PSPINC Official Company Blog

Make a Good Impression Over Video Conference

5月

14日

image source: pixabay.com

A while back, we interviewed a candidate for a job via Skype since she was in another state. The Skype conference worked great, but we were reminded how important it is to consider your surroundings. Our interviewee was in her room with a pile of clothes on her bed, and we could even see into her disorganized closet space.

The point of video conferencing is to connect like you’re in person and view facial expressions, but the camera can pick up your environment so you have to consider what kind of impression that will make. Having a lot of clutter behind you might give the impression you’re a disorganized person. First impressions are everything, even virtual first impressions.

Before you host a virtual conference with a customer, a potential new hire, a potential new boss, or your own team, consider these questions:

1) Where are you going to have the video conference?

If you host it at home, make sure there’s no background noise from a radio or TV. If you have family members or roommates, let them know about the call. If it’s in your office, turn off your cell phone (or silence the phone), and no chit-chat around your office staff. Remember, it’s important the other people can hear your voice clearly and without interruption.

2) What kind of background is in your screen?

You don’t need to be in a conference room but it’s best to set up so your computer camera points to a blank wall if at all possible. The others will see beyond your face, potentially judging your character based on your surroundings. Most video conference systems do have a test mode so you can see if you are nicely positioned on your desk with a professional-looking background.

3) What are you wearing?

Even if you are out of the office while conferencing via computer screen, wear something that’s appropriate for the audience you’re virtually meeting with. Make a good, professional impression every time. Think of it like a job interview.

4) Is the room bright enough to show your face?

Have your video call in a light-filled space. If the other participants can’t see you because the room is too dark, it’s pointless to have a video call.

5) Do you have stable internet connection?

Having poor internet connection during a video call can be a big disruption. You’ll need high-speed internet and it’s wise to test a video call with someone you know in advance to be certain it works.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ConferenceCall #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #VideoConference #WebCam #WebConference

What is a Business Webinar?

5月

9日

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Now you are all set to conduct a virtual meeting – as long as your remote meeting participants also have the proper tools installed. Don’t forget your virtual meeting goes two (or more) ways so make sure everyone is capable of connecting.

What if your virtual meeting needs to be more like a seminar where many – potentially hundreds or more remote attendees – need to be present? Instead of calling it a virtual meeting, you may want to conduct a “Webinar,” which is a mashup of two words: Web and Seminar.

So what is a Webinar?

If you want to have a seminar where participants don’t need to be present at your location, or you want to host a hybrid of both live and virtual attendees, consider hosting a webinar – a virtual seminar.

A webinar is a great way to get more people involved. You can invite people to your live seminar, but for anyone who can’t come to your physical location, they can join virtually via the webinar and still get the training, class or demonstration you’re planning to present. Virtual attendees can still participate in Q&A, live chat, polls, surveys, quizzes and more. The host has a variety of options for how interactive they want the webinar to be.

Some webinar tools to consider that offer free trials (after which you must subscribe to the service), include: GoToWebinar, AnyMeeting, and Zoom. Check out these services and determine which one is right for you.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ConferenceCall #ENnews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology #VideoConference #Webinar

Preparing for a Virtual Conference

5月

7日

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Skype, WebEx, Zoom … whatever program you decide to use for a virtual conference, you have to make sure your device is capable of using all the features. Conferencing from your phone using an app that plugs into the camera and speakers is fine if you’re on the move, but you won’t be able to share screens or files. If you’re conferencing in an office, here are some things you need to consider to make the most of the program you choose:

1) Audio

Obviously you need your speakers or headset to listen to others, and a microphone on your device. Most laptops have built-in speakers and microphones, but we’ve learned having multiple people in a conference room requires a better microphone system. We Skype in our conference room to connect to our remote staff for meetings. We invested in a good microphone that connects via USB to our laptop so when we speak, regardless of where we are in the room or at the table, others can hear us clearly. A little investment like this goes a long way. If you’re conferencing by yourself in a shared office space, make sure you have a headset to listen to the conference call. Be courteous to people around you.

2) Camera

Like your audio system, you probably have a built-in camera on your laptop or tablet. But if you are using a desktop, you may not have a built-in camera. A simple USB camera can easily connect to your PC and they are not expensive. If everyone else on the call is talking through a screen, and you want to be included in that, a USB camera is a simple, worthy investment.

