Turning to Skype and WebEx.
Home-based businesses are increasingly turning to the web for resources and revenues, embracing social media, product-focused forum sites, blogs and VoIP.
“As with many U.S. businesses home-based businesses have been experiencing decreasing revenues and cash-flow issues,” says Yuki Uehara, Research Analyst at AMI-Partners. “In the past, they had focused on more improving internal efficiency such as IT security, data backup back-office functions.”
But this time it’s different, Uehara says. “We are seeing a shift to reaching out to clients and prospects and communication to keep baseline revenue to catch every possible sales opportunity.”
For instance, the number of home-based businesses using VoIP technology increased by 48% last year, according to AMI-Partners. And, in place of travel, home-based businesses are increasingly adopting web video solutions, such as Skype, MS Live Meeting and WebEx.