(Success is as Success does. Whether you are
new to site, or a veteran site chathost looking for ways to
reinvigorate traffic to your chat room and build your popularity, read
this page thoroughly; Chathosts who have studied this page, and
embraced all the "tips & tricks" below, have in many
cases doubled and even tripled traffic!)
So, what "Success Secrets" are shared by the most
popular and highly-trafficked site chathosts? And how can you
learn how to get the most out of your site experience, too? We
regularly ask the top-performing video chathosts "what works
best". Here's what they say now:
- Try out new features. There's no better way to stand
out from the crowd, than to be the first on your
"block" to offer new features that customers demand.
On January 1, 2004, site launched several new features, such as
multi-camera-angle videochat, 3-D videochat, GetCloser telephone
call-forwarding, and more. Click
here for all the details.
- Be Seen! Success on site is all about being seen --
across the widest possible audience. That's what this extensive
resource is all about -- a step-by-step guide to making the most
out of your site video chatroom -- getting exposure, and getting
visitors. But if you are looking to keep it simple, to reach the
widest possible audience with the least amount of effort, follow
these four simple rules:
- List your live video chatroom not only on site, but on
thousands of other internet services too.
HOW: On the Chathost
Console, choose "Edit your Chathost
Settings". In the "Video Chathost Block
Zones" section, under "On which sites would you
like to list your live Video Chat room?", select
"site, plus hundreds of other internet
services").
- Actively manage your FanClub. More and more site users are
discovering an exciting new way to explore site: The Live
FanClub Navigator. It's the fastest-growing navigation
feature on the entire site website, and chathosts who
feature prominently through the FC Navigator enjoy superior
traffic. Many chathosts who utilize the site e-commerce
platform and actively manage their fanclubs report that
their FanClubs have boosted their total income from site by
50% to 75%. And with lots of new and interesting ways to
find chathosts, the Live FanClub Navigator is quickly
becoming one of the top places to "be seen" on site.
But the Live FanClub Navigator lists live chathosts in
order of how much content they contribute to their FanClub.
For example, chathosts who update their daily diaries,
populate their "My Favorite Memories", and publish
more archive images and videoclips appear first, while
chathosts who are less actively-involved in their FanClubs
appear on later pages. Why? Because users who frequent the
Live FanClub Navigator expect to find decent live chathosts who
have great FanClubs!
HOW: On the Chathost
Console, select "FanClub Manager", and
provide your VCH screenname and password.
- Publish as many archive images and archive videoclips as
possible. (Two out of every three site users select
chathosts based on a review of archives taken within the
past several minutes to to few hours. The "Hot
Archives" feature, including Archive Explorer, are the
most popular chathost navigation and selection tools with
users. It's a simple formula: Chathosts with the most fresh
archives get the most traffic!).
HOW: On the Chathost
Console, choose "Edit your Chathost
Settings". In the "Archive Images "
section, select "Automatically take pictures every 5
minutes." (During live videochat, you can also upload
additional "posed" archive images at the click
of your mouse.
- Use the most current
version of site free "ifCam" webcam software.
(Users of older versions receive less exposure across the site
platform, because older versions lack key marketing and
distribution elements)
HOW: Go to the Free
Download Center and download the current version. It's
a quick download, it's a free download, and it runs on any
Microsoft Windows platform.
- Experiment with the new high-performance site LiveStream
hosting alternatives ... A growing number of site customers
are on high-speed "broadband" connections, and
prefer visiting hosts using RealPlayer or Windows Media
Player, or what site calls "LiveStream". (You'll
need to have a dedicated, high-speed internet connection and
a fast, top-of-the-line PC). To maximize their appeal to all
site visitors, regardless of whether the visitors prefer
Windows Media, Real Player, or site own speedy webcam
system, the most enterprising and super-successful chat
hosts cover all the bases by simultaneously offering all 3
at once -- ifCam, LiveStream Windows Media, and LiveStream
RealPlayer. ... To do that, you'll probably need to have 3
cams and 3 PCs, and 6 hands ;)
- Support new features that visitors are buzzing about. For
example, the new
CamPilotTM icon is present whenever a chathost
supports site' new remote-control webcam technology.
