With the beginning of a new year yet again quickly upon us, it is time to start gearing towards the mindset of how 2012 will be different than 2011. How will the apartment industry be different? What marketing will come to fruition as the front-runner in success and what marketing will take to the back burner? These are questions that can only answered a year from now, but here is a great article put together by Jasmine Brooks in Multifamily Insiders that outlines some areas of marketing everyone should be prepared to take advantage of in 2012:
“Hey there, MFI family!
I’ve been thinking about marketing trends that our industry should take advantage of in 2012. Here’s my list. Please share yours!
1. Video tours – Ever consider filming a prospect tour? When you follow-up with the prospect, be sure to send the video also. You will surely give them the most memorable tour. (Be sure to get permission first!)
2. Community marketing video – I’m not talking about the kind of video that apartment advertisers put together for you. Get creative and put together your own video! It doesn’t take a huge budget to create a great video. All you need is a flipcam and iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. (Shout out to the Apple users!)
3. QR Codes – These babies are gaining popularity and you have to know how to use them effectively. Quick reference codes can be used to “unlock” move-in specials or host community contests!
4. ‘+1‘ – Fellow Insider Brent Williams wrote Will the Google +1 Button Amount to Anything? I think it’s safe to say that it’s time for you to add a +1 share button to your communities’ websites! (P.S. If you don’t already Facebook and Twitter share buttons, you’d better get those in a hurry!)
5. Facebook Page – I’m happy to see that many apartment communities are already on Facebook. For those of you who aren’t there - what are you waiting on?! This is simply an extension of your community and if you think your residents aren’t on Facebook, you better think again. P.S. It’s FREE!
6. Twitter – Okay, okay. I realize that if you haven’t put your community on Facebook, you probably aren’t think about Twitter. But I have homework for you: Go to twitter.com, type ‘looking for apartments’ into the search box, press Enter. Come back and tell me what you see.
7. Text Customer Service - Now this is one trend that none of you can deny! Everyone, including your grandmother, is texting these days! It’s time we started communicating the same way! We have to speak our renters’ language! Think about setting up text leasing, text maintenance, text advertising and even ongoing texting for community events and/or courtesy weather updates.
8. Handwritten Thank You Notes – Yep, I realize this is the exact opposite of #7; however, this is a great way to make a lasting impression in a world where everything has gone digital. It’s definitely more personal than e-mail. You can send anyone an e-mail but it takes time and thought to send a handwritten note.
9. Community Application – Better known as an app, you should definitely look into creating one that will allow your residents to pay rent, submit service requests and contact the leasing team right through their phone.
10. Mobile Websites – I just added this one so that I could have a list of 10 items. Your website should already be mobile-optimized by now!
11. Live Chat – Internet has bred a generation of people who need that instant gratification. They want what they want, and they want it now! Prospects want their questions answered now! Satisfy their needs by adding a live chat feature to your website!
Alrighty, that’s all I can think of for today. I will update as I come up with more ideas.
Thanks in advance for sharing!
Jasmine R. Brooks
Marketing & Social Media Specialist
TriBridge Residential
jasmineb@tbrs.com”
Great article Jasmine and I’m looking forward to seeing the success of all of these trends to come!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Quick Facebook Page Tip
Now that you have created a Facebook page for your apartment community (do so now if you haven't!), the easy part is now complete. The hard part begins now that you have to remain adamant in staying actively involved on the page, or else your Facebook page will become obsolete.
A new twist that you can add to your property page is making a unique title. As opposed to simply titling your page "XYZ Apartments," use the ability to create a title as an opportunity to right away to sell your community. If you're an apartment community that has received accolades as being the best up and coming property in the city, title your page as "(Your Specific City)'s Newest Must-See Apartments." Also, if you are an apartment community that has received an award for being the best of the best, or have a catchy slogan that individuals would associate with your community, then use this as your Facebook page title.
The reason why it is not necessarily a must have to use the property name as your title, unless of course you are trying to build web presence for a community that does not have a community website, is that Facebook users are not necessarily going to search for your community by name. Facebook is a forum whereby people learn of smaller businesses through word of mouth, so once you begin to accumulate "likes" from your residents, their friends on Facebook will see the great material you are posting through the current residents' news feeds. As more and more people see your posts, they will then see that you are a unique page that has more to offer than a typical apartment communities page. You will automatically stand out with your unique title, so choose your wording wisely.
It is important to know that once your community page does reach 100 likes, then your page title is no longer able to be altered. Therefore, think of a creative title that you would want to have forever and can be associated with your property further down the line. If you are an apartment community that has fewer than 100 likes, what could you change your title to in order to distinguish your page?
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
A new twist that you can add to your property page is making a unique title. As opposed to simply titling your page "XYZ Apartments," use the ability to create a title as an opportunity to right away to sell your community. If you're an apartment community that has received accolades as being the best up and coming property in the city, title your page as "(Your Specific City)'s Newest Must-See Apartments." Also, if you are an apartment community that has received an award for being the best of the best, or have a catchy slogan that individuals would associate with your community, then use this as your Facebook page title.
The reason why it is not necessarily a must have to use the property name as your title, unless of course you are trying to build web presence for a community that does not have a community website, is that Facebook users are not necessarily going to search for your community by name. Facebook is a forum whereby people learn of smaller businesses through word of mouth, so once you begin to accumulate "likes" from your residents, their friends on Facebook will see the great material you are posting through the current residents' news feeds. As more and more people see your posts, they will then see that you are a unique page that has more to offer than a typical apartment communities page. You will automatically stand out with your unique title, so choose your wording wisely.
It is important to know that once your community page does reach 100 likes, then your page title is no longer able to be altered. Therefore, think of a creative title that you would want to have forever and can be associated with your property further down the line. If you are an apartment community that has fewer than 100 likes, what could you change your title to in order to distinguish your page?
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Separate Yourself From The Competition
It is very rare for a prospective resident to call only one apartment community, schedule an appointment, visit that property and move-in after the visit without shopping any other communities. We are a price conscientious society in that every person, regardless of the item looking to be purchased, is going to take the time to insure that they are receiving the best deal available.
Therefore, with a prospect calling so many apartment communities, how do you separate yourself from the competition? The answer to this question may seem like a no brainer, but I guarantee you that if you were to call and shop 10 apartment communities right now, there may only be 1 or 2 max that actually do this on the phone…sell your community. This is not an answer that should come as a surprise, which is why it is always so shocking to hear when a leasing agent does not even provide any details about their community to a prospect on the phone! Without even a minimal amount of information provided about your community, as a prospect, why would I come visit your community? How are you different than the 9 other communities I have called?
With this being said all that is required is two simple things of a leasing agent:
1.Ask the prospect what they are looking for in their new home
2.Sell the features that your community has based upon what the prospect said they were looking for
This is a very straight forward approach and it really is as easy as it sounds to make your community stand out. What do you do if a prospect is looking for things you don’t have at your community? Don’t mention those! Talk about all the other great things you have to offer, because you don’t want any negative items brought up when you are selling your property. If these two simple things are accomplished by a leasing agent, then that person has single handedly gone above and beyond of what any other property that a prospect may have spoken to is probably doing. It really is a small thing to accomplish, so if you want to make your call different than other communities and get prospects interested in seeing what you have to offer, sell your property.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Therefore, with a prospect calling so many apartment communities, how do you separate yourself from the competition? The answer to this question may seem like a no brainer, but I guarantee you that if you were to call and shop 10 apartment communities right now, there may only be 1 or 2 max that actually do this on the phone…sell your community. This is not an answer that should come as a surprise, which is why it is always so shocking to hear when a leasing agent does not even provide any details about their community to a prospect on the phone! Without even a minimal amount of information provided about your community, as a prospect, why would I come visit your community? How are you different than the 9 other communities I have called?
With this being said all that is required is two simple things of a leasing agent:
1.Ask the prospect what they are looking for in their new home
2.Sell the features that your community has based upon what the prospect said they were looking for
This is a very straight forward approach and it really is as easy as it sounds to make your community stand out. What do you do if a prospect is looking for things you don’t have at your community? Don’t mention those! Talk about all the other great things you have to offer, because you don’t want any negative items brought up when you are selling your property. If these two simple things are accomplished by a leasing agent, then that person has single handedly gone above and beyond of what any other property that a prospect may have spoken to is probably doing. It really is a small thing to accomplish, so if you want to make your call different than other communities and get prospects interested in seeing what you have to offer, sell your property.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Marketing Your Community To Students
It’s that time of the year again. The weather is finally starting to cool down…a little. Soon the leaves on the trees will start to change to the fall colors. College football will once again consume every second of my Saturday afternoons, which also means that college campuses just recently started classes back. If you’re reading this and you’re a property owner/manager at a student property, then hopefully you are patting yourself on the back as your property sits 100% occupied from the hard work you put forth during the Spring and Summer months marketing your property. If you’re not quite at your occupancy goal (maybe you should give us a call!), then there are some steps that you can take next leasing season to ensure your community being completely full.
The idea for this post came from reading Kerry Sugrue’s blog in Multifamily Insiders, which was great, so I am going to give my thoughts and expand on her topics she covered to give some tips on how to succeed with a college property:
1. “You Need To Have School Spirit”
Obviously if you are a student property, then your main marketing efforts need to be geared tremendously towards whatever college it is that your potential residents will be attending. This means that your community name needs to be in front of those students as much as possible. Attending events, such as open houses, orientations, group meetings, sporting venues, etc. are an absolute must. At any of these campus gatherings, little things can be handed out that pertain to college students (i.e. book bags; water bottles; food of any kind), because if there’s any category of any individuals that appreciate free stuff, then it is college students.
2. “Encourage Your Residents To Bring Friends”
One of the most powerful marketing tools that will influence your success at a college community is going to be word of mouth. In any college town students want to live where their friends live. I can vouch for this point, because even when I was in college, I literally moved every single year of school, because I wanted to live at the community where a majority of my friends lived. If I was going to be hanging out with these people everyday anyways, it just seemed to make sense to live in the same apartment community. Therefore, at any sort of community party that you plan, make sure to give an additional incentive to current residents for bringing their friends. One of the easiest things to give would be something along the lines of an increased resident referral where if anyone brings a friend and they fill out an application to move-in, then it’s a 2 for 1 deal and the typical referral given is doubled.
