Home Business Blog

Packetel is a low cost global telecommunications provider based out of California. An acquaintance of mine gave me a free demo so I tried it out and liked what I saw so I thought I would share this company with you.

As a home business it’s important to not only keep costs low but also ensure that your company comes off as professional so it can accomodate larger clients. If not you are limiting the potential of your company before you begin.

Packetel is currently operating in three areas of the telecommunications field: Fax Service, Long Distance, Web Conferencing and Voice Conferencing coming soon..

Fax Service:

Having the ability to receive faxes is important to most businesses. Buying a fax machine and paying for a dedicated line can be costly and now thanks to services such as this no longer required. Packetel enables you to receive faxes anytime from anywhere that are sent directly to your email. At the time of writing you cannot send faxes but most correspondence can be replied to via email and how often do you send faxes anyways? At it’s limited time offer of $3.95 it’s easy to factor into your monthly budget. Besides having fax capabilities without any equipment costs what makes it even more convenient is that it accepts all major credit cards and paypal. You can view your faxes in PDF and even be alerted via text message on your mobile when one is received.

Long Distance:

To begin with if you’re still paying traditional long distance prices you’re crazy. With all the cheap options available today there is no reason to pay full price for long distance. Packetel offers an international long distance calling service that is prepaid. Some features are: low international rates, toll-free access numbers, no obligations or contracts etc… What makes this interesting is some additional features that make this even easier then traditional calling cards. Some features include, online call history in real time, no pin dialing from trusted numbers, online phone book with speed dial functions and more. If you sign up soon you can even receive 200 free minutes worth of calling. I call my cousin and some other associates in the US quite often. I have traditionally been using calling cards but since it’s during the day my cellphone is still charged minutes. This package looks quite attractive to me. One feature that I’m saving for now that I like in particular is the “Follow Me” feature. It allows you to forward calls to any phone you like and answer them wherever you may be in the world. No more restrictions.

Web Conferencing:

Web conferencing is becoming increasingly popular. This is for several reasons including: travel is expensive, web conferencing has never been easier and it has never been so comprehensive. Your typical web conference is light years away from a traditional conference call. It allows you to share screen shots with multiple participants, host unlimited users, optimize conference depending on speed of connecting attendees, usage of a white board to share ideas and it integrates into outlook to send invitations.

I’m getting to a point soon where my editors and I may need a web conference to show them some things as it’s easier to demonstrate than explain in verbose emails. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it previously but now it seems quite apparent. With so many new technologies making communication and group work so effortless it’s a shame to not be using them to some extent in your current business.

Having had access to Packetel I found the backend quite simple and clutter free. As a result it was easy to see how things worked and think that holding a web conference would be quite easy with this software. I’ve used another in the past but this one seemed easier to understand. I’m assuming it would be for an attendee as well.

As long as you are operating a home business it’s vital to be aware of new and existing services that help you run your business more professionally. What’s beautiful about the internet is that professionalism doesn’t have to be expensive anymore. I recommend you think about your home business and consider how different inexpensive technologies could help you grow. The price is right but what will you do with it?

Keep working from home,

Rob

Twitter is hot right now, everyone is talking about it and now is the time to build your network. I’m writing this as too many “how to … ” on twitter are missing the point. They focus on the packaging of your account: background, avatar etc… Why focus on the cover when it’s the book we’re going to read?

Typically people who have large followings are people who are well known to the general public. If you aren’t a well known personality but want to make waves YOU have to make it happen. It also has very little to do with what you write about, what your background looks like, how many tweets you have etc… It has everything to do with how many people’s hands you’ve shaken virtually. Let me elaborate.

I’m not really known online. I run a blog directory / forum and I blog here sometimes. My twitter feed is about my sites but mainly just my stream of “what I’m thinking” etc… Sure there are those who knew me before twitter but 20,000? Ha no way. If no one knows you exist what is the best way to get their attention? How about you give them some attention?

At Blog World Expo (first industry event ever attended) I knew basically no one but I left with over 250 business cards. Of those 250 I probably initiated 225 of them. Everyone I met was really nice except for maybe a handful who stood out as being the type I don’t care for. If I had not initiated those conversations I would of met no one and just left with 250 of my own cards. I would of been at the party but not in the party.

