UPDATE: DimDim has now been acquired by SalesForce.com – a larger company that offers a much more diverse list of products, including a lot of the things DimDim used to offer.

Communication is key.

Demonstration and collaboration are essential.

Sometimes it’s just easier to show someone what you mean instead of trying to explain it to them. Sometimes it’s more effective for you and the person you’re talking to to be looking at the same things at the same time.

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy for someone across the country, or halfway around the world, to look over your shoulder when you want to show them something.

Dimdim can change all of that.

A Brief DimDim Review

Dimdim is a flexible, easy to use web conferencing platform that allows you to hold live web meetings with up to 20 people for free (larger meetings can be held with paid subscriptions).

Share Web Pages

If you find yourself needing to guide a person or group through a particular webpage, DimDim will do the trick. No worrying about whether or not everyone is on the right page, seeing what they need to see, in real time – all without anything to download or install.

This feature generally seems to work best on more basic pages, where other sites with more elaborate content can sometimes pop up an unexpected “Are you sure you want to leave this page” message from your web browser. All things considered, this isn’t a huge problem, but it can lead to an attendee accidentally leaving the meeting (it’s easy enough for them to jump back in though!).

Whiteboards

Some ideas are easier to share visually – so DimDim provides easy to use virtual whiteboards. This feature makes it simple to draw a quick sketch or outline for the participants of your meeting. To make collaboration even easier, other participants can also add to the whiteboard as questions or new ideas arise!

Presentations

DimDim’s Presentation sharing provides a turn-key option for sharing your PDF files or PowerPoint presentations with all of your meeting. All you have to do is click on th “Show Presentation” button while hosting a meeting, upload the file and you’re on you’re way!

You can now share your entire presentation with your group without anyone having to install any software. All they need is your personal DimDim URL (and the login password if you choose to use one) and they’re in! DimDim’s built in laser pointer and annotation tools make presenting easy for everyone to follow.

Screen Sharing

Full screen sharing is, for me at least, where DimDim REALLY shines. This feature does require a small plugin download for your computer, which will run in the background and make it super simple to start a screen sharing session (two clicks is all it takes!).

Once the plugin is installed on your computer, you can share your screen with anyone who has your URL and (optional) meeting password – but your attendees won’t have to download or install a thing! All they have to do is enter your DimDim URL and you can show them whatever you need to!

Video And Voice Conferencing

DimDim makes face to face meetings easy by including easy webcam support, as well as two audio options. For smaller meetings, you and your attendees can communicate through your computer’s microphones. For larger groups, every DimDim account includes access to a free conference bridge.

The dial in and password for the conference line are included in the invitation emails sent to your attendees, as well as being displayed at the top of the meeting screen. Regardless of the size of your meeting, everyone can stay in touch – but even if they can’t, DimDim meetings also provide a live chat window for everyone to use as well.

Schedule Meetings And Post Registration Widgets

When you schedule a meeting in advance, DimDim provides an easy to use widget that can be added to you web page or blog. This makes it extremely easy for new attendees to register for your webinar. Anyone you choose to invite to the meeting, as well as anyone who registers through your widget will receive an email with the date, time and log in information they need, all in one convenient place.

Instant Start Meetings

Not all meetings are planned in advance, which is why DimDim makes it simple to start a meeting on the fly. Logging into DimDim allows you to instantly start a meeting, which can be joined by anyone with your DimDim meeting URL.

If you choose to share your screen on DimDim, starting a meeting is even simpler. Screen sharing with DimDim is achieved through a small plugin, which runs in your computer’s taskbar. Clicking on the ScreenCast icon on your desktop opens then menu, and from there all you need to do is click “Share My Screen,” and you’re live!

Once you launch an instant meeting, anyone that you tell, email, IM, or tweet your DimDim URL to will be able to join – so impromptu collaboration is quick and painless (oh, and the URLs are extremely easy to share: my.dimdim.com/username – so there’s no need to worry about anyone getting lost on the way to the meeting!).

Webinar Recording

DimDim also provides a great deal of leverage by offering webinar recording. This makes it easy for attendees to review material, without having to ask you for a refresher, as well as allowing you to turn your webinars into valuable training materials.

With webinar recording, you can go through your presentation once, save it, and share the recording with others in the future, so you don’t need to cover the same topics over and over again! The recordings can even be automatically sent to your attendees via email at the end of the meeting, saving you time and energy.

All in all, DimDim is easily one of the most complete, cost effective webinar solutions on the market. DimDim turns a screen sharing platform into a collaboration engine, making it easy for your attendees to do more than just watch. With DimDim, you can share what you need to, and your group can interact with you in real time in ways that make the meeting as effective and beneficial as possible.

DimDim comes with a several reasonable price points, including a free trial; so if you’re looking for a realistic webinar solution, checking out DimDim should definitely be your next move!

As an internet marketer, one thing you are going to have to figure out quickly is how to communicate with your prospects, leads, upline, downline, coaches, or whomever…

What happens if they live in another country? What is a good way to communicate with them without spending all of your marketing budget on the phone calls?

That’s where Skype comes in.

Skype is a communication tool which doesn’t cost anything to download that makes it free, yes free, to talk to any other Skype user anywhere in the world. As long as you both have Skype, you can talk at no cost… Skype also offers free conference calls, instant messaging, and video chat for users with webcams.

This is absolutely essential to our business as we have team members from places like Australia, England, Saudi Arabia, etc…The beauty of the internet is that there are no boundaries and you can market to anyone, anywhere in the world. So assuming you are marketing internationally, you must be prepared with a tool to communicate in a cost-effective manner and it doesn’t get much more cost-effective than free.

Download Skype for free here!