(Customers love it because they can "take over"
your webcam, panning, tilting and zooming in for closeups!)
- Work your Archives: Regardless of whether you publish
lots of archives, just a few, or none at all, always take
a great archive "snapshot" as soon as you sign in to
your video chat room. Why? When a visitor considers entering
your video chat room, nine times out of ten, he'll check your
archives first. If he sees a fresh archive pic, indicating
what's going on in your chatroom right now, and he likes
what he sees, he's likely to enter. But if he sees an old stale
archive pic (yesterday or older), he has no way of knowing
what's going on in your chat room, and he'll move on. Don't know
how to pose for your own archive? It's easy: Just beneath your
video window, under the "Display Selector" graphic,
click the link "Take Archive Snapshot". Hold your pose
for at least 60 seconds, while the site software takes the
snapshot. Seconds later, the snapshot is in your live archives!
Another great way to enhance your exposure before the site
audience is to get your archive image listed in the popular "Chathost
Slots" game. (To appear in Chathost Slots, your archive
image must be no later than twenty minutes old...)
June 2001 update: With the smashing success of site' new Archive
Explorer "PicPost" edition, more and more chatroom
visits are the direct result of a user encountering your fresh
archive images in Archive Explorer, from which the user clicks
directly into your videochat! To maximize your exposure in
Archive Explorer, set your "Archive Images" setting to
"Automatically upload pictures every X minutes" in the
Chathost
Console "Edit Archives" section.
- TALK to your visitors: The most important skill to
master is to engage your visitors. The most successful
video chathosts are the "chattiest" hosts. Ask your
visitor what he (or she) likes ... inquire about his interests
... his hobbies ... what turns him on? ... what brings him to site?
... Relationships are always a good subject (ex-girlfriends,
etc), which can often lead to intimate chats about fantasies and
other personal subjects ... build a rapport with your
visitor -- TALK to him! And don't forget to populate your
"My Favorite Things" on your site Profile page (Select
"Edit My Video Chathost Account" on the Chathost
Console) ... these are great conversation starters!
- Offer lots of "Extras": A great way to stand
out from the crowd is to tell prospective visitors what kinds of
"extras" you offer. Are you using a high-quality
camcorder for your webcam image, instead of a cheap, low-quality
cam? Say so on the Session sign-in form! (Select the
icon). As a rule, lots of customers will visit only those
chathosts that host over a DSL, Cable Modem or other "high
speed" connection. To identify yourself to these customers,
select the 
icon. Next time you log in to host your live videochat, don't
forget to review the "Offer Extended Features?"
section and check all those that apply.
- REMEMBER your visitors: If there's one thing that all
the top site chathosts have in common, it's that they remember
their visitors. e.g., "Hi Harry, haven't seen you since
last week. How is your uncle doing, is he still in the
hospital?" When you remember your visitors, you make them
feel special ... and, like all people, they come back to those
who make them feel special. So the next time a visitor arrives
in your chatroom, talk them up, and take lots of notes!
Your best visitors are the ones that return day after day. So
get to know them, and make sure they get to know *you*. Become
friends. Share intimacies. Forge that special *bond* with your
visitors that keeps them coming back, again and again and again
- Help your visitors REMEMBER you:: Your best visitors
are the ones that return day after day. So while you are getting
to know them, taking notes, so you can recognize them the next
time they visit, don't forget to make sure they get to know
*you*. Become friends. Share intimacies. Forge that special bond
with your visitors that keeps them coming back, again and again
and again (It's also a good idea to populate the
"Favorite Things" on your site profile, accessible via
the "Modify My Account" section on the Chathost
Console. This "my favorite things" list makes for
great conversation starters, and help your visitors get to know
you.
- Use audio/sound: The best way to talk with your visitor
and hold his attention is to let him hear your voice.
Make sure you're using a sound card and microphone, and
advertise that you offer audio. (Click
here for more details on providing audio in your IF
videochat room)
- Get to know your audience: Once you've established a
chatty dialog with your visitor, get to *know* him. Your best
visitors are the ones that return day after day. Get to know
them, and make sure they get to know *you*. Become friends.
