Souped-Up Skype
Skype, a Luxembourg-based VoIP provider, is broadening its portfolio with two new offerings that let users share and sell their expertise online. Skype 3.1 for Windows includes Skype Find, a tool that lets the Skype community list, rate, and review their favorite businesses, and a beta-version of Skype Prime, which helps small businesses and experts sell their consulting services in an online knowledge marketplace.
In its first three weeks, SkypeFind garnered more than 4,500 listings in 124 countries, and the company estimates there will be over 1 million listings in place by the end of the year. SkypeFind, a user-generated Zagat guide of sorts, provides consumers with recommendations and businesses with visibility. If a consumer wants to contact a business after reading a SkypeFind review, they can click a button to immediately place a SkypeOut call. SkypeFind is free and at present does not allow paid for listings.
Skype Prime helps experts such as financial advisers and tutors find clients and sell their services online. Clients pay knowledge vendors using PayPal and vendors can charge on a per minute or one-time fees basis. Skype will charge vendors 30 percent of their fee for facilitating the transaction.