The Walmart Brand

My wife, Jen, is a graphic designer for The Visualab here in Atlanta.

The other day she dipped into Wal-Mart to pick up a few items on the way home from work and had the following observation. People blindly follow the Walmart Brand Products. to such a degree that they will grab something off the shelf without even checking the price.

It's fascinating when you thing about it. That plain old Great Value Logo has people so brainwashed into thinking it's the cheapest item on the shelf that cost conscious consumers will pick it up without even comparing it to other brands.

If I was designing a new food product label, I would go with the simplest thing possible. Heck, maybe that’s the rout we all should be taking. Shouldn't the consumer dictate how we market our product? Why are we trying to make everything glamorous and fluffy when our target market just wants the bare essentials?

All the statistics show that today’s buyer is cost cutting and looking for the most economical option. That begs the question; maybe we shouldn't be advertising amenities that would lead one to believe that rents are high. Maybe people just want a clean place to call home where they can save some money. It's food for thought and a great topic for another day.

Have a great weekend everybody

Happy Halloween!
-Danny

Food for Thought

This is from Multifamily Insiders. It's a great little motivational read.

Notably Quotably Great!

Written by Heather Blume
Saturday, 28 March 2009 00:00
Last weekend, Alan bought a book on photography. It's one of his hobbies and he wanted some advanced information on how to get even better at it. He was reading it one morning before work and came across a passage he thought that I would like:

"I have once heard that three human ingredients will combine to produce success in any field of endeavor; Enthusiasm Talent and Hard work. And that a person can be successful with only two of those attributes as long as one of the two is enthusiasm." -The art of Photography; an approach to personal expression by Bruce Barnbaum

It made me think about how I hire people. One of my biggest personal standards is that I strive to set people up for success. I want to find the best people for the right job and give them everything they need to be successful. More than that, I want to do everything in my power to empower them to chase that success. However, I have learned that no matter what I do, I can't give a person inner drive, a friendly personality, a work ethic, and the ability to show up to work on time. Those are things I think you have to get from your parents, and if they failed you, I'm not really sure I can help.

One of the key things I look for when I'm hiring someone is Enthusiasm. Talent is great, but talent without enthusiasm for the job at hand is worthless. Some of my best hires ever were people without any experience, but they had that real *SPARK* to them. You know the one I'm talking about. They were the people who :

Understood that Everyone on site picks up garbage
Don't think that there are any jobs "beneath" them
Make great eye contact
Have an abundance of both enthusiasm and energy
Genuinely WANT the job, not NEED it
Are able to establish a rapport with me right away
Try to connect with me during the interview on more than a professional level
That's just the first few qualities on my *SPARK* list. What's on your list? What triggers your sixth sense in hiring people?

_____________________________________________________

Monday AM Reading

Hi Everyone. I'll get to some more posting this afternoon, but to start off the day I wanted to draw your attention to this article from Forbes. Thanks to Multifamily Insiders for bringing this to my attention!

What can a little sushi restaurant in San Diego teach us about marketing? Take a look at this article from www.openforum.com

This article perfectly illustrates the benefits of social media marketing. In particular its cost effectiveness and ability to reach an audience on a whole new level. The story talks about a small Sushi Restaurant putting in a Tweetwall. While I don't advocate apartment communities adding such a feature to the existing office decor, I love how social media marketing was used to enhance the experience of customers and spread the company's name.

The point is that with social media marketing, we now have a brand new tool box to construct some really outside the box marketing campaigns. The message of the story is simple: Use these new innovations like Twitter to enhance your customers experience and Twitter will spread your brand.

So how do we use this in the apartment industry? Well that's the million dollar question. Let's come up with some ways to make social media marketing work for our properties. I'm looking for some comments on this one....

Have a great weekend
-Danny

Say Hello to Twellow

Twellow is a new site that calls itself “The Twitter Yellow Pages”



Basically, Twellow is a way to sift through the millions of Twitter accounts and connect with people who are interested in a common topic. When you sign up for Twellow, you create a more in-depth Twitter profile and choose to which topics/categories you would like to attach your profile. Twellow lets you pick 10 categories from a list of about 10,000. The categories range from sports (like mixed martial arts), to roommate searches, to dogs, to industry related topics like media marketing.

I just set up my account a few hours ago and I can already see how Twellow can be very advantageous to anyone with a Twitter account. I can now search the Twitter accounts of people who are interested in apartments, marketing, social media, student housing, and real estate consulting.

Twellow is the kind of tool that makes Twitter relevant to the business world and not just another social networking site like Myspace.

If you Tweet on Twitter, then you might as well Twellow….



www.twellow.com

CNN on Fair Housing

Twitter is Here to Stay. Part 1

My wife hates Twitter. My best friend Mike hates Twitter. Our waitress at Ceviche in Roswell hates Twitter. This was the topic of discussion the other night over dinner. While I completely understand the animosity towards Twitter (everyone knows someone who hates twitter) I think the hesitation to jump on the Twitter bandwagon stems from our limited understanding of its many functions.

Here is the thing with Twitter: It is young. The products and ideas it will spawn have yet to be seen. What is clear is that Twitter is one of the main vehicles driving the social media revolution.

So as we enjoyed our food at Ceviche I went about attempting to convince my wife, friend, and our waitress the details of the Twitter revolution. I believe the negative perception of Twitter comes from the fact that people view it as just another Myspace or Facebook fad. What makes Twitter different and in for the long hall is the fact that it is the next wave of text messaging. I think everyone can agree that texting is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Let me put it this way, in a couple of years EVERYONE who texts will be on Twitter. They not only will be on Twitter but they will have multiple Twitter accounts. The average person will have about 3 Twitter accounts. The first will be for work. Some of the advantages of Twitter in the workplace have already been explored. Many people are beginning to see the advantage of sharing industry related information with their peers.

