5 Really Cool Things You Can Do With Google Talk

Google Talk is one of the most popular instant messaging platforms by far. Whereas years ago we’d get turned on by the prospect of voice calling, G Talk takes the possibilities (and your productivity) to a whole new level.

Here are some really cool things you can do with Google Talk to make your online experience better, and to increase your productivity:

1. Chat with your site visitors

If you have website or blog, and you’d like to interact with your visitors on a one-on-one basis, you can integrate Google Talk into your site using the Google Chatback Badge. This can come in handy if you sell a product or service and want to offer some sort of customer support, but don’t want to spend the money on more expensive solutions. Alternatively, if you are a consultant and want to offer free initial consultations, why not run a quick chat through your site?

2. Use Google Talk on Your Blackberry

If you’re not addicted enough to your Blackberry, here is another reason to increase your BB usage: using Google Talk on your Blackberry. To use it simply download the Google Talk app for Blackberry.

3. Add Google Talk to Your Firefox Sidebar

A really cool and easy way to chat with your contacts is to add Google Talk to your sidebar. Add this URL to your bookmarks. The trick then is to go into your bookmark’s properties and tick the option to “Load this bookmark in the sidebar.” Lifehack initially posted these instructions a while ago, but still very useful.

4. Broadcast Yourself

You can stream music directly through Google Talk, basically as if you were an ‘online radio station.’ Here are some instructions to stream music directly to your contacts.

5. Chat Yourself to Productivity

Amit suggests a number of really cool Bots to add to your Google Talk. My favorites are IMified and Xpenser. By adding imified@imified.com to your buddy list you can post bookmarks to delicious, send status updates to Twitter and even submit blog posts to WordPress.

Xpenser on the other hand lets you track your travel expenses using Google Talk. While you sip that latte you can add it to your expense list while on the road. Little handy fact: your expense sheet can be accessed from anywhere, so technically you should be able to share it with your secretary back in the office.

How do you use Google Talk? Just for chatting, or do you also use it to post to -for example- twitter? Another interesting question is where you use Google Talk: mostly on your computer, or do you prefer to use it on your Blackberry?