How To Give Your Small Business A Competitive Advantage

Writen by Jenni Baty

Today's small businesses face an uphill struggle. In addition to being in an intensely competitive marketplace, businesses must confront obstacles that larger firms don't face, including a lack of financial resources, an increased need for visibility, a lack of brand recognition, and a shortage of qualified sales people. To compensate, small businesses must find a way to ratchet up their marketing communications programs.

What small businesses need is a dynamic, cost-effective way of marketing products and services, one that helps them battle competitors and capture market share. Enter the new contender in the marketing arena - video communications. Simple and easy to use, video communications, which includes video email, video on demand and video broadcasting, is helping to level the playing field for a growing number of small businesses. In fact businesses that have integrated video into their marketing strategies have reported a 300%-400% increase in responsiveness to their marketing message.

Video communications represents the next wave of marketing communications. It's so powerful it's revamping the way businesses communicate with customers and each other. With video communications, buyers can see that you stand behind your product and/or service. They also can relate to you as a person. And because they can SEE and HEAR you, they can connect with you on more than one level, creating credibility, excitement, and most importantly of all, trust.

Video communications also helps small business challenge companies with bigger marketing budgets, large sales forces, or better brand recognition, without the need for a large financial investment and it helps businesses distinguish themselves from the competition by promoting their unique selling proposition through a medium with the impact of television

Video communications is Ideal for both on and off line businesses, consultants, and professional services. Simple and easy to use, video communications puts a human touch back into the process of communicating with consumers, enabling sales reps, consultants, and professionals to generate "face time" with consumers, clients, and businesses without spending a great deal of time and money. In fact from just a few dollars a week businesses can integrate the power of video technology into their current marketing strategies.

Video communications offers numerous advantages over main stream marketing. In addition to increasing visibility and adding a personal touch to your e-mails and Web sites, video communications:

• generates qualified sales leads
• increases brand recognition
• provides uniformity of messages
• establishes credibility with customers
• generates higher retention rates
• shortens sales cycles
• increases click-through rates
• improves sales conversion figures

Video communications super-charges sales and profits with minimal cost and effort. And thanks to its effectiveness it's growing increasingly popular with small businesses that are looking for a marketing edge. More important, it's ideal for today's time conscious and tech savvy consumers, whose interest in electronic devices, like ipods and mobile phones, continues to grow. As personal rich media goes mainstream, consumers will expect businesses to communicate this way. Those companies that don't will struggle to remain competative.

Copyright 2006 Jenni BATY

Article by Jenni Baty, author of "Boost Profits with Innovative Marketing – 10 ways Video Communications can drive your marketing" - pick-up your Free Video Marketing Report from http://www.communicatingsuccess.com

An Introduction To Video Conferencing Basics Amp Benefits

Writen by Bob J. Valkovski

Benefits of Video Conferencing

Video conferencing hardware and software allows users to see and hear the person they are communicating with.

A video conference allows you to take part in live audio/video presentations in your classroom, and to collaborate through them. Calls can be made between 2 classrooms in the same town, or between 2 classrooms in different parts of the globe. It is also possible for multipoint conferences to take place, where more than 2 schools take part in the same call.

Live video conferences have lots of advantages over other multimedia resources, such as video recordings or television presentations, but the main benefit is that they are interactive, allowing you to talk face to face with someone else in 'real time', but in a different location. This is great for for gaining high levels of engagement from your students.

Multipoint videoconferencing

Simultaneous videoconferencing among three or more remote points is possible by means of a Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). This is a bridge that interconnects calls from several sources (in a similar way to the well-known audio conference call). All parties call the network ID number of the MCU unit or the MCU unit can also call the parties which are going to participate, in sequence. There are MCU bridges for IP and ISDN-based videoconferencing. There are MCU which are pure software, and others which are a combination of hardware and software. A MCU is characterised according to the number of simultaneous calls it can handle.

MCUs can be stand-alone hardware devices, or they can be embedded into dedicated TVC units.

The technology of video conferencing

The core technology using in a videoteleconference (VTC) system is in digital compression of audio and video streams in real time.

There are basically two kinds of VTC systems:

Dedicated systems have all required components packaged into a single equipment, usually a console with a high quality remote controlled video camera on its top. These cameras can be controlled at a distance to move in the horizontal and vertical directions (pan and tilt, respectively) as well as to perform image zooming, so they are called PTZ cameras. The console contains all electrical interfaces, the control computer, modem, and the software- or hardware-based codec. Omnidirectional microphones are connected to the console, as well as a monitor TV with loudspeakers and/or a video projector. There are several types of dedicated VTC devices:

(a)Large group VTC are non-portable, large, more expensive devices used for large rooms and auditoriums. Use of PTZ cameras is practically mandatory.

(b)Small group VTC are non-portable or portable, smaller, less expensive devices used for small meeeting rooms (e.g., up to 10 people) and PTZ cameras are usual

(c)Individual VTC are usually portable devices, meant for single users, have fixed cameras, microphones and loudspeakers integrated into the console.