3) Screen

Talking with people through a screen is only one part of the conference. In our office, we upload files and chat on the side to provide URLs and other information while we talk. So having the conference on my smart phone limits my ability to participate. I always try to have a couple screens open, one for screen conferencing, and the other to open and view files and links we share in our meeting.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ConferenceCall #ENnews #PSPinc #Skype #SmallBusiness #Technology #VideoConference #Webinar

Virtual Meetings: Going Beyond the Conference Call

5月

2日

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Traveling out of town for business can be cumbersome and time-consuming, although sometimes necessary to meet with people face to face. Fortunately, technology advancements have given us many options to “virtually meet” clients, business partners or vendors face to face – and this month we’ll explore some of those ways to go beyond the conference call.

Today we want to share some free tools for video conferencing:

Skype, a Microsoft Service, is handy, especially when you want to video conference with multiple parties. You can have up to 25 connections free of charge but first you need to be connected to each other’s Skype IDs. There are a few differences between Skype paid and free versions, but clicking the plus “+” mark will let you add others to the conference as well as share your screens. You can also send files at the same time. These additional features are great for virtual conferences. Be aware, however, some companies may not allow for Skype to be used in their office.

ezTalks is a similar service great for hosting webinars and video conferences. You can also share files and screens, plus it’s free and easy to set up. The free version allows 40-minute video conferencing for up to 100 people per meeting. Like other programs, it does require you to pay for additional participants.

Zoom is a conference system similar to Skype. Although it does have a paid plan, it is free for 40-minute conferencing for up to 3 parties. If you plan to have more than 3 people on a call for longer than 40 minutes, this may not be the video conferencing solution for you.

Facetime is the latecomer to video conferencing. Apple finally added the ability to have multiple people on Facetime, up to 32 people. This feature is available for iOS 12.1 or later but unlike its competitors, it requires participants to have Facetime with iOS devices. And it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you may need for your conference call such as screen and file sharing at the same time.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ConferenceCall #ENnews #Facetime #PSPinc #Skype #SmallBusiness #Technology #VideoConference #WebEx #Webinars

How to Set Up Google My Business

4月

30日

1. First, you must verify that your business listing doesn’t already exist. To do this you’ll need to Google your business name and location. On the search result page, look to the right; if there isn’t a business-listing box, it probably doesn't exist. If it does exist, it may ask you to claim the listing.

2. Login to your Google account. If you have multiple accounts, use the account you want associated with your business. If you do not have an account, you can learn how to create a Google account here.

3. Once you’re logged into your Google account go to https://www.google.com/business/

4. Fill in your business name and address. Confirm that your address is written correctly. Make sure you read and check the delivery box option if applicable.

5. Choose a business category that best matches your company. If you can’t find an exact fit choose a category as close to yours as possible.

6. Add your phone # and your website when prompted.

7. Choose your verification method. Google will mail a postcard to your physical location (to legitimize your company address) with a verification code within 5 days.

8. Once you have the postcard, log back into your Google My Business account and verify your listing to complete the set up!

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #Google #GoogleLocal #GoogleMaps #GoogleMyBusiness #GoogleReviews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology

What is Google My Business?

4月

25日

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Google My Business (GMB) is a tool built for businesses to manage their online presence – and it’s FREE! The GMB dashboard lets you control multiple business listings on map and search results.

When you first start with Google My Business, you’ll need to verify your business. Once verification is complete, you can manage how your business information is displayed on Google, including your hours of operation, store locations, and pictures.

“Businesses (who) verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers.” – Google

Responding to customers online is another way to benefit from Google My Business. All your Google reviews can be found in your GMB dashboard, which makes it easy to reply individually to your loyal customers.

“Businesses that add photos to their listings receive 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.” - Google

Expand your understanding of your online presence by using Google My Business insights to see how your customers are searching for your business and the locations they’re searching from.

It’s easy to manage and update your business listing online and from your mobile device.

Next time we’ll go over setting up your Google My Business account and how to verify your business.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #Google #GoogleMyBusiness #GoogleReviews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology

Will the End of Google+ Affect my Business Reviews?

4月

23日

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Google+ is starting to delete user accounts as part of their consumer-side shutdown of the failed social media platform. What concerned us and many other small businesses, were the consequences of shutting down part of the Google eco-system.

At its best, Google+ was a virtual storefront for many small businesses. At its worst, it was a struggling social network. At the beginning of its lifespan, in an effort to spread awareness, Google integrated Google Maps with Google+ accounts. This created a Google+ page for all business listings and was home to online reviews and other business information.

