If you can understand the title of this post, you must be using text messaging.  For everyone else, it means…

What Are You Doing About Text Messaging?

To be honest, I’ve never really understood why people love text messaging so much.  I always think: If you want to talk to someone, why don’t you just call?  And, if you’re in a meeting and texting your REALTOR® at the same time, you’re probably not paying much attention to either.

Besides that, I worry about the nation’s literacy.  If an entire generation grows up saying WRUD – will they be able to interact with other human beings?  Give a speech?  Win at a job interview?  But, this isn’t Whimsical Wednesday, so I must not digress.

Really, none of us can afford to ignore the fact that using text messaging is a very normal way for a lot of people to communicate.  So, if you’re not into the lingo or you don’t have the capability, you should probably look into it.

Support Text Messaging on Your Real Estate Website or Blog

Many agents have a “widget” (an object placed on a website using a small piece of code) on their sites that visitors can use to chat online or place a telephone call.  The next thing you might want to consider is a widget that lets visitors send you a text message.

Here are a few vendors you can evaluate, in no particular order:

• txtDrop.com
• Text4Free.net
• RealEstateTechnologyOnline

The three links above will take you directly to a page where you can see what the widget looks like, and where you can generate the code needed to put it on your real estate website or blog.  The nice thing about these three services is that they are free.  Another good feature is that your cell phone number is not displayed on your site, but most REALTORS® I know use their cells almost exclusively, so the privacy issue isn’t a big one.

If you try one of the widgets, let me know how you like it!