile phone on the planet at a fraction of the cost of a regular phone, and this is the first powerful feature that Skype has for your business (or personal) life. So let's take a look at the services and functions Skype offer the business user...

Skype Free Instant Messaging and Video Calls

As with most free IM software, the instant messaging between other users of the software is completely free, including videos calls. Here at Synapse Media for example we have staff located in both the US and Australia and we find it quite quick and easy to message each other when small conversation is required. Email just sometimes doesn't quite convey conversation in real-time. We also regularly have weekly or monthly video meetings or 3-way phone calls. The only draw back here is that currently Skype only supports 2-way video calls, so if you want to add that 3rd person you are going to have to drop the video unfortunately.

[Source : www.sykpe.com]

Skype and Calling External Phones

So as mention above, Skype can be used for Local, Domestic and International phone calls to landlines and cell phones. Within the US you can make calls to landlines or cells for only 2.4¢/min (Pre-Paid) or sign-up for a Skype subscription for only $2.99/mo and have the ability for unlimited calls to landlines and cells within the US and Canada - try and find a phone company that offers that! On top of that, your international calls will only cost you a fraction of what the phone companies charge. For example, you only pay $0.021/min to call the UK and Australia. Here at Synapse Media for example, we are on a $2.99 monthly plan and use Skype to call everyone across the world. Add a nice headset for improved quality and you've got a solution that will not only rival, but beat most phone plans out there. Find all the calling rates here : Skype Pay As You Go Rates

Also, once you have a little Skype credit in your account, you can send SMS cell phones all over the world. For SMS rate take a look at Skype SMS Rates

And of course whether you Pay As You Go, Subscribe or just use SMS, all these can be paid for via either credit card or Paypal.

Skype Online Number

So you download Skype and get it all up and running within your business, making video calls to employees, calling vendors and customers on their cells...but they can't call you back! Don't worry, you can also register for a Skype Online Number. A Skype Online Number will essentially allow you to register a number in your area on which anyone can call you. All you need to do is chose the country followed by the state and you will be presented with a list of area codes for your region and the ability to chose from thousands of numbers to fit that area code. You can even put in wildcard asterisks to search for your perfect number! Online numbers do come at a small cost of €15 (~$20) for 3 months or €50 ($65) for a full year but you can get a 50% discount if you are a Skype Subscriber. We have had a few of our clients start to operate like thisRead more about getting your own number here : Skype Online Numbers

Other Skype Features For Your Business

In part two we will cover a few more topics to help you make the most out of Skype for your business including:

Skype To Go Number
Voicemail
Call Forwarding
Skype Manager
Skype Connect

How People Spend Time Online

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:18:00 GMT

http://mashable.com/2010/06/15/time-spent-online-nielse/

How To Make Money On Twitter

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:17:00 GMT

So you've just joined Twitter or you've been on there a while and haven't made it work to your advantage. You want to see some return on your time and want to know how to make it work for you or your business. Fear not, below are 3 surfire ways to make Twitter work for you:

Get ReTweeted - Bascially with this method, you want your followers to pass along your content to everyone they know. Well if you don't ask, you don't get. So what we're really trying to say is, it's as simple as adding 'please ReTweet' or 'please RT' to the end of your post. For example:
SynapseMedia Check out our 30 Day FREE Website trial. Includes FREE website templates. Please RT #webdesign
This will usually prompt people to share your information if they find it useful and/or if they think their friends and followers will too. Don't be affraid to ask. We usually leave around 30 characters spare so people can add their own little customisation as well. You may also like to add some sort of reward for people ReTweeting. This will encourage them even more to pass on your message. For example, you could add on the end of your Tweet 'Please RT and Win A FREE Widget!'
Sell Your Service Or Product - This tip is pretty straight forward. All you need to do is place your price, item title and url, and you're all set. We suggest using a url shortening service like bit.ly if your domain name is longer than one or two sylables. For example:
SynapseMedia $509 : Online Business Solution and CMS. Get a website now! http://bit.ly/51pbGf - Please RT #webdesign
With this style of Tweet, you are giving your followers the price and service/product right upfront so there are no suprises when they land on your website. Be sure not to over post these kind of Tweets that are directly selling. People soon get fed up of seeing them and they may end up unfollowing you. Try to limit to 1 per day at most, that way you won't annoy anyone and your offers seem a little more legitimate. After all, who wants to buy something from somewhere when all there items are on sale all the time! It makes you question the real price.
Identify Leads - Ok this one is almost a no-brainer. What do you sell? We'll use Gardening Tools as an example. This is simple really, just head to your Twitter homepage and click in the search box. No go ahead and type in 'gardening' or '#gardening', and voila, you will be presented with a list of people and businesses that have recently had an interesting in Gardening. Now you can do a few things here. 1.) You can follow these people in the hope they will follow you back, 2.) You can direct message (DM) them in relation to their post and hope they follow you, 3.) You can ReTweet (RT) their post and hope they notice and follow you, or 4.) All of the above if you have time! Here's an example:

The DM
@JoeBloggs Hey Joe, nice article on #webdesign and #onlinebusiness. We totally agree with your predictions for 2010.
The RT
RT@JoeBloggs I just wrote an article on Web Design and Online Business for 2010.
With this style of Tweet, you are giving your followers the price and service/product right upfront so there are no suprises when they land on your website. Be sure not to over post these kind of Tweets that are directly selling. People soon get fed up of seeing them and they may end up unfollowing you. Try to limit to 1 per day at most, that way you won't annoy anyone and your offers seem a little more legitimate. After all, who wants to buy something from somewhere when all there items are on sale all the time! It makes you question the real price.

Twitter Feed

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:19:00 GMT

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