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New Skype for Business Includes Group Video Chat

posted on January 6, 2011

Group Video Calling is now part of Skype for Business. This handy new feature  allows you to host video calls with up to ten people at the same time and it’s only going to cost you $8.99 a month.

From a marketing perspective, this system allows you to do something you can’t do with email and that’s get face time with your customers. Group Video Calling is particularly useful for those of you in the business-to-business arena. For example, you’ve got a new updated widget that you’d like to pitch to a client. Using Skype Group Video Calling, you can get the VP, the department head and the CFO all on the line at the same time while you demonstrate the product. Seeing them react as you progress through the features and benefits is invaluable information that you can use to hone your sales pitch.

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Google Previews Android 3.0 for Tablets

posted on January 6, 2011

Google is working very hard to get ahead of any news that Apple may have cooking regarding the possible roll out of the iPhone on the Verizon network or the iPad2. They have even given a sneak preview of the new Android 3.0 called Honeycomb.

Let’s face it, they need to work hard because they are facing very good competition. It’s nice to see Google fight for something isn’t it? Kind of let’s us ‘test their mettle’ so to speak. Here is the video from the Official Google Blog post.

The post was done by Andy Rubin who is the lead for Google in all things Android. Here is his description of what makes this new version something special.

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Starbucks Changing Logo. Good Move or Bad Move? You Tell Us!

posted on January 6, 2011

There has been some hubbub in the past few days about a change in one of the iconic brands of the modern business era. Starbucks is dropping its name from its logo to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

We know our readers are very savvy marketers in general and that Internet marketing is more than just clicks and followers so we wanted your opinion on this move.

Is it a good idea for a brand, no matter what the size or power, to drop its name from the logo when it has been there since forever? What are the potential upside gains and / or downside losses? Tell us in the comments. Here’s the redesign.

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Trackur Launches Free “Actively Listening” Seals for Your Web Site

posted on January 5, 2011

Surf around the internet and you’ll see all kinds of security, privacy, and trust seals–pasted to consumer web sites. With good reason, too! These sites want to assure visitors that it’s safe to do business with them. You can trust the transaction, the shipping, the experience.

But what about after the transaction? Where’s the seal that says, “Hey, once you become a customer, we’re going to take great care of you”?

Oh wait, here it is: Introducing the Trackur Actively Listening seal.

What’s different about the Actively Listening seal? Two things. First, this seal tells your customers, prospects, business partners–anyone really–that you care about their experience with your company. It assures them that whether they post to Facebook, Twitter, a blog or forum, you’re listening for that conversation.

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Facebook Growth Stats Tell Some Stories

posted on January 5, 2011

Who doesn’t love a good infographic? The folks at All Facebook brought this istrategylabs data to our attention so we are passing it along. The data is said to be collected “directly from Facebook’s Social Ads system.” Use the usual caution when absorbing.

As for what it means?

Well, it looks like the drug talk on Facebook is really picking up! That’s great to know. I wish they had broken it down into over the counter, prescription and illegal drugs. That would have been nice.

It looks like people in Chicago are catching on as well as Houston with big growth numbers. I think the numbers in the Northeast cities (aside from NYC) are smaller because that region figured out long ago that actually relating to people in person can be annoying so they moved their ‘friendships’ to the controlled environment of Facebook. Now you can be friends without actually caring which is much less intrusive.

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Could An Amazon Android Market Tip the Mobile Scales in Google’s Favor?

posted on January 5, 2011

This year is going to be a very contentious one when it comes to the world of mobile. As everyone continues to jump on board the question is always about who will dominate. RIM actually is still in the lead but that will end this year for sure. Android is leading the charge of current activations (about 300,000 per day) while Apple’s iPhone still leads the Android platform overall by an ever slimming margin.

Aside from the service provider issue (AT&T, iPhone, Verizon soap opera) the biggest difference between the world of iPhone and the Android is the open nature of the Android and the closed system of the iPhone. Both have their benefits. The other difference is their app experience from purchase to quality and all stops in between.

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Facebook and the Science of Word Choice

posted on January 4, 2011

When it comes to posting on Facebook, we’ve looked at what times of day are best, which days of the week are best and whether random posts can help you market your product.

Now, Facebook has gone a step further with a scientific look at word choices on updates. In order to study the words, millions of updates were fed into a computer and broken down by their corresponding Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) categories. Categories referenced parts of speech (pronouns, prepositions, verbs), general topic (work, school, family) or emotional response (happy, sad, angry).

The computer then took the category numbers and sorted them by age groups, time of day and by the popularity of the account. If you want to see all the detailed charts, visit this page on Facebook. If you’ll settle for a quick overview, then stick around.