2-Way Webcam On Your Facebook Profile Page

How many Networking friends do you have on Facebook? Would you like a better way to network with them - LIVE - on your Facebook profile page?

Websites like Twitter and Facebook have become phenomenons, taking on a life of their own. These mediums provide an instant audience unlike other programs on the Internet. These websites are no longer about staying connected with friends and families. While that continues, they have evolved into business networking platforms and very profitable ventures for many. And why not? It's population exceeds that of many countries.

Consider your number of Facebook friends and Twitter followers. How many of them do you know or have had the priviledge of speaking to? Recently I read one "friend's" Facebook wall post as saying, "I have 4,997 friends but only about 20 I can call up and chat with." hmmm... maybe Facebook should add a category called Prospects and allow us to move them from this column into our Friend's column when we feel we can truly call them friends. I'll leave that idea for another topic.

I think the days for buying leads for your business or buying traffic to your website will be going the way of the dinasaur. Mediums like Twitter and Facebook give you a live audience of prospects and often it just costs you your time. Sound like a "no brainer" to you?

So, let's get back to the number of "networking" friends you have on Facebook. After all, if they are not personal friends then it stands to reason your intent is to network with them for business and profitable reasons, correct? Ok, now that we've established that, what is your plan to network with them? Or, are you simply "winging" it and hoping people will become interested in your status updates, wall posts, video posts and so on. Maybe it's all an effort to create awareness of who you are in hopes it provides credibility for you. This may pave the way for you to start converting your social networking friends into business opportunity prospects or customers for your products. Sounds like a plan.

What if there was a BETTER way. Yes, a better way to network faster with your "social networking friends" and turn them into FRIENDS. It's time FACEBOOK got a facelift.

What makes a leader, a leader? There have been many books written on the subject so I am going to sum up many suggestions and simply say, "they set themselves apart." Now, let me ask you, "what are you doing to set yourself apart from the other 199,999,999 active Facebook users as of April 8, 2009?" Setting yourself apart will define you and create true followers and friends, not just numbers to boast about but, friends to be proud of.

There is something to be said about "old fashion" belly-to-belly marketing. This is where networkers met with prospects in church basements, hotel rooms, living rooms, etc. It was face-to-face marketing and it was definitely effective. The Internet has changed how we network. Now we use automated systems on websites allowing us to reach a larger audience but, it has taken away the face-to-face opportunity, until now.

A couple of years ago I developed a program that lets people stream 2-way webcam video right onto any page. The benefits of this far outweigh any excuse one can come up with so as to NOT take advantage of face-to-face marketing. Even CNN's medical experts and researchers agree. Simply search March's archived blogs on this page and see my report on CNN's medical research by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

On June 22nd we are releasing Web Site Communicator's Facebook App. This is truly going to put your Facebook social networking on steroids. But, it isn't for the faint at heart. It isn't for those who want everything for free. It's for serious networkers who appreciate investing into their business. That too, I believe is a serious quality of a leader.

Depending on the time of day you are reading this blog you may see me streaming LIVE webcam video onto this page. Simply scroll up and look in the column on the right. Not only can you see me but you can connect with me, in private, for a face-to-face chat session (provided you too have a webcam). Imagine adding this option to your Facebook profile page. Don't you think it will change the way you "social network" with all your Facebook friends? Of course it will.

Think about this: it isn' the more people get to know about you that will compel them to want to do business with you. It's the more people get to know you that will compel them to want to do business with you. Read that again to make sure you understand what I just said. Web Site Communicator is the ultimate tool to use so your web site visitor can get to know you as opposed to knowing about you. There is a difference.

For a sneak peak simply go to http://tinyurl.com/dk8cwe

I hope to SEE you on Facebook. Feel free to add me as a friend on Facebook. Simply go to http://www.facebook.com/rodneybrace

You may also follow me on Twitter and I will follow you back: http://twitter.com/rodneybrace

Have a healthy, wealthy networking week.

Rodney Brace

14 Second Countdown... Then What? CLICK!

With only 14 seconds to capture your website visitors' attention what are you doing to keep them on your site long enough to convert them into customers, signups, partners or whatever it is your website is designed to accomplish?