3. “Start Advertising Immediately”
A marketing plan for a student property should be something that encompasses the entire calendar. Whereas with a conventional property where marketing can be done per occupancy status and pushed when vacancies arise, marketing for a student property is never-ending. If a property is looking to become filled for the Fall, then the most important marketing window is without a doubt during the Spring. The reason behind this is that some student leases may be ending in May, so students will be looking to sign a new lease before they leave for Summer vacation. This is a key marketing point that cannot be forgotten, because college cities typically turn into ghost towns during the Summer since a majority of the population will be college students going home until the Fall. With no one being in town for the Summer and you being a property that needs to be filled by the beginning of school, you will absolutely be facing an uphill battle with a very short window between the time students actually come back in town and the first day of classes.
4. “Partner With The University”
The university should be your partner at all times, because all of your clientele will be coming from this all important place. Getting your foot in the door with any sort of housing related departments should be priority number one, because students that are not looking to live in a dorm may stop here to get their referral for apartment communities in the area. We actually worked at a student property that advertised themselves as the official student housing for the university (with permission from the university since they did not have any on-campus housing). This ended up being a huge marketing tool, because we were actually allowed to setup a mini office in the housing department to offer information to any student interested in living at a community that was not only sanctioned by the university, but was also where their peers would be living.
5. “Get Involved”
College prospects fall into the Generation Y category, which means that they are a group that is extremely connected with one another and seek to be very informed with all aspects of life they are involved with. Therefore, as a student community, it is pertinent that the property actively engage these college residents to ensure that they are aware the community is there for them. Have a huge welcome home party at the beginning of each semester to make the new residents feel welcome. Make them feel as if you are a community that is directly tied with the local university and be a presence on campus by sponsoring a tailgate for a football game. The more you can do for your college residents the better, because they are a very impressionable group and you want to do everything possible to ensure your property is known as the place to be.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
The idea for this post came from reading Kerry Sugrue’s blog in Multifamily Insiders, which was great, so I am going to give my thoughts and expand on her topics she covered to give some tips on how to succeed with a college property:
1. “You Need To Have School Spirit”
Obviously if you are a student property, then your main marketing efforts need to be geared tremendously towards whatever college it is that your potential residents will be attending. This means that your community name needs to be in front of those students as much as possible. Attending events, such as open houses, orientations, group meetings, sporting venues, etc. are an absolute must. At any of these campus gatherings, little things can be handed out that pertain to college students (i.e. book bags; water bottles; food of any kind), because if there’s any category of any individuals that appreciate free stuff, then it is college students.
2. “Encourage Your Residents To Bring Friends”
One of the most powerful marketing tools that will influence your success at a college community is going to be word of mouth. In any college town students want to live where their friends live. I can vouch for this point, because even when I was in college, I literally moved every single year of school, because I wanted to live at the community where a majority of my friends lived. If I was going to be hanging out with these people everyday anyways, it just seemed to make sense to live in the same apartment community. Therefore, at any sort of community party that you plan, make sure to give an additional incentive to current residents for bringing their friends. One of the easiest things to give would be something along the lines of an increased resident referral where if anyone brings a friend and they fill out an application to move-in, then it’s a 2 for 1 deal and the typical referral given is doubled.
3. “Start Advertising Immediately”
A marketing plan for a student property should be something that encompasses the entire calendar. Whereas with a conventional property where marketing can be done per occupancy status and pushed when vacancies arise, marketing for a student property is never-ending. If a property is looking to become filled for the Fall, then the most important marketing window is without a doubt during the Spring. The reason behind this is that some student leases may be ending in May, so students will be looking to sign a new lease before they leave for Summer vacation. This is a key marketing point that cannot be forgotten, because college cities typically turn into ghost towns during the Summer since a majority of the population will be college students going home until the Fall. With no one being in town for the Summer and you being a property that needs to be filled by the beginning of school, you will absolutely be facing an uphill battle with a very short window between the time students actually come back in town and the first day of classes.
4. “Partner With The University”
The university should be your partner at all times, because all of your clientele will be coming from this all important place. Getting your foot in the door with any sort of housing related departments should be priority number one, because students that are not looking to live in a dorm may stop here to get their referral for apartment communities in the area. We actually worked at a student property that advertised themselves as the official student housing for the university (with permission from the university since they did not have any on-campus housing). This ended up being a huge marketing tool, because we were actually allowed to setup a mini office in the housing department to offer information to any student interested in living at a community that was not only sanctioned by the university, but was also where their peers would be living.
5. “Get Involved”
College prospects fall into the Generation Y category, which means that they are a group that is extremely connected with one another and seek to be very informed with all aspects of life they are involved with. Therefore, as a student community, it is pertinent that the property actively engage these college residents to ensure that they are aware the community is there for them. Have a huge welcome home party at the beginning of each semester to make the new residents feel welcome. Make them feel as if you are a community that is directly tied with the local university and be a presence on campus by sponsoring a tailgate for a football game. The more you can do for your college residents the better, because they are a very impressionable group and you want to do everything possible to ensure your property is known as the place to be.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, August 26, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Taking The High Road
The customer is always right.
This is a slogan that is basically taught from the beginning to all employees in every business. After all it is the customers that determine the success or demise of a company, because without customers purchasing/using product then there is no revenue stream for a business to prosper. The apartment industry is no different. In fact the apartment industry may be an example of a business venue where word of mouth can literally be the downfall of a property’s life span.
With avenues like Apartment Ratings that potential naysayers can take to spread their sour opinion about a community, checking the online conversation about an apartment community is an everyday habit that employees of every single apartment community nationwide should be implementing. I always tell our leasing specialists that if you are not making the effort to establish your online reputation by monitoring and responding to both positive and negative comments about the community, then you are leaving it in the hands of others to establish your online reputation for you. I cannot even begin to count the properties that we have worked with that going into the assignment we have researched their online presence only to discover that the community is being completely destroyed by former residents. Upon being brought to the attention to the manager, 99% of the time, the manager has simply blown off our recommendation to respond to these negative postings with “we know that most of the postings are made up,” or “that resident just didn’t get along with us here in the office.” Regardless of the background behind these postings, they are still present for any single person that searches the property online to see and if I’m a prospect looking to move into a new apartment, guess what? I don’t know that the postings berating the property are false and I’m going to assume that they are true. As a prospect I’m not even going to think about visiting a property that has nothing but negative listings over and over.
With this being said take the time to respond to both positive and negative reviews to show that you care about what others are saying. If it is a negative review, thank the person for their post and offer to rectify the situation anyway possible. Respond to the individual and tell them that they are more than welcome to come speak to you directly. This at least shows that you are attempting to mend a bridge and are in tune with your residents/prospects needs. Getting into a war of words with these individuals will only further serve as a death sentence to your community’s name, so do the professional thing for the sake of your community and take the high road!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
This is a slogan that is basically taught from the beginning to all employees in every business. After all it is the customers that determine the success or demise of a company, because without customers purchasing/using product then there is no revenue stream for a business to prosper. The apartment industry is no different. In fact the apartment industry may be an example of a business venue where word of mouth can literally be the downfall of a property’s life span.
With avenues like Apartment Ratings that potential naysayers can take to spread their sour opinion about a community, checking the online conversation about an apartment community is an everyday habit that employees of every single apartment community nationwide should be implementing. I always tell our leasing specialists that if you are not making the effort to establish your online reputation by monitoring and responding to both positive and negative comments about the community, then you are leaving it in the hands of others to establish your online reputation for you. I cannot even begin to count the properties that we have worked with that going into the assignment we have researched their online presence only to discover that the community is being completely destroyed by former residents. Upon being brought to the attention to the manager, 99% of the time, the manager has simply blown off our recommendation to respond to these negative postings with “we know that most of the postings are made up,” or “that resident just didn’t get along with us here in the office.” Regardless of the background behind these postings, they are still present for any single person that searches the property online to see and if I’m a prospect looking to move into a new apartment, guess what? I don’t know that the postings berating the property are false and I’m going to assume that they are true. As a prospect I’m not even going to think about visiting a property that has nothing but negative listings over and over.
With this being said take the time to respond to both positive and negative reviews to show that you care about what others are saying. If it is a negative review, thank the person for their post and offer to rectify the situation anyway possible. Respond to the individual and tell them that they are more than welcome to come speak to you directly. This at least shows that you are attempting to mend a bridge and are in tune with your residents/prospects needs. Getting into a war of words with these individuals will only further serve as a death sentence to your community’s name, so do the professional thing for the sake of your community and take the high road!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, August 25, 2011
10 Things About Steve Jobs
I had to get this article up for a blog post in lieu of Steve Jobs stepping down as the CEO of Apple. As someone that basically created a VERY LARGE something from nothing, Steve Jobs could be viewed as an example up someone living up to the slogan “the American Dream.” Upon being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Jobs announced that there would be a time when he stepped down, but he is ultimately coming down from his position a little more prematurely than he originally planned. The article I linked really gives some more insight to this person that could eventually be the man behind the first trillion dollar company. Unreal. There are some very surprising details listed in the article, such as the lack of philanthropic contribution, or his first experience as a father, but either way this is still a man that manages to release products that revolutionize daily living for this world.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, August 22, 2011
CLASS Leasing: 7 Twitter Rules To Ignore
This was a great read I found on Twitter (via@NealSchaffer) this morning that outlines 7 "myths," or general rules that are typically understood in the Twitter world that ultimately may be counter-intuitive to follow. Here are the 7 guidelines (via @Smedio) that Twitter users typically follow that should be debunked from here on out:
"1. 140 Characters Aren't Enough
2. Not For Businesses
3. Twitter Lingo Is Complex
4. I'm Better Off Using Facebook
5. I Won't Find Customers On Twitter
6. The More Followers, The Greater The Returns
7. Twitter Is All I Need"
I really enjoyed this list, because it encompasses viewpoints that I was somewhat guilty of at one point prior to becoming more actively engaged in Twitter. Each point can be commented on individually in that:
1. Some of the best tweets are often times significantly shorter than 140 characters. To have an impactful and insightful tweet does not mean that it needs to be a lengthy novel tweet. If you think about it, Twitter was essentially designed on the concept of SHORT bursts of conversation. The longer tweets can actually dissuade readers interest.
2. Twitter not for businesses?! My response to this is short and sweet...find a major business that is not active on twitter.
