Believe it or not, most of us are text messaging addicts.
It’s true! You can absolutely (scientifically) become addicted to text messaging.
Texting has become - for most of us – a preferred way to communicate, like it or not. Everywhere you look, people are texting, awaiting that much anticipated response, the instant gratification, and the rush that somehow seems to accompany that next text reply…
…and the next…
…and the next.
And it’s no secret that texting sometimes fails to produce positive results… (I’m talking to you, Tiger Woods and Brett Favre.)
But text messaging is obviously here to stay, and it CAN be a great way to get vital information quickly – when used safely and smartly, of course.
In fact, professionals everywhere (and investors like us) should consider healthy text messaging habits as an effective means of getting the important information we need instantly.
Using Your Gmail Account to Harness the Power of Text Messages
So, where am I going with this, you ask? Well, here’s the deal…
Most mobile carriers (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) offer email-to-SMS gateways that can forward simple text-based emails from your Gmail account to a mobile device.
Most of these gateways are free and available to you right now.
This means that you can customize your Gmail account to automatically send you text messages for any of your “must-see” emails – as soon as the truly important emails arrive in your Inbox. This functionality has major implications for a tech-savvy real estate investor, as described in the second half of today’s lesson below.
You simply need to know (i) where to find your cell phone’s email-to-SMS gateways and (ii) how your Gmail account can take advantage of this free service:
Step 1: Use Wikipedia’s constantly-updated List of SMS Gateways to find the free email-to-SMS gateway for your cell phone’s mobile carrier.
For example, my cell phone uses Verizon Wireless, so my free text messaging gateway is an email address which combines my cell phone number (“5558534150”) with a Verizon-specific suffix (“@vtext.com”). Combined together, my email-to-SMS gateway is [email protected].
Step 2: Once you have found your own email-to-SMS gateway, simply login to your Gmail account and click on “Settings”, as illustrated below:
From here, you will find two helpful ways to use this service…
Functionality #1: Get SMS Alerts from Your Top Dogs Instantly (“From Speed Dial to Speedy SMS Alerts”)
You may set up SMS alerts for the emails you receive from people (or other emailing sources) whom you consider to be high priority – such as attorneys, banks, contractors, and/or business partners.
For each high priority source, you can create a filter and enter the email address from which you’d like to receive the SMS alerts. Then simply set up a “Forward” instruction to your free email-to-SMS gateway. Finish the job by clicking “Create Filter”, and watch the important messages from your high priority peeps appear on your mobile device.
Functionality #2: Get SMS Alerts for Urgent Emails Even While You’re Away
Now, imagine that you are traveling out of town for an extended vacation, and you don’t want to be glued to your email account…
…but you also don’t want to miss any truly urgent messages while traveling
The solution is simple: Before leaving town, use your Gmail account to create an automated email response for any high priority people who may need to contact you. In your automated email response, inform those important people that you’re away from the office, and instruct them to place the word “Urgent” in the subject line of any truly important emails.
Then, use your snazzy email-to-SMS functionality to create a filter that automatically forwards such “Urgent” emails to your mobile device! When those time-sensitive emails hit your inbox, a text message will be sent to you instantaneously!
Bada-bing! Bada-boom!
Why Text Messages & How Can They Help You?
So how can instant text messages (from email) help you – a real estate investor – in your undying efforts to save time? What kind of crucial, time-sensitive information can pass through the email-to-SMS gateway and help you work through your investment deals more efficiently?
Well, off the top of my head, I can think of the following five examples – and I’m sure that you can think of many (many) more:
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Email leads from Zbuyer
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Important information from your closing attorney
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Response from a private lender who has agreed to fund your rehab job
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Email from your partner that you just closed your first wholesale deal
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News from a contractor about a schedule-changing snag in a rehab job
The Bottom Line
In the real estate investment biz, “urgency” is our middle name (although my wife and buddies sometimes have other choice names for me as well). There is an endless amount of “vital” information that bombards us daily, so it’s important for us to find ways of filtering through (i) what represents an immediate need and (ii) what can be put off until tomorrow.
This email-to-SMS functionality described in today’s lesson can help you do just that.
In a nutshell, here is my tech-savvy assistant’s personal opinion on the matter, crafted in the form of a mock text message to you…
“FYI. Free txt alerts 4 emails. No brainer. Save x. Filter important emails ASAP. Check out http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/ for more details. TTYL. :-)”
Stop – Stop letting important emails get buried in your Inbox.
Start – Start forwarding the truly important emails to your mobile device as text messages.
Enjoy – Enjoy keeping your finger on the pulse of what needs to be monitored, while ignoring all the other email-related garbage that threatens to overwhelm you.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.