Many people will tell you traffic to your website is crucial to the success of your Internet business. Well, duh! You don't have to be a genious to figure that out and you certainly don't need so called "gurus" insulting your intelligence by preaching this to you. It's just common sense that any business needs traffic. So, let's assume you have traffic coming to your website.

There's lots of places on the Interent to learn about bringing traffic to your site so I am not going to waste time writing about something that many people have written about. What I want to share with you is a simple truth about turning your website visitors into customers (once you have the traffic) using face-to-face old fashion belly-to-belly marketing for the Internet. This is something that hasn't been written about until now. Why not? Well, to be honest, it wasn't possible until I developed my program.

You see, I am a "people-person." I love to mingle with people, get to know them and find out what makes them tick. This helps me understand their needs and provides me a base on which to formulate how I can best help prospective clients/customers. The more you know about your prospect the better a relationship you will forge. Relationship building is crucial for Internet success.

If you take a look to the right column on this page near the top chances are you may see me (depending what time of day) streaming live video from my webcam right onto this blog page. I use a program I developed that allows website visitors to connect with me instantly from any of my websites using two-way LIVE interactive audio and video. This has become the most powerful website relationship building tool I have ever seen.

By adding Web Site Communicator, above the fold of my website, visitors can instantly see that I am LIVE on my site and ready to take their credit card information. Ok, maybe they don't think that way but that is ultimately what it is about, isn't it? Aren't we all online to make money? Letting your visitors know you are open and ready for their business makes you a serious contendor and separates you from your competition. Oh, in case you don't know what I mean by "above the fold," it is simply the area visible without having to scroll down the page. This is the most important peice of real estate for your website.

People love to buy. Web Site Communicator helps them buy from you. Being LIVE on your website captures your website visitors' attention. Now you've given them a reason to stay longer on your website because they can engage you to get questions answered or to find the information they are looking for. So many more possibilities are now reality because visitors can talk to and see the person behind the website. Can you put a price on this? Your visitors may not feel like checking out your competition if they can get instant gratification from you site. We all like to be instantly satisfied, don't we?

Are your curious to learn more? Feel free to attend out next webinar event by clicking the webinar button in the right column. Come along for some free information and let me help people buy from you.

A Shift In Online Customer Relationship Building

Elliot Gold's Electronic TeleSpan
The authoritative source for teleconferencing news and analysis for more than a quarter-century.Taken from March 2, 2009 - Volume 29, Number 9

What if, when people "called" your Web Site, you answered? And, answered with voice, text or videoconferencing? Wouldn't this be the new "PBX"?
by Elliot M. Gold, Publisher.

Behind the scenes, I've been working on a theory that the entire phone and phone network paradigm is about to shift. While most folks have been focusing on single factors like VoIP, I've been looking at the whole landscape. Up unitil this week, I had identified two of the important legs of this paradigm.

(The first two legs have been edited out as they do not relate to Web Site Communicator.)

Last week, I found the third leg of my stool.

"I've been involved in network marketing and online businesses for 10 years, since 1999, before social networks, " said Rodney Brace, Founder of Top Dog Advantage Inc. "When you've got visitors to your web site you expect them to buy something or sign up for something. But it is very impersonal. I began to think about belly-to-belly communications and realized that was what was missing on the Internet."

Rodney fixed this with his own web site. When you go to it today, he "sees" you, and speaks to you. In fact, if you're one of the over 97% of desktops that has Adobe Flash, Rodney or his "operator" not only speaks to you, but appears on your screen from their web cam, and opens a screen to help you find things. If Rodney or the first Operator who greets you isn't the right person to help you, you will be transferred, live, to the person who can help you. Rodney does this with his new product called Web Site Communicator.

"Web Site Communicator allows people to connect with people behind the web site for audio, video or text communication," said Rodney. "It allows the web site owner to build relationships, add that personal communication, that belly-to-belly relationship."

Web Site Communicator, in its basic package, comes with support for three operators, 1) the Master Operator, 2) the Master Operator Assistant, and 3) the Operator. Depending on the web site visitor's needs, and the availability of the Operators, the visitor can be transferred to the correct Operator, who can be located anywhere in the world, connected by the Internet.

