Anyone with a new laptop has what’s needed to hold a video conference (and of course, sell!). They just might not know it.

Thanks to TokBox, a video chat platform, you can now hold video conference calls for free – and with no software or client download required. TokBox is completely web-based. Simply sign up for an account and TokBox will assign you a personal chat page. Give out the url to friends and colleagues, who can engage you in conversation or chat by clicking on the “push to talk button”. TokBox integrates will all the major chat services – AOL, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, & Google Talk – so you can communicate via video with your existing contact lists.

To activate the conference call functionality, click on the conference icon from your TokBox homepage, then choose the friends you wish to invite. Conferencing requires participants to have a TokBox account (again, the sign-up process for them is as painless as it was for you) or some other video-enabled chat service.

With TokBox, you can also send free video emails (one way to create a more engaging newsletter) or holiday greetings cards (might come in handy for you procrastinators), complete with holiday themes and costume overlays. And if you want to take your TokBox elsewhere, you can embed videos in your blog, website, or social networking profile, as simply as you would a YouTube video.