Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

GoGoFrog.com is a unique site: they let you create and host a website… but not one like you'd expect… it's a 3D webste. Check it out! It starts off feeling like you're in a game — one of those “first person shooter” video games that the kids play these days. You navigate around the site with your keyboard's arrow keys and it actually feels like you're in a room.

It's unusual, at first, but then you get used to it and it becomes fairly addictive. It's definitely something I see could change the face of interactive webmedia. But like many web revolutions, it probably has to run its typical course: used initially by a faithful few who like using it for personal communication and expression… then it expands into the larger realm of early business use and personal use for the mass populace. Finally, it will become highly commercialized. That seems to be the way the Internet has progressed (as a whole as well as in its individual parts, such as websites, blogs, social sites, podcasts, etc.) Is this the next revolution?

The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barabara Pease.

I've always had an interest in psychology and the inner workings of the mind. In college I was fascinated by a number of books on our internal and external motivations. To be honest, I think understanding those things has helped me in business.

Recently, I was discussing the successes and failures of corporate meetings with a few small business owners and one of them recommended this book to me. The last book on body language I had read was in college so I picked up this one — published in 2004 — for a refresher.

Allan Pease is the world's foremost expert on body language and that becomes very clear in the book. The Peases cover everything from the basics to advanced concepts, including cultural differences and gender differences. The book has a general focus, ranging across applications that include personal settings (like at a party or when you're interested in someone romantically) as well as corporate settings that include meetings, office politics, and interviews.

Admittedly, I would have liked a book that went even more in depth on the business side of the body language equation, but this very comprehensive book does a great job of talking about many aspects of body language that an be applied to business: this includes building rapport, as well as diffusing difficult situations, and making the customer feel important.

If you interact with people — socially or professionally — this is a good read. If you want to connect with your customers and make them feel great about doing business with you, this is a must-read.

I apologize that I'm blogging about Google twice in one week. I wouldn't do it if they'd just stop trying to be so darn helpful.

I know that many people go to Google's main page, www.google.com  to browse. My home page when I first turn on my browser is actually Google's “other products” page: http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/  because it gives me instant access to whatever I'm looking up: regular searches, news, blogger.com, images, video, etc. It's quick to see when they add new things so the other day I noticed a link I hadn't noticed before: http://webaccelerator.google.com/ . This is a Google Labs product, which means they're still testing it, but will let you download a version to try it out. If you use a DSL connection (that is, high speed not dial-up) then this is for you. It places a toolbar on your browser that helps you to browse more quickly.

They give details on their site on how they can help you browse more quickly. Some of the ways include pre-fetching pages or saving pages and only loading updates. One neat (but essentially pointless) feature of the toolbar is a counter that adds up how many minutes or hours you save by using the accelerator. A clever idea but it's really just there for interest sake.

Use it to browse more quickly. As I mentioned in a previous blog, it's another way for Google to become King of the Online World.