Desktop systems are add-ons (hardware boards, usually) to normal PC's, transforming them into VTC devices. A range of different cameras and microphones can be used with the board, which contains the necessary codec and transmission interfaces. Most of the desktops systems work only with the H.323 standard. Video conferences carried out via dispersed PCs are also known as e-meetings.

Video Conferencing Tips On How To Make Your Meeting A Success

Writen by Steadman Issenburg

One of the great business tools of the last few years that the internet has brought to the marketplace is video conferencing. This allows a group of people to be able to meet and collaborate together through sight and sound no matter where they are located throughout the world.

It should be obvious to see that there are many benefits that businesses can derive from video conferencing including being able to hold office meetings in real time without having to pay the travel costs associated to bring people from various locations together at one time. It also saves on the lost productivity spent in just traveling there.

So how do you make sure that the web conference is a success? Here are a few tips to help you plan for your next video conference session:

1. The person conducting the video conference will most likely want to arrive early, and make sure that all of the equipment is functioning correctly well before the meeting begins. You don't want to have to be fumbling with equipment problems when the meeting is scheduled to start. They should all be ironed out well in advance.

2. The conductor at the video conference should also try to pay attention to the kind of clothes that they wear for the meeting, as bright and bold colors can be very distracting and perhaps even irritating on a video screen. So try to keep clothing colors as muted and solid as possible.

3. Another common cause for irritation while video conferences are going on is excessive movement on the part of the speaker. So whoever is speaking needs to make a conscious effort to try to keep their motion and movements during the discussion down to a minimum.

4. Everyone on the video conference should be made aware that the microphones can be very sensitive, even picking up very small and inconspicuous sounds. So everyone on the conference needs to know that they should be careful to avoid sounds like tapping pencils on a desk, or other similar sounds that can be distracting. They also should be made aware that they should not try to whisper something during the meeting that they do not want everyone else to hear, as it could prove embarrassing if amplified by the microphone.

5. The main speaker of the video conference can also add immeasurably toward the enjoyment of the meeting by imagining that everyone else on the call is in the same room, and by maintaining eye contact with the video camera. This will usually result in natural gestures and a comfortable speaking style that is easy for everyone else to follow.

If you practice these ideas, they will most likely help you to conduct successful and enjoyable video conferences.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including communication. You can find online teleconferencing and online web conferencing and more by visiting our communication website.

A Web Conference Service As A Customer Service Enhancement

Writen by Christopher J Enders

A web conference service is usually a hosted application. It enables online collaboration in a conference-like environment sometimes including video. A web conference service opens many communication options for internet businesses.

The very nature of the internet which breaks down geographical barriers and makes it possible for internet businesses to conduct business anywhere in the world has changed the face of sales, customer service, technical support and interpersonal communications. While the opportunities in e-business are grand, a company's ability to provide personalized service has been somewhat hindered. The impersonal nature of the internet has practically eliminated face-to-face interactions between businesses and their customers. A web conference service has the potential of changing that.

Using a web conference service can improve your sales process. When you have a sales proposal to make, a web conference service can put you virtually in front of your audience to make your presentation regardless of where the conference participants are located. In a web conference interaction is possible so you can answer questions, clarify your proposal, counter objections, negotiate if necessary and close the sale.

A web conference service can help you to provide more personalized customer service to your clients. While it may not be practical to use a web conference service for every customer service call, in cases where something needs to be discussed or explained, especially when more than two people are involved in the discussion, a web conference service with video capabilities enables interaction and removes the disadvantage of misunderstandings that can occur when it isn't possible to interpret one another's non-verbal language. So, a web conference service can also be a wonderful customer service tool.

One-on-one or group training can be effectively accomplished using a web conference service. If you are in a tech industry or another industry that requires customers to be trained once they purchase a product, a web conference service is very valuable. It can actually enable a company to provide training that they would otherwise be unable to provide because of geographic limitations and exorbitant costs that can be associated with traveling for the purpose of conducting training. With most web conference service files can also be shared between participants in the conference.

A web conference service is an excellent tool for online entrepreneurs who provide coaching, consulting or counseling services. Even though clients are at a distance, they can receive personal one-on-one coaching, consultation, counseling or instruction in more of a face-to-face manner than what would be possible without a web conference service. Group coaching sessions can also be held via a web conference.

Another advantage of a web conference service is the ability for a company to hold operational meetings or training sessions with telecommuting staff. The telecommuter can easily become detached from a company because of the distance from the action, so to speak. By holding regular operational meetings via a web conference service, those that work within a business at a certain location can build relationships with staff members that are not regularly onsite. The off-site staff will benefit from the interaction as well as it will keep them up-to-date on company news, strategies, concerns, and so forth.

Because web conference service is a growing industry, there are many providers of such services that can be found on the internet. Each web conference service has its own unique offerings in regard to how the service is provided and what features are available. If you are interested in web conference service to breakdown the impersonal communication barriers in your business, it just makes since to evaluate and select a web conference service for your internet-based business.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope, fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing advice you're getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing, or a website owner who wants to make more money from your website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your internet business at http://BiznessTips.com