The Google Universe - Handheld Computer Solutions

The Google Universe - Handheld Computer Solutions

The Mobile Office System That Works
The
Universe
A Step-By Step Guide To Making Google Apps Work For You
Simple yet powerful (and free) apps to turn your PC and smartphone into a most effective
resource for maintaining client relationships, productivity and social networking
Updated Nov. 2011
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Summary
Realtors in today’s marketplace are challenged from a number of fronts, from being able to quickly
respond to leads generated at the website, to working with tech-savvy consumers who demand a rapid
response to almost any request, with a personal touch. Successful Agents tend to be the ones who are
using these latest technology tools and applications to keep them in communication and allow them the
opportunity to provide value added services, and enhance their marketing strategies all at once- from the
mobile PC or smartphone.
Google, who is best known for its most intuitive Internet search engine, has provided to the public space
some innovative online tools that allow any mobile professional, especially entrepreneurs an
unprecedented access to information, documents, and a customized business presence online, accessible
by a connected smartphone, tablet devices or computer. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Agents
to learn about the free applications developed by Google, and how best to implement them as part of their
mobile business strategy.
There are approximately 150 Google apps available, but this course will focus only on ones considered to
be most useful to the Agent-consumer relationship:
Introduction
It’s been a little while for me, but I can remember at the age of 25, I was just finishing college, working
full time, struggling to eke out those last few credits, and make ends meet. I had no garage hobbies or any
real activities outside of a good party quite honestly. How I wish I had on my mind at 22 what Larry
Page and Sergey Brin had on their minds at 25. I wouldn’t be writing this book- there would be books
written about me.
I chose the age of 25 here because that was how old Larry Page was when he founded Google in 1996,
along with his friend Sergey Brin, who is his same age, both being born in 1973.
Google was originally a school project for the two, looking at a new way for Internet search engines to
rank search results. They eventually named the project Google, after the mathematical term “Googol”, the
number one followed by one hundred zeros.
Today, Google’s presence around the world is nearly as significant, running a search engine with more
than 70 percent of the search activity, and generating most of its revenue through ads, with a
revolutionary math formula called AdSense, which allows companies who buy ad space from Google get
an equal opportunity for visibility, giving the small business equal footing with the bigger businesses. In
2006 earnings were around $10 billion. The earnings report for 2009 was closer to $24 billion dollars.
Not bad for a couple of guys who at 37, should be just paying off their school loans.
Google’s mission statement, "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and
useful", is fitting to the strides they have made to bring many applications we’ve paid dearly for in the
past to the open source- free to use, free to share, and open for development. To add to this, their
unofficial slogan “Don’t be evil,” is often taken as a direct slap to the face of software behemoth,
Microsoft.
Whatever the company’s mission or the ultimate goal may be, Google has developed and offered an entire
library of online “cloud” applications designed to make communicating, and sharing what we want a lot
easier- for free. This is a guide to making those free apps work for you. Technology changes almost daily,
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and these apps get updated and refreshed all the time. I’ll teach you the basics here- you will catch on as
the apps get better.
Realtors in today’s marketplace are challenged from a number of fronts, from being able to quickly
respond to leads generated at the website, to working with tech-savvy consumers who demand a rapid
response to almost any request, with a personal touch. Successful Agents tend to be the ones who are
using these latest technology tools and applications to keep them in communication and allow them the
opportunity to provide value added services, and enhance their marketing strategies all at once- from the
mobile PC or smartphone.
There are approximately 150 Google apps available, but this course will focus only on ones considered to
be most useful to the agent-consumer relationship:
Google Apps are designed for the mobile professional. Whether you are a real estate Agent, a small business
owner or in pharmaceutical sales, your office is now wherever you happen to be. If you want to be responsive to
the needs of your client base, you must have the tools to be ready: a good smartphone, backed by a well
developed CRM, or Client Relationship management system is a great start. A suite of apps on your smartphone
that keep you prepared for your clients, along with your marketing tools to have you ready for the new prospects
is even better.
First, let’s create a Google account:
www.google.com/accounts
Once you have completed this process, your username and password unlocks all of the Google Apps for you.
You’ll just need to sign into them.
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Secondly, let’s setup a Gmail account:
www.mail.google,com
Once you’ve signed in, click onto the gear icon in the upper right corner and select Options. Here we will
customize the Gmail experience.
General Tab
In Settings, the General tab is to the upper left. Here we have the options to:
Set the Page size- number of messages and contacts per page
Keyboard shortcuts- learn to use the keyboard instead of the mouse
Toggle the Conversation mode setting- emails shown separately or in a continuing thread
External Content option- ask before displaying external content
Undo Send (must first be enabled in Labs)
Browser Connection – Always use https (recommended)
Default text style- customize font and size to your style
Add Your Photo- will be the photo associated with your Google account
Contacts’ Pictures Option- show your contact’s embedded photo
Add Signature Option – will be added to the bottom of new messages
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Labels Tab
System labels are the named folders on the left panel. You may choose to hide the folders you don’t need and
only show those you use.
Labels are the folders you create and name. provide a unique name here, or from the main Gmail screen. Check
the box to the left of the message, and open the Labels tab above to assign it to a labeled folder, which will
display on the left panel. Select a folder, and with the left click of the mouse, open the palette which allows you
to color code each folder. You can assign more than one label (category) to a sender.
Starred messages
Assign stars to special conversations or messages, or use them as a visual reminder that you need to follow-up
on a message or conversation later.
Archiving and Muting Messages
If you want to clean up your message box without deleting messages, you may simply Archive them.
Check the box to the left of the message, and then click the Archive button above. Messages will not
show in the inbox, but will be searchable or located in “All Mail” on the left panel.
Sometimes you may receive frequent email from a recipient that’s not spam. It’s worth saving but
not always filling up your box. Muting a message (click the More Actions button) will simply store
the messages away before reaching your inbox, into the filter you’ve assigned it or into “All Mail”.
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Accounts and Import Tab
Import mail and contacts- Under this tab, you may import email from other email accounts. All you need is a
username and password. Note that some email clients may prohibit forwarding without special privileges which
may involve a fee.
Send Mail As- here you can create multiple email identities for email to use. If you receive an email forwarded
from your website’s email for example, Gmail can send the reply using the same address of the original
message.
Check mail using POP3:- A new feature that will make regular searches of your POP3 email from other
clients, If the client doesn’t allow forwarding, this feature will just sign in as you and download your mail into
Gmail.
Add additional storage:- If 7GB is not enough, a $5 annual investment will get you 20GB of space. This is
aggregate storage for Google Voice, Docs, Gmail, and Picasa.
Change account settings:= make changes to your central Google Account, change password, add photos, add
profile information.
Filter Tabs
Filters may be assigned to a message from a specific sender, or a specific topic. Set filters from this tab, or
check the box to the left of a message, open the More Actions tab, then select Filter messages like these. From
here you can filter similar messages to come to be directed by way of your filter.
Forwarding and POP/IMAP
Forwarding allows you to add a forwarding address, should you want to forward your mail to another client.