I think that is what is happening to a lot of people on twitter. If you’re waiting for others to engage you… Don’t hold your breath; why would they? We’re all the same with similar wants and needs. We’re in a busy crowd looking to get noticed, looking to listen and be listened to.

3 Solid Tips to Explode Your Twitter Network

1) Don’t stress out about what/when/why/where/how you’re tweeting just don’t be OVERLY negative. No one likes a downer but the flip side is no one likes someone that is totally fake saying they live in a world of gum drops and candy canes. Extremes are an account that exclusively discusses lunch and coffee or one that is purely an update from a blogs rss feed.

2) Add people everyday. Make it part of your daily routine. How many times do you check stats? Why not spend part of that time “meeting people”? Curious how to find new followers? Here are some great methods.

- If you are TOTALLY new and don’t fall under any strict niche… Go to search.twitter.com and type in “new followers” and follow those people being mentioned. These are people actively following others; good chance they’ll be willing to listen to you as well. Once you’ve done this figure out other terms people use to introduce new followers and away you go.

- This is hands down the easiest way to explode your network… Find someone who is LIKE YOU. They don’t have to be a perfect compliment; just similar. Just look at their profile and say… If someone followed this person would they probably want to hear what I have to say as well? If the answer is yes add a few pages from their followers and check the results. If you notice your numbers flying… KEEP GOING.

- Search the keywords related to your niche / interests. Nothing new here and I found this technique to be particularly useless. Just because someone mentioned “blogging” doesn’t mean you have much else in common or that they want to befriend you.

- Warning: If you’re new to twitter don’t go overboard. For some reason everyone is insanely critical of new users like they weren’t new at one point. If you follow way more than following you you’ll be looked down upon and labeled a spammer in some circles. Do I think it’s fair? No. Look at the top 1000 many of the “climbers” are following 2-4,000 more then are following them. Don’t kid yourself it’s not followers who stopped following it’s them actively trying to build their network.

3) Whether twitter is a conversation tool or a broadcasting station is another debate altogether. Just be cognizant that the LAST tweet you make may be the ONLY one a new visitor / potential friend will read so make it good. Your last tweet before leaving for a while is basically your tool for making a first impression. Make it something you feel represents what you’re all about. This can be anything from a quote to a link to what you’re reading.

When it comes to social networks or life in general don’t take rejection personally. I mentioned the Blog World Expo example earlier to demonstrate that not everyone will be receptive to you initiating conversations but there is nothing you can do about that. Also that the majority of people will be glad you did engage them.

Twitter asks you “What are you doing”? Before you start on this mission ask yourself… “Why am I doing this?” Twitter can be an amazing tool but that’s what it is… It’s a tool to meet people / share ideas. Some businesses and websites are better suited for twitter than others. Understand what you want to get out of it before you get into it. Is it a massive waste of time? It can be; but it can also be arguably the best networking tool I’ve ever found.

Figure out what you’re trying to do with Twitter and go from there. If you’re trying expand your network by increasing your reach, presence and branding then following some of the suggestions listed above may be in your best interest.

Have any thoughts on this? We’d love to hear from you!

Keep working for yourself,

Rob

P.S Enjoyed this? Add me on Twitter.

P.P.S If you liked this post please share it.

Summary for incredibly impatient: Use BudUrl service to shrink URLs and you can track it adding /s to end.

http://budurl.com/qlhu/s

As web addresses continue to get longer and longer it is important to shrink / shorten URLs before sharing them on various social media type sites. That being said it’s also important to track the clicks if you can.

http://www.tinyurl.com

The above is arguably the most popular URL shortening service. There are so many shortening services that I won’t even attempt to list them all. Tiny URL allows you to shorten a URL so it’s easy to share; nothing less nothing more.

http://www.budurl.com

BudUrl is very similar to Tiny Url in regards to shrinking / shortening a longer URL to make it easier to share. There is one additional feature of particular interest; you can track the clicks it receives!

Shrunk URL:

http://budurl.com/qlhu

Shrunk URL Stats:

http://budurl.com/qlhu/s

Let’s say the url made is http://budurl.com/qlhu. If you add a /s to the end it will show you the number of clicks the shortened url has received. This is extremely valuable to know if your efforts in different spheres are paying off or not. Shrink URLs often on social media sites so you can save characters and track the response.

Keep working for yourself,

Rob