YouTube Live Streaming

A great way to establish a connection with your customers is doing YouTube live streaming.  It just takes a few minutes to take out your phone and do a quick live YouTube to show a weed and talk about it.  They would love to have you warn them about army worms and show them what to watch for.  This can take customers from seeing you as a business and more of a friend and someone they trust. This is free marketing better that almost any paid advertising. Use these videos again in Facebook posts and on your website for more reach. This is definately a tool you should learn to use for your green industry business.

Transcript: You are now looking at youtube.com, and what we're going to do is we're going to set up for semi-private meetings. And in order to do that, the first thing we're going to do is create a place for us to archive all our meetings. And we're going to go to this area of your YouTube channel where it says YouTube settings. Once you click YouTube settings what you're going to notice is that the very last link says see all my channels or create a new channel. You are going to create a new channel. You'll notice here that it says to create a new channel so you're going to click button and then you're going to give that brand account a name. Once you've done that you're going to click create.

And what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to go to your Creator Studio. That's going to bring you to this channel link and you're going to want to be enabled for live streaming. So you're going to click enable. Google is going to take you through an account verification process. You'll want to go through that process and once you've completed Google's verification process, you'll then be ready to start the next step. Once you are back in your YouTube channel, what you're going to do is click the events link. That's going to bring you to this page. You're going to click new live event.

You’re going to give your event a title, and what you're going to do then is you're going to go to this drop-down menu, and you're going to make it private. Now what you're going to do now is you're now going to click the either go live now button or you're going to click this area that specifies a time. So in this case we're just going to click the go live now button. YouTube is going to give us a message saying that we're doing a Hangout on Air. We're going to click okay. Now the interface for Hangouts on Air is slightly different. Now you'll notice that the interface for Hangouts on Air is slightly different. Now you'll notice that there is a camera there.

The camera is currently being turned off. You can turn that on. Any of your guests can turn on their camera in the same way in this area. So the first thing we want to do is to find out if we can reach our guests and if they are available to meet. And we're going to do that by going to invite people and we're going to put their email address in this area. And then we're going to click invite. Now that invitation has been posted to that individual, and now they will get notice as to whether they can attend. That person will get an email saying that they have been invited to a call and they can choose to join by clicking this button.

You'll notice now that there are now 2 people part of the call, and you have a blank screen. So now what we want to do is share the screen so that we can work on the document with the other individuals in the actual room. So we're going to click screen share, and now we're now sharing the actual document on screen. But there's one more step that we want to take because we want to archive this with the other individuals so that once it's over we will have a recording.

And to do that we have already set the parameters to private so we can broadcast this with no fear that there is going to be anyone else watching. Our privacy settings means that the only people that are going to see the broadcast are going to be those that are on call. So what we're going to do is click the start broadcast button. Now you'll notice that it says that the hangout on air will now be broadcast on YouTube.

That means then that it'll be broadcast privately and that the recording will be there once we've completed the meeting. So we're going to do is we're going to click okay. So then the hangout on here will begin. It will be again recording. We'll work through the document and then at some point the meeting or the hangout will end. Now obviously we can use the group chat that will not be recorded but any discussion that will be had between people verbally will be caught on the actual recording. So anyone that speaks they'll be able to be on camera. They’ll also be able to be on audio.

What we'll need to do then at the end of this call is we're going to click stop broadcast. So now that the broadcast has been stopped we can click stop screen sharing and we can now click hang up. And what you'll notice it says that the hangout on air is now over and the recording is now being broadcast and uploaded to YouTube. And sure enough, if we go to our video manager, we can see that our meeting has been archived. So that is how you would work around the fact that Google Hangouts can be used for meeting, working, and collaborating, and yet archiving for central purposes.

Using Google Voice For Communication

 Using a Google Voice number gives your lawn business a professional appearance. You can choose a local number or toll-free number, making it easier for customers to recognize and trust your business. Create custom greetings and voicemail messages tailored specifically for your lawn care business. This can include information about your services, hours of operation, and how customers can reach you in case of emergencies. Google Voice allows you to screen calls and route them to different numbers based on your preferences. For example, you could have calls from new customers routed directly to your business phone, while existing customers are directed to your personal phone.

Google Voice also supports text messaging. This can be useful for sending appointment reminders, updates on services, or handling customer inquiries.  Google Voice has a mobile app that allows you to manage calls and messages from anywhere. This is particularly useful for lawn care professionals who are frequently on the go. Be careful with this last one, depending on your needs and local regulations, you may find it beneficial to record calls for training purposes or to ensure accuracy in service requests. Check your local laws before trying this.

Transcript: You are now at google.com and you'll notice that the word voice is in the search parameters and the very first result that will come up is typically going to be Google Voice. This is going to give us access to a voice over IP number and a place where we can receive text messages. So we're going to go ahead and we're going to click Google Voice. And Google Voice is described as a family phone number, but it can really be for your business. So what you're going to do is click this button that says get Google Voice and we're going to choose the medium that you're going to be operating in. In most cases it's going to be the web so we're going to click web. We're going to follow the prompts and Google will suggest certain numbers based on your part of the country. You're going to select 1.

And then what we're going to do is going to click next. Google will then send you through a verification process that you'll need to add a phone number to connect to your Google Voice number. It'll send you a code and then you'll verify with typically what's going to be your mobile device. And once you've completed the verification process, you have a fully functioning number. You can send a text message, you can make a voice call, and you can receive voice mail. And one thing that you want to note in the settings area is voice mail. And what you can do is you can receive a transcript of the actual voice mail if you turn it on. It's not on by default.