Share intimacies. Forge that special *bond* with your visitors
that keeps them coming back, again and again and again.
- Keep your VideoChat fresh and new: If you're
intent on building up a group of "regulars", make sure
that each time you host your videochat room, there's something
*new* and *different*. Videochat hosts who always wear the same
dress, sit in the same chair, and present the same tired camera
angles don't attract too many regulars. So keep it exciting!
Adopt a different "theme" for each day ... do
something unexpected, exiting and new with each videochat
session ... always give your regulars a *fresh* reason to visit
you!
- Urge your VideoChat visitors to vote for you (and win "site
Viewer Awards"). Video chathosts who win, place second
or third in hundreds of different weekly award categories
enjoy greater exposure on site. That means greater traffic
flowing into your videochat! And winning an award is easy...
often, just one or two votes is enough to win a runner-up award,
which is enough to get your screenname on the
"winners" list. (Remember, hundreds of awards
are given by site viewers each week). When you get a
registered site visitor into your videohat (their screenname
appears in green), ask him or her what they like about you.
Then, ask them to vote accordingly, via the "rate this
chathost" link beneath your video window! And last but not
least, once you win, place second, or place third for any
"site Viewer Award", site places a handsome award
graphic on your site profile page ... forever!
- Start off with a Bang: From the moment you begin your
live videochat session, create an atmosphere of liveliness and
action. Most viewers check out the action in Guest-chat mode
first, so make sure that they perceive a vibrant and potent
atmosphere. Chat up a storm! Have a friend chat with you to get
the ball rolling; it's the "restaurant rule" - the
busier your room looks, the more likely people are to drop in
and sample the menu...
- Draw a crowd: Make your session free for the first 15
minutes. Offer a "free day", one day a week, or even
just one free hour each week, where future visitors can
"get to know you".
- Make your sessions *personal*: Hold up a handwritten
note saying "hi" to your visitors, with your visitor's
screen name on it. Find out the visitor's *real* name, and
mention it often (e.g., "Steve, don't I look great in this
new outfit?")
- Record your live session for later playback: If you're
using the LiveStream format to host your session, you can have
us record it to play back later; during your session, just click
the "other options" link under your video and choose
the "Record a Replay Session" link to add it to your
Replay Library, so you can play it back when you're not online. site
does all the work of serving the replay for you, so you can turn
off your PC when you sleep! (Yeah!).
- Prove that you're live: Ask your visitors "what
would you like to see me do next?" And then do it. (Of
course, if the visitor asks you to engage in obscenities (see VCH
license agreement), *don't*.
- Best times to host videochat (busiest): The biggest
viewer crowds are late weekday evenings, and all day Sat &
Sun. Sundays tend to have fewer chathosts available per viewer,
so it's a good time to reach plenty of viewers.
- Best times to host videochat (slowest): If you sign on
weekday mornings between 6am and 2pm EST, or any time on Sunday,
when the fewest chathosts are signed in, it's easier to get
discovered. Weekday mornings and afternoons are also a great
time to experiment, if you're just getting started.
- Put your best face forward: Edit your archives. Select
only the most complimentary images for your archive material.
- Be Unique! Is there something unique about you? The way
you look perhaps, or what turns you on? Emphasize it! With our
super-specific search engine, it's very important to
distinguish yourself from the crowd. (Think about it: If you've
got long toenails, for example, and visitor John Doe has a
toenail fetish, make it easy for him to find you!)
- Be Patient! Your first few video chathost sessions
might draw fewer people than you hoped for. But if you stick
with it, and develop some loyal "regulars" that show
up night after night, your popularity will grow and grow. Also,
plan to host your videochat room for at least a few hours. Video
Chathosts report that the first 15 minutes are often slow, since
most visitors haven't discovered you yet.
- Stay Informed: Watch the Video Chathost-only Discussion
Forum to stay abreast of the latest techniques, straight
from your fellow video chathosts.
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