Skype Prime ideas

Found a nice example of using Skype Prime for language lessons. Say it in Dutch Language School provides lessons over Skype in addition to their emails, ebooks, podcasts and summer courses. As they put it:

>As a Skype student you only need an internet connection, a headset and motivation.

It looks like they have a free trial, too. I just signed up for that to dust off my Dutch skills.

Update July 27th. I have tried out the Skype Prime Dutch lesson now (and realized how rusty my Dutch had gotten). The experience was excellent. I particularly liked that Yorien, my teacher, posted new expressions as chat messages as we spoke.

If you search for joinskypeprime with any search engine you'll see a wide variety of places how and where people promote their Skype Prime services. Some add the calling link to a forum signature or forum posting, others add it to their blog or describe their service as a sort of classified ad. There are also those who have added a Skype Prime snippet to a blog or website. This looks more professional, but is a bit more difficult to add to forums.

So here's a tip how to make text links nicer. If you just copy-paste a Skype Prime link (you'll get it here) to a blog or forum posting it will not be a very click-inviting link. Consider http://www.skype.com/go/joinskypeprime?call&skypename=echo123. However, if html is enabled on a site, try adding it in the following format:

<a href="longlinkhere">Describe service here</a>

This way the long link above that starts the call to Skype call testing service can look nice and short like this.

Q: My satellite meter says I have a good signal but the box says signal strength 0. Please help!

A: You are probably pointed to the wrong satellite. Call me for help.

Spotted on Yahoo Answers. This is a good example of how to promote a Skype Prime service without maintaining one's own blog or website. There are lots of people with questions and issues out there and it makes perfect sense to answer their questions on various online forums they turn to.

Stumbled upon a nice customization of Skype Prime buttons. And apparently this can be linked to a calendar service to show available service times.

Read more here. We have written about creating banners that show your availability in the Skype Prime promotion guide. And for those less comfortable with creating custom buttons and coding there are standard Skype Prime snippets that can easily be copied onto blogs or websites.

As most of you have noticed Skype Prime doesn't have a directory, yet. While we are busy building it you can use the user-generated list of services on Skype Forums. It also has links to a couple of user-generated directories, which may be worthwhile to use in the interim.

On a different note this post on Skype Journal encourages people not to count on Skype's directory-to-be-launched, but develop additional ones. As Phil Wolff puts it:

> The point of a directory isn't to make a list. The point is to trigger useful, relevant conversations.

Creating very relevant information is always a good idea. If you've succeeded in it or found a good one, please do let us know via forum or comments.

Hosting a Skypecast that is related to your Skype Prime service is a good way to let other Skype users know about your service. And it's free

Creating it is easy - simply click on Create a Skypecast in the web directory, describe the Skypecast, set the start time and you're good to go. You can add information about your service and charges to the description of the Skypecast. After you've created it, it will be browsable on the web and it will appear in the Live-tab of most Skype users prior to start.

It seems many Skype Prime users are creating a new Skype name for their services. And many of you have asked if it's possible to run multiple Skype accounts on the same computer. There is no Skype feature for that but it's possible nevertheless with these tips from Ike.

1. Make sure you have another user account (login) for your Windows machine, including a password and admin rights.

1. Right click the Skype icon and select Run as...

1. On the next screen click The following user: and select one different from the one you are currently logged in as on your computer.

1. Voila! - another Skype will open which can be used independantly from your first Skype instance. You can even make calls between them on the same computer.

This may work better in some environments and worse on others. Let us know via comments if this worked for you.

Seth Godin recently gave good marketing advice to small businesses on his blog. This seems to fit well for promoting a Skype Prime service, too (which in essence is a small business).

Seth's approach involves four simple steps. Create a simple blog/website, create a Squidoo lens (which is just a type of website Seth's company has developed) about your service, make yourself and your service more visual by posting photos on Flickr and get some user testimonials.

Now, I haven't used Squidoo myself, but creating a lens for promoting a Skype Prime service sounds like a good idea. I tried playing around with Squidoo a little and it seems it is possible to add a Skype Prime snippet to it. Surely it is possible to add a snippet to any blog, so read the post, try it out and let us know if it worked.

Anyone looking for new business ideas should visit Springwise or subscribe to their weekly newsletter. Even more so, because their latest edition included Skype Prime.

> Skype has over 171 million registered users, is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Which means a very large reach for minipreneurs who'd like to sell their services, whether they're offering Spanish lessons, tax advice or something saucier.

Springwise is a network of trend and new business ideas spotters. They've coined the word minipreneur for the type of people who set up Skype Prime services and have a good article about minipreneurs on their sister-site.

This post by Seth Godin recommends those who are interested in a career in marketing to start off by launcing a store on eBay. He argues that this hands-on approach is the best way to learn about digital marketing, from blogging to permission-based email campaigns.

A nice idea. May I just add that now there is also Skype Prime that one can use the gain experience of running a business.

This, spotted on Skype Journal is the funniest Skype Prime web button I've seen so far