Now the transcript is not perfect, but it will sometimes give you an idea of what's being said before you must listen or make a callback. Now by default Google will attach the number that you used to verify the account to your Google Voice account. You do not have to have that number attached to the account because what's going to happen is the calls that get forwarded from your Google Voice number will go to the number that you used to verify.

Now, if you just wanted to have this to be a standalone number you can go in and delete that number. So what we're going to do is click this x and you'll notice here that we get a warning from Google that we can no longer use Google Voice from that number, and we won't be able to forward calls to that number. And we don't want to use Google Voice for that purpose anyways. We're going to click delete. And what you're going to notice is that all the messages are going to go now to your email.

What you can do is you can turn off message forwarding and send them to voice mail which is all going to be on Google. And everything runs through your email address, so you'll get notifications through your email.

Using Google Documents Offline

Let's face it.  Managing a lawn care business means we aren't in the office sitting in front of a computer that often.  We need Google Docs for marketing, sales, operations, and many other things.  Being able to access our files offline is important.  What if you needed to access some company information and you are where you don't have an internet signal?  What if you don't want all your employees to access everything through internet?  This lesson will help teach you how to access and use Google docs offline.

Transcript: In this video we're going to be talking about using Google Docs offline. Now Google Docs requires an Internet connection to work with the documents as we see them here in our dashboard. However, we can work with them offline. To work with Google Docs offline, what we're going to need to do is we are going to need to find the Google Docs offline application and we can search for it inside of the Chrome Web Store and once we find it we can just click add to Chrome. What we're going to need to do now is we're going to need to go to our Google Drive and then our settings. And, when we get to Google Drive we'll just find our settings. And when you check the settings for offline you might find that Google will tell you that your status is in holding.

So if that's the case typically the problem is that you do not have the backup and sync software installed on your personal computer. So you'll need to download that now. Now if you search for the words download Google Drive or Google Sync download, you will find the right location. And that'll bring you to a site that looks like this. What you'll need to do is click download backup and sync. And once you have synced your drive with your personal computer you will then have access to your Google Docs on your hard drive so that you can work on them whether you have an internet connection. Now, once you are certain that the program is running as you can see here, we can look at it in our right-hand corner. We'll need to make sure that there are 2 applications running inside of Google Chrome so that we can edit and work with our documents offline.

If you're willing to make sure they're running we'll need to go to our extensions, and we can find that by going to the right-hand menu. We'll need to go to more tools and then we'll need to go to extensions. And there will need to be the application launcher that's running in our extensions and Google Docs offline. Provided that these two applications are enabled and running, you will then be able to edit and work with your documents offline and have them sync whenever you are online.

G Suite Applications

In summary, there are many ways to use Google applications in your business. 

Gmail:

Use Gmail for professional email communication with clients, suppliers, and team members.

• Organize emails with labels and filters to categorize inquiries, quotes, invoices, and other correspondence.
• Collaborate with team members using shared inboxes or by assigning emails to specific team members for follow-up.

Google Calendar:

• Schedule appointments, lawn care services, and team meetings.
• Share calendars with employees to coordinate schedules and avoid conflicts.
• Set up reminders for upcoming appointments and tasks related to lawn care services.

• Store and organize documents, such as contracts, invoices, quotes, and service agreements.
• Share documents with clients and team members for collaboration.
• Use Google Forms to create customer feedback surveys or service request forms.

Google Sheets:

• Track expenses, revenues, and other financial data using spreadsheets.
• Create schedules for lawn care services, including assignments for team members and timelines for tasks.
• Generate reports on business performance, such as revenue trends, customer satisfaction metrics, or equipment maintenance logs.

Google Docs:

• Collaborate with team members on creating and editing documents, such as service proposals, marketing materials, or training manuals.
• Store important business documents securely in the cloud and access them from anywhere.

Google Meet:

• Conduct virtual meetings with clients, team members, or suppliers.
• Share screens to discuss service plans, contracts, or project updates.
• Record meetings for future reference or for team members who couldn't attend.

Google Forms:

• Create customer satisfaction surveys to gather feedback after lawn care services.
• Collect service requests from clients, including details such as address, service type, and preferred schedule.
• Use forms for employee feedback, equipment maintenance requests, or inventory tracking.

Google Chat:

• Communicate in real-time with team members for quick questions or updates.
• Create group chats for specific projects or departments to streamline communication.
• Share files and collaborate directly within chat conversations.

Transcript: In conclusion, we are now looking at g Suite and g Suite is the paid version of all the apps that you have seen in this course. As of the recording of this course the G Suite package is inexpensive and comes with over 1 terabyte of storage space on Google Drive. The package comes with phone support and integrates all the applications that you have seen in this course including video and video conferencing. One aspect of g Suite that makes collaboration easy is that you can have your company email attached to Gmail so that where you're looking at a Gmail box it would have your company's domain. You also get 30 gigabyte of inbox storage for each of the users inside of your company. And so one way to integrate everyone who's on your team is to bring them all on one team at an inexpensive price whether you bring them on at a basic level or a business level. For example, using sites in g Suite means you can have your site privately. You can restrict access to only those people that are going to be on your team.

In another example the Hangout function inside of g Suite allows you to connect to meeting rooms instead of the workaround that was discussed in one video. Finally, one other aspect of G Suite is universal search so that you can have one search location and you can search across your calendars, your documents, your forms, and all in one place. This is a very convenient way to monitor and audit your content. So if you are looking to upgrade the Google applications that you are using free, G Suite may be an option as it is very inexpensive and gives you productivity advances.