On-line collaboration is an important trend today – even if you're a one-person business who makes a living telling other people what to do.
For example …
- You can collaborate more with clients when customising a presentation to suit their needs.
- You invite colleagues to be guest presenters for members of your membership site.
- I'm seeing more examples of two or three experts collaborating on books, so readers get the value of their combined expertise.
- More successful podcasts are now done as interviews or with multiple presenters, rather than just one person talking into a microphone.
- Even audiences are expecting more collaboration during your presentation.
These are not isolated examples.
The Internet makes it easier for people to collaborate. Even if those people live in different time zones, different countries, different cultures and live very different lives. They can still come together easily and effectively – certainly far easier than ever before.
Webinars. Teleseminars. Conference calls. Facebook. LinkedIn. Google+. Skype. On-line forums. Google Docs. Elance. Ning.
These are all examples of modern tools that help people collaborate. And all are available to "normal" people without any particular technical skills.
Are YOU collaborating with others?
This is not about the tools and the technology. Sure, the tools are necessary to make the collaboration easier. But it's first about your mindset.
Are you actively seeking ways to collaborate? It really is the way of the future, so if you're not doing it, you're falling behind.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- Which colleagues – other experts – can you collaborate with easily to bring more value to your clients and audiences?
- How can you enlist your audiences in making your next presentation even more effective? (One obvious way is to survey them before your presentation. That's still effective, but what's another way?)
- What collaboration technology are you not using yet – but could make a significant difference if you do start using it?
The eGurus Community
If you're a member of the eGurus Community, there's a section of the eGurus Vault with resources about on-line collaboration.
If you're not an eGurus member, find out about membership at www.eGurus.info.
Webinar Recording: On-Line Collaboration Tools
The Internet has made it so much easier to work together with people who aren't in the same room, city or even country as you. You can use it to collaborate with clients, suppliers, colleagues and even competitors! In this webinar, I introduce you to low-cost and no-cost on-line collaboration tools that will make you more productive, foster better relationships, and create new business opportunities.
Webinar Recording: Help Your Clients to Help Themselves
When your customers and clients need something from you, do you force them to get in touch with you personally? If so, this can be very frustrating for them, because they have to wait for you to respond. And it's extremely time-consuming and unproductive for you and your staff.
In this webinar, we'll look at simple, cost-effective tools you can use to help clients to help themselves – including wikis, Google Docs and Dropbox. This is a practical session, where I'll demonstrate these tools and explain their pros and cons, so you can choose what's most appropriate for your business.
Book: Better Conference Calls
If you are interested in organising, chairing or participating in conference calls, this book will teach you everything you need to know. What makes it different is that it's not just about the technology. Our main objective in this book is to teach you effective conference calling skills, so you can be more productive, efficient and professional on your next conference call.
