We had our  monthly meeting  for the staff bloggers we have assembled for the UrbaneBlog.com. In less than a few months we have achieved outstanding results by following the advice of some of the top bloggers. Most of the Urbane bloggers are Urbane Residents. While we have had the blog for about two years, it didn’t really take hold until we put our Residents in charge and we changed our focus to local happenings and things that our residents find of value. As stated in our About Us Page “UrbaneBlog.com wanders through and around life in Royal Oak, southeastern Michigan’s hotspot for new urban living. You might find blatherings about the coolest new organizational tool found at IKEA, info on the latest trends in small space decorating, or the hottest new artist, restaurant, or boutique in the area”

Our blogging rules are pretty simple, the bloggers can blog about whatever they want, consistent with our About Us statement, just be respectful and retain ownership of your comments. There is no editing and there is no approval process. In managing this blog I am following the same premise as a couple of the Small Business Blogs that I am a staff writer for follow. It seems to me, any more rules and we would be attempting to “Control the Message”, which is NOT what Social Media is about.

You too should try this as another way to market your property, but remember you can’t really talk about your property, that is secondary. The residents are primary. Figure out enough ways to converse with them and THEY will talk about your property for you, and then you hit Pay Dirt and have found an alternative and effective means and methods to raise occupancy, raise retention and raise NOI.