3. Yes, the constant appearance of hashtags and retweets can be confusing to an entry-level Twitter user, but at the end of the day, all it takes is clicking on these lingo abbreviations one time to know what they do.
4. Facebook and Twitter are both social media powerhouses. Facebook crossed the 750 million user threshold this year, while Twitter consists of 200 million active tweeters. Choosing one over the other is not a exactly a comparable science, because they both serve very different functions. A Facebook user can essentially view their page as their own personal website, whereas a Twitter users setup is more like having the ability to text message millions of strangers.
5. Hmm. For this particular point I am pretty sure that you can see the good and bad side to how this point can be very easily proven wrong.
6. Ashton Kutcher single handedly gave Twitter a numbers game persona by challenging CNN to see who could reach a millions followers on Twitter. Actor/victim of Demi Moore craddle robbery versus the news network that is broadcast in 100 million U.S. households? You'd think that CNN would have the upper hand, right? Wrong. Ashton Kutcher in a land slide. My point being is that just because Ashton Kutcher has a ridiculous amount of followers, I highly doubt that his content is as socially invigorating, or knowledgeable, as Ashton Kutchers. In addition, I would be willing to bet that Ashton Kutcher has not landed any big movie opportunities as the result of him having a lot of avid followers on Twitter. Having a high number of followers looks great, but it is a popularity contest that does translate to that particular user giving life altering tweets to their followers, or gaining any business breaks from having a big number underneath their followers column.
7. Twitter is a small piece of the social media puzzle and is not a make a break for any business looking to utilize its presence to push a brand. The goal for anyone looking to pursue internet marketing as a traffic creator should understand that there is no one hit wonder to increased sales and success. The more venues the better is a great way to look at internet marketing, because with social media, it becomes a virtual word of mouth. The more places that your name can be located then the more sets of eyes that could potentially stumble upon your information. Just keep in mind though and I actually wrote a blog about this point just last week, just because you are involved in conversation and engage in tweets, does not necessarily mean that you are guaranteed more views.
There's no exact science or formula to social media success, but the important thing is to enjoy doing it and create useful information for others to read. Or just become an overnight A-list celebrity and then you will increase followers like wild fire!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
"1. 140 Characters Aren't Enough
2. Not For Businesses
3. Twitter Lingo Is Complex
4. I'm Better Off Using Facebook
5. I Won't Find Customers On Twitter
6. The More Followers, The Greater The Returns
7. Twitter Is All I Need"
I really enjoyed this list, because it encompasses viewpoints that I was somewhat guilty of at one point prior to becoming more actively engaged in Twitter. Each point can be commented on individually in that:
1. Some of the best tweets are often times significantly shorter than 140 characters. To have an impactful and insightful tweet does not mean that it needs to be a lengthy novel tweet. If you think about it, Twitter was essentially designed on the concept of SHORT bursts of conversation. The longer tweets can actually dissuade readers interest.
2. Twitter not for businesses?! My response to this is short and sweet...find a major business that is not active on twitter.
3. Yes, the constant appearance of hashtags and retweets can be confusing to an entry-level Twitter user, but at the end of the day, all it takes is clicking on these lingo abbreviations one time to know what they do.
4. Facebook and Twitter are both social media powerhouses. Facebook crossed the 750 million user threshold this year, while Twitter consists of 200 million active tweeters. Choosing one over the other is not a exactly a comparable science, because they both serve very different functions. A Facebook user can essentially view their page as their own personal website, whereas a Twitter users setup is more like having the ability to text message millions of strangers.
5. Hmm. For this particular point I am pretty sure that you can see the good and bad side to how this point can be very easily proven wrong.
6. Ashton Kutcher single handedly gave Twitter a numbers game persona by challenging CNN to see who could reach a millions followers on Twitter. Actor/victim of Demi Moore craddle robbery versus the news network that is broadcast in 100 million U.S. households? You'd think that CNN would have the upper hand, right? Wrong. Ashton Kutcher in a land slide. My point being is that just because Ashton Kutcher has a ridiculous amount of followers, I highly doubt that his content is as socially invigorating, or knowledgeable, as Ashton Kutchers. In addition, I would be willing to bet that Ashton Kutcher has not landed any big movie opportunities as the result of him having a lot of avid followers on Twitter. Having a high number of followers looks great, but it is a popularity contest that does translate to that particular user giving life altering tweets to their followers, or gaining any business breaks from having a big number underneath their followers column.
7. Twitter is a small piece of the social media puzzle and is not a make a break for any business looking to utilize its presence to push a brand. The goal for anyone looking to pursue internet marketing as a traffic creator should understand that there is no one hit wonder to increased sales and success. The more venues the better is a great way to look at internet marketing, because with social media, it becomes a virtual word of mouth. The more places that your name can be located then the more sets of eyes that could potentially stumble upon your information. Just keep in mind though and I actually wrote a blog about this point just last week, just because you are involved in conversation and engage in tweets, does not necessarily mean that you are guaranteed more views.
There's no exact science or formula to social media success, but the important thing is to enjoy doing it and create useful information for others to read. Or just become an overnight A-list celebrity and then you will increase followers like wild fire!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, August 18, 2011
CLASS Leasing: 50 Best Websites of 2011
This article from Time is a great read for everyone and I highly recommend adding the website to your favorites. When I was going through the list, I found some great websites that I truthfully had not even heard of before. Many of the websites have hit the World Wide Web running, whereas some of the newcomers are probably still just getting their legs under them. Either way, this list is a great read for the day and enjoy the browsing!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
CLASS Leasing: What's Your Purpose In Social Media?
In a very brief summary of what social media was designed for, it can be said that social media was made in order to keep people connected. Pretty cut and dry description. Facebook allows users to see what friends are doing across the country on a daily basis. Twitter allows users to feel connected to celebrities and socialites without ever really talking to them in person. Obviously social media only allows you to be connected to other parties if you are in fact engaging in conversation as a user. A stagnant Facebook or Twitter account is about as useful as a car with no wheels...or is it?
This study from HubSpot may make you feel like your hard work is going to waste if you are a social media user that is only aiming to use each venue as a potential marketing tool. This study could potentially have a Catch 22 outlook to it, because although it shows that you are not necessarily guaranteed more reach by engaging more often on social media sites, you are not going to obtain ANY reach if you do not engage on these social media sites to some extent.
What is your take on these findings of the study? Are you one that engages regularly through social media and can debunk these findings? I'd be interested to see the different sides based upon these results of the study.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
This study from HubSpot may make you feel like your hard work is going to waste if you are a social media user that is only aiming to use each venue as a potential marketing tool. This study could potentially have a Catch 22 outlook to it, because although it shows that you are not necessarily guaranteed more reach by engaging more often on social media sites, you are not going to obtain ANY reach if you do not engage on these social media sites to some extent.
What is your take on these findings of the study? Are you one that engages regularly through social media and can debunk these findings? I'd be interested to see the different sides based upon these results of the study.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, August 15, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Craigslist Mobile App
Craigslist is without a doubt one of the more useful sites accessible on the Internet, because you can literally find just about anything possible to sell/buy at any given time. I have written quite a few blog postings about Craigslist in regards to tips to posting ads for apartments from my own personal experiences as a leasing specialist. Craigslist is definitely a site that is a major player in the multifamily industry and is really only as beneficial to the user as he, or she, makes it. Despite the fact that Craigslist has been in existence for over 15 years now, it has never been known as a site that changes, or really adapts to the advances that occur around the World Wide Web.
Case in point to this statement is the lack of a site-based mobile application for Craigslist. Accessing Craigslist.com on a mobile phone is quite the hassle, because it will lead the user directly to the website and as one can see very quickly, it is not user friendly at all. This lack of a mobile app for Craigslist led to independent developers stepping in to make things easier for those wishing to use Craigslist from their phones. There are quite a few apps that this New York Times article goes into details about, but I have found that CraigsPro+ is probably the most well put together app of those listed. These apps will make the apartment search significantly easier for potential prospects looking to move, which will only lead to more traffic and leases for apartment communities...at least for those that are taking advantage of the site and actually posting.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Case in point to this statement is the lack of a site-based mobile application for Craigslist. Accessing Craigslist.com on a mobile phone is quite the hassle, because it will lead the user directly to the website and as one can see very quickly, it is not user friendly at all. This lack of a mobile app for Craigslist led to independent developers stepping in to make things easier for those wishing to use Craigslist from their phones. There are quite a few apps that this New York Times article goes into details about, but I have found that CraigsPro+ is probably the most well put together app of those listed. These apps will make the apartment search significantly easier for potential prospects looking to move, which will only lead to more traffic and leases for apartment communities...at least for those that are taking advantage of the site and actually posting.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, August 12, 2011
CLASS Leasing: QR Code Creativity
QR code usage has managed to work its way into many different venues of business as the cutting edge way to connect to customers. QR codes still have the novelty item tag working in its favor, because it is still fun to pull out your Smartphone and scan a code on a piece of marketing material directing you to additional information. I am still in the little kid phase of QR codes in that I literally want to scan every code I see even if I am not even the slightest bit interested in the product that the code is for. Scanning the codes is something fun to do, because it gets a customer actively engaged in the marketing plus the code allows the marketer the ability to choose what information the customer receives.
QR codes can be found in a broad range of places: magazines; billboards; websites; menus; coasters; etc. We had a leasing specialist create a QR code and then the code was blown up to be placed on large sidewalk stickers. The property is located in a very retail populated area, so anyone that is walking around shopping at the stores can scan a QR code for the property on the ground to receive information. Very neat idea.
QR codes do not always have to be the regular square design and can actually be just about any shape, color or design desired. Here is a great example of a multitude of different ways that a QR code can be done (thanks @mashable).
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
QR codes can be found in a broad range of places: magazines; billboards; websites; menus; coasters; etc. We had a leasing specialist create a QR code and then the code was blown up to be placed on large sidewalk stickers. The property is located in a very retail populated area, so anyone that is walking around shopping at the stores can scan a QR code for the property on the ground to receive information. Very neat idea.
QR codes do not always have to be the regular square design and can actually be just about any shape, color or design desired. Here is a great example of a multitude of different ways that a QR code can be done (thanks @mashable).
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, August 11, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Why You Need A LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is essentially the Facebook of the business world. Although LinkedIn has actually been around longer than Facebook (LinkedIn released in May 2003; Facebook released in February 2004), LinkedIn trails the social media giant in users by a very significant margin with 100 million users to Facebook's 750 million. Even though both websites are aspects of social media, LinkedIn has a much structured design and purpose in how the site is operated and how the users interact on the site.
