How To Be Successful In The Apartment Industry: Participate, Participate, Participate! -by Daisy Nguyen

I've had a LOT of conversations recently, and one topic has been a recurring theme: Success. Two recurring questions: 1.) How do we make our apartment communities more successful? 2.) How do we make OURSELVES more successful?

As a consultant and a writer of a popular industry blog, I meet with A LOT of people. I meet with EVERY kind of person in the industry from site personnel to vendors at every level, from to Regional Managers to directors to VP's to CEO's/COO's/CFO's, to developers, partners, investors & owners of apartment communities.

My answer is ALWAYS the same: PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE!

Image provided by Chooyutshing on Flickr through creative commons license.

1.) PARTICIPATE: Participate in something bigger and greater than your own apartment community. I KNOW you have a million things to do and there isn't another minute you can commit to someone new, but YOUR PARTICIPATION in something greater will return ten-fold to your success at your apartment community, as well as return ten-fold in your own personal successes. I'll go out on a limb here and say - I PROMISE that any participation you give will be returned to you ten fold. If not, give me a call, and I'll take you to lunch and eat my words.

2.) PARTICIPATE: Don't just JOIN your local apartment association, JOIN, PARTICIPATE, ENGAGE! There is no better way to work/network with other industry professionals in your market than at your local apartment association. Chances are, they ARE looking for volunteers to participate in committees, tasks forces, surveys, focus groups, etc. Do you think that your opinion doesn't count? In an industry that serves this many people, YOUR opinion DOES count. For every 1 person who DOES participate, there are dozens if not hundreds of people who do NOT participate. YOUR opinion COUNTS simply because you have made a commitment and gotten involved. Is your local association too small? Help them grow and expand by getting more people involved. Hey - it's YOUR local apartment association - make it truly YOURS.

3.) PARTICIPATE: Participate in a local non-profit in your market. This could be a local non-profit housing provider OR this could be a local non-profit community group. As with your local association, they ARE looking for volunteers for their boards, focus groups, tasks forces, surveys, fund-raisers, etc! Especially in this market and economy, they need your expertise. Find something that MOVES you and PARTICIPATE with THEM. You will be in for one of the most rewarding commitments you can make. I know it is MY most rewarding commitment - who knew that working for free has its rewards?

How does this help you with the success at your apartment community? In participating, you'll hear from other industry professionals, like yourself (and some NOT so like you!). You'll hear different ideas, different perspectives, different personalities. You'll learn, you'll grow, you'll make new friends that can last a lifetime. You'll meet tons of new vendors that are PARTICIPATING. - I love vendors who participate - it tells me they are committed to the industry's success  and not just their own. You will be exposed to ideas, people, information and opportunities that you did NOT have access to prior to your participation. You'll be the first to know about networking events hosted by your local association, notified of training opportunities produced by the local association, be in the "know" new trends and products and through your expanding network, get to know the world OUTSIDE of your box. You can take these new ideas, exposures and bring them back to your apartment and apply them to make your apartment community more successful and making you more successful. Talk about a WIN-WIN! That's a SCORE!

In case you are wondering, I participate in my local apartment association, MN Multi-Housing Association (MHA) - one of the best and nationally recognized associations in the U.S. (http://mmha.com/ ) or check them out on facebook!

Participation with your local non-profit brings challenges and HUGE rewards. I participate in a local non-profit affordable housing provider called AEON. (Or you can check them out on facebook. I also mention them in a past blog article.) The challenges are the time commitment involved and understanding that non-profits work a little differently. The rewards are much the same as in the local apartment association - I have chosen to surround myself with other successful people who are COMMITTED to the same CAUSE that I am committed to. The people in that group are as wide as our industry - and every one of them smart, driven and a FORCE to be reckoned with. The contributions I have made by participating have been returned to me ten-fold in the form of new ideas, new connections, new perspectives and new friends.

In a world and time where it is so easy to get caught up in OUR OWN little dramas, a more global PARTICIPATION can help us bring additional focus to our apartment communities and to our own careers. It's YOUR community, it's YOUR career! PARTICIPATE and make it truly YOURS!

With New Year's coming - make it a New Year's resolution to PARTICIPATE!

 Don't get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

Daisy Nguyen is owner and CEO of RENT SODA, a business and marketing consulting company. Become a FAN of RENTSODA, connect on LinkedIn, FOLLOW RENT SODA on Twitter, visit her website, RENT SODA, or read the blog, RENT SODA, Don't Get? GET IT! for more information and regular blog entries.