Ok, once I find myself giving people alacarte instructions, it is time for a blog post!
I want to talk about using Instant Messaging (IM) in your business. No longer is it the time wasting child's toy of the past. Now it is a virtual office business tool that more customers expect and respect.
Now you can:
- Virtual office. Why be a cubical away, if you can be 1 click away, but across town? Get multiple agents within one company to join IM.
- Get your lender, closing company on IM. I've been on the phone (or another IM window) with a client while chatting with a lender and a settlement company realtime. You can't do that with email and the phone. And yes it impresses clients and it SAVES TIME!
- Use it to ping other agents with the "quick question" like "Hey Tony, are you still having problems with Countrywide short sales." Or for that matter you can IM 5 people the same question and 1 or 2 will reply in seconds.
- Add live chat to your blog. Any user can ask you questions in real time, and the chat "widget" knows if you are in front of your computer or if you are "away."
So which program do you get?? All of them! But start with 2.
The most popular is GTALK as it is integrated into GMAIL. Most customers using Gmail can use Gtalk within their browser (ie, no new software).
The next most popular is AOLIM (AOL Instant Messenger) also known as AIM. Don't worry this is all free.
Then there is Yahoo IM (more for international users and foreign programmers), MSN IM, Skype, and the more obscure ICQ.
I suggest getting an AOLIM and a GMAIL/GTALK account. Try and get the same username too. Username can be YourNameRealtor or SomeAreaofHomes. I recommend something that has your name in it, so if you "invite" somebody, they know your name immediatey. (doesn't matter for Search Engines to have a city name)
Step 1: Go to www.AIM.com and get a free username. DO NOT download the AOLIM software. It is bloated, full of ads and doesn't work with other chat programs
Step 2: (optional) Get a Gmail.com account.
Step 3: Get a cross platform chat program. This lets you have 1 program that will allow you to chat with a person on any IM system. I highly recommend Trillian .
Alternatives: You can also integrate your AOLIM account into your Gtalk and not use any software at all. Put another way, just like you can use the web browser for email, you can also chat with Gtalk/Gmail users AND now AOLIM users. But the downside is it is built into the browser. If you are like me and you have 10 windows and 6 tabs open, it can be a pain to find where the chatting is going on. Hence getting Digsby to sit outside your browser as a stand alone product.
Step 4: Add your live chat to your blog. The best program is http://wimzi.aim.com because you don't have to have yet another software. It works seamlessly with your current caht program (anybody use Digsby's widget, I tried it once and didn't like it). Quick tip with WIMZI, skip "location checked", and avoid using contractions like "I'm" as it turns into "I/////m" and pick the "Flash" version (faster).
Alternatively, if you only do Gtalk, get your code here. I hated this when I tried it. It was too annoying, and too many steps to reach the new chatter.
Gtalk chat looks like this:
Advanced tweaking: Play with the advanced settings. Maybe turn off noises for each time a user comes on and offline. Turn off sounds for each back and forth message, but leave sound for the first incoming "hello are you there" message. Also you can tweak when it shows you as "away". I suggest 10 minutes of no keyboard use is "away." Also your chats are "logged" like emails so you can search them years later, or remove that feature.
Did I miss anything?
And if you want to be a part of FranklyMLS's Live Chat page, send me your chat code.
Written by Frank Borges LLosa
Broker FranklyRealty.com
Owner FranklyMLS.com
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