Virtually Reimagined

Betsy Sabatini: 00:00

Hi there. I'm Betsy Sabatini, and I'm your host. I'm also your Zoom expert and technology coach, and this is our first ever episode. Actually, it's my first ever podcast. And in this podcast, I'll be your guide as we explore what it means to thrive in business, but without borders and without walls and without limits.

Betsy Sabatini: 00:23

And whether you're a coach or a course creator or a business owner, maybe you're an agent and you're ready to step into that virtual space while you're in the right place. I've been wanting to do this for a while. You know, it all started five years ago when I took my business from in person to virtual. And I have many years teaching technology and I had been teaching in person. I had taught technology classes.

Betsy Sabatini: 00:56

I had taught any application imaginable. You know, I started out actually in corporate America. And after that, about thirty years ago, I went from teaching people in corporations to teaching solopreneurs and people maybe just like you who are running your own business, possibly a team of one or a team of 10 or even 20. And that ideal client would gravitate to me, especially if your applications were turning into tech hurdles, you know, using some sort of app. And over the years, many years, almost forty years now where I have been teaching people, as I say, how to use technology, how to use the computer turned into how to use the cloud, how to use mobile devices, how to use an iPad, an iPhone, your cell phone, what happens when you you move from your Windows computer to a Mac computer, what happens when you no longer get those CDs and installing the application on your computer.

Betsy Sabatini: 02:04

We don't have those anymore. Everything comes from the web. And all of that experience and teaching and guiding people was done in person for me. And that was right up until March 2020 when everything abruptly came to a halt for everyone around the world. And because of the pandemic, I was asked to help an industry of professionals how to keep the doors to their businesses open.

Betsy Sabatini: 02:39

And what that did for me is I tried to stay, I did stay, a few steps ahead of them always. I was keeping the doors to my business open And in doing so, I learned Zoom. I had taught a few people how to use Zoom the few years prior to 2020. So Zoom was always around. It just wasn't as prevalent and not as as heavily relied on.

Betsy Sabatini: 03:12

And if you think prior to 2020, when it was a webinar or you were hopping on some sort of training that you were taking online, That's exactly what it was. You never saw the person live, rarely saw the person live. You were on some sort of training, which we call asynchronous training. I don't know if you know that term, but asynchronous is where you're taking the training and maybe it's recorded and you don't see the person live. Whereas synchronous is where I guess the figure you can think of the term as in sync.

Betsy Sabatini: 03:48

So you are synchronous with the instructor on the screen, and they're they're live with you. And thus started this whole new chapter of my business and my office space. You see prior to 2020, I was in a brick and mortar. So I had a building. I rented space in a location on the East Coast.

Betsy Sabatini: 04:12

I was located in the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area at the time, and people would come to me there. And I would hold classes either one on one or small group. And so I I changed that office space from in person to virtual. And this virtual office space, I reimagined. And thus, this podcast was was born.

Betsy Sabatini: 04:38

The concept of discussing, well, what does it take to reimagine this modern office space that we're creating for ourselves? And how do you make it more dynamic? How do you bring people in? How do you get people in here to your virtual office space? What if it's a meeting space?

Betsy Sabatini: 04:59

What if you want large groups of people? What if you wanna present virtually or hold a summit where you have multiple speakers? You can do all of that inside Zoom. Now there are other applications. There's Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.

Betsy Sabatini: 05:18

And because I was asked over the years, I was asked to show them how to use the features in in Zoom most of the time, I got better and better at it. And I spend every day researching and testing all the new features that come out for Zoom meetings and have become an expert. I even went to Zoom corporate and became a partner so that I take training and keep my knowledge up to date so that I can guide you. Now if you wanted to know, well, how would I do this in Teams? I can help you with that.

Betsy Sabatini: 05:58

Or how would I do this in Google Meet? I can help you with that too because I am a technology expert and coach. And so I help people to figure out the applications that they need to to learn. But when it comes to Zoom, it all started back there five years ago. And in helping people put together that virtual office space, I started to work some fun into it.

Betsy Sabatini: 06:25

I mean, why not? Right? Technology should be fun as well. You know, one of my pillars of learning technology is to make it fun. So what I did is I started exploring what are called virtual backgrounds.

Betsy Sabatini: 06:44

You see behind me today, there I'm sitting in a room with proper lighting, the best that I could do for this location that I'm in today because I'm I'm leading from anywhere these days. I can travel around as long as I have Internet connection, and I have some sort of microphone and the Zoom application, I can broadcast live to you. I can also record, like I'm doing today and take that recording and repurpose it. I could take the audio like I'm doing today. And if you're just listening in, you're hearing just the audio.