Technologically, it's all based on Flash, requires no download for visitors, and doesn't even require that visitors have a webcam. All the visitors have to have are speakers on their computers. If they have a built-in microphone, or have a headset nearby, great. If they happen to have a webcam, like 25% of all Skype users have on during their phone calls, they can have a videoconference, either point-to-point or multipoint, with folks at the company whose web site they called. And yes, the visitor, now caller, can turn off their web cam if they don't want the Operator to see or even hear them.

Top Dog Advantage Inc has Web Site Communicator customers mainly in the United States and Canada but have expanded into Australia, Africa, Tunisia, England, Switzerland, Sweden and other countries.

A pair of its customers are "credit repair" web sites, where visitors are attracted to find materials to help them repair their credit. With Web Site Communicator, visitors quickly find live Operators who, after a few questions, find solutions that their company provides, and that can be purchased by the visitor to repair their credit.

I guess it's "Click, call, solve, swipe," that last sound being that of a credit card going through the web site owner's machine.

Another Web Site Communicator customer is a teaching hospital, which, through TeleSurgies.com in Dubai, lets doctors from around the world watch surgeries being performed live over the Internet. The TeleSurgeries web site has an example you can view. Rodney told me that the TeleSurgeries.com is a more affordable solution to services like the Cisco TelePresence systems.

Another set of Web Site Communicator customers are motivational speakers. In these cases, the speakers have web sites that, when visitors come to learn about them, immediately connect them to live presenters, who hold virtual face-to-face motivational conversations with the web site visitor. One such site is run by an immigrant from Mexico, who, after migrating to the United States, had to painfully teach himself how to speak English, "one word at a time." "He's now using Web Site Communicator to communicate and train spanish speaking people," said Rodney.

Then, there's a pair of radio stations that are using Web Site Communicator via LiveVideoRadio.com for audio and video for their talk shows. They use split screen so others can see the talk show host, along with who's come in from the web site being interviewed by the host or participating as the co-host.

Here's a link to see the Web Site Communicator program being completely demonstrated.

Here's what I think.

This is the third leg (the first two legs have been omitted from this excerpt).

This is the new PBX!

I remember decades ago when I was an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), we used Centrex to route our incoming calls. If a caller didn't know an engineer's direct phone number, a live operator picked up the call and transferred them, in voice.

After about a decade, I got moved to an off-site facility, where they had installed one of the first AT&T PBXs, later known as the ATT-IS PBX. (ATT-IS tells you how old I really am!)

While nobody knew how to use the PBX at first, I began learning the features, and soon, I was showing others how to do three-way calls, call forwarding, call waiting, caller-ID, and voicemail.
Takes my breath away, those PBX features.

What I think is that Web Site Communicator has the potential to convert web sites into the new PBX.

Not because it's virtual and caters to VoIP, but because it can handle all forms of inbound and outbound communications - voice, text, video; really, full collaboration - and, more importantly, because folks are now "calling" our web sites more than they're calling our phones.

Don't believe me?

I checked with my webmaster and with the heads of two of the industry's teleconferencing service and hardware suppliers. One told me, "we get about 3,500 visits to our web site each month. While we don't track inbound voice calls, our sales data shows that about half of our serious sales leads come from our web site, the other half through phone calls."

At TeleSpan, our statistics are almost the same.

Then, I checked with another provider of conference calls. They have seen consistent growth, year over year, for the past decade or more. Today, each month they get 230,000 web site visits, and only 1,400 inbound phone calls.

Sure, I've got a tiny sample, and I'm not factoring in e-mail sales requests, or call to sales people's cell phones.

But consider the following facts:
TeleGeography, which tracks international phone calls, recently issued a report called the Telegeography Report -- Executive Summary.

The report has some brilliant facts, such as the fact that switched (TDM / PSTN) phone traffic fell from 73% of global calls in 2007 to 69% in 2008 while VoIP traffic grew from 21% of global calls in 2007 to 23% of global calls in 2008 and Skype calls grew from 6% in 2007to 8% in 2008.

Further, TeleGeography reports that while both mobile subscribers and minutes have been growing annually at rates of 25% to 40% for minutes and about 25% for subscribers, for the past eight years they've tracked it (2001 to 2007), the annual growth rate of TDM (PSTN) traffic fell from growth of about 16% a year to about 5% a year, while the annual growth rate of TDM (PSTN) subscribers fell from about 9% a year to 0% a year.

