Thinking of adding Chat to your website?  There are a boat-load of vendors out there offering chat priced from $29.95 a month all the way up to over $100 per month.  The King of chat services is LivePerson.com which charges $99.00 per month for their platform.  And what a platform it is, robust and very customizeable. 

Our experience has shown that most leads are reluctant to use chat when searching for homes.  Once you establish a connection with them, communication normally takes place via email and phone.   If you're determined to add chat to your site and you don't want to increase your monthly web budget, here's a way to do it...

Step One - Sign up for AOL's AIM

AIM is AOL's online chat platform.  AIM is universally supported by products and vendors out in net-land.  If you're on a Mac you can integrate your AIM account directly into iChat.  AIM has a program you can download directly on your PC.  As a matter of fact, it normally comes pre-loaded on most PCs.  When you sign up for AIM you'll create an AIM account with AOL which is FREE!.  You simply come up with a unique screen-name for yourself, enter a little personal info and off you go.  Another cool thing about AIM, when you're not online you can have AIM messages sent via Text to your phone!  This is a great way to stay in contact with your site visitors when not in the office.  Click the image below to get started with AIM.  Once AIM is setup on your computer, make sure it works before moving on to step #2.

Step Two - Sign up for Plugoo.com

The problem with using AIM alone is that your site visitor would also have to have a chat client on thier computer, know that you're with AIM and what your screen-name is to contact you via chat.   This is cumbersome to say the least.  Chat is supposed to be a quick and painless way to contact you on a whim.   There is a way to solve this problem.  A company called Plugoo.com (strange name, great product) has created a widget that provides an easy and fast way for people to communicate with you via AIM for FREE!  They don't have to have AIM on their computer, all they have to do is click on your LIVE CHAT link and presto...they will have a chat interface pop-up and they will be talking with you in seconds.  All you have to do is setup your FREE account at Plugoo.com then send us the code they give you and request that we add chat to your site (send to support@proagentwebsites.com).  When you setup your free account at plugoo, be sure to indicate that you're using AIM and enter your AIM screen-name.  Click the image below to get started with Plugoo.