Betsy Sabatini: 07:24

And if you're watching on YouTube, then you're seeing the video together. And all of this can be done in Zoom. Well, if you prefer to have a virtual background, not a a natural room background like I have today, you can do that inside Zoom, and it's something that I teach on my YouTube channel called the the Zoom playground. Well, let me take you back and show you this video that I created where I called it serving myself coffee, and I had a bit of fun. So what I did was I changed my virtual background to a video of me, and I used Zoom recordings to make that happen.

Betsy Sabatini: 08:07

And so what I did is I staged myself bringing a cup of coffee into the room, and I recorded that into a video using Zoom. And that recording can be placed as the virtual background inside my Zoom. And so by sitting in the chair while that video was playing as my background and I simply made a look, I made it look like I was looking at myself. And this video got so much attention. Actually, I use this example in my Zoom Business Academy, which I teach about four to five times a year where professionals come in and we we go through my share framework of how to stop winging it on Zoom calls and start mastering all the cool stuff that Zoom can do for you.

Betsy Sabatini: 09:01

And I show how to make this type of video. Look, it doesn't have to be a clone of yourself, which is kind of fun, isn't it? But it can be something where you use a virtual background and then you're seated in the chair and you're recording a message to your audience. And you can use that video inside what Zoom calls your Zoom waiting room. And then you can actually wow your audience before they even arrive.

Betsy Sabatini: 09:31

So literally, when they click the link that you give them to come to your event, again, whether it is a one on one chat with you, it might be a full class, it might be a webinar or workshop or a summit, All these can be done inside Zoom. And they click that link, and then they see your waiting room video play. And already, they can't wait to get in. And so these are the types of things that I like to come up with. I meet with lots of you, lots of people like you, professionals who have those questions like, hey.

Betsy Sabatini: 10:07

If I can do that in Zoom, is there a way that I could replicate meeting rooms? Or what if I wanted to have multiple speakers? Or I have a lot of you who are in the real estate industry who I always say, you know what? You've been relying on your phone and your social media and your email list besides walking door to door, you know, whether that is still a part of your your business for generating leads. Well, what about Zoom?

Betsy Sabatini: 10:37

Just think about it. You could start up a Zoom meeting, invite in people from your community, and offer them a workshop on everything that you know. What if you're in the tax industry? You could do that as well. You could talk about what's important, what laws have changed.

Betsy Sabatini: 10:54

What if you're in wellness? You could put out to your community or possibly other industry professionals what has changed in your industry and invite people in. And you can do that simply with either a free Zoom event or a paid Zoom event. And these are the types of topics that we're gonna go through as we go forward with our episodes of the Virtually Reimagined podcast. Alright.

Betsy Sabatini: 11:25

So are you ready for this? I have got a little something that I want you to think about inside your own virtual space. Think about it. What is it for you? Is it a a virtual office, a virtual meeting space, or is it a virtual classroom?

Betsy Sabatini: 11:41

Okay. So let me take you through a little exercise for this very first episode of the Virtually Reimagined podcast. Now I've been taking you behind the scenes of my journey and what it was like when I first, you know, went virtual and I took my business from in person to this virtual office space. And so now I wanna hear from you. And I want you to start with your wish list.

Betsy Sabatini: 12:07

So take out a piece of paper and a pen and at the top, write down the title, my virtually reimagined wish list. Now if you need to, just hit pause here and go get the equipment that you need, and don't start play until you have that done. So you have the title at the top of your page. Okay. Good.

Betsy Sabatini: 12:32

So I'm gonna go as if you have your wish list title at the top of the page. And now imagine what that space looks like for you and what you would need. And we're gonna go as if you're creating that space in Zoom, at least for this exercise. If yours is different than that, go ahead. If it's teams that you use or Google Meet that you use, just put that down.

Betsy Sabatini: 12:56

But as far as your wish list, what are you creating? Is it a classroom? Is it an office space? Are you meeting one on one, or is this a workshop for your community? Are the sessions free, or are you going to charge a fee?

Betsy Sabatini: 13:14

And what is that? Create your wish list. And as you go through, I want you to imagine what does it look like. Are you sitting in a chair with a virtual background, or are you standing? And as you start to imagine what this space looks like, you'll start to discover what you'll need and where you'll be and how you'll record yourself.

Betsy Sabatini: 13:39

And as we go through the episodes together, I'll touch on the tasks that are needed to bring this virtual space to reality. I can't wait. So thanks for tuning in to the first episode of the Virtually Reimagined podcast. And I hope today's episode gave you that spark of inspiration for your own virtual business journey. And if you loved what you heard, just make sure that you subscribe here.

Betsy Sabatini: 14:11

Hey. We're brand new. So you wanna be our first subscriber? Go ahead and subscribe so you never miss an episode and share it with a friend or a colleague, someone who's building their own dream online. And until next time, keep creating success and leading from anywhere.