More important, though, is the fact that the annual growth rate of TDM and VoIP calls have fallen in three of the past four years (2005 - 2008) to growth of about 11% after a decade of annual growth of between 15% and 20%.

Too many numbers to digest?

Digest this: According to the Wall Street Journal, a small hometown newspaper, Internet usage is now growing by 50% a year (WSJ, December 15, 2008, pp. B1, B4).

Have I convinced you that we're about to see a paradigm shift?

-------------------------

Copyright Notice:
2009 by TeleSpan Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. No portion of this interview is permitted to be copied to any other web site. Electronic TeleSpan is published as a bulletin 30 times a year for $377. Visit our web site for information and special features.

Elliot M. Gold, President, TeleSpan Publishing Corp.

Is Your Website Open For Business?

Are customers lining up at your website's proverbial door? When they get there are they able to deal with you instantly, right on your website? Do visitors know the moment they arrive on your site you are ready, able and willing to assist them? If you answered no, or are not sure what the heck I am talking about then you need to read this blog post before you do another thing today. Your website's success depends on it before your visitors run off to your competitors' sites.

Gone are the days when the Internet was simply an information highway. A new era in business transactions is taking place and there's no reason in the world why you cannot share in this billion dollar industry.

Forrester Research reported that more than $200 billion dollars was spent online in 2006. That number is staggering. You can bet, though the data isn't in yet, that this number is much higher for recent years. With all this spending and growth comes competition and you can get lost in a sea of "giant" websites if you are not careful.

Sure, people tell you to perform SEO, buy traffic, buy leads, send out ads, etc... but that is only part of the puzzle. You see, your competition is doing these very same tasks. So the trick is to ask, "what are you doing to engage your visitor when they land on your site?" I'm glad you asked.

Web Site Communicator is a fairly new program that lets visitors to your website see you LIVE on your site via your webcam. Sound weird? Don't think you want people staring at your "mug" while you work? Well, maybe you're not ready for the big times and you are ok with letting your visitors go off to your competition. hmmm.... almost sounds like a no brainer to me. You'll get over the shyness pretty quick when you start making more sales.

You see, while someone is on your website, that person is YOUR potential customer. You only get about 14 seconds to grab their attention before they click out of your site, go back to their search engine and click the next link in the list. You've now lost that potential and probably, for good. Your loss becomes your competitor's gain. But it doesn't have to be that way.

When visitors can see you streaming your live webcam feed right onto your website they will probably do a "double take." It sends them a message you are serious about your business. It shows you are available to help them find what they are looking for and to answer their questions immediately, providing instant gratification. You see, Web Site Communicator is LIVE, Interactive Two-Way Webcam Video For Your Website.

Web Site Communicator let's your visitors interact with you right on your website. It's like they can walk right into your store and begin dealing with you face-to-face. Can you put a price on that type of technology? It helps stop shopping cart abandonment. One company boasts this type of technology can stop up to 70% of abandonment and can increase sales by up to 15% - 25% (numbers will change depending on the business).

Knowledge is power. Now that you know about this new technology and how it can benefit your online business, what are you going to do about your new knowledge? You can leave this blog site, and "stick the knowledge" on a shelf (so to speak) with some old magizines and forget about it or, you can try this technology for only $1 for 14 days and begin excelling your business to new heights.

Turn your website visitor's 14 second visit into a life-long repeat customer.

Go to http://www.websitecommunicator.com/1_dollar_trial.php for your $1 trial today.

Beating The Global Economic Crisis

I didn't grow up during the "Great Depression" though I have been told many stories about it. And, I never thought in my lifetime I would ever see such a global economic crisis as the one sweeping the globe right now.


We can all speculate as to how and why we are in such hard economic times. We can point the finger, play the blame game, and so on, but at the end of the day we are all faced with the same question, that is, "how do we deal with it?".

While headline news stories scream lay offs, shut downs, foreclosures and other devestating facts such that the world has never seen before, there seems to be one sector that continues to thrive - the Internet.