LinkedIn is designed to allow business members the opportunity to connect with each other. By connecting on LinkedIn both sides are confirming that there is some level of relationship between the two parties and it is not just a random link, such as a "Friend Request" on Facebook may be. Once users establish a significant connection network, then their profile can be used to research jobs, businesses, as well as people, for positions and business related opportunities in corporate America.
LinkedIn is an individual's online business card and expands exponentially the amount of people that you are able to interact with on a daily basis in the business world. Therefore, it is absolutely pertinent that every person have a LinkedIn profile if they are working any sort of job. Having a LinkedIn profile allows the user the opportunity to:
1. Find past coworkers
2. Build an online identity
3. Get new opportunities
4. Learn something new
5. Get some credibility
6. Become an expert
7. Grow your pipeline
8. Help out a friend
9. Find a new job
10. Get found by a new job
(thanks @Insideview for the link)
LinkedIn is growing every single day with the addition of a new user every second. As this list above shows, the doors that a well-connected LinkedIn profile can open are absolutely limitless. The impossible interactions that may never be able to take place in an average day, such as sending out a quick message to the CEO of that big company you've always wanted to work for, are just a click away on LinkedIn. If the ten reasons above haven't convinced you of the importance of LinkedIn, here's 100 more.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
LinkedIn is designed to allow business members the opportunity to connect with each other. By connecting on LinkedIn both sides are confirming that there is some level of relationship between the two parties and it is not just a random link, such as a "Friend Request" on Facebook may be. Once users establish a significant connection network, then their profile can be used to research jobs, businesses, as well as people, for positions and business related opportunities in corporate America.
LinkedIn is an individual's online business card and expands exponentially the amount of people that you are able to interact with on a daily basis in the business world. Therefore, it is absolutely pertinent that every person have a LinkedIn profile if they are working any sort of job. Having a LinkedIn profile allows the user the opportunity to:
1. Find past coworkers
2. Build an online identity
3. Get new opportunities
4. Learn something new
5. Get some credibility
6. Become an expert
7. Grow your pipeline
8. Help out a friend
9. Find a new job
10. Get found by a new job
(thanks @Insideview for the link)
LinkedIn is growing every single day with the addition of a new user every second. As this list above shows, the doors that a well-connected LinkedIn profile can open are absolutely limitless. The impossible interactions that may never be able to take place in an average day, such as sending out a quick message to the CEO of that big company you've always wanted to work for, are just a click away on LinkedIn. If the ten reasons above haven't convinced you of the importance of LinkedIn, here's 100 more.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Twitter Party
So you have your apartment community or business listed now on Twitter...great...now what? Twitter is probably one of the more extreme examples of social media that is not beneficial unless you are actively engaged on the website, making your brand name known by getting it out into the stream of conversation. With roughly 200 million users on Twitter generating over 200 million tweets per day, there is quite a bit of conversation being thrown around, so it takes some work to get your brand name recognized in the Twitter world.
One such way to actively engage a Twitter audience and push your company name out there is through a Twitter party. First off, what is a Twitter party? A Twitter party is no different than say a grand opening of a store, in which it is organized to get as many people aware of the store opening as possible and gets them to come see what the store is all about. The only difference of course with a Twitter party is that it is all virtual. The same steps that are taken with a grand opening in person are still taken with a Twitter party: theme, or occasion; promotions through all social networks; sponsors; gifts; etc. Let's say your Twitter party is being thrown for an apartment community grand opening (assuming you've built an expanded following prior to opening), offer waived application fees, or discounted rent for those interested in becoming a resident from your party. This will right away show that you are not only a community that will be actively involved with its residents, but are a community that will go above and beyond the expected to have fun as well.
There are many other reasons, or occasions that a Twitter party would be perfect for and here is a brief list of some, because after all, who doesn't like a reason to have a party?!(thanks @PartyBizConnect):
"1.You are looking to launch a new product.
2.Your business wants to create some buzz with online users.
3.You need to expand your influence in social media.
4.You want to connect with a targeted group of people that care about what you do.
5.You prefer to encourage word of mouth advertising than use push marketing.
6.Your business wants to build influence in its niche.
7.You love a good party."
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
One such way to actively engage a Twitter audience and push your company name out there is through a Twitter party. First off, what is a Twitter party? A Twitter party is no different than say a grand opening of a store, in which it is organized to get as many people aware of the store opening as possible and gets them to come see what the store is all about. The only difference of course with a Twitter party is that it is all virtual. The same steps that are taken with a grand opening in person are still taken with a Twitter party: theme, or occasion; promotions through all social networks; sponsors; gifts; etc. Let's say your Twitter party is being thrown for an apartment community grand opening (assuming you've built an expanded following prior to opening), offer waived application fees, or discounted rent for those interested in becoming a resident from your party. This will right away show that you are not only a community that will be actively involved with its residents, but are a community that will go above and beyond the expected to have fun as well.
There are many other reasons, or occasions that a Twitter party would be perfect for and here is a brief list of some, because after all, who doesn't like a reason to have a party?!(thanks @PartyBizConnect):
"1.You are looking to launch a new product.
2.Your business wants to create some buzz with online users.
3.You need to expand your influence in social media.
4.You want to connect with a targeted group of people that care about what you do.
5.You prefer to encourage word of mouth advertising than use push marketing.
6.Your business wants to build influence in its niche.
7.You love a good party."
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
CLASS Leasing: World's Skinniest House
I know that I have written blogs before highlighting the obscure lack of space many individuals live in, often times to show our leasing specialists that apartment size objections could be worse. With that being said this particular example definitely takes the cake when it comes to living in an extremely small space. Currently being designed in Poland, the "wedge" house only offers a living width of 52 inches!! I understand that the living quarters are designed with the artistic resident in mind, but let's be serious here. If any person that lives in this house has the slightest inclination of claustrophobia, they are going to be absolutely miserable. There is hardly enough room for living let alone even the most conventionally sized furniture. This article blew my mind when I came across it on Twitter (via @adamsconsulting), but as much as a surprise as it seems, I am willing to bet that these "conventional" sized houses will probably have a huge demand once they are seen.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, August 8, 2011
CLASS Leasing: G+ Versus Facebook
Google G+ Versus Facebook...this battle of social media titans is only in the beginning stages of what will surely be a drawn out, epic, technological, masterminded duel. G+ versus Facebook is like pitting Batman versus Superman (I couldn't resist the analogy), in that both forces strive to do the most good for their respective societies, but ultimately in the end there may only be room for one powerhouse, or superhero.
Obviously Facebook has the upper hand with over 750 million users, compared to G+'s 18 million, but consider also that Facebook has been around for over 7 years while G+ is still a baby of only a few months. Despite the difference in time in circulation, it must also be taken into account that G+ is still only on an invite only basis and is only now in the beginning stages of potentially becoming available to all parties interested.
To really get a good grasp on the similarities and differences between G+ and Facebook, it is important to breakdown each social media player individually. This schematic goes into great detail about both G+ and Facebook, but there are a few key characteristics that set the two apart. Both Facebook and G+ allow users to group friends by topics, but G+ is exponentially easier to manage each of the individual groups. Facebook has a much more interactive news feed allowing its users more options of convenient upload with pictures and videos, which G+ is not yet capable of doing. Both sites allow for social chat, with Facebook teaming with Skype, but G+ is compatible with a much broader list of internet browsers. The business end of the spectrum is presently heavily favored towards Facebook, because a Facebook Page can actually serve as a business's webpage and be their top producer of traffic. G+ is still in the process of producing a business relevant option and could pose some serious competition to Facebook in this department. The main reason behind this potential problem for Facebook is that since G+ is a product of Google, they are already and will be able to continue to incorporate much fewer ads than Facebook, since in probably one of the largest understatements imaginable, Google really doesn't need the money.
These are only a few key differences amongst the two sites and the schematic in the previous paragraph does an excellent job breaking down the positives and negatives to G+ and Facebook. One interesting and quite honestly, intriguing aspect of G+ right now is in regards to its number one followed user...Mark Zuckerberg.
It will be interesting to see how G+ progresses in its development into a social media force. There will be some glitches along the way and only time will tell if G+ will be the next Facebook, or just another firework website, such as Friendster. Either way G+ is in an element of its own being a byproduct of Google and as one such article puts the potential into perspective, "it is not the beginning of the end for Google but it is the end of the beginning."
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Obviously Facebook has the upper hand with over 750 million users, compared to G+'s 18 million, but consider also that Facebook has been around for over 7 years while G+ is still a baby of only a few months. Despite the difference in time in circulation, it must also be taken into account that G+ is still only on an invite only basis and is only now in the beginning stages of potentially becoming available to all parties interested.
To really get a good grasp on the similarities and differences between G+ and Facebook, it is important to breakdown each social media player individually. This schematic goes into great detail about both G+ and Facebook, but there are a few key characteristics that set the two apart. Both Facebook and G+ allow users to group friends by topics, but G+ is exponentially easier to manage each of the individual groups. Facebook has a much more interactive news feed allowing its users more options of convenient upload with pictures and videos, which G+ is not yet capable of doing. Both sites allow for social chat, with Facebook teaming with Skype, but G+ is compatible with a much broader list of internet browsers. The business end of the spectrum is presently heavily favored towards Facebook, because a Facebook Page can actually serve as a business's webpage and be their top producer of traffic. G+ is still in the process of producing a business relevant option and could pose some serious competition to Facebook in this department. The main reason behind this potential problem for Facebook is that since G+ is a product of Google, they are already and will be able to continue to incorporate much fewer ads than Facebook, since in probably one of the largest understatements imaginable, Google really doesn't need the money.
These are only a few key differences amongst the two sites and the schematic in the previous paragraph does an excellent job breaking down the positives and negatives to G+ and Facebook. One interesting and quite honestly, intriguing aspect of G+ right now is in regards to its number one followed user...Mark Zuckerberg.
It will be interesting to see how G+ progresses in its development into a social media force. There will be some glitches along the way and only time will tell if G+ will be the next Facebook, or just another firework website, such as Friendster. Either way G+ is in an element of its own being a byproduct of Google and as one such article puts the potential into perspective, "it is not the beginning of the end for Google but it is the end of the beginning."
