Episode 43 - Do you have the right to be the judge?

Following up after "Are you the next American Idol?" I wanted to challenge the judges (management) to make sure they are worthy of being a judge and what that means. If we, as managers, are going to encourage great art then we have to do it the right way.

Episode 42 - Are you the next American Idol?

Yo, check it dog, what's happenin'. So, here's the deal. Execs & Regionals, we are the judges. Managers & Leasing Peeps, you are the artists. Start watching American Idol and look at it from this perspective. You're going to find that as artists you have an opportunity to maximize your talent (and you have the talent). When you get this far in the competition it's not that you don't have the talent, it's that you have a choice. A choice to bring the "Wow factor" or to just sing within yourself. It's a choice, and as execs/regionals (judges) we have the choice to encourage bringing the "Wow factor" or to just push for the status quo. The rules and guidelines and scripts that your management company provides just allow us to be average and sing within ourselves. It's about going beyond, making it your own, finding out what kind of artist you are to make it work, stand out, and bring the "Wow factor".

Just a thought ...

Local business is why your community exists.





Discuss amongst yourselves. :)

or discuss here ;)

Who to Follow - Mike Whaling

You're probably already following this guy, but if not here's Mike's info and links. Definitely someone to follow if you need some online insight or assistance. He's always willing to lend a hand and is a Jack of all trades!

www.30lines.com
Facebook
Twitter
Podcast

Episode 40 - What are you waiting for?

A pretty simple question, but one I ask myself all the time.

Who to Follow - Lisa Trosien

If you are in the apartment industry you may have seen Lisa speak at an Apartment All-stars event or an industry convention. Online she gives even more. She writes an excellent blog that always surprises you with her insight. She helps to host the #aptchat on Friday afternoons on Twitter. She's not only extremely active on Twitter she also is super active on Facebook. How she has time to do it all is beyond me, but the articles, blog posts, and links she shares are always full of great information. I'm really excited to add her to the list as the first apartment industry person of Who to Follow. You rock Lisa!

Episode 33 - Are you cleaning out the clutter on Facebook?

I think this can apply to any social network, but I'll start with Facebook. The question is whether it's time to clean out the clutter on Facebook, and what to do when your "fans" start cleaning out their clutter. What's your plan/strategy?

Episode 31 - What are you measuring in 2010?

As we adopt new technology, social media, etc., etc., I'm curious how well everyone is planning to measure what you are doing and how you apply the results you get back to continuously improve. What are you planning on measuring better in 2010?

Episode 25 - There's no cookie cutter approach to social media

Yes, the tools are the same, but with each company/brand your approach will vary (even in the same industry). This is especially true in multifamily. For years we've continued to use marketing sources that essentially level the playing field and mainly compare our communities/apartments by price. Social media allows you to become unique again, and that doesn't happen by just copying what someone else is doing. We will begin to see some best practices, but each company's approach will still be custom and unique. This is why social media is not easy, but also why it pays dividends. Here's my video regarding these thoughts and some more fun stuff.

Episode 24 - This is why Social Media is critical to Multifamily

Seth Godin had a great post today, Lead with your glass jaw. I found this extremely relevant to the multifamily industry and share my thoughts for how it applies. Please share with decision makers in your company and those that have a negative opinion about rating sites or social media in general. Thanks everyone and enjoy your day!

Episode 21 - Conference Recap / What's Your Take-away?

What a great week. Tons of ideas. Thanks to the Indiana Apartment Association and to Tami Siewruk and her team for putting together some great conferences. Here's my thoughts. Let me know yours. Enjoy the holiday week!

Building Your Online Corporate Mullet

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Realpage was very gracious to invite us to speak at their 2009 user conference, and we ended up having standing room only for our presentation. Very humbled for the excellent turnout and kudos to Kate Good and Lisa Trosien for recommending our session during their presentations.

When thinking of what to speak about I somehow immediately thought of this concept my good friend Duncan Alney, with Firebelly Marketing, had been brainstorming about, The Corporate Mullet. It's a metaphor for your business and how wearing some business up front and a party in the back is a great way to build a brand and relationships offline and online. We focused on building the corporate mullet online specifically for the apartment industry, and used case studies from Urbane Apartments, J.C. Hart Company, and some non-apartment industry companies. Below is our slide show sharing some of our data. If you have any questions about our presentation please feel free to write a comment or email me directly at mark@theapartmentnerd.com. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day.

Building Your Online Corporate Mullet

View more presentations from themarketingnerd.

Episode 6 -Twitter #AptChat

I know, it's crazy! Two posts in one week, but I had to do it. @LisaTrosien is rockin' it with her Friday #AptChat on Twitter. While I have yet to be able to participate, I like to go back in and read through the stream. This last Friday was all about Twitter and using in to market your properties or management companies. I have a few thoughts on the topic and would love to know your opinion as well. You may want to read this article as well for some food for thought.

I look forward to someday participating in one of these #aptchat sessions, but 4 on a Friday in the summer is tough. We'll see. So here's my thoughts on one particular aspect of the chat and I also pose a question to everyone in regards to being or not being on Twitter. Enjoy!

Episode 5 - Integrated Marketing Communications

OK, Beth Harte is on a roll in recent weeks. As I dug deeper into some posts I had not read, I found this topic that I believe really hits home in our industry.

For me, I feel many departments are interacting more with Marketing due to technology, websites, social media, and the Internet in general. IT & Marketing, Marketing & PR, Communications & Marketing, HR & Marketing, Customer Service & Marketing, etc. I think Beth references an interesting topic with integrated marketing communications in her post "Communication Silos Don't Work". One of the biggest complaints we continue to hear in our industry is communication breakdown. What I am suggesting in this week's video is, while Finance dominates our industry, Marketing needs to take its place as the glue and hub for company communications. Thanks for stopping by.

Episode 4 - PR and PR 2.0

I was reading some recent posts from Beth Harte about PR and PR 2.0, and at J.C. Hart we have recently been focusing some more of our efforts on some traditional PR.

So in this week's episode, I'd like to address Public Relations and what it means to everyone today. With social media continuing to grow we're essentially becoming PR agents for our own personal brands as well as the companies we represent. I'll take a quote right from one of Beth's posts:

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “I am not in PR.” Well, guess what? If you are engaged in social media, you are in PR now.

Here's the video, and I hope to hear your thoughts on PR for your management company off and online. Thanks for stopping by.