POP Download allows you to download Gmail messages to PC programs like Outlook Express. It’s old
technology. Use the IMAP client and have a better experience!
IMAP Access: gives you a constant, two-way connection between Gmail and Outlook or other PIMs, and even
your smartphone. Mail is delivered by Gmail as it is received, so you always have the latest mail at its earliest
time. Gmail includes the wizard to help you set up the connection between your PC email client (Outlook, etc.)
and Gmail.
Why Gmail?
There are a number of pretty good web-based email clients we all use, yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc., but to me
there is only one like Gmail. Of the top, here is what Gmail has to offer:
7GB of storage space, 20GB is only $5 per year more (shared with other Google apps)
Easy to set up and install on your smartphone
Highly customizable
Integrates well with other Google Apps
Less spam
Access your web history and activity from any computer
I recommend if you have mail coming from other clients, such as the ones I mentioned before, forward them to
your Gmail address. I’ll help it make a lot of sense a bit later.
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Google Contacts
The contact manager in Gmail is really the tool that makes using all of these mobile apps as useful as they can
be. The information stored in Contacts will be used in all of the subsequent apps as the source for sharing apps
and information with others, customizing your outgoing messages in Voice, and making your marketing efforts
a snap.
What is Rapportive?
Rapportive shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox. You can immediately see what
people look like, where they're based, and what they do. You can establish rapport by mentioning shared
interests. You can grow your network by connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more. And you can
record thoughts for later by leaving notes. Imagine relationship management built into your email. For free. Sign
up and install Rapportive at http://rapportive.com/install.
Here, Rapportive replaced ads on the right panel with the contact’s photo and contact methods:
It All Begins With Your CRM
Your CRM or Client Relationship Management System is essential to the success of your business and the
best use of these Google apps. Fortune 300 companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to compile and
maintain their CRM databases, and for good reason: it is simply the easiest and most effective way to develop
customer profiles, target their customer base, and to ensure customer satisfaction and retention. As small
business owners we can use tools like Microsoft Outlook, ACT!, Top Producer or other Personal Information
Management (PIM) systems as our CRM. Now that we are moving our business to a more mobile arena, and
we can use the cloud to maintain this information, it’s time to learn how to put your CRM on the cloud, using
Google Contacts, a part of Gmail:
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Exporting your CRM to Google Contacts
Regardless of the PIM you currently use, the process of exporting your contacts and importing the data into
Google Contacts is relatively easy, if you follow the steps, you’ll have your contacts copied over in no time.
Step One: Prepare your CRM data
Since this information is the life blood of your business, it is important that we have each contact profile as
complete and organized as possible. Take the time to go through each item, fill in as many empty spaces as
possible. Make sure you have at least the five essentials- full name, mailing address, email address, office &
mobile phone and birth date (yes, birth date!) If you can, add anniversary dates, and other demographic
information that can be stored under notes.
Step Two: Assign all profiles into a category
Assigning a profile into one or more categories will be useful to your marketing efforts moving forward, as well
as allowing the Google apps to target specific markets for you. Missing this step will cause you lots of work in
the future.
Step Three: Export your CRM data into a file
The easiest way to get your data into Google Contacts and have it organized from the outset is to export the
contacts one category at a time. Sort your contacts by category, then Highlight the group you intend to export.
The example below is how to export from Microsoft Outlook:
Select File > Import and Export
Select Export To A File
Select Comma Separated Values (Windows)
Select the location of the data to import, in this case Contacts
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Save to a location on the computer, and name the file the same as the category you are importing.
VERY IMPORTANT: Mapping the custom fields will assure that the data you export will be the complete
contact profile when you import it into Google contacts.
In Outlook, simply drag from the left box what you want to include in the export box on the right. Other systems
will have similar options for you to customize which data fields you are exporting.
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Now, you are ready to import the data into Gmail contacts.
Step Four: Import your CRM data into Google Contacts
Following the steps described above, import your contacts into Google one category at a time, so they will be
organized at the outset. This will have your Outlook data better organized, and the Google apps will be able to
better target your communication.
Import your CRM data from Mac Computers
Click which group of contacts or the individual contact you want to export from your Address Book on
your Mac (e.g. "All Contacts" or "John Doe"). From the File menu select Export. Click "Export Group
vCard" or "Export vCard" depending on whether you are exporting a group of contacts or just a single
contact. Save vCard file to a known location.
From Gmail click "Contacts". Click the "Import" link on the right side of the screen. Click "Browse" and
find the location of the vCard file you saved above. Click the "Import" button.
Note: Macs do not use CSV files, and you don't need to use conversion software, as mentioned in other
posts. Import/Export on a Mac using vCard files.
Gmail Tip: Create an Auto-Responder for your listing flyers and signs
In Gmail, create a second Gmail account, and name it something like [[email protected]].
Forward the Gmail address to your primary Gmail account so messages will be delivered to your
mailbox.
The message response will tell the person making the inquiry exactly what they need to know in
regards to that listing.
Add a link to a listing flyer: create the flyer in Google Docs, making it available to anyone with the link
(see Chapter 4). Copy the link to paste in the auto-responder.
Copy and add this link to your auto responder: <a href="copy
and paste your Google Docs link here
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between the parentheses">HTML Link Code</a>
If the sender writes multiple messages to the same address, the responder will only send the
automated reply once every four days.
Chapter 2:
Using Google Voice for Your Office & Mobile Phones
Google Voice is a telecommunications service started in March 2009. A free service, Google Voice,
allows you to choose your own phone number from a list of available numbers within any US area code
with your account. You also have the option of using your own phone number as your Google Voice
number, but access to the features is limited with this option.
All of your inbound calls to this number are then forwarded to other phone numbers, such as your mobile
numbers or your office and home. The service offers free outbound calls and may be placed for free to
domestic locations and to international destinations for a low fee, based on current rates posted on the
Google website. Free calling areas also include Alaska, Hawaii and Canada.
Let’s begin.
www.google.com/voice
Sign in using your Google account username and password
Once logged in, Google Voice prompts you to first set up your number. Choose a Google Voice number
or to use your own mobile number. As of this printing, only Sprint users can use their mobile number
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without porting, which could generate extra charges or create issues with your contract with your carrier.
My suggestion is to choose the Google Voice number, for now. Select “I want a new number”.
Select Continue and follow the prompts to set up this option.
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Using A Google Number vs. A Non-Google Number
There are a number of useful features that are unavailable to users who choose the non-Google number
route. To best explain the differences, below is information from the Google Voice Help website:
http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?answer=164819
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Using a Sprint Number with Google Voice
If you are a Sprint subscriber, your mobile number may be used as your Google Voice number and use all
the features listed above. This means your Sprint number may now be used to ring all your phones and
your computer, as they are assigned to your Google Voice account.
Another benefit is the International calls at low rates. International calls made from Google Voice users’
Sprint phones will be connected by Google Voice at Google's very low rates.
These benefits will be available to Sprint users in the USA and will gradually be available to all Google
Voice users.
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Other carriers may enjoy this feature in the near future, but until then, you must choose a Google Voice
number or port your current number with Google Voice.
Porting Your Number: Is it necessary?