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, August 5, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Utilizing Space
I would be willing to bet that one of the universal objections that occurs at nearly every apartment community nationwide at least once a day is that the apartment a prospect is interested in is too small. Often times this objection is made before the prospect even lays eyes upon the apartment, because their last apartment was X amount of square footage and they need at least that much, if not more. I am guilty off this as well in that my most recent apartment is right at about 800 square feet and I immediately thought that sounded small based upon my previous apartment. The square footage of an apartment is an important detail, but it is really how the area of the apartment is utilized which dictates how large an apartment feels.
I always enjoy finding videos of small apartments of how the resident has managed to either find unique ways to make the apartment feel larger, or have just decorated the apartment utilizing every single square foot of the apartment. Here is another such video from Apartment Therapy that shows how this individual was able to transform a small Brooklyn apartment into a unique and accommodating home.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
I always enjoy finding videos of small apartments of how the resident has managed to either find unique ways to make the apartment feel larger, or have just decorated the apartment utilizing every single square foot of the apartment. Here is another such video from Apartment Therapy that shows how this individual was able to transform a small Brooklyn apartment into a unique and accommodating home.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, August 4, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Tiger Woods And Negative Reviews?
For any person that is in business, at some point in time they have probably had to deal with online comments made by a customer, whether they were positive or negative (i.e., ApartmentRatings).
Obviously handling a positive comment is significantly easier to address. A "thank you for your business and positive feedback" will suffice as a great way to follow-up the comment, because you always want to show that you are listening to your customers, especially when they are positive.
Now, in the event that one is attempting to address a negative comment, then the situation must be dealt with much more carefully when it comes to addressing the disgruntled patron. The worst way to handle a negative comment is by getting in a war of words with the customer accusing them of making false accusations attempting to deface the product or company. It is best to let the individual know that as a company, you are sorry that the person's expectations were not met and hopefully they will give the company the opportunity in the future to make up for the unfortunate transgressions that occurred during their first experience with the company.
One great venue that a responder can put together is a video response that addresses the negative comments of the critic. This will show that some real thought was put into the response to the customer and it also allows for some creativity to flow in the response. I found an awesome example on Social Media Examiner of a response EA Sports collaborated that not only addresses the critic directly, but does so with some humor and creativity.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Additional Craigslist Tips
In follow-up to my blog from yesterday, I came across another helpful page of information that I wanted to share with everyone for posting on Craigslist. This site provides some additional tips that can be used in order to test the waters of Craigslist to determine what potential renters respond to. The thing to keep in mind is that Craigslist response will vary from city to city, so it's important to try many different ads until you figure out what draws the most attention. If you have a tip to posting, or something that you have had success with in a particular area, then feel free to share!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
CLASS Leasing: Social Media Mobile Apps
With the advancement of today's technology, just about anything can be accomplished from the convenience of a user's mobile phone. The Iphone has basically revolutionized the business world allowing important tasks and decisions to be made out of the office setting with a touch of a button on a phone screen. Mobile applications for the Iphone, now at over 500,000, have engulfed individuals' lives with endless possibilities of business, as well as pleasure, tools available for the mobile devices.
I am probably one of the remaining few individuals (thanks Sprint) that does not have an Iphone, therefore, I am still locked out of the endless application stratosphere. I am not completely convinced that me not having access to the mobile applications is a bad thing, because I know myself and I would probably have every possible application that could fit on my phone downloaded.
There are so many great mobile applications, but I find that the best ones are the social media apps that can be used in day-to-day life, allowing the user to accomplish work and stay connected outside of the formal business setting. Social Media Examiner put together a great list of the top 44 useful social media apps that really highlights all realms of social media one would need. Many apps on this list are apps that I have definitely heard of (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Flickr), but the best part about the list was learning about those that I have not heard of (i.e., Dragon Dictation, DocsToGo, Chomp).
This is a very useful list if you are involved in any aspect of social media and will make it tremendously easier to stay connected in a multitude of ways outside of the office environment.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
I am probably one of the remaining few individuals (thanks Sprint) that does not have an Iphone, therefore, I am still locked out of the endless application stratosphere. I am not completely convinced that me not having access to the mobile applications is a bad thing, because I know myself and I would probably have every possible application that could fit on my phone downloaded.
There are so many great mobile applications, but I find that the best ones are the social media apps that can be used in day-to-day life, allowing the user to accomplish work and stay connected outside of the formal business setting. Social Media Examiner put together a great list of the top 44 useful social media apps that really highlights all realms of social media one would need. Many apps on this list are apps that I have definitely heard of (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Flickr), but the best part about the list was learning about those that I have not heard of (i.e., Dragon Dictation, DocsToGo, Chomp).
This is a very useful list if you are involved in any aspect of social media and will make it tremendously easier to stay connected in a multitude of ways outside of the office environment.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Craigslist Posting Tip
It is always beneficial to not only post on Craigslist all throughout the day to get a gauge for when prospects are searching for apartments, but it is also very advantageous to post numerous types of ads as well. In posting many different ad types, the poster is able to see which ads are drawing in the attention of the potential prospects. Therefore it is very important to determine the specific ad that the prospect saw that made them pick up the phone and dial your community.
One of my favorite templates to use for posting Craigslist ads is the javascript editor TinyMCE. TinyMCE is basically a template upon which a Craigslist ad can be designed and simply copied and pasted, via html format, into the body paragraph on Craigslist where one would normally type the wording for an ad. Once the wording is typed into TinyMCE, then with the collaboration of Photobucket, pictures can be added after the wording on TinyMCE since Photobucket provides an html format option for each picture as a copy and paste function into TinyMCE. Upon completion of the wording for the Craigslist ad and the placement of the pictures from Photobucket, the TinyMCE html can be copied and pasted into the Craigslist body paragraph and the ad is complete.
When the ad is finished, the publisher will immediately notice that TinyMCE allows for the inclusion of many more pictures than Craigslist normally allows (4) and also provides a forum for the pictures to be vastly larger. These two features are what allow for a more innovative and attention grabbing posting since pictures are the most important part of a Craigslist ad.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
One of my favorite templates to use for posting Craigslist ads is the javascript editor TinyMCE. TinyMCE is basically a template upon which a Craigslist ad can be designed and simply copied and pasted, via html format, into the body paragraph on Craigslist where one would normally type the wording for an ad. Once the wording is typed into TinyMCE, then with the collaboration of Photobucket, pictures can be added after the wording on TinyMCE since Photobucket provides an html format option for each picture as a copy and paste function into TinyMCE. Upon completion of the wording for the Craigslist ad and the placement of the pictures from Photobucket, the TinyMCE html can be copied and pasted into the Craigslist body paragraph and the ad is complete.
When the ad is finished, the publisher will immediately notice that TinyMCE allows for the inclusion of many more pictures than Craigslist normally allows (4) and also provides a forum for the pictures to be vastly larger. These two features are what allow for a more innovative and attention grabbing posting since pictures are the most important part of a Craigslist ad.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, August 1, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Facebook Tip Of The Day
When setting up an apartment community on Facebook, it is important that the property be listed as a Page and not as a Profile. Facebook will actually erase your page once they realize that you are listing a business and not an actual person. The main reason that this is a requirement Facebook enforces is for the safety of any individual that is following your Page by liking it. Whereas with a Profile in that anyone is able to pull-up who is friends with your community, when a community is listed as a Page, the only people that are able to view who likes the page are those individuals that are administrators of the property Page. If you have already created a Profile for your property, you can still switch the Profile to a Page without losing any of your followers, but you will not be able to retain anything information that has been posted previously to the community wall.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, July 29, 2011
CLASS Leasing: CLASS Leasing
To conclude our week of those companies in the multifamily industry that are striving to make an impact in not only the business world, but also in the charitable work of giving back to the community, I found it fitting to highlight our company, CLASS Leasing.
Our organization that we partnership with is Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Each year we plan a fun-filled afternoon of activities for those children that so wish to participate in the activity center of one of the CHOA hospitals. This afternoon allows the children that are receiving treatment to get away from the hospital rooms and into a room filled with art making, game playing and winning prizes. It is a great opportunity to bring a short burst of joy and excitement to children and their families that often times may find it hard to just spend a few minutes laughing and playing. This is definitely an experience to be a part of and something that we will continue doing year after year.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Our organization that we partnership with is Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Each year we plan a fun-filled afternoon of activities for those children that so wish to participate in the activity center of one of the CHOA hospitals. This afternoon allows the children that are receiving treatment to get away from the hospital rooms and into a room filled with art making, game playing and winning prizes. It is a great opportunity to bring a short burst of joy and excitement to children and their families that often times may find it hard to just spend a few minutes laughing and playing. This is definitely an experience to be a part of and something that we will continue doing year after year.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, July 28, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Mid-America Apartments
Day 4 of our charitable businesses in the multifamily industry highlights Mid-America Apartments (MAA). MAA was initially founded in 1973 as The Cates Company and became Mid-America Apartments in 1993.
For over 15 years MAA has been operating the Open Arms Foundation, which is a corporate charity serving those in need that must travel away from home in order to receive medical treatment. The Open Arms Foundation provides temporary housing in a multitude of cities throughout the country for those families that become displaced from their permanent homes, as result of a family member needing specialized medical treatment in a different city. The housing provided is free of cost to the families and seeks to help alleviate a small piece of the families stress and financial burdens associated with a family member becoming ill. This is an incredible foundation that MAA has established and I can only imagine how much this is helped those families in need.
Great job MAA!
CLASS Leasing
For over 15 years MAA has been operating the Open Arms Foundation, which is a corporate charity serving those in need that must travel away from home in order to receive medical treatment. The Open Arms Foundation provides temporary housing in a multitude of cities throughout the country for those families that become displaced from their permanent homes, as result of a family member needing specialized medical treatment in a different city. The housing provided is free of cost to the families and seeks to help alleviate a small piece of the families stress and financial burdens associated with a family member becoming ill. This is an incredible foundation that MAA has established and I can only imagine how much this is helped those families in need.
Great job MAA!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Atlanta Apartment Association
Our multifamily business that we will be highlighting today for day 3 of those giving back to their community is the Atlanta Apartment Association.
