David Kotowski's Blog

For the last few weeks I've been experimenting with placing barcodes and tags on different print marketing items. Specifically, I've been using Microsoft Tag and QR (Quick Response) barcodes. After trying them in Atlanta and Houston I've concluded that this is an excellent tool, but possibly ahead of its time.

Here are some things that I've done:

Hopefully you didn't think to yourself "What is Foursquare?" when you read that title.  If you did that's okay, but I'm sorry to tell you that you're already behind the times. Foursquare is the new hot thing. Trust me. I'm a Millennial and I know these things.

 The next thing you might be thinking is "My property is already on MySpace and Facebook. Plus, we post to Craigslist every day and started a Twitter account to repost the listings. That's good enough..."

*insert grumble/moan*

Let's talk about something that I recently discovered I am passionate about discussing. Washers and dryers. Specifically sets that are inside an apartment.

First, let me just say that I love it when communities provide them.  It's definitely worth the investment because they help justify paying higher rent and can provide a bigger per unit return when/if the property sells. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I know from experience on new development deals that appraisers definitely pay attention to that when establishing value.

For prospective residents who don't already own a washer and dryer this can sometimes be their reason for leasing. On the other hand, for those who already own a set, this can be their reason for NOT leasing. Why? Because we refuse to take ours out of the apartment to accommodate. Sorry folks, that doesn't make sense to me.

I love bringing candy filled gift bags with me when I visit businesses near our apartment communities as part of an outreach marketing program.  I've been doing it so long it's something that I don't have to think about when planning marketing visits.  I usually have to put some thought into updating promotional flyers.  However, a cellophane bag of candy tied with a ribbon (holding a business card, of course) doesn't change... but maybe it should.

The bag itself is fine.  So is the ribbon.  The candy could be better. What if it could help communicate my brand and my message?

I recently ordered "Meatball Sundae," one of Seth Godin's newest books. I haven't even finished it yet and I'm already inspired inmany ways (that almost always happens after I read anything Seth has written or discussed) to think about how I do my job. In my case, the "meatballs" in this book are apartment homes. They are something everyone needs and lots of people sell. The "sundae" portion relates to new media and how sometimes two things that are great independently don't always go well together (hence the "meatball sundae" analogy).

A few weeks ago one of my colleagues called to ask my advice for a new client she was advising in Atlanta. We went through the normal things like visiting local businesses, improving the property's curb appeal, and then we got into the social media and "new marketing" she wanted to create for the property. Even though many of us have been using MySpace and Facebook for months (even years), it's a relatively new thing for apartment communities to reach out via those sites. I think it's great, but I don't think you should create online profiles for your properties just for the sake of doing so. You need to have a purpose. In my opinion, the main reasons to go online are to speak to your customers on a level that they prefer and to allow them to communicate with you (and each other). If you go with those things in mind everything else falls into place. In case you don't believe me, just ask Eric Brown of Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, MI. He has created an amazing buzz around his properties using very little money, thus properly serving meatballs covered in cheese and tomato sauce instead of whipped cream and cherries.

• MySpace- If you're not already on MySpace, I think you missed the boat. It's a nice place to display pictures and for users to become your "friend," but there isn't a forum for your customers to communicate (aside from comments). Apartment communities were doing this a lot about 2 years ago (I think Bell Partners actually required all of their properties to list themselves on MySpace), but that's not really the trend right now.
• Facebook- I'm actually a recent Facebook convert and I like it more than MySpace (both personally and professionally). I was surprised to see how many of my professional colleagues were using it to reach out to each other. That leads me to believe that other professionals are using it and they are usually the target audience for apartment advertising. Use this link to sign up your property (individual pages are different than those for a company).
• Twitter - I am all about Twitter and I have been for quite a while. It's taken some time for more people to get online, but now it's the most popular of all social media sites. Hundreds of companies are online reaching out to their customers and it could be very useful for our industry. Bell Partners and McKinley are two companies that have started tweeting company news. In addition to that, Twitter could also be a great place to target specific apartments (maybe from your Hot Sheet). I use it to follow other multifamily executives and our conversations become a great idea sharing forum. You can follow me @DavidKotowski.
• Craigslist- Who isn't posting ads on Craigslist? Everyone should be doing this and many companies are making it easier to create nice looking ads (instead of the boring text and image only ones that are standard). Rentlinx and Postlets are two sites that allow you to create ads and post for free. MyNewPlace customers can sign up for the free service. I've used the MNP version and it's very simple and well designed.
• YouTube - Videos are the best way to promote yourself. I've been doing them for several years and they can be made pretty easily (read my previous article here in case you need information on how to do that). For Rent Magazine has done a lot to expand their video offerings and now make their videos available on YouTube and many other sites.
• 12seconds - I believe that this is going to be the next hot thing. Seriously. I'd compare it to Twitter (where you have a limit of 140 characters), except with videos. You post videos that are 12 seconds long and I think it is a great way to communicate using videos that are quick and informative.
• Yelp - I love Yelp. I've been Yelping for almost 3 years and they have a great free service for business owners. Owners and managers of apartments should verify their communities at biz.yelp.com. You can also reach out through Yelp and offer specials and make announcements. They actually have community managers in several large cities throughout the US, Canada, and England. Some cities get more use than others, so check out your local Yelp community to gauge its usefulness in your market. I found it particularly helpful in Atlanta. Since Yelp is prides itself on "Real People. Real Reviews." it is important that you join as a business owner and not as a regular Yelper. Site users recognize when people join just to shill their company. If you do that you will be publicly humiliated and that's not good for business.

Honestly, I don't even think it's necessary to be on any of these sites. Some of them help you make your sundae, but you can do it all yourself. I am a big believer in the power of having your own blog to sell your meatballs. Read more about that here.

I feel the need to get on my soapbox about an integral part of our industry that I don't think people take very seriously. Resident screening. Every company has their own method of evaluating prospective residents and I'm sure everyone has good intentions, but many of us get caught doing things the old way instead of embracing new technology and information.

I'm a big fan of First Advantage SafeRent. I've used their products in various forms for about 10 years and I am most happy with their new ScorePLUS scoring model. No screening program is perfect, but SafeRent has done a lot to ensure that the companies using their product have as much information as possible to make a good decision. For example, they even take payment history from pawn shops and check cashing companies into consideration now. That's great if your resident profile typically consists of people who may not have a SSN (or even an ITIN).

Why am I bringing all of this up? It's not to make this a big commercial for SafeRent. Far from it. I believe that SafeRent screening works best if people stay out of the decision. I realize this is hard for some of our industry veterans who feel that their discretion and experience is better than a computer program. I disagree. We are not credit experts. Heck, even the credit experts aren't that familiar with current economic trends (mostly because they are brand new AND old habits are changing faster than we realize).