The following information is directly from Google Voice engineers:
“One of the most frequent requests we hear from people who use (or want to use) Google Voice is that
they’d like to get all of Google Voice’s features without having to give up their long-time phone
numbers.
Today, we’re excited to announce that Number Porting is available for all existing Google Voice users.
This means you can make the mobile number you’ve always used your Google Voice number, so it can
ring any phone you want—or even your computer.
To get started with Number Porting, log in to your Google Voice account, visit the Settings page and click
on “Change / Port” next to your Google Voice number.
Porting your number to Google Voice costs $20 and is usually completed within 24 hours. You may incur
additional charges, including early termination fees, from your wireless carrier. Contact your carrier to
get more details about the charges applicable to you.
After porting your number to Google Voice your mobile service plan will be cancelled, and there are a
couple of steps that you’ll have to take to continue making and receiving calls on your mobile device. For
more detailed instructions on how Number Porting works and to find tips for making the process as
smooth as possible, visit the Google Voice Help Center.
Number Porting is currently available for existing Google Voice users and will become available to new
users within the next few weeks, and at this time, Google Voice is available in the U.S. only
I could not explain it better than that, so there you have it. Now, back to my text:
Once you have completed the number selection process, you will see your Google Voice web page. Click
onto the Settings tab to the upper left of the screen.
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Select Voice Settings.
Starting with the Phones tab, Click Add Another Phone.
Fill in the spaces for the name, number and type of phone,
Now, click the option to Show Advanced Settings.
Google Voice Tip: Switch phones in the midst of an incoming phone call
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Each number you add must be verified before use. Google Voice will provide you with a verification
code. When you click connect, it will then dial that number. When you answer the incoming call, follow
the prompts and enter the verification code. Now this number is ready and available for use in Google
Voice.
Click Save at the bottom left of the screen to save your options.
Even after you verify the phone number you must manually Activate Google Voicemail before it
will switch over from your current voicemail.
The Google Chat option I will mention a bit later in this chapter.
Voicemail and Text
For each number you add to the service, you may customize an outgoing message, like you would any
answering machine. The real benefit here is in how you may record multiple greetings, and tell Google Voice
which caller groups will get the message you record to them.
Voicemail Greeting
Click Record New. A window will appear for you to name this greeting.
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Select for which phone this message greeting will play, click Connect. Google Voice then dials the
number. Answer the call, and follow the prompts to record and save this greeting. Follow these steps for
each greeting you record, and for each phone number you have assigned to the service.
Google Voice Tip: Make a private greeting for your honey or best friend
If you want to impress a caller, record a private outgoing greeting just for him or her.
Simply begin by creating a new group in Gmail contacts, and place that contact as the
only one in that group. Be careful not to put them in multiple groups, as others may
hear that message you would really want to reserve for that VIP in your life!
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Recorded Name
Like most mobile phone voicemail systems, the service asks you to record your name. This greeting is used
whenever you choose to use the Google Voice standard greeting. You’ve heard them before:
“You have reached the voicemail box of (recorded name). To leave a message press 1, or begin recording at
the end of the tone”.
Voicemail Notifications
Set the alerts for new voicemail messages. Choose to be notified by email, SMS text messaging, or both.
Text Forwarding
You can opt to have text messages sent to your Google Voice number automatically forwarded to your email
address. Check the box to activate this feature.
Voicemail PIN
When you first setup your account, you were required to assign an access PIN number. Use this feature to
change your PIN number.
Voicemail Transcripts
Check this box to have Google Voice transcribe your voice messages. Messages are sent to your email (if you
opted in under voicemail notifications), and also by signing in to Google Voice on your computer or compatible
smartphone. The system is not perfect, so it may be a good idea to remind callers to speak slowly and clearly
while leaving a message, giving the transcriber a better opportunity to convert the message to the correct text.
Calls Tab
Settings under the Calls tab allow you to customize your incoming calls experience. These are unique features
unlike those you normally experience with a mobile phone’s voicemail system.
Call Screening
The Call Screening feature reminds me of the answering machines of the 1990’s (remember those?) where you
can hear a person’s message discreetly, with the option of picking up the call. Callers will hear an
announcement requiring them to announce themselves (see next section) and begin leaving a message. Your
phone will ring, and by answering, you will hear the caller’s announcement discreetly, and given the option by
Google Voice to press 1 to let the call through, or press 2 to send it to voicemail.
Call screening can be customized for individual groups, for example, the feature can be activated for business
group or unknown callers, while family and friends groups’ calls can be directed right to your phone.
Caller ID (Incoming)
This setting gives you the option of seeing the caller’s number on your phone’s screen with the incoming call, or
your Google Voice number, indicating that the call was routed through Google Voice.
When a caller makes a call from a number Google Voice recognizes through Gmail’s Contacts (see chapter 1) it
will display this number through caller ID, including the photo if you added into the contact’s profile. It will not
require this caller to announce (it already knows who they are), but if the number was set to be screened will do
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so. Unknown callers will be asked to announce their name in the screening process, if the box was checked in
Call Screening.
Google Voice relies upon the contacts in your Gmail account to identify incoming callers, and to route the calls
according to the settings for the group you have assigned them to. This is one reason I so highly emphasize
building your CRM, so that you have as much info in a contact’s profile as possible. (see chapter 1 for a
review).
Caller ID (Outgoing)
When sending a text from any mobile phone assigned to Google Voice, you have the option of the recipient
seeing either the original phone number, or your Google phone number.
As of this writing, it only works for text messages, but Google has it in the works to activate the feature for calls
as well.
This is one of the ways you can let your contacts know to update your profile to include your new Google phone
number, and to contact you using this new number.
Do Not Disturb
If you'd like to send all calls made to your Google number directly to voicemail, you can enable Do Not
Disturb from a phone or through the Google Voice website. Then, all calls will be sent to voicemail until you
disable the setting.
Note that any text message sent to your Google number while Do Not Disturb is enabled, will also not be
forwarded to the phones you've set up to receive text messages and have marked as 'Mobile'.
Missed calls
Your voicemails, text messages, and calls are listed on the Google Voice website, in the left panel. They're
organized under different labels:
Inbox: lists received voicemail and text messages, as well as recorded calls
Starred: any calls, voicemails, or text messages you've starred
History: all made, received, and missed calls, voicemails, and text messages
Spam: items you've marked as 'Is Spam'
Trash: deleted items that will be auto-deleted after 30 days in Trash
Voicemail: all voicemails received in your Google voicemail system
Text text messages you've sent, received, or replied to from your Google number
Recorded: all calls to your Google number that you've recorded
Placed: calls you've made through the website and phone system
Received: all received calls, voicemails, and text messages
Missed: calls to your Google number that you've missed
This setting allows you to choose to leave them in the inbox or to send them to your email address.
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Groups Tab
Customizing which callers receive a personalized message is a major feature of Google Voice. Here, you can
specify which callers hear that message made especially for them, whenever they call from a number Google
Voice recognizes.
The groups you see listed on this screen were created once you organized your Gmail Contacts (see what I mean
about building that CRM?).