The Atlanta Apartment Association (AAA) was founded in 1975 and is currently one of the largest apartment associations in the country, as well as an affiliate of the National Apartment Association. The Atlanta Apartment Association "represents over 1,600 member companies consisting of 400 companies managing 330,000+ apartment homes, and over 1,200 businesses that provide products and services to the industry." How the AAA gives back to the metro area is done is a very unique way that gets the community actively involved as well. For over 25 years the AAA has been hosting an annual food drive, the Can Can Ball, that has become the largest food drive in the country! The Can Can Ball benefits the Atlanta Community Food Bank and in 2010 along, the event raised $157,800, allowing the Food Bank to provide 252,480 pounds of food to those in need. This is an incredible cause and hopefully will be one that AAA continues for years and years to come.
Great work AAA!
CLASS Leasing
The Atlanta Apartment Association (AAA) was founded in 1975 and is currently one of the largest apartment associations in the country, as well as an affiliate of the National Apartment Association. The Atlanta Apartment Association "represents over 1,600 member companies consisting of 400 companies managing 330,000+ apartment homes, and over 1,200 businesses that provide products and services to the industry." How the AAA gives back to the metro area is done is a very unique way that gets the community actively involved as well. For over 25 years the AAA has been hosting an annual food drive, the Can Can Ball, that has become the largest food drive in the country! The Can Can Ball benefits the Atlanta Community Food Bank and in 2010 along, the event raised $157,800, allowing the Food Bank to provide 252,480 pounds of food to those in need. This is an incredible cause and hopefully will be one that AAA continues for years and years to come.
Great work AAA!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Lane Company
Day 2 of our multifamily industry week of giving back highlights Atlanta-based Lane Company.
Established in 1974 Lane Company is recognized as an industry leader in property management. Lane Company gives back to the community in a multitude of ways from an annual food drive that supplies millions of meals for those less fortunate, to working with an extensive list of Atlanta area businesses and organizations to provide for those in need. In addition Lane Company launched a nonprofit corporation called Community Life Concepts that strives to enhighten the quality of living for those residents in low-income housing.
Lane Company is a great example of a company that prides itself on giving back to the Atlanta area.
Awesome job Lane Company!
CLASS Leasing
Established in 1974 Lane Company is recognized as an industry leader in property management. Lane Company gives back to the community in a multitude of ways from an annual food drive that supplies millions of meals for those less fortunate, to working with an extensive list of Atlanta area businesses and organizations to provide for those in need. In addition Lane Company launched a nonprofit corporation called Community Life Concepts that strives to enhighten the quality of living for those residents in low-income housing.
Lane Company is a great example of a company that prides itself on giving back to the Atlanta area.
Awesome job Lane Company!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, July 25, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Aspen Heights
This week we will be highlighting those in multifamily that are taking the initiative to not only provide excellent service for their customers, but are also going one step further in providing for causes outside the industry.
Aspen Heights is a student housing community in College Station, Texas that essentially revolutionized the student housing market by developing an actual neighborhood of apartments. Aspen Heights put together a program titled "Aspen Heights in Africa," whereby for every lease signed, Aspen Heights provides housing and education for individuals subjected to severe poverty in Africa. This is a great example of giving back to those less fortunate and incorporating it into the multifamily industry.
Awesome job Aspen Heights!
CLASS Leasing
Aspen Heights is a student housing community in College Station, Texas that essentially revolutionized the student housing market by developing an actual neighborhood of apartments. Aspen Heights put together a program titled "Aspen Heights in Africa," whereby for every lease signed, Aspen Heights provides housing and education for individuals subjected to severe poverty in Africa. This is a great example of giving back to those less fortunate and incorporating it into the multifamily industry.
Awesome job Aspen Heights!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, July 22, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Facebook Page Tip
Here is a good tidbit of information for any leasing specialist that is looking to give their property's Facebook Page a little personality. There is nowhere stating that a Facebook Page needs to necessarily be titled as the property's name. Think of something that will make the property stand out other than just the community name. If your property has won awards for excellence, then think of a catchy slogan, such as your property being the "Best Of The Best." There are plenty of places on the actual page for the property's name, so make yours unique to catch attention and give your page a fighting chance of accumulating likes. On the subject of likes, it is important to know that you can only change your Facebook Page title if you have less than 100 likes. Once your page crosses the 100 like threshold, then Facebook will not allow you to alter your page name.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, July 15, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Increasing Craigslist Leads
During the marketing portion of our training, one of the most important topics that I thoroughly cover is the posting of Craigslist ads for apartments. Craigslist is an incredibly advantageous marketing tool, because not only is it effective, but most importantly, it is absolutely free!
There are many more complicated layers to posting ads on Craigslist than just simply logging-on in the morning and posting an ad and being done with it. I always harp on the fact that Craigslist will only be as beneficial as you make it, in that posting one time a day is basically a complete waste of time. This statement is especially true if your property is located in a large city where Craigslist is a widely used apartment marketing tool, such as Los Angeles, where on average, there are 30,000 apartment postings PER DAY! Although this is an extreme example, if one were to post only one ad in the morning, that ad would be pushed back to page 4 or 5 within the hour. With this being said it is most beneficial to post multiple ads throughout the day in order to get a gauge on response time in terms of when most people are searching for apartments on Craigslist in your area. Post an ad first thing in the morning, one at lunch, another at mid-afternoon and one right before leaving the office. This will allow for a stronger presence on Craigslist, therefore increasing the likelihood of an individual stumbling across your ad.
Once you've established the number of ads that you are going to aim to post on a daily basis, then it comes down to how exactly you are going to draw attention to your particular posts. Scrolling through a full page of Craigslist ads can be quite nauseating, because there are 100 posts on each page with all of the titles looking remotely identical. With this being said the best thing one can do is scroll through a page of ads and figure out ways to make a title unique. Simply typing a title stating a phrase like "Apartment For Rent" in normal caps is not exactly what I would classify as an attention getter. Make the title something that will stand out and change the font up a bit to an attention grabber, like all caps. "DOWNTOWN LIVING AT ITS FINEST" will certainly present a higher likelihood of getting clicked on than the previous example I used, because it is a statement that will stand out amongst all of the listings.
As equally important as the title, if not more so, is the attachment of pictures to your listing. I will say right now as someone that not only teaches others how to post on Craigslist, but also as a Craigslist user, I WILL NOT click on a posting if there are not pictures attached. Pictures are literally the only way to make a listing unique, in that without them, the listing is just a description that is probably very similar to every other ad that one could possibly click on. When I am looking for any merchandise on Craigslist, I typically bypass all of the words in the description and scroll straight down to the bottom to see what the product looks like. The pictures really and truly make the ad and I can guarantee you that if you were to post the exact same ad using different contact names, one with pictures and one without, no one would call after seeing the ad without pictures over the ad with.
These are just some easy steps to take in order to increase the odds of receiving traffic from a Craigslist ad. Just keep in mind that all it takes is one phone call from an ad leading to a lease to make the five minutes it takes to post the ad completely worth it.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
There are many more complicated layers to posting ads on Craigslist than just simply logging-on in the morning and posting an ad and being done with it. I always harp on the fact that Craigslist will only be as beneficial as you make it, in that posting one time a day is basically a complete waste of time. This statement is especially true if your property is located in a large city where Craigslist is a widely used apartment marketing tool, such as Los Angeles, where on average, there are 30,000 apartment postings PER DAY! Although this is an extreme example, if one were to post only one ad in the morning, that ad would be pushed back to page 4 or 5 within the hour. With this being said it is most beneficial to post multiple ads throughout the day in order to get a gauge on response time in terms of when most people are searching for apartments on Craigslist in your area. Post an ad first thing in the morning, one at lunch, another at mid-afternoon and one right before leaving the office. This will allow for a stronger presence on Craigslist, therefore increasing the likelihood of an individual stumbling across your ad.
Once you've established the number of ads that you are going to aim to post on a daily basis, then it comes down to how exactly you are going to draw attention to your particular posts. Scrolling through a full page of Craigslist ads can be quite nauseating, because there are 100 posts on each page with all of the titles looking remotely identical. With this being said the best thing one can do is scroll through a page of ads and figure out ways to make a title unique. Simply typing a title stating a phrase like "Apartment For Rent" in normal caps is not exactly what I would classify as an attention getter. Make the title something that will stand out and change the font up a bit to an attention grabber, like all caps. "DOWNTOWN LIVING AT ITS FINEST" will certainly present a higher likelihood of getting clicked on than the previous example I used, because it is a statement that will stand out amongst all of the listings.
As equally important as the title, if not more so, is the attachment of pictures to your listing. I will say right now as someone that not only teaches others how to post on Craigslist, but also as a Craigslist user, I WILL NOT click on a posting if there are not pictures attached. Pictures are literally the only way to make a listing unique, in that without them, the listing is just a description that is probably very similar to every other ad that one could possibly click on. When I am looking for any merchandise on Craigslist, I typically bypass all of the words in the description and scroll straight down to the bottom to see what the product looks like. The pictures really and truly make the ad and I can guarantee you that if you were to post the exact same ad using different contact names, one with pictures and one without, no one would call after seeing the ad without pictures over the ad with.
These are just some easy steps to take in order to increase the odds of receiving traffic from a Craigslist ad. Just keep in mind that all it takes is one phone call from an ad leading to a lease to make the five minutes it takes to post the ad completely worth it.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, July 14, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Facebook Page Contest
We currently are in the midst of a Facebook Page contest amongst all of our leasing specialists throughout the country. The object of the contest consists of five main parts that the leasing specialists can be rewarded for: creating the page for the property; consistently updating the page with useful information; creating a contest for the page in order to get active participation; obtaining interactions from residents/prospects on the page; accumulating as many new likes on the page as possible. This contest was designed to not only present the opportunity to our leasing specialists of obtaining great prizes, but to also give them the chance to educate themselves on the importance and benefits of a property Facebook Page. Here is an awesome example of how one of our leasing specialists is going to great heights to get active involvement on her property's Facebook Page. Great job Natalie!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Neglected Email Leads
Often times an email lead at an apartment community goes unanswered, or just becomes lost in the wash of all the happenings in a leasing office. A typical apartment community that is tied in with any ILS may get anywhere between 10 to 20 prospective email leads each day, which can add up very quickly if these are not answered promptly. Just as a phone call would be answered when the phone begins to ring, an email lead should be given the same attentiveness and importance that a phone call receives. In addition the email lead should be addressed just as a phone call is addressed in that the prospects questions should be answered and not just supplied with a generic email sent to every email lead. Tara Furiani wrote a great piece for Multifamily Insiders that really breaks down the steps to writing effective follow-up to an email lead that will increase the chances of securing a lease.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, July 11, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Youtube Channel
We are in the process of updating our main website, as well as beginning to jump into all realms of social media and our newest addition is the CLASS Leasing Youtube Channel. Checkout the video and channel here!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Google +
I recently did a write-up about the "Google +1" system that Google introduced, whereby any particular posts that a user would like to have attached to their Google profile, they are able to by simply clicking the +1 button next to the search item. In doing so, any followers of this users profile will be able to see their search preferences and recommended search items.
