In the olden days – you know, the 80s and 90s – if you wanted to do business, you had to live and work close enough to population centers so that you’d have an ample pool of clients. Thanks to Skype, that’s not so for Wendy Kenney, President of 23 Kazoos Marketing and PR. She and her four dogs live in beautiful – and remote – Alaska, while she runs a successful business with clients all over the US. I asked her a few questions about how Skype helps her make all of it possible.

Mike Michalowicz: Tell us about your business.

Wendy Kenney: We are a virtual marketing and PR agency that provides outsourced marketing services including social media management, content creation and publicity. 23 Kazoos: we build buzz for business!

MM: Where you are located and where do you deliver your service?

WK: We have offices in Sitka, Alaska and Boise, Idaho and we have clients all over the country.

MM: How often do you use Skype to run your business?

WK: I use Skype to meet with my customers who are in the US for our regular weekly meetings, to interview prospective contractors for my company, and to train my current staff. I also use it to meet with potential new clients. Couldn’t run my business without Skype!

MM: Can you give us an example of a client with whom you used Skype to increase sales or provide better service?

WK: We create advertisements, newsletters and infographics for our clients. We are working on an infographic/brochure for a client in Phoenix Tri-City Transmission. Through Skype we can send graphics to the client, and then go over changes. It is much more effective than just trying to get feedback via telephone or email. Skype allows us to communicate more effectively, saving us time and resources.

MM: How does Skype help you compete with bigger businesses?

WK: Skype allows me to be anywhere at any time and meet with anyone in the world. I employ a virtual team of graphic designers, programmers, and marketing professionals who are also located all over the world. It’s great to be able to chat with them over Skype to go over projects. With Skype, we have all the resources we need, right at our fingertips.

MM: Your favorite feature of Skype?

WK: I like that we can share videos and other files, but I love that Skype is accessible to almost anyone almost anywhere in the world!

MM:  You must have some funny Skype stories.

WK: I own four dogs and I occasionally go out of town to conferences and meet with clients. When I do, I use Skype to chat with my dogs. I don’t think they understand how Mommy got into the computer, but I love being able to see and talk to them and I think it helps all of us to not miss each other as much!

The biggest takeaway from my chat with Wendy is the power of being able to work with visuals while you talk via Skype with a client or contractor. Being able to see what your client sees, while they’re seeing it used to be the benefit of a face-to-face meeting, but Skype makes that possible between Arizona and Alaska.

I wrote this blog post on behalf of Skype and received compensation for my time and research required to create this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Skype’s. For additional information about Skype’s small business solutions, follow @skype4biz and visit http://www.skype.com/en/business/.