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Edit your Groups
Creating and editing your groups happen inside your Gmail account. From the Google Voice Calls tab, select
Manage groups.
The link goes to Contacts in your Gmail Account.
Click the link New Group.
Google Voice Tip: Make sure your greetings go to the right place
If you decide to make a special outgoing message for an individual, create a group
and make them the sole member of that group. Now you can record that specific
message. Be careful that this special individual is not in multiple groups, as I have
discovered it could direct others to get that special message as well.
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Name the group. For example, I will create the group Vendors. It adds the group vendors to the list.
Click My Contacts on the top of the list, and select contacts from your list to import into the group by checking
the box to the left of the contact.
Click onto the Groups tab on the right, and add the selected contacts to the new Vendors Group. You have the
option of keeping contacts in multiple groups.
Select from the list of groups, or add a new group.
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Click on Edit Google Voice Settings link to return to Google Voice.
Issue: If you don’t see your new group when you return, clean your Browser’s cache and cookies. Log
back into Google Voice, go to Settings and Groups. Your new group should be on the list now.
In Groups, select Edit in your new group. Customize the voice greeting and call screening settings.
Those contacts you chose for this group will now be managed by these settings.
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Edit Record a private message for your spouse, best friend, or anyone
Using the steps above, create a category using that person’s name as the category. Edit the category
settings with a unique recording that only entries in that group will get, which will be that one person.
When caller ID recognizes it’s them, they’ll have a treat to hear that special message you recorded just for
him or her.
Call Widgets
Call Widgets can be put on any web page, and allow people to call from that web page. When somebody
clicks on the widget, Google Voice calls them and connects them to you. Your number is always kept
private. You can create multiple call widgets and have different settings for each of them.
Select Add a New Call Widget. Select the appropriate call options for the widget.
Save Changes.
A new page with the embed code will appear. Copy and paste the embed code into the contact page of
your website or blog page.
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Google Voice Tips and Tricks
How to switch phones during a call in Google Voice
Let’s say you’re speaking to someone who called your office, using your Google Voice number. You’ve got an
appointment and need to leave, but you also need to finish that call.
Simply press the * key on the phone, and your mobile phone will ring, if it is an active number on Google
Voice too. Take your call and make your appointment too!
How to make calls in Gmail
This feature has now been updated to make calls directly from Gmail. Not only cah.n you make free calls to any
US number or low-cost international calls. The system also allows for two calls simultaneously from which you
may swap back and for
You may also make video chats with others who have the Google Chat plug-in.
Here’s how:
1. Open your Gmail account
2. On the left panel, locate Chats
3. Click on Call Phone- the dial pad opens on screen
4. Dial from the pad, click Call.
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How to Video Chat in Gmail
1. Download the voice and video chat plug-in, quit all open browser windows, and install the
plug-in. http://www.google.com/chat/video
2. Sign in to Gmail, iGoogle or Orkut.
3. In your chat list, select the contact you want to call. If they have a camera icon next to their
name, you can make a voice or video call to them; just click the camera icon to place a video
call or the phone icon to place a voice call.
If your friend doesn't have a camera next to their name in your chat list, you can invite them to download
the voice and video chat plug-in from the Video & more menu in a chat window. Even if your friend
doesn't have a video camera, you can still have a voice chat or a 1-way video chat.
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How to make calls from abroad to the US using Google Voice
This feature gives you the ability using your Internet connected computer or Wi-Fi connected smartphone to
make calls to the US if you are out of the country using Google Voice or Gmail.
Here’s the info directly from the Google Voice Blog:
"Google Voice lets you manage all your phone communications and seamlessly make
and receive calls on any of your existing phones. But what if you don’t have your
phone with you? Or what if you’re in a place with poor cell phone reception, or you’re
travelling internationally and don’t want to incur expensive roaming charges? Wouldn’t
it be great if you could use your computer to make or receive calls? In order to use
the Google Voice service via Gmail, you will have to install the free voice and video
chat plugin to your Gmail account.
Before leaving from US, setup a Google Voice account @ www.google.com/voice
Step 1: Is the voice and video chat plugin installed (if needed)? See
http://www.google.com/chat/voice/ for the download.
Step 2 :Is your Gmail language is set to English (US)? See
http://www.google.com/support/chat/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187929 for details.
Step 3: https://www.google.com/accounts/EditUserInfo?hl=en
(update Country, zip code and timezone with USA details)
Step 4: Mic and speaker test https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#settings/chat
Step 5: Computer regional settings should be US
Also, install the Google Voice App on your smartphone. If you have a data plan, making calls
through the GV app does not incur cellular minutes, as the call is made over the Internet.
Don’t have the GV app on your phone? Dial your own Google Voice number, enter your PIN,
select 2 to dial out, and make calls from there.
Google Voice Tip: Make a Gmail voice call or SMS through your mobile phone
If your phone supports the Google Voice App, you can make calls through the app,
using your Google Voice number as the caller ID. International calls can be made as
well, simply buy credits through the Google Voice site, and pay Google’s low
international rates
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Chapter 3:
Better Time Management With Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a free time-management web application. The interface of Google Calendar, is similar to
desktop calendar applications such as Microsoft Outlook or iCal on Mac OS X.
The Google Calendar graphic interface enables users to view, add, and drag-and-drop events from one date to
another without reloading the page.
It supports six view modes, daily, 4-day, weekly, monthly, and agenda. Users can "quick add" calendar events
by typing standard English phrases, such as “meeting with Michael 11am tomorrow”. Users can also set the
number of days to show in their custom view mode.
Calendar entries are stored online, meaning that the calendar can be viewed from any location, from any
computer with Internet access. In the case of a hard drive crash, because the information is in the cloud, no data
is lost. The application can import Microsoft Outlook calendar files (.csv) and iCalendar files and .ics files if it is
in the US format.
Multiple calendars can be added and shared, allowing various levels of permissions for the users. This enables
collaboration and sharing of schedules between groups. General calendars available for importing into one's
account include those containing national holidays of various countries. Users can also add "live" iCalendar
URLs that update regularly.
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Google Calendar allows multiple calendars (up to 25) to be created, color-coded and shown in the same view.
Each can be shared, either read-only or with full edit control, and either with specified people or with everyone
(public calendars).
Google Calendar can be synchronized with mobile devices (e.g., BlackBerry, Palm, iPhone, Pocket PC) or with
PC applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook) via Google plug-ins, or third party software, and natively with Apple's
iCal.
Google Calendar is natively supported on Android -based mobile phones such as the Motorola Droid series,
Android phones from HTC, Samsung, Dell, etc., and on webOS based mobile phones such as the Palm Pre and
Palm Pixi. Event reminders can be sent via email, as well as via SMS to mobile phones.
Google Calendar integrates with Gmail, and does so very well. When an e-mail that contains trigger words
(such as "meeting", or dates and times) arrives, an "add to calendar" button is automatically displayed alongside
it.
Users of iGoogle, the user-designed Google homepage, can choose and organize content in the form of
"gadgets", one being Calendar. This "gadget" offers options to edit how the time is displayed, which day the
week starts on, and a link to "Add Event". It also integrates well with Google Desktop search.
