Hello, Hello, Are You Home On Your Blog?

What's so grand about this free service from Google that's called GrandCentral? For starter, it's a free service and you can get a free account right now if you have half a mind to do it.

The service, launched without much fanfare about one or two weeks ago, is still undergoing a private beta test.

So what is GrandCentral? It's a service whereby you can receive phone calls and post voicemail right on your blog.

What you need to do is to add a WebCall button to your blog which will enable people to easily call your phone or leave voicemails without ever seeing your telephone number.

Such calls can be screened. You can block unwanted callers, accept calls or send them to voicemail. Voicemail is all kept in a visual online Inbox. They can be stored there as long as you like. According to Google, there seems to be a limitless capacity for this.

I'm sure this new novelty from Google will get a lot of people signing up for a Webcall button especially those yakety yak types. Like other widgets, the CallMe button and the Inbox will be adding to the space on the sidebars of sites that are already taken up by banner ads and other items. But that's up to each individual to decide whether he or she would go for it.

SEO Book Ebook Guru Changes Direction

Ebooks are going down the path where dinosaurs have gone before but still there are Internet marketers who believe they can rope in some buyers especially the newbies. In fact, there is a general perception that the value of ebooks has been heading south.

One of the most respected SEO gurus, Aaron Walls of SEOBook.com, has been sending out emails to his affiliates to inform them that he is changing his SEO Book business model - that is moving away from selling his downloadable ebook. What he's planning to do is switch to selling a web based information product that is backed by a community forum which will eventually turn it into a service rather than product sales.

According to Aaron in his email notification, he has come to realize that the field of SEO was getting more complex. Many of those who had bought his SEO Book would like to have more interactions with him so they could ask him questions. Thus, he sees a need to change direction in his business with a new affiliate program that has more to do with training.

Since Feb 20, he had shifted his default affiliate traffic location to pointing at his new landing page instead of the old one. Aaron has no further plans to sell his SEO Book ebook.


Of related interest:
On the Internet Trail of Delusions