The second Twitter account will be for your friends. I already picture myself watching Monday Night Football and tweeting back and fourth with my friends. This is simply a mass text message that will act as a discussion between my friends and me. How many people get funny emails, jokes, or youtube clips emailed or texted to them by their friends. Twitter will be a way to send such things while sitting on the couch watching the game.

People will also have a 3rd or 4th account to link in their family. Think about it this way, every New Years Eve I get those mass text messages from people saying Happy New Years! Sometimes it’s from people I haven’t spoken to in years (I just happen to be in their phone) Twitter will be a new way to connect families. Birthday announcements, family reunions, updates, pictures, ect…. It will all come through Twitter.

We have not yet even begun to tap into its potential as a networking device. But regardless of whether you hate it or not, it is here to stay.

Twitter meets The Office

This is brought to us from Hubspot.com (thanks marketing gal) http://www.yourmarketinggal.com/social-media-marketing/

The Future of Security at your apartment community

Have you ever heard of Biometrics? Soon you will.
First, how about a definition...
Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information technology, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control.

Now you are probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with the apartment industry. Well very soon, apartment entry will be done solely by Biometrics. Keys will soon be replaced by cameras that scan a persons face and either grants or denies entrance to an apartment, or common areas.

I know this sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but the reality is that such products do exist. The more amazing thing is that it might just be a cost effective solution for many new projects due to come-online in the next few years. http://www.fst21.com/default.asp

Hump-Day: Seperated at Birth??????

Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford and Chunk from The Goonies. Twins Seperated at Birth?

Resident Retention Part 1

I often ask myself, why is resident retention not taken more seriously? Isn't a renewal just as good as a lease?

In some ways, it's even better. For instance, when you calculate in the advertising dollar per lease, the cost per turn, the cost of having an apartment stay vacant for a week, and most importantly, the risk of leasing to a new tenant who may not pay rent on time, isn't a renewal the safer bet? Especially if the renewal is a good resident.

This begs the question, why is more time not spent on Resident Retention? The answer lies in the lack of motivation from the leasing team to focus on the back door. When a leasing team is rewarded per move-in, then the focus is always on creating traffic and closing on it. Very little time, money, and effort is spent on keeping the currant residents happy.

Why not base commission on occupancy rather then move-ins? Give your team a reason to care about the back door as well as the front door. When we look at the cost per renewal vs the cost per lease, you can see that it will even improve your bottom line.

LSU Weekend!!!!!!

Around this time tomorrow, I will be standing on north campus in Athens Georgia celebrating with 90K Georgia fans, and another 25K Yellow and Purple Bourbon Drinking Corn-Dog smelling LSU fans.

I have never been to a soccer game over in Europe, but from what I hear the only American sports contingent that matches the passion and comradery of their fans are the swamp people from Louisianna.

I have an absolute love affair with LSU fans. They are wild, rude, drunk, obnoxious, and just plain fun to spend a fall Saturday with.

But because they are such a "different breed of cat" as my dad always said, below are a few rules about how to talk to an LSU fan.

Rule 1. LSU fans are like bears. You must approach them calmly and without fear. If they sense that you are nervous or wishing them illwill, they will unload a barage of cajun cursing upon you at the drop of the hat.

Rule 2. Ignore the initiall threat. People who have trouble with LSU fans tend to react to the initial taunts they are known to throw your way. Example, when approaching LSU fan, just ignore the Tiger Bait chant and proceed directly to offering to take a shot of bourbon with them. This will put LSU fan at ease and allow the celebration to commence.

Rule 3. LSU fans smell like corndogs, however they do not like to be told so. If you begin to notice the smell of corndogs or funnel cakes, just keep it to yourself. LSU fan is very selfconscious of his odor.

On that note, enjoy yourself this weekend, and as always GOOOOO Dawgs. Sic Em.

The Double Edged Sword

Yesterday I was at a career fair in Auburn Alabama recruiting floppy haired, bow tie wearing twangy folks to come work for the nation’s largest and most successful leasing firm. After a few hours it started to occur to me that I was getting asked the same question over and over.

The conversations went something like this….

Floppy haired kid: “Isn’t the economy good for the multi-family housing industry?

Danny: “you mean because no one is buying because of the credit crunch?”

Floppy haired kid: “Yeah dude, it’s like, who’s going to buy a house right now if you can’t get a loan. I bet it makes yawls job pretty easy.

Danny: “Well there are other factors to consider, like the effect foreclosure and bankruptcy has on the buying power of the consumer, and particularly on their ability to pay rent.”

Floppy haired kid flips his Bama Bangs and thinks for a second: “Yeah, like my dad totally lost his job last month, so now I have to drink The Beast instead of Makers Mark before Auburn games.”

Danny: Yeah, Something like that.


It is really funny to me how people seem to forget that when someone goes through a foreclosure, their mortgage is the last of their debts to go unpaid. Most people will forgo other payments in an attempt to hold onto their house. This means by the time a foreclosure has occurred, they are in so much debt they will not have the means nor the credit score to rent an apartment.

Thus is the double edged sword of today’s economy. Even an industry that should be thriving off of the reduced credit available for purchasing a home, still suffers the same fate as the electronics store in the strip mall down the street.

That doesn’t even touch on the enhanced risk apartment owners take when trying to restructure their credit criteria for approvals in order to capture the “foreclosure market”

I guess Adam Smith’s invisible hand has slapped even the multifamily housing industry. So get a haircut young fella and come join us in the trenches.