Begin by signing into your Google Account, then go to:
http://www.google.com/calendar/
Setting up your Google calendar is painless and easy. Let’s get started.
Select Settings, then Calendar Settings.
General Tab
Set your regional settings under this tab, and customize your calendar views.
Automatically add invitations to my calendar- Messages in Gmail that contain the words “meeting” or
contains specific dates or times will by default option you to add to your calendar, and to invoke a response to
the invitation. Here you can choose to add these events automatically to the calendar.
Enable keyboard shortcuts:
Speed your way through Google Calendar using the keyboard instead of the mouse. Learn these shortcuts and
master your calendar.
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Save your changes before moving to the next tab.
Calendars Tab
Create and customize up to 25 calendars in this tab.
Set the destination for reminders and notifications
Share Calendars and customize levels of accessibility by others
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Mobile Setup
Enter your mobile number
Google Calendar will call and ask for the verification code sent to you
Enter the verification code to authenticate mobile access of your calendar
Working with Google Calendar
Now that we have setup and customized the application, let’s navigate the calendar itself, starting at the top left:
Search My Calendars
Type in any keyword and search all of your calendars at the same time. Click on the Show Search Options tab,
and narrow your search.
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Create An Event
Add events to your calendar here, or click onto the date in the calendar.
Quick Add: Type in the event, location, time and date. Google calendar will do the rest.
Google Calendar Tip: Make a Google Calendar for your website
When scheduling your open houses and other public events, place them in the same
calendar category (you have up to 25) and then embed that calendar on your website.
It will update instantly as you make changes within Google Calendar. Share the
calendar with your team, and their events will go on to the calendar, and their
websites too!
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The Menu Bar
Today- Press the today button to instantly take you to the current date.
Selection Arrows- Moves the calendar one space forward or backward, depending on the current view
Mini Calendar View- If your favorite calendar view is weekly, there always is a month-at-a-glance view of the
calendar
My Calendars Create up to 25 different calendars to use at one time. In this area, turn various calendars on or
off at your convenience. Click the arrow of any calendar in the box to set a color for that calendar.
Other Calendars- Toggle the view of any additional calendars you have added from the tab below (see Add).
Add- Preview and add interesting or custom calendars. Add a holiday calendar from the Us and other countries
around the world, your favorite sports team or even the lunar calendar. Add a friend’s Google Calendar, with
permission, of course!
Settings- this tab will open the same menu as the settings tab in the upper left corner of the screen.
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Sharing Calendars
One of the unique features of Google Calendars is the ability to share any or all of your calendars with another
person, anywhere in the world, so long as they have a computer with Internet access. Set permissions in Settings
under the Calendars tab.
Select which calendar you want to share; Click Share This Calendar
The Share calendar screen will open.
Share with specific people by entering their email address. If it is not a Google address, the program will prompt
you to invite them to create a Google Account, giving them access to your calendar, based on the permission
settings you apply:
Make changes AND manage sharing
Make changes to events
See all event details
See only free/busy (hide details)
Add a calendar to your website
Select Calendar Details
Embed this calendar by copying the embed code and pasting into your website. Customize the color and other
settings to fit the scheme of your website or blog page.
By default, the embedded calendar is read-only.
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Save your settings and continue back to the calendar.
Make The Calendars On All Your Devices Stay The Same
The absolute worst thing a productivity system can have is different information on your calendars. No one
should try to manage multiple devices with different calendar information. Here’s how we will make the Google
Calendar become the synchronized calendar on your smartphone, tablet, netbook, laptop and desktop computer.
Updating the calendar on one will update the calendar on them all, as long as they are connected to the Internet.
Exchange Server
The process that will make this possible is called an Exchange Server, a cloud-based server that will send and
receive information from our mobile devices. The exchange server will keep the calendar, contacts and email
flowing and consistent regardless of the device we are using. We will set up each device here to make them
connect to the exchange server at Google:
Android Devices
Android smartphones and tablets are setup automatically to the exchange server when you establish your
account to sync on the device in the Settings menu. By default the email and contacts from your Gmail account
will sync, send and deliver, but you must set up your Google calendar on the PC before you will see any
calendar information.
Apple iPhone and iPad
Begin by opening the settings app on your Apple device. Keep in mind iPhone 4 and 4S devices can set up
exchange through the Gmail setup wizard and can enter this data in that place.
Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars from the menu
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Select Add Account. From the list select Microsoft Exchange (iPhone 4, 4S and iPad select Gmail). Note: in
order for iPhone and iPad to also sync contacts, the email must be set up in Microsoft Exchange.
Fill in the page with your Gmail account and password, username is the same as your email address
Leave the area for Domain blank
Tap Next in the upper right corner. The account settings will be verified at this point.
Enter the Server address m.google.com. Tap Next, and the process will verify once more.
Turn ON Mail, Contacts, and Calendars, opting to Keep On My iPhone the existing local contacts and calendar
information. Tap Save.. The process will configure the Sync.
Your information from your Google Calendar can now be seen from your iPhone Calendar. Your contacts from
Gmail will now sync with your iPhone Contacts list, and your Gmail account will be enhanced, with the same
folders, and labels as your desktop Gmail account. These are the screenshots in sequence:
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Blackberry Devices
Begin by opening the Settings app on your Blackberry, and then Email settings.
Find the setup app
Select Email Settings
Select the Gmail account>Menu, Edit
Scroll to bottom, expand Synchronization Options
Check Calendar and Contacts, Save & exit
Next, move to open your Blackberry email app.
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Open Menu, Select Options
Select Email Reconciliation
For each account select Delete on Handheld Only
Once completed, press the escape button, Save.
Backing Up Your Calendars
If there was a liability to using Google Apps, it would be in most circumstances, the data is only available
whenever you have an Internet connection. There are offline settings that can be set up in Gmail, for example
that allow you to read and write messages, but it doesn’t go beyond that until you are once again connected to
the Internet.
If you consider yourself to be “old school” as I do, it always feels better for me to have a backup, one that I can
access even if the Internet is unavailable or if perhaps Google’s servers go down. Here is what I have done and
will show you how to backup your information on your hard drive as well, automatically.
Begin by opening your Calendar account. Select Help in the upper right screen, to access Calendar Help
window below:
Google Calendar Tip: Make A Calendar Searchable on Google
A great way to get the public to your open houses and other public events is to make
that individual calendar public in the settings. Place search terms in the description
box, separated by commas. When anyone does a Google search for, say “real estate
90210”, your Google Calendar for those events will be part of the search response,
provided those terms were added to the description.
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In the Calendar help search, type SYNC. Choose from the list of Calendar sync help options. For example, to
learn how to sync with Microsoft Outlook, choose “Getting started with Google Calendar Sync”.
Google Calendar also syncs to Apple computers, (iCal) and has a Linux plug-in as well.
Google Calendar Tip: Synchronizing to your Outlook
With your calendar data being stored on “The Cloud”, it really isn’t necessary to
perform the sync to Outlook, but if it makes you feel better, be my guest. I do it too. It
doesn’t sync when your PC isn’t connected to the Internet, so if you want it to sync
often, set the frequency at perhaps every 30-60 minutes.
