Internet initiative is simply Stancarone’s latest startup

Ever since he was a little boy, Sonny Dante Stancarone has believed in starting anew.

As a youngster, the Franklin Square native was afflicted with severe asthma. A combination of breathing and relaxation techniques brought him back to the point where he became a star athlete – after 30 years he still holds the Carey High School record for the half-mile – and eventually attended Adelphi University on a full athletic scholarship.

Now, after creating three successful ventures, Stancarone has launched a fourth – yourtvwebsite.com, producing all-video Web sites for other businesses.

The three moneymakers preceding his new baby centered on his mastery of the piano. At one point, Stancarone sold player pianos, a computerized take on the old roller player pianos, moving as many as 50 pianos in six months. Now he takes classic used pianos, refurbishes them and sells them nationwide, along with selling piano-playing instruction DVDs.

Stancarone kept up with trends, using video extensively on his businesses’ Web site. His success online allowed him to close two piano stores in Sayville and relocate to Patchogue, and now the cyberspace success has fed naturally into creating total video sites for other businesses with his new venture.

All-video Web sites are a natural for musicians and record companies, and Stancarone’s already snagged a popular wedding band and a Brooklyn jazz label. Another customer is a realtor who shows houses via video tours.

Stancarone would seem to have a leg up on other cyber entrepreneurs, according to Noah Blumenthal, a business consultant and author of the just-published “You’re Addicted to You,” a guide on how to get out of your own way in business.

Stancarone seems to be ahead of the game because he has experience and knows the danger of “not allowing other people into your creative process,” Blumenthal said. Cyber businesses often fail because they’re run by “brilliant technicians, gifted in cyberspace, but they don’t have good interpersonal skills,” Blumenthal noted.

For $6,000 to $10,000, Stancarone and a staff of six will create a total video Web site.

“We’re working on one for The Projekt, a wedding band,” said Stancarone, noting the band now uses live showcases once a month to display its skills to potential customers.

“Now, if you want to see this band, you have to be there at a specific time and place,” he said. “But with the new site, you can watch total performances at home 24/7.”

Mark Danti, band leader of The Projekt, which in the past five years has booked about 500 weddings, said the band “is really excited by being first on the block and part of the wave of the future.”

Stancarone’s startup, which can be found at www.sonnyspianotv.com and soon will be located at YourTVWebsite.com, not only builds the site and loads videos, “but businesses will have the ability to upload their videos and change them at will,” the entrepreneur said.

Connie Crothers, president of the jazz label New Artist Records, is on board with an all-video site that’s been up for about two weeks. “Video adds so much to the music,” Crothers said. “We can present entire concerts.”

Stancarone also noted a site in progress for Loretta Besser Real Estate of Centereach. In a recent survey, the National Association of Realtors found that eight out of 10 homebuyers use the Internet to look for houses.

“With video, you can get a real, personal tour of a home, not a slide show,” said owner Loretta Besser.

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