This made it easy to manage your business locations in one place while responding to all of your reviews online. But now that Google+ is gone, what will happen to business listings and reviews?

Don’t worry, all of your business reviews and information will remain.

Google+ is being replaced with Google My Business. The only part of the platform that had success gave small businesses a tool to manage their online identities within the search engine. It gave owners a place to communicate with their customers and find new ones. This is now a separate service called Google My Business.

There isn’t any reason to worry about your business listing or Google reviews being deleted when the social network goes away. If you log into your Google account and navigate to Google My Business, you will see a star labeled ‘Review’ on the left tab. This will bring you to a page where you can read and reply to any reviews.

We’ll be diving into Google My Business over the next two blogs to give you more information about its features. For now, rest easy knowing the Google+ shutdown won’t affect your business.

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #Google #GoogleBusiness #GoogleMyBusiness #GoogleReviews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology

Google+ is Deleting User Accounts

4月

18日

image source: pixabay.com

Google has begun phase two of shutting down its social network Google+, which it announced it would do back in 2018. February was the last time anyone could create a new Google+ account.

On Tuesday, April 2nd, Google began deleting user accounts, data and content, including those of its top executives. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But what is surprising, however, is what Business Insider discovered was being deleted from public record – pertinent company history.

Four notable accounts were deleted on Tuesday, including co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page as well as former CEO Eric Schmidt and current CEO Sundar Pichai. Most of the content on the executive profiles wasn’t important but some of it may be, including company announcements and insight into the decision-making process.

No one has any problem with old selfies being deleted, but when quotes like this one are erased, eyebrows get raised: “We have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government-or any other government-direct access to our servers.” - Larry Page

It’s unclear if Google will make an announcement or respond to any questions about the deleted accounts. And it’s unclear how much information was really lost when accounts were deleted. All we know for now is that Google+ is history.

Source: Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/google-plus-executive-profiles-deleted-2019-4?r=US&IR=T

#Blog #BusinessTips #ENnews #Google #GoogleReviews #PSPinc #SmallBusiness #Technology

Google Docs, the New Chat?

3月

26日

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Classrooms look much different than they did just five years ago. You’ll see more laptops, smart whiteboards and tablets in the hands of students. Nowadays, teachers and students collaborate differently too, using a lot of online resources.

So how did Google Docs, a web-based collaborative word processor, become the hottest chat app for teens in school?

Google Docs was born from multiple Google acquisitions and formally launched in 2012 as the product we know today. The purpose of the web-based tool is to allow multiple users to simultaneously edit and contribute to a single word document. And it works great! Almost…too good.

Instead of passing notes in class, teens are starting to pass notes over the Internet. When teachers tell students to put their phones away, they pull out Google docs. This story broke after a recent reddit post talked about a school that decided to block Google chats.

There are multiple ways to chat on Google Docs. After you open a new document and share it with your friends, you can either type messages in the document, use the live chat feature (which most people don’t know exist), or you can use the comment section to chat. The messages can easily be erased if a teacher walks around.

Once at home, teens can share documents with their friends while pretending to work on homework. This cover works especially well if teens have had their phones taken away or have limited social media access.

What’s more interesting (to us) than teens finding a new way to chat, is how a specific software program was developed for one thing, but is now filling a need for which it was never intended. Similar things have happened with Microsoft products and the popular note-taking app OneNote.

So why not fix the software from misuse? Perhaps allowing students to use the app to chat will keep them on the app through high school, college, and into the workplace – securing future users.

#Blog #Chat #ENnews #GoogleDocs #PSPinc #Software #Technology

Add Professional Audio to your Site for Free

1月

30日

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We know it’s important to keep web content to a minimum and try to get our point across in as few words as possible. Too much text on a screen is a turn off, and people feel overwhelmed by it.

We also know many companies require a lot of content to tell their story or sell their product or service. It’s a conundrum. How do you balance text, white space and imagery on your site so it looks clean and professional, but properly tell your story with complete details? The answer is Click It Audio, by PSP.

We generate simple html codes you can embed into your site, allowing you to upload or delete audio mp3 files at any time. Your audio file will have the ability to play on a PC, MAC or other smart device.

With Click It Audio, you can have it all: a less cluttered website with the option for your visitors to simply click a button to hear more details. PSP offers 3 audio containers for FREE. But if you need more audio, we offer very reasonable annual plans.

Check out https://www.clickitaudio.com/ to get more information, pricing and even see a demo of how Click It Audio works.