Since Julie Ferenzi is a couple thousand miles away, we use a variety of methods to communicate.
Of course there's the old school telephone conversation. There's email and instant messaging as well. But my favorite is Video Chat. I'm on a Mac, so I'm using iChat and Julie is logging on via AIM on the PC. Today I recorded one of our sessions. I thought I'd record one of our sessions for a couple of reasons.
First, I wanted you to get to know Julie a little bit better. She's a Mother of four, so dealing with the pressures of starting out in real estate and finding time to deal with me and this Project Blogger event is a bit of a challenge at times.
Second, I wanted you to see how ideas are shared and how they progress through this Project Blogger event. A few days ago I presented a great website for creating online forms, WuFoo.com. Sunday night, Martin Rodriguez sent me a loan pre-qualification form to test. I obliged, of course, and in the process, an idea hit me.
Everyone's time is stretched, but with four kids, Julie's time is really stretched. She knows she needs to populate her Living In Plainfield real estate blog. And I know she doesn't have a lot of extra time. So my ideas are always going to lean toward reducing her involvement or creating blogging opportunities based on activities she already participates in. All this while making sure she actually gets to meet people in the process.
The Idea: A WuFoo "Broadcast Your Community Event" Form
The idea is community event posts that write themselves using the Wordpress blog's ability to create posts via email. This also gives Julie an excuse to go get face-to-face with local community leaders. That face-to-face is critical. Remember, this is about YEO! She provides a way to help them promote their events and everyone wins.
So, watch the video below, get to know us both a little better, and then go check out her new EVENTS form.
We'll let you know how this strategy works.
Jeff Turner aka respres
Great article (which I missed) on YEO. Wufoo soounds very interesting.
Why is it that you are so much clearer than Julie in the video?
Jeff, you are too clever.
Truth be told everyone... you are much better off having me be the pixilated one! I made Jeff for 10 minutes so that I could just get dressed this morning! I think it is my video web cam that caused it and I have my husband working on it so that we can get a clearer picture next time.
I am so excited about the potential that this technology has for my business.
Jeff,
Is that ichat the same old ichat I used to use about 4 or 5 yrs ago?
If so I might use it again.
Tim, I've also used Skype to do video chats, but I prefer iChat. iChat gives us the ability to get up to four people total in the video conference. Skype, unless I'm mistaken, is only one one one. The quality of Skype is quite good.
Doug & Gina... my pleasure.
Sharon... My image is very clear since it's not passing over the Internet in this recording. Julie is less so, because her video is streaming in over the Internet. The clarity is contingent on the bandwidth on both ends.
Ines... oh, you will! :)
Maggie... that's why I put it out there! I'm trying to teach my kids how to share. This is good practice. :)
David... we'll see how it goes over. Right now, it's just an idea.
Bob... not until you show me your white flag.
Julie... it's not totally your camera. I'm clear because I'm recording it from my computer. I don't know how clear I was on your end. My image is very clear since it's not passing over the Internet in this recording.
Neal... it's been updated a few times, but it's free. So if you have a webcam you're good to go. I use the iSight camera from Apple. Imagine that.
Monika... yes he could. I believe posting via email is possible in TypePad, Wordpress and Blogger. I know when I was working with the Jott guys to get The Jott Blog Experiment up, they said they were able to make that work on Typepad and Blogger. In order for the email to generate a draft post and NOT go straight to publish, you do have to edit the config.php file.
But, this idea will work just as well if the form comes to your email and you just copy and paste into a post. There is some reformatting that has to be done anyway, but the bulk of the writing is done for you. That's the key.
Of course this could be done by allowing people to "subscribe" to your blog as a contributor, but I think people will be less intimidated by a form. It walks them through the process and isn't so open ended.
Jeff, as always... "I am just not worthy..." seriously though... what an incredible idea. Please do share the results with us.
THANKS!!!
This is good stuff, but there are very good reasons my current venue is RADIO.
I will never win "Most Photogenic."
Irina... thank you.
Art... I beg to differ. You appear to be a very attractive man.
Jeff
I'm glad (for once) I served as an inspiration for you.. Ha ha..
I spent several hours on WuFoo yesterday and it took me a little while to figure everything out, but once I got it to work i realized what a great tool it is. My form was probably a little more complicated than what Julie needs, but I think she could get this to work fairly easily.
As I worked on this, I had a similar idea. I was thinking if I can get my Wufoo form to script directly to a blog site, then I could create a client feedback/testimonial form that can capture past clients comments and append it directly to my site.
Let me know how you ultimately get the wufoo form to interface with the wordpress account.
Another great idea for another great post.
Nicely done..
Martin
Jeff,
See what I mean - Bill's the guy in the front. And he is (attractive). I just have more hair and am slightly funnier. I think chicks dig that...
But you are kind.
(I'm semi-reluctantant to say this after a recent blog <not yours> about brown-nosing - I really enjoy your work here. Thank you. So very much to learn and implement in AR, isn't there?)
Martin... yes. We've already got it working.
Art... LOL! Chicks definitely dig that.
Kaye... :)
Aha!
(Jeff, you give me so many "Aha!" moments.)
I've still been wondering what's the best use for that Wufoo form, when all I had to do was wait and you'd lay it all out in front of me, practically on a silver platter. I love the way this leads to contact. Like Julie said, it gives us a reason to go out and talk to people. I really like that. I may have a mission, if the Wufoo thing will work with AR. I still don't have an outside blog. (I like free!)
Tool Boy...
Are you trying to make me spend more money? Good. SVW.
Now I have to add a web cam to my birthday wish list.
Poor Blog Boy...NOT :)
TLW...ROAR!
Lucia, let's make sure we're using the same terminology. What do you consider a "community blog?"
TLW [SVW]... oh, please get one!
I am considering setting up a blogging systems community publisher package. I am sorry, but I am not sure what you are speaking about when you say TLW [SVW], could you please clarify for me?
Thanks for your taking time to respond.
Lisa... go for it!
Lucia... for many people there is a benefit for paying for the wisdom and training provided by Blogging Systems. The value of their offering is not based on competing against other free blogging platforms. It is based upon their ability to make you more effective and to better achieve the goals you have established in creating your blog. Everyone considering the available alternatives should do their own examination of the potential benefits that they would derive from buying that kind of knowledge and assistance.
Jeff~ You are astounding. I love the resourcefulness that you are so ready to share. I may not say lots, but I learn lots...bookmarked.
My only problem with web cams...I have a 12 year old boy, who loves computers, and I'm not too hip on getting into webcams yet...:(
Laura, I know it's off topic, but our kids aren't allowed near our webcams either! Probably NEVER without our supervision. And, no computers in private places... except my office. The computers the kids use now aren't hooked to the Internet and are in highly trafficked areas. It's a crazy world out there.