Follow steps 1-6 to install Google Sync onto your PC and add the status icon in the system tray.
Choose your sync options:
One way sync means there will only be a one-way transfer of information, either from Outlook to Google
Calendar, or Google Calendar to Outlook.
Two- way sync allows you to make changes to either calendar and they will exchange and update each
other with every sync operation.
Set the sync interval to whatever you like, and Save.
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When your PC is connected to the Internet, the Google Calendar Sync service will update your calendars as
scheduled.
To make changes to any of these settings, simply right-click the sync icon in the system tray, and select
Options.
Keep in mind that this particular application only syncs your calendar information, not contacts. We will
discuss how to backup contacts a bit later.
Google Calendar is one of the most useful tools I have experienced on the Internet. With the features of sharing,
remote updating, and liberally customizing your content, it makes keeping me on schedule and productive a
snap.
Google Calendar Tip: Add Birthdates and Significant events from Contacts
As part of your CRM discussed earlier, adding birthdays, anniversaries and other
significant dates to remember are very useful in establishing and maintaining
relationships. Below your calendars, select “Add” and then “Browse Interesting
Calendars. Select More, and Add Contacts’ birthdates and events to your list of
calendars. You’ll discover how great a marketing tool this can be!
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Chapter 4:
Google Documents
Any mobile professional who relies upon the office exclusively to manage the flow of documents can quickly
find himself wasting time and energy, and not able to compete with the competition.
Google Documents can easily solve this problem by offering access to the documents, forms, contracts,
marketing tools, spreadsheets and presentations from anywhere, at anytime.
Fully compatible with Microsoft Office, Google Docs allows users to create and edit documents online while
collaborating in real-time with other users. The application also allows the storage of data files up to 1GB each,
even if they are not compatible. Here is a brief overview of its features:
Documents may be originated, uploaded from the PC, or emailed
File save formats include Word, PDF, HTML, ODF, RTF, and Text.
A document’s revision history is automatically archived
Individual documents may not exceed 1GB in size
Images embedded into a document may not exceed 2MB
spreadsheets limited to 256 columns, 200,000 cells, 99 sheets
No current offline access
To begin using Google Docs, sign onto the application using your Google Account name and password.
http://www.docs.google.com
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Create a new document or upload one from your computer’s hard drive from the selections in the circle.
Selecting Create New drops down the menu to choose the type of document you will originate, or create a
folder, which mill make organizing your documents much easier.
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Let’s begin by choosing to create a folder. I will name my folder Forms, since I already have created folders for
my other document formats.
Save your settings and the folder will add to your list.
Right-click onto any folder, open a list of choices to modify the features of that folder, including sharing the
folder with others, giving them open or limited use of the documents, for example.
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The arrows to the left of the folders expand or collapse the view of the documents within the folders, or the
folders themselves. The view below is the collapsed view, with all the folders shown on the full document
panel to the right.
Now that we have organized our folders, we are ready to start adding new documents.
Uploading Documents
To add a document from your computer’s hard disk, begin by selection Upload on the left panel.
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Select the files from your drive and click save to add them to the list to be uploaded. These files will be copied,
not moved from your hard drive, so your original files will not be affected by this process.
Select Conversion Options
Google Docs uses a file format that is compatible, but not the same as Microsoft Office; therefore they must be
converted to Google Docs formats. While you don’t have to convert the documents you upload, you will not be
able to edit them without conversion.
These converted documents can still be read in Microsoft Office or other applications without any effort on your
part.
To convert PDF image data to text, you must first check the second box. PDF documents are read-only files,
and the text must be extracted from the document first and inserted into a Google document.
Set the location the documents will be stored in, and privacy settings before starting the upload. Files can be
reorganized and moved into other folders at any time.
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Use the checkboxes on the left of the docs list to select an item or a folder, using the above menu to make any
changes.
Documents or folders on the docs list may be starred simply to highlight them, marking them as an item to be
easily recognized.
Search Docs
Enter a keyword or text string to search for content on any of your documents from this tab.
Search Templates
Search through a number of useful templates in the gallery. Google users worldwide have shared pre-formatted
documents, from calendars to surveys, evaluation forms to slide shows and inventory spreadsheets.
Choose a template, enter your own data, rename and save your file.
Creating New Documents
Select Create New. From the drop-down, select Document. A new document window will open.
If you are comfortable with using word processing software such as Microsoft Word, you will be very familiar
with using Google Documents.
Click Share in the upper right screen. Under the Share settings, grant access to this document to other
individuals. Choose if the user can edit or only view the document.
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Click on Settings, and select Document Settings.
Customize Google Docs regional settings under the General Tab. In the Editing menu, you have the option of
using the latest version of Google Docs, or by reverting to the last version before the update, which contains
some features you may find useful:
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Offline document access via Google Gears
Edit HTML
Edit CSS
Default font and text size
These features are not yet on the current version, but if you find them to be a benefit, uncheck the box.
You will not however get the features of the latest version which includes:
Real time collaboration: See updates from other collaborators as they edit the document.
Higher-quality imports: More consistent imports from your desktop into Google Docs.
Ruler: Google documents have a ruler for setting margins, indentations, and tab stops.
Chat with other collaborators: As you make your edits, you can chat with other document
editors about the changes, from within the document.
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Chapter 5:
Google+
Google+ is the latest entry into social networking on the Internet. It features many easy to use yet powerful tools
to allow you to communicate and share information like nothing before. Being tied directly to other products in
your Google account makes it that much easier to integrate information from Docs, Picasa Web Albums,
Calendar and the like.
Google+ is actually the integration of five different products:
Stream – not unlike what Facebook users are familiar with, status updates and multimedia entries are shown
here on screen. Unlike Facebook, however, you may customize at any time the stream in which you are viewing
based upon your circles
Circles are merely the groups of people you follow (who, like Twitter, may or may not follow you) organized
into customized groups. Create as many as you like, and followers may be members of multiple groups. Simply
drag and drop names into the circle to add individuals to a group.
Hangouts is a clever way to communicate with small groups-up to ten people using video chat . The Google
voice and video chat plug-in is required to allow your webcam to work in Hangouts.
Photos uses the power of Picasa to provide the content made easily available to share on any of your streams.
Click on
Sparks is a content recommendation engine that finds the most relevant and interesting articles and videos on
almost any subject you can imagine. If your content often refers to residential real estate, for example, Sparks
will find sites and content that would focus on that industry.
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After signing up for your account at https://plus.google.com you are taken to a page where you are asked to
create your public Profile, where you can be searched in the Google search engine. . Fill in information like your
name, birthday, and some notable things about you, and you are taken to Google+. If you have already filled out
a Google+ Profile in the past, you skip this step and are taken to Google+.
Creating Circles
Begin by selecting contacts from the list, add by name or email address, and then drag and drop the
name into the shaded, unnamed new circle. At that time you can name the circle. You can create as
many circles as you like, but it’s best not to have too many, making it more of a chore to distribute
your updates and messages. Contacts can be in any or all of your circles. People can add you to their
circles and follow you, but you don’t have to follow their stream. To add them to your circles, simply
select “people who have added you” and drag and drop people into the appropriate circle. Now you
both follow each other.
