The response so far has been incredible from my recent posts on my website www.AndrewDavidBaron.com as well as my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve had such an influx of people candidly asking me for advice and suggestions towards their businesses and Social Media.

I’m happy to report that I’ll be making a bunch of new Microsites and helping quite a few of my fans reinvent their businesses with Social Media and Social Networking. As I complete each project, I’ll release the website and information about them.

I’m truly excited to jump in head first and literally help people help themselves and their businesses in the roughest economy since, The Great Depression.” You can’t wait for someone to help you or rely on them to care about your business. People need to help themselves, but so many have absolutely no idea or clue as to where to start or do. That’s why I am doing what I am doing. It’s imperative to help small businesses evolve and grow with the changing times. Small businesses are the backbone of any economy.

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my latest microsite project for my beautiful and talented wife, Uraina Collazo. She asked me a few months ago to help her create a small yet succinct website where she can blog and share her ideas on health and things that inspire her. I, of course, jumped at the opportunity. The site even includes a Live Chat program, so her clients and readers can communicate directly with her via her website.

Rain has many, many passions in her life and I felt a certain importance in getting her site right. I sat down and consulted with her as if she was one of my clients and went over every angle and really thought about what it is that she is good at. From pages and pages of notes we then began to streamline and simplify the entire project. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am forever a Minimalist.

The result, albeit, still a work in progress, expresses Rain’s passion and drive to constantly better herself and everyone around her.

Here are a few Baron bytes of info about Rain:

She is a local Avon representative and truly loves to share her heart and kindness with everyone. She’s a certified reflexologist from the Laura Norman Reflexology Center here in NYC. Also,  she is an amazing and talented cabaret singer. She has performed in NYC clubs. You can listen to her sing on her MySpace site.

The wait is finally over.

You now can become a fan of www.AndrewDavidBaron.com on Facebook! You’ll be able to get new perspectives on Live Chat Software, LiveChatAgent, and ClickToTalk technology and how they integrate and contextualize into contemporary Social Media. The future of Social Networking is here!

Just use the Facebook Fan box in the Widget Bar to the right of this post.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere in the middle of nowhere, you have heard of LinkedIn.

It’s one of the largest and most popular professional social networks on the planet. Recently, LinkedIn relaunched their website with a completely fresh and friendly perspective. It looks and feels so much more organic and “now” or contemporary. Upgrades to searching, commenting, connecting, and much more have solidified it’s place as the “black and white” tuxedo of the Social Media world.

With progress comes unexpected “surprises” that most people are not aware of or even know how to ask to become aware. One of which could be considered disturbing to some who value their personal privacy and to others who could most likely care less. Are you asking yourself, “What is the “surprise” you speak of, Andrew?”

Well, here it is.

I recently noticed that LinkedIn now tracks your every click. We all know that every action of a click means something, to someone, somewhere. Here’s the catch…when you surf their site and you click to read someone’s profile or do anything…the URL will change. So far doesn’t sound too odd or off…right? I mean, technically speaking, every page you visit on any site is a unique URL that is within another URL. Well, watch what happens when you check out another person’s profile just after viewing something on a previous profile page you were on. The URL now includes that action as part of the URL and so on and so forth. So eventually LinkedIn will be able to backtrack everything you do on their site. Concerned yet? Many are.

I completely understand why LinkedIn would want to have it this way. A great reason would be to keep track of Spammers that have recently infiltrated LinkedIn like termites to wood. LinkedIn would be able to see how many profiles someone has looked at and how often they are sending email out to people outside their own network. Spamming is becoming such a problem on LinkedIn because anyone can open an account and claim to be someone from a company that either exists or doesn’t exist. It’s really getting bad and if you are on LinkedIn as often as I am…you’ll know what I am talking about. It’s terrible.

Another good reason they are doing this, in my opinion, is to help out with relevance and ratios. Just because a profile has the right keywords now, doesn’t mean it’ll be relevant and you will show up on the first page of LinkedIn anymore. (again this is only my theory.) It does make sense if you think about it. An algorithm based on keyword search, click through ratios, and possibly even amount of time spent on that page. Many new aspects of ephemeral data are becoming more and more relevant to LinkedIn.

So it’s up to you the viewer to decide whether this new LinkedIn layout and functionality makes for better business or for a Big Brother complex. I suppose it all depends on what side of the aisle you are on: are you on LinkedIn to indeed link in with other professionals or are you a Spammer on the verge of getting caught? heh.

One thing is for sure, LinkedIn is an amazing Social Media tool, that when used properly can be incredibly profitable.

[Side note:] I have suggestions for LinkedIn and how they can make their site even more incredible.

1. Live Chat software in realtime to connect with that person whose profile you are viewing.

2. Private Conference chat rooms where people need a code to get in.

3. ClickToTalk technology, where someone can click a connect button and that person would be called on their cell phone or work phone.

The benefits to these ideas include: Instantly discuss ideas, presentations, make deals, ask questions, customer service, etc.

LiveChatAgent Version 5.2 Released:

LiveChatAgent Version 5.2 is now available.

What’s new, you say? Well…there are 2 main new features. In addition there are a number of performance improvements and bug fixes:

1. Remote Control
Our LiveChat software can now offer your visitors the option of a full desktop-sharing remote control session during a chat session. If the visitor accepts the remote control invitation, you will be able to see and control the visitor’s desktop. The visitor can watch what you are doing and use the mouse & keyboard also. Remote Control can be used to help visitors complete checkout pages, or for any sort of PC remote support. Remote Control is an optional add-on for all versions of LiveChatAgent. Please contact me if you would like to know more about the Remote Control option.

2. Salesforce Integration
Finally, at long last, you can now add visitors from LiveChatAgent to your Salesforce CRM system. You can also add chat transcripts & call-backs to new or existing contacts. Salesforce Integration is available as standard with our LiveChatAgent solutions.

Upcoming Developments
There is a Silverlight version of LiveChatAgent that is currently being worked on. This will work in or out of browser on all Silverlight platforms. (Windows, Mac, Linux, Mobile etc)

Whew! After many hours of testing and retesting our system. The issue has been resolved. This is the first and only time that this has happened. What was the issue? Well…if you just need to know:

It turns out there was a glitch in my VOIP phone from a power surge from a storm the night before.

I had to do some fancy foot work, but we’re up and running.

So feel free to connect with me now. No, I mean it, right now. Call me with the Click To Talk button. If you have any questions about: LiveChatAgent, ClickToTalk, Social Media, Social Netowrking, SEO, SEM, Google Analytics, Dashboards, Site Abandonment Rates, CRM systems, Online Marketing, Internet Search, Keywords, etc., feel free to contact me. I’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and/or lead you to the right direction for your business.

Thank you to all my wonderful readers for informing me that my ClickToTalk button is not working properly. I was aware of the issue and I am actively trying to resolve it. When I log into my system, it says that everything is fine, but apparently it isn’t. I think there might be an issue with MY phone and NOT with our service.

Testing will be conducted throughout this evening.

Hoping to have it back up and online ASAP! Stay tuned for more updates.

In the interim if you need to contact me via phone visit my Contact page.