The "Google +" system is different and on a whole other realm of complexity. The Google + system was released and designed to actually compete with Facebook as a similar aspect of social media sharing. Just as users of Facebook have friends and social circles, Google + will allow users the same capabilities in a very organized format. Google released this blog last week that features informational videos about the features of Google + that could very easily rival Facebook's concepts. The real question will be with Facebook nearing 670 million users, is there enough room in the social media network for two major interactive sharing sites?
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, July 1, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Happy 4th Of July!!
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! Take the time to celebrate the great things that come with this holiday weekend: grilling out; spending time with friends and family; safe travels; and of course, fireworks!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Google Rankings
We just recently began working at a property in Arizona that had a very minimal amount of content when we arrived on-site. There was neither a property website, nor was the community listed on any ILS (i.e. Forrent.com; Apartmentguide.com). Therefore it became first priority to establish some sort of presence online, so that if a prospect were to search for the community, there would at least be some sort of relevant material to appear. In a matter of weeks, we were able to get the Google Place Page established, as well as work the SEO of the Facebook Page to the point that it is currently the first website recognized as relevant when the property name is searched (Itom A'e Apartments, Guadalupe, AZ; Great job Kimberly!)
This brings me to the larger point of this example in that we were able to create a Facebook Page for a property and have this page move up the Google rankings system...but how?? There are many layers to this question that neither I, nor really anyone else, other than those who have written the Google algorithms, know the real answers to. Obviously, a great first step to take when trying to get a website up the rankings is to make a website/page that is going to have relevant information of interest to readers. After establishing your webpage with substance that individuals are actually going to read, there are a multitude of steps that can be taken from this point forward. Social Media Examiner lists a thorough explanation of 7 detailed steps one can take to get a website up the ranking list of Google.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, June 23, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Resident Blog
If you're looking for a great way to get information out to your residents that is interactive and unique, then a resident blog may be just what you are looking for. A resident blog is a spin-off of the staple community blog in that it allows residents the opportunity to actively communicate with one another on an open forum. This forum is still subjected to office maintenance, but it is a much more convenient way to hear and spread pertinent information amongst a community. In order for the resident blog to be benefecial, an office staff must make the blog known to residents via flyer, newsletter update, or any other convenient announcement means.
The resident blog is where an office staff can learn of resident concerns, as well as post community events to receive feedback from the residents about their thoughts and needs. Of course, if you are a member of the office staff where a resident blog is instilled, make sure to monitor the comments. The reason is that once the blog begins to become regularly updated and starts to receive comments from residents, the acivity of the blog will generate relevancy in a Google search, thereby making it open to potential prospects searches. You always want to make sure that prospects are not turned away from a property as a result of seeing something online that could have been addressed right away.
Here are a few examples of some apartment resident blogs I was able to find:
Mountain View Crossing
Shea Apartments
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
CLASS Leasing: BlogGlue
Writing a blog gives users the ability to share relative information about any aspect of business they choose. The added benefit of a blog is that there is no one format to follow when it comes to constructing a daily post. Where the challenge comes in for a blog creator is getting individuals to actually read the information that is put together daily. Obviously in updating a blog regularly, the SEO of the blog will eventually lead it to the top of a Google search in being relative to a specific title search, but how do people find it if they do not know the exact title?
BlogGlue is one such site that exists with the sole purpose of expanding the amount of views that a blog is able to draw-in. BlogGlue essentially does "all the work for you" once your blog posting is created by dispersing the blog through multiple venues of social media. BlogGlue will actively post your blog to Facebook and Twitter, will partner the blog with previous blogs written by the user and will link all your blogs in RSS feeds. In spreading the blog throughout the different social media sources, the traffic views will be increased, thereby boosting any potential revenue streams desired from creating the blog.
BlogGlue does offer a free route for their services, but if you are in fact a regular blogger that is looking to benefit from blog revenues, then it may be worth the buck to pursue an active partnership with BlogGlue.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Are you on ApartmentRatings?
Just how important are consumer reviews these days? You can look at the power of sites like yelp.com and kudzu.com, or you can type in "Apartments in any town USA" into Google and see how high sites like apartmentratings.com land on the search. Whether we are looking for a restaurant, a resort, or a place to call home, consumer reviews are driving the purchasing decisions of the modern consumer.
The old way of thinking was to avoid apartment review sites at all cost. As most people in the industry will tell you, they were nothing but venting forums for disgruntled and evicted residents. But now all of that has changed. Not having reviews readily available to prospective residents puts you at an extreme disadvantage. Prospects want to see CGM (consumer generated media) prior to deciding where to live. They do not trust traditional advertising, including your website.
Solicit Reviews! What happens when we solicit reviews rather than sit around and wait for them to appear? We usually see a much more positive response. Maybe it is because our residents appreciate the fact that we are asking for feedback? Maybe it is because without a reminder to review our properties, only the disgruntled residents are motivated enough to post on their own? I don't have the answers, but I do know that when you ask for feedback, the response is overwhelmingly positive.
Take for example Dental TLC in Atlanta GA. I recently went there for the first time based on the high number of positive reviews. When searching for them online, I noticed that they have 283 reviews on Yelp, Kudzu, and other rating sites, giving them four and a half out of five stars.
Upon leaving my appointment, I was handed a water bottle, toothbrush and toothpaste, and this card.
I asked the receptionist about the review card and she said that a majority of their business comes from their online reputation and word of mouth. She credited the fact that their patients are great about writing online reviews. Talk about bang for your marketing buck!
Get some feedback from your residents. It will not only help with resident retention, but it is becoming a necessary marketing piece in order to capture today's renter. If you don't have any reviews, rest assured your prospects are searching for a property that does!
The old way of thinking was to avoid apartment review sites at all cost. As most people in the industry will tell you, they were nothing but venting forums for disgruntled and evicted residents. But now all of that has changed. Not having reviews readily available to prospective residents puts you at an extreme disadvantage. Prospects want to see CGM (consumer generated media) prior to deciding where to live. They do not trust traditional advertising, including your website.
Solicit Reviews! What happens when we solicit reviews rather than sit around and wait for them to appear? We usually see a much more positive response. Maybe it is because our residents appreciate the fact that we are asking for feedback? Maybe it is because without a reminder to review our properties, only the disgruntled residents are motivated enough to post on their own? I don't have the answers, but I do know that when you ask for feedback, the response is overwhelmingly positive.
Take for example Dental TLC in Atlanta GA. I recently went there for the first time based on the high number of positive reviews. When searching for them online, I noticed that they have 283 reviews on Yelp, Kudzu, and other rating sites, giving them four and a half out of five stars.
Upon leaving my appointment, I was handed a water bottle, toothbrush and toothpaste, and this card.
I asked the receptionist about the review card and she said that a majority of their business comes from their online reputation and word of mouth. She credited the fact that their patients are great about writing online reviews. Talk about bang for your marketing buck!
Get some feedback from your residents. It will not only help with resident retention, but it is becoming a necessary marketing piece in order to capture today's renter. If you don't have any reviews, rest assured your prospects are searching for a property that does!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Facebook Losing Users??
As Facebook nears the 700 million mark of users globally, there has been a slight setback occurring amongst its American population. In the last month there has been a drop-off of nearly 6 million American users of Facebook and this was the first time that Facebook had seen a monthly decline of any kind in a year! What could possibly be leading to such a huge amount of individuals just simply leasing Facebook? There is no clear defined reasoning as to why such a drop-off occurred, but its left many people wondering if Facebook is just starting to lose its luster, or if people are just becoming tired with the constant changes. On the flip side of that, maybe its that people are becoming tired with the lack of updated changes and are bored by the website. Could it possibly be that people are becoming more weary of the intrusive nature of Facebook, especially with the introduction of the Face Recognition software to the website?
Regardless of what the reasoning may be, Facebook is continuing to add users abroad and is even making potential headwind in the country where Facebook has been banned for years...China. It will be interesting to see where Facebook turns to keep up its title as one of the most successful websites of all time.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Great news for owners!
What happens when multifamily housing starts all but vanish for 4 years? The answer is a drastic increase in demand for rentals! After biting the bullet of falling rents over the past 4 years, apartment owners and operators are now leveraging the decreased supply of rentals into the beginning of the much forecasted increase in rents.
Here is a great article from msnbc that talks about the nationwide increase in rents. The challenge owners now face will be to re-acclimate their residents with an increase in renewal rates. We are sure to see some shock at first, but going back to the pre-2008 landscape, residents all but expected an increase at renewal. It will take some time, but it appears that our ability to push NOI on properties is becoming much more feasible.
-Danny Soule
Monday, June 13, 2011
CLASS Leasing: If You've Ever Had Someone Object To Price...
It is basically an understood notion that the number one objection any leasing specialist will find at their respective community is price. Regardless of if the property has rents equivalent to every other property in the region, someone will complain about the price for rent being too much. I always joke that the rent for an apartment could be free and there would still be someone to say that it costs too much! A great way to look at the price objection is that it is something that will always be brought up, but at the same time, there is always some other property that probably is dealing with a price issue on a more grand scale. Insert One Hyde Park Apartments here. One Hyde Park Apartments just opened in January as the most expensive apartment building in existence. Although they are considered to be more of condominiums, they are still classified as an apartment community and value at about $9500 PER SQUARE FOOT! The details of this London-based community are absolutely jaw-dropping and almost seem like a fairy tale when you read what amenities come with being a resident at this community. This just goes to show once again that if you ever think your community is a little pricey, think again!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, June 10, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Leasing Specialist Creed
As a leasing specialist you are the first contact for nearly every prospect that walks through the leasing office doors. It is important to be on your game with every single prospect, because there's no second chance at making a first impression.