Sharing What’s New in Stream
This is nothing new if you have ever used a Facebook page. What is new and even radical is how
easily you can direct content to the circles you want; Comments, photos, items directed toward friends
and family never have to be seen by your professional circles, simply by not including them in the
update. Consequently your friends and family don’t have to be exposed to shop talk.
Adding Photos, Video, and Links
The lower right corner of the input area is for attaching media to your updates. Click on the camera for
example to upload a photo from your hard drive, or your Picasa Web albums.
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Hangouts
You click on the “Start a hangout” button on the right-hand menu of the Stream. Clicking it opens up a
chat window where you can check your mic and choose who will be able to join the hangout (either by
inviting individuals or sharing it with your circles). Once the hangout is live, your friends will see the
hangout prompt in their stream. They can then join the hangout until a maximum of ten people have
joined. If you’ve never used Google Talk before, you will have to install a small piece of software before
Hangouts works properly.
Chat in Google+
From the Google engineers: We wanted to offer more control over who you can chat with in Google Plus. So we've
made a change that requires you to explicitly invite people for them to appear in your chat list. For Gmail, Orkut, and
iGoogle users, we'll continue to include the people you can already chat with in those properties.
Please note that all users in your chat list will have access to your email address. We are working hard to remove this
restriction so that you can invite your circles more easily in the coming months.
Google Calendar Tip: Add Your Facebook News Feed to Your Google+ Stream
From your computer, open the link below to add a facebook news feed right into your
Google+ stream. The Facebook logo will appear in the same options as your G+
options. http://crossrider.com/install/519-google-facebook
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Chapter 6:
YouTube
YouTube is Google’s video-sharing Web application by which since 2006, users can upload, share, and view
videos.
With your Google account, you can upload an unlimited amount of videos, with some quite good and useful
editing features. Unregistered users can watch the videos only.
Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and
older.
YouTube offers mobile professionals, particularly those in sales a unique opportunity to market their business
for free, and to potentially billions of YouTube users worldwide. The secret to getting users to view your
content is to (1) create compelling videos that will generate buzz and a viral following, and (2) creating a
YouTube Channel by which you may organize videos into playlists and direct your marketplace to view your
videos by invitation or by subscription.
Sign in with your Google account username and password:
http://www.youtube.com/
Step number one; you don’t need to be signed in to read the terms of service. Understand what types of video
you may or may not upload, to make sure you don’t violate copyright laws or FTC rules. This YouTube Video
will quickly illustrate the importance of this step.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNQfbbxssWU
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Once signed in, click the drop-down arrow to the right of your username and select My Channel. Here, we will
customize the look and content of your personal YouTube Channel.
Starting from the Post Bulletin tab, announce to your entire Gmail contacts list by email to visit your new
YouTube Channel.
Communicate with your subscribers by posting bulletins to their YouTube homepages from the Post Bulletin
tab.
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Now Click the Settings Tab:
URL: This is your personal link directly to your YouTube channel. Embed this web address to open a link from
your website or blog page to your YouTube.
Channel Type: Your choice here helps YouTube to sort your videos into general categories. It does in no way
limit the type of content you can upload.
Make Channel visible: As part of your privacy settings, you can opt to make your YouTube channel invisible
to the worldwide community, available only to those you invite or who click your link.
Channel tags: Better known as meta-tags, help people who search various keywords locate your YouTube
channel. Type in as many related keywords you think will make it easier for a web search to display your site.
Let others find my channel on YouTube if they have my email address: This will help others find you, even
if you choose to make your YouTube channel invisible.
Themes and Colors Tab:
Set themes and colors for your channel: This palette helps you create an attractive look that will compliment
your YouTube videos.
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Modules Tab
Choose which of the boxes below your playlist will be displayed. If you allow comments, for example, you will
display the box.
Each video has its own settings for permissions regarding comments, as to how you will allow or disallow them.
Videos and playlists Tab
Check the boxes to customize what content you want to display on your channel. Select to display your
uploaded videos, or just those you have added to your playlists from other YouTube contributors.
On the far right, choose which of your playlists will be displayed.
You can arrange the order of your playlists from Arrange Playlists right on the top panel of your page.
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Video Uploading, Editing and Customization
To begin adding video content, click Upload.
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To begin adding video content, click Upload.
You can upload directly from your PC or hard drive, or record directly to a webcam (if you have one connected
to your computer). Video uploads can be;
High Definition (HD quality)
Up to 2 GB in size.
Up to 15 minutes in length.
A wide variety of formats, including Mpeg 4, .avi and .mov
Autoshare
Connect to your social media each time you upload a video to your playlist or add a favorite from the YouTube
site by giving permission to your Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites. Your followers and friends will
get the links directly to your uploads.
Promote your Videos with Promoted Videos
This is one of the few pay services. When a YouTube viewer clicks on your promotion, they see your video.
You only pay when people click to see your video - not when people see your promotion.
Upload your video. Click Get Started Now, and sign up for the promoted video service. Add tag lines and
keywords to help simplify the search and get your content highlighted.
Uploading From Your PC
Click on Upload, then the Upload from Video button. A window will open for you to select the location of the
file. Select and open. The video will begin to upload, the speed will be according to your computer and Internet
connection speed to the YouTube server.
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Once upload is completed, your new video will add to the list of uploaded content. Check the box to the left of
the file, and you can choose from the following options:
Add to any playlists you have created;
Delete;
Sort files by upload date, recording date, A-Z, etc.
Video Editing
Select a video, and click the Edit button to begin your editing. The four tabs across the top allow you to
customize the video in many ways.
Info and settings tab
Create a title for the video. This is what YouTube viewers will search and view by.
The Description or synopsis of the video will display as part of the search and can attract viewers, so be
creative.
The Tags box is where you will add tag lines and keywords that will help viewers locate your content. The
more specific the keywords, the more narrow the viewer can search and ultimately locate your video.
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Placing your video in the correct Category will go far in helping your video get located more easily.
Choose a video thumbnail image of your video, which will display to viewers before they click play.
Using the Date and Map modules will help viewers determine the age and the relevance of a video. This will
be especially useful for your listing videos, which will allow users to get a Google Map or satellite image of the
property location.
Broadcasting and Sharing options help determine who will see your content, and how they will get access to it.
Privacy settings
Public videos are in the open YouTube community without restrictions. A best bet for your listings, but
remember to use the tags, description and maps modules as specific as possible to target your audience and get
seen.
Unlisted videos are less available, open only to anyone who has access to the video’s link address. They won’t
be completely public, but adding the link to an email, posting it on your website or blog, or social network
account will give access to the video.
Private videos are open only to specific viewer to whom you invite. Selecting this option, fill in the lower box
with up to 25 email addresses at a time, along with a message, and only those recipients will have access to
these videos. These links cannot even be forwarded, so there is some real added privacy here. I use this setting
for videos I share of the youngsters in my family.
Keep in mind that according to the YouTube Terms of Service, no uploaded video is completely immune from
being seen.