Is it true or is it just my imagination? Is the Internet thriving?

As companies hold emergency meetings to find ways to restructure, reduce costs and at the end of the day "survive", the Internet is proving to be a valuable asset in the process. Thanks to Web Site Communicator people are now working smarter and not harder.

In a previous post I touched on "those who work from home no longer work alone." Web Site Communicator keeps everyone in the office connected without having to go into the office. This is accomplished through LIVE two-way fully interactive webcam video and audio, instant text messaging, file sharing, PowerPoint Presentation Conference Room and much more. It is fast becoming a necessary companion for online businesses. But it doesn't stop there.

Web Site Communicator makes it possible for website visitors to fully interact with website operators, face-to-face using LIVE two-way fully interactive webcam video and audio. Consumers now save time and money by simply logging on to a company's website and do business right there on the spot, face-to-face. This has never before been possible. It would seem that Web Site Communicator's timing could not have been better.

If the Global Economic Crisis got you down then maybe you need to think how to work smarter and not harder. Take a look at Web Site Communicator. I think you will discover it's the missing link to the Internet, especially given the current economic situation.

Take a few minutes to watch this 12 minute overview movie. It will take you through ever feature and function of the program to show you how you can truly benefit from using this technology. It will save you money and allow you work closely with colleagues. It will show you how to turn your website into click, call, solve and swipe.

Until next time, happy communicating : )

Improving Your Odds

Athletes often push themselves by running the extra mile, swimming an extra lap, doing a few more sit-ups, push-ups etc., in a effort of improving their odds in their next competitive event.

Grad students will spend an extra hour studying, doing more research than necessary, asking additional questions in an effort of improving their odds of landing the career job they want and beating out their colleagues.

It's called edging out the competition in an effort of, yep, you guessed it, Improving Your Odds. So what are you doing to improve your online odds of succeeding and edging out your competition?

In the beginning the Internet was an information highway. Today it's a financial highway. More millionaires are made online than in any other industry. Millionaires are often made because they pioneer an idea like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. However, you don't have to be an idea genious to make good money online. You just have to ride the wave of Internet evolution and choose the right tools for your business.

Forester Research is a company to pay attention to. They do the homework so you don't have to. If you read the text in the image above you will see they report that overall online sales will increase dramatically by simply using chat technology on your site. Chat technology lets your website visitors text questions to an operator and the operator responds. This is a great concept and is working very well for many. In fact, I used it for years, until now.

I decided it was time to push the envelope in Internet Evolution and so I created LIVE two-way webcam video that lets website visitors see, hear and chat with a website operator. It works in reverse as well if the visitor has a webcam.

Face to face website communication can improve your odds of making the sale, signing up the next prospect, securing the next business partner, etc. Whatever your website is designed to accomplish, face-to-face technology can do so much more than simple text chat. WebSiteCommunicator.com's customers are proving it every day.

Visit http://www.websitecommunicator.com/. Take the $1 trial. Improve YOUR odds and edge out your competition.

Working From Home: Alone Or Not Alone

I've been working from home for more than 10 years. The first six years seemed almost like an eternity as opposed to the latter years. Why? Let me explain.

I think at some point anyone working from home for an extended period of time will have to agree that there is often a feeling of being alone. Sure, you chat on the phone, send email and maybe even make use of Instant Messaging. But, something is missing that leaves you feeling, alone. Well, it doesn't have to any longer.

You see, what the "working world" provides that you can't get by working from home is the energy that people share when they work together, face-to-face. Whether it be in the office, in the factory or on the construction site, there is shared energy and comradery that can't be gotten by working from home or, can it?

With more and more people deciding to work from home, whether it be for family reasons or a company's decision to cut expenses, being alone can be a thing of the past.

Web Site Communicator pushes the envelope of Internet Evolution and makes it possible for colleagues to work together, face-to-face, without ever leaving their home. With a computer, Internet access and a simple webcam people are united and connected from any computer to anywhere in the world.













Web Site Communicator provides "multipoint" communication in real time. This means, colleagues can work together, see and hear eachother, all at the same time, as if they were all sitting at the same table or hanging out in the same office. I think you get the "multi" point.

Check it out for yourself. Visit Web Site Communicator.