With this in mind really concentrate on the little things this weekend:
Make sure that your balloons are out front and you are in the office ready to lease five to ten minutes before your scheduled time to be in the office. There's nothing wrong with being early.
Walk your tour routes to make sure that they are completely clean and there are no unforeseen surprises that could hamper a tour.
Check the model and show apartments to ensure that the lights are on, there aren't any little surprises hiding in the bathtub or cabinets and it smells fresh inside the apartment.
Right when you get into the office, search your community online to make yourself aware of any new information posted on any websites about your property.
Make sure to get 3-5 Craigslist ads up throughout the day in between taking tours and phone calls.
Put together an informative post for your property's Facebook page.
Get your key cards out from the previous days that still have follow-up phone calls that need to be made.
When the phone rings make sure to enthusiastically answer the phone, say your five questions verbatim and really make a true effort to build rapport with the prospect, so they will be not only more inclined to come visit you, but will also feel more comfortable leasing with you.
Hop up from behind your desk and greet every single person that walks through the door, so they immediately feel welcome and at home.
Take the time to fill out the entire key card in order for proper follow-up immediately following the tour.
Really sell your community to the prospect while on tour and nail your FBC's when inside the model apartment.
At the closing table really use your ten closes to get every prospect to lease and if they will not lease, absolutely aim for a 24 hour hold in order to get them back in the door tomorrow.
Complete your follow-up email and thank you letter the second the prospect walks out the door. In doing so, the tour will be fresh on your mind and the prospect will be taken aback by getting an email so soon after their tour.
At the end of the day, send your nightly email before you leave the office. There are many clients that are waiting to see how the day went and may be anxiously waiting for the daily numbers.
Make sure to call-in at your specified time.
All of these things are supposed to be done every single day, but really make an effort to go above and beyond of what you normally are expected of this weekend. If your goal is two leases this weekend, then aim for four. Don't give yourself an opportunity to look back on a day and think you may have got a lease if you did something differently. Make every tour count this weekend!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
With this in mind really concentrate on the little things this weekend:
Make sure that your balloons are out front and you are in the office ready to lease five to ten minutes before your scheduled time to be in the office. There's nothing wrong with being early.
Walk your tour routes to make sure that they are completely clean and there are no unforeseen surprises that could hamper a tour.
Check the model and show apartments to ensure that the lights are on, there aren't any little surprises hiding in the bathtub or cabinets and it smells fresh inside the apartment.
Right when you get into the office, search your community online to make yourself aware of any new information posted on any websites about your property.
Make sure to get 3-5 Craigslist ads up throughout the day in between taking tours and phone calls.
Put together an informative post for your property's Facebook page.
Get your key cards out from the previous days that still have follow-up phone calls that need to be made.
When the phone rings make sure to enthusiastically answer the phone, say your five questions verbatim and really make a true effort to build rapport with the prospect, so they will be not only more inclined to come visit you, but will also feel more comfortable leasing with you.
Hop up from behind your desk and greet every single person that walks through the door, so they immediately feel welcome and at home.
Take the time to fill out the entire key card in order for proper follow-up immediately following the tour.
Really sell your community to the prospect while on tour and nail your FBC's when inside the model apartment.
At the closing table really use your ten closes to get every prospect to lease and if they will not lease, absolutely aim for a 24 hour hold in order to get them back in the door tomorrow.
Complete your follow-up email and thank you letter the second the prospect walks out the door. In doing so, the tour will be fresh on your mind and the prospect will be taken aback by getting an email so soon after their tour.
At the end of the day, send your nightly email before you leave the office. There are many clients that are waiting to see how the day went and may be anxiously waiting for the daily numbers.
Make sure to call-in at your specified time.
All of these things are supposed to be done every single day, but really make an effort to go above and beyond of what you normally are expected of this weekend. If your goal is two leases this weekend, then aim for four. Don't give yourself an opportunity to look back on a day and think you may have got a lease if you did something differently. Make every tour count this weekend!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, June 9, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Google Presence
Multifamily Insiders hosted a great webinar earlier this week highlighting the importance of a property's Google presence. This webinar was spot-on, because when individuals "search" for a property online, they are 99% likely to search for the property using Google. "Google it" has all but replaced the phrase "search for it" when it comes to finding something online. Therefore, having a great presence on Google is imperative and this webinar does a great job offering tips to improve that presence.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
CLASS Leasing: RentMineOnline
RentMineOnline is catching on like wildfire throughout the apartment industry and is really revolutionizing the concept of resident referrals.
Resident referral is a great first line of defense for marketing purposes, because the marketing is done in-house and there are no sorts of gate keeper HR departments to get through. Whatever the monetary amount that is offered to residents for referring their friends and family, this number needs to be constantly engrained in the residents mind. Many residents don't understand that you really do get money for something as simple as referring a friend until they receive that first discount off of their rent. In steps RentMineOnline to simplify things even more for residents to get money for essentially doing nothing.
RentMineOnline accesses the social media realm for referrals by having residents sign up through website, which in turn allows RentMineOnline to begin the referral process through the residents social pages (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Therefore if someone views a referral done by RentMineOnline on my Facebook profile and decides to live at my community, I will receive a referral bonus without even physically telling that individual to join my community! It's that easy. RentMineOnline has taken the simple concept of resident referral and made it even easier.
Here is a great write-up about RentMineOnline in Multifamily Executive.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Monday, June 6, 2011
CLASS Leasing: Google +1
Google +1 is finally here and became active this past week for anyone with a Google account. I wrote a blog not too long ago about Google +1 and what exactly it entails, but there is still some grey area for some in regards to what its purpose is. Google released a great tutorial video that really breaks down the benefits of accessing Google +1 and how it is essentially their break through into the social realm of websites. The video can be found at the bottom of the linked webpage.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Friday, June 3, 2011
CLASS Leasing: How Should A Facebook Page Be Used For An Apartment Community?
I have written a few blogs about general ideas on how to use a Facebook Page for an apartment community. First off, I cannot harp enough that a Faceboook Page is only as useful as you make it. If a property page is created and you think that it going to lead to more leases just because you created it, then you are going to be heavily disappointed.
A Facebook Page is designed with the purpose of getting residents involved and having a place where they can be connected to not only other residents, but also to management. In addition, a Facebook Page will also help to increase a property's SEO, because it is another site that other property specific sites can be linked to, which therefore is offering another venue for property exposure online. Although, just because it is a property specific page does not mean that it needs to be updated daily with information trying to sell the community. Keep in mind that people that "like" the property page do not want to constantly see on their Facebook walls information about your apartments for rent.
There is a general rule that an apartment community page needs to be a balanced ratio of 80/20 of general information to direct apartment community. General information can consist of anything relating to the city the community is in, helpful tips for apartment living, or just random tidbits of information, such as today and how it is national donut day! Tracey Lott Heitzman contributed a great article today on Multifamily Insiders that outlines the importance of making a Facebook Page interactive. Below I have highlighted her great topics for Facebook Page status updates and you can find the full blog here.
•Have fun with your profile picture and change it up often
•Post your You Tube videos
•Notify residents of upcoming concerts and events in your area
•Post interesting new jobs. I’ve seen a property management company that has a Twitter feed on their website with job postings that fit their demographics
•Post new movies out on DVD or to the theatre
•Start a 'Best of' list and have residents to vote
•Offer green cleaning tips
•Plan a Yahoo Sports Pick Em’ Group for the playoffs
•Offer exclusive discounts, coupons, and content (40% of FB users “like” Pages that give them deals)
•Partner with restaurants in the area and offer exclusive deals (I live in a condo community and the new restaurant across the street gives us 10% off!)
•Post a photo of a local restaurants dish and have a contest to have residents guess the dish and where it came from (offer a gift card to same restaurant)
•Advertise a time and place at the community and host a “Sweets in the Streets” where you hand out candy bars
•Post an events calendar to share with sister communities. Allow residents to participate among the communities
•Have monthly Birthday Parties and post to Facebook
•Have a yearly 'Birthday' for your community
•Reward residents and fans by helping them give to charity
•Recognize fans and select a “Fan of the Month”
•Become “Fans” of local business and post on their walls
•Use the Question feature to offer polls (more on this below)
•Contests are one of the most effective ways of keeping your Fans interested and engaged
•Introduce various competitions with giveaways
•Watch the comments/likes pour in with these status updates from Funny Status (not all are appropriate)
•Post trivia questions- people love to show off their knowledge
•Ask for opinions
•Encourage your Fans to share personal stories on a particular topic, like “my first apartment”
•Upload lots of photos from Resident Appreciation Events and be sure to “tag” your Fans
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Thursday, June 2, 2011
CLASS Leasing: The Geosocial Universe
I am a big visual person whenever it comes to understanding the magnitude of anything relating to comparing numbers or data. Seeing a table, graph, chart, etc. for me just helps to understand the scope of data in relation to the comparable item numbers.
JESS3 Labs designed one of the more up-to-date and visually appealing models that I have truly seen in awhile. Per their site, "JESS3 Labs is a creative agency that specializes in data visualization" and they put together a terrific visual of the social media network database entitled "The Geosocial Universe." This infographic draws together the major hitters in the social media universe and compares them in total registered users in spherical orbit form with shading done to represent the fraction of users that access these social sites via mobile phone.
In addition to there being some new faces on this social media orbit, it should come as no surprise that the top two social sites are Facebook (629 million users) and Skype (663 million users). What is surprising data to me considering how reliant society has become on their mobile phones, I a guilty member as well, is how such a small fraction of Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and Gmail users actually check their mail via mobile. I would think that many people are like me in that I rely on my phone for talking, texting and email as the three main purposes, so how are the spheres of those three main email providers not more filled in? Regardless, JESS3 put together a great representation of our "Geosocial Universe" and the number of registered users will only increase as social media becomes more and more of an entity of its own.
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
CLASS Leasing: The Best Resident Event Contest Finale!
Hopefully everyone took the time to enter the Resident Events and Peachtree Business Products competition to come up with the best and most creative resident event, because the finale is tomorrow afternoon! Everyone should make sure to visit Multifamily Insiders and sign up for the free webinar from 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Central Time to listen to the industry leader judges break down on their thoughts of each submission, as well as the winning resident event idea. This is a great opportunity to possibly pick-up a resident event idea for your community that could be used in the near future. As of today there have been a total of 85 submissions, so it is sure to be a great opportunity being a part of this webinar!
Enjoy!
CLASS Leasing