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AudioSwap Tab
On occasions you would like to remove the current audio track and replace it with music, if the original video
had unacceptable background noise, for example.
Select replacement audio from the menu, starting with genre, narrowing down to artist and then track. If you
want to replace your audio with music other than these tracks, you can do so from applications available for
your computer, but seriously keep in mind the ramifications of copyright infringement. Using these built in files
to me is the safest bet.
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Annotations Tab
A unique way of adding your message to a pre recorded video is to add annotated text to the video.
Click on the Annotations tab, and your video will begin to play. Locate the exact place in the timeline you want
to add the annotation and then pause the video.
Click the “+” sign (see figure 1 below) to choose between speech bubble, add note, or spotlight. Add the
desired text, set the text and background colors, or add a web link (see fig. 3).
Use the timeline tabs (see figure 2) to adjust begin and end times that the annotation will display.
With each additional annotation, an editing widget will appear in the panel to the right. Edit the text, or refine
the display times down to the exact frame.
Using annotations in conjunction with a great soundtrack in AudioSwap is a very nice way to introduce your
properties to perspective buyers, especially for the novice using a camcorder or smartphone cam.
Captions and Subtitles Tab
Adding captions and subtitles to your video gives additional flexibility to your viewers. If you keep the original
audio track recorded with the video, you can write captions to augment the speech, particularly if in some places
the speech is difficult to understand. Using Subtitles, perhaps in a secondary language can greatly expand your
market base.
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A "caption file" contains both the text and information about when each line of text should be displayed.
A "transcript file" on the other hand just contains the text of what was said in the video. If the video's in English,
YouTube can use speech processing algorithms to determine when the words in a transcript should be
displayed.
To add captions or subtitles to one of your videos, you'll need to have transcript or caption files with the
captions/subtitles in them.
Click View on video page to play the video as it will be seen on YouTube.
Arrange Your Playlists
Click Arrange Playlists to sort the order of any playlists you have created.
The second tab will change the display to the feature video you selected in the Videos and Playlists tab.
Choose the third tab to display your playlists across the page.
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Your YouTube channel is now ready to play your selected videos.
YouTube Tip: Place your featured listing video on your website or blog page
Once you have completed editing and publishing your video, and adding it to your
channel, embed the video to the welcome page of your website. Set the control so
that the video plays whenever the web page is opened.
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Chapter 6
Photo Sharing with Picasa Web Albums
Picasa is an image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, plus an integrated
photo-sharing website,
It is quite useful for organizing photos, with capabilities for file importing, tracking, tags, facial recognition, and
collections for further sorting. It also offers several basic photo editing functions, including color enhancement,
red eye reduction and cropping. Other features include slide shows, printing and image timelines. Images can
also be prepared for external use, such as for e-mailing or printing, by reducing file size and setting up page
layouts. There is also integration with online photo printing services.
Face recognition
On 15 August 2006, Google announced it had acquired Neven Vision whose technology can be used to search
for features within photos such as people or buildings.
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Geotagging
Picasa can identify geographic information to geotag a photo. The location where the photo was taken will
appear when the mouse pointer drags over the photo. In picas, you may also use the geotagging feature to assign
a Google map location to photos in an album.
Picasa Web Albums
If you choose not to download the desktop version (I personally do not find it necessary), simply upload your
photos into Picasa Web Albums.
Start here:
http:\\picasa.google.com
Enter your Google account information and begin setting up your album.
Each album may hold up to 1000 photos and video clips. Each Picasa account is allocated 1GB of storage space,
which can be increased for a low fee.
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Photos can be uploaded from several sources, from the Windows PC to iPhoto in Macs, as well as mobile
uploads from the tablet PC or the smartphone. The actual resolution of the photo is maintained (even though a
smaller resolution photo may be displayed by the web interface).
Click onto Upload, and using the application wizard, select the location of each photo you wish to upload into
the album. Once the photos go into the album, select Edit, and from this menu you may:
1. Choose a photo for the album cover
2. Adding captions to items in the album.
3. Organizing the order of the images, creating the slideshow
4. Adding, deleting and editing images
5. Select the album properties, which may include:
a. Setting a location for the photo in Maps
b. Changing the broadcast/privacy settings for the album
c. Settings to share the album on Facebook or Twitter.
Once all editing functions are complete, click Photos to return to your Picasa main page.
Sharing Picasa Web Albums
Obviously, with Picasa being a Google product, any web albums made public are accessible by the search
engine. This is a very good method of posting your listing photos online, making them easy to discover when,
for example a person searches “real estate” and a zip code. If your albums are meta-tagged sufficiently with
keywords and search terms, your photos may post high on the list of sites found.
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Picasa enables users to upload to Twitter and Facebook, or email a private album's URL to anyone desired; the
recipient can view the album without having to create a user account.
Using Picasa to organize and share photo and short video files will streamline and make the process of
marketing a whole lot easier.
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Chapter 7
My Fabulous Finish
Cloud computing is the way we will communicate, be informed and entertained from now on. Television
networks and print media all understand that if they want to keep us attentive they have to be online, as this is
where we spend our time.
Google TV, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Apple TV and others offer on demand viewing of their content from
anywhere, while the most popular newspapers and magazines don’t rely on us at the newsstand anymore. They
offer us the content on the web.
The computer itself is being replaced by devices with only minimal storage space, and no media drives,
because we all have apps that direct us where we want to be on the Internet. The same goes for our personal
data, as we have discussed in this guide to the Google suite of cloud-based apps. There will be many more to
come, in fact there are other choices out there today; however it is Google that has made it easy for us to
integrate these tools into one useful system, for free, as Facebook has done for social networking.
About The Author
G. William James has for eleven years been one of the leading training professionals for handheld computing
and mobile technology in the United States, for retail, medicine, sales, business and real estate.
A motivational speaker, sales trainer and seminar presenter since 1986, thousands have heard his enthusiastic
yet real-life approach to time management and sales excellence. James was an early user of Palm handhelds
and later became a disciple. Later he added the Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry platforms to his
expertise, and finally The Google Android, Nokia Symbian and Apple iPhone smart devices are now part of his
workshops. He is devoted to handheld computing and has built his career on the technology.
Mr. James is internationally recognized for teaching the PDA and smartphone devices as the ultimate business
and communication tool. He has presented in nearly every state in the Union, Puerto Rico, Canada and the
Caribbean.
James was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine as “Master Of The PDA”.
James is an accomplished workshop presenter. His company, Handheld Computer Solutions, conducts
specialized training seminars for companies and real estate organizations throughout the United States, Canada
and the Caribbean. He is also a frequent guest speaker at corporate events and association functions, all of which
are constantly striving to remain on the leading edge in mobile technology.
James and his family are active in their community of metropolitan Atlanta...
G. William James
Handheld Computer Solutions
Mobile technology workshops and webinars
www.pdapowerplus.com
[email protected]
Google, its logos, insignia, and all of its product names are registered trademarks of Google, Inc. The names Twitter and Facebook are
registered trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright© 2010 by the G, William James Organization. All rights reserved.
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