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Daisy Nguyen Minneapolis

5 Things To Do NOW to Deter Crime From Your Apartment Community

Sep 1st, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

Crime is an issue in any apartment community. Because apartments communities are denser populations, your apartment complex can be appealing to criminals – in a short amount of time, over a short distance of space, they have access to a higher number of “opportunities.” What are some affordable tips that you can implement NOW that can help deter crime from your apartment communities?

5 Things YOU Can Do NOW to Deter Crime From Your Apartment Communities:

  1. Take care of graffiti as soon as possible. Leaving a graffiti tag on your building only sends the message that your management either doesn’t care or is lax in the maintenance of the building. If you are lax with the maintenance of the building, would be thieves may believe you will be lax with the security of the building, the legal process, etc.
  2. Install good lightening around the perimeter of your community/apartment building. When I spoke with the Minneapolis police department, they don’t recommend motion lightening in favor of lightening that is turned on a dusk and off at dawn. Their reason: crooks will run into a dark alley, along a dark street and look for opportunities. Even if the lights come on once they on that street or alley, you’ve invited them in. Rather, light the streets and alleys, and those same crooks will avoid your street/alley way altogether.
  3. Leave windows to public areas unobstructed & lighted. Again, the best deterrent in crime is the appearance that the entire neighborhood could be watching. Especially where your community space may face a busy street, make sure the view into the space (i.e. community room) is not obstructed by potted plants, trees, etc. Thieves don’t want to be seen when they are thieving. Where possible, install motion lightening in your interior public spaces – if someone were to break into your community room or office after hours, the space will light up, and with the windows unobstructed, any activity going on in your community room has the possibility of being seen by all.
  4. Plant thorny vines or plants along walls or fences to deny access & prevent graffiti. If you have an area that is frequently tagged with graffiti, have an area that attracts unwanted activity, or have a wall that you want to keep people off – plant thorny vines or bushes. Nobody likes to be pricked by rose bushes or thorny vines – even toughened criminals or your harmless neighborhood juveniles.
  5. In parking areas, like garages & parking lots, post signs to remind residents and guests to lock their cars and take their valuables with them.

Don’t be a willing victim. Without the right “opportunities” for criminals, they WILL move onto greener pastures – that don’t include your apartment buildings.

These are my favorite cost effective, affordable, easy to implement crime deterrents - what are yours?

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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“I’m So Glad You Called Today” – 4 Phone Tips to Turn a Call into an Apartment Tour

Aug 26th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

Phones have been around for over 140 years, so answering the phone is nothing new – or is it?

Having a great telephone conversation is one of the best and most powerful apartment marketing/leasing techniques in our industry.

It sets the stage for the rest of the leasing experience for your apartment prospect. Are you putting your best foot forward?

In the apartment business, a successful prospect call is one where we turn the telephone apartment inquiry into an appointment. What are the best ways to turn a phone call into a apartment tour appointment?

These are  my

top favorite tried and true phone leasing techniques

to turn that apartment telephone inquiry into an apartment tour appointment:

  1. Once you have identified yourself, find a way to let your phone prospect know how happy you are that they called TODAY. – If your caller says they are looking for an apartment, you should respond with, “I’m so glad you called today!...” and follow-up the comment with your specials or other related comment. “I’m so happy you called today,” is a great way to pause the conversation and inject some personal positive attention to your caller.
  2. What’s in a name? EVERYTHING. If the caller gives you their name – use it. If they don’t, ask them for their name – and use it. People love to hear their names – it acknowledges the fact that they are an individual and not just another caller. It will help you bond with the person over the phone. Using someone’s name is very intimate. Get the name and USE it.
  3. If you are comfortable, assume that the caller wants to set an appointment, and give them a couple of choices of times you have available for an appointment. With all the information available on the internet, most of your callers already know enough about your apartment community/complex to be ready to set an appointment for the leasing tour. – Assume they want the tour and work on scheduling it. If you are not comfortable with assuming your caller wants an apartment tour, then ask them if they would like to schedule a tour.
  4. At the end of each call, always thank your apartment prospect by name for calling you!

Your call should go something like this:

RING RING!

You: Thank you for calling ABC Apartments, how may I help you? (smile!)

Caller: I’m interested in finding a 1 bedroom apartment.

You: My name is Daisy – Can I get your name?

Caller: My name is Jane.

You: Jane, I’m so happy you called today! We have some great looking 1 bedroom apartments that just became available. Do you have any particular preferences you want to share?

Caller: I want to be on the top floor.

You: Great! I have 2 apartments on the top floor overlooking the park, and …

…(more conversations, get prospect info, bond, etc.)

You: I have appointments available this Thursday at 10:15AM, 4:30PM or Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to tour our apartment community and see the apartments we have available. What time would work best for you?

Caller: Saturday morning at 10:00AM.

You: Jane, thanks so much for calling today, and I can’t wait to show you our community on Saturday at 10:00AM!

There are lots of telephone leasing techniques out there. The objective is to schedule that apartment tour. These are my favorite phone tips, what are yours?

By the way, I’m so glad you read my blog post today! THANK YOU!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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TOP 5 RENT SODA Blogs – Thanks for Reading!

Aug 2nd, 2010
by daisynguyen.
1 comment

The great thing about good content, it continues to be GOOD CONTENT. We are always striving for good blogs for our loyal readers!

As the small type on the picture states:

You can never learn less, you can only learn more. – Fuller R. Buckminster

In case you missed out on some of the best, here’s a recap of what the past 6 months had to offer in the way of RENT SODA blogs:

TOP 5 RENT SODA blog posts:

5.) How To Be Successful In the Apartment Industry: Participate, Participate, Participate!

4.) What Kind of Job are YOU Looking For? Anything Less Than the Best is a Felony!

3.) Apartment Jobs: From Resume to Job Offer: How to get the CALL! – not surprising that this blog post received so much traffic, given the current job market.

2.) Apartment Marketing: Print Advertising for Dummies – this blog won the BLOG OF THE MONTH on MultiFamily Insider’s! The post was picked up and published in the March edition of the Houston Apartment Association’s Abode print magazine.

And the #1 MOST read RENT SODA blog is:

1.) TOP 10 TIPS to Get the Most out of your Craigslist Apartment Ads – We received over 2500 hits on this article in less than 3 weeks, over 400+ hits on the first day alone.

Thank you for reading, and please check back often! Recommend our blog to your friends and co-workers, association, peers, etc. We are ALWAYS working on more great content for you!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Got VACANCY? Apartment Models – Is it a DO or DON’t or CAN’t Afford It?

Jul 29th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

If you have vacant apartments, and thinking about modeling an apartment, you’re probably thinking, can you afford it?

You can’t afford NOT to have a model!

CONSIDER THIS:

  1. All new apartment developments I work with have apartment models. If the apartment has lots of different floor plans, especially if there are any odd angles, or funky spaces, or weird lighting, usually, the question isn’t “Should we have a model?” it turns to “How many models can we have?” Typically, when we do a model, the modeled floor plan leases up MUCH more quickly than other floor plans, leasing activity spikes, and the closing ratio’s rise.
  2. In the real estate world, (for-sale of single family homes), it is widely accepted that A.) Potential buyers make their decision to purchase a home in the first 30 seconds upon entering. First impression is the key! and B.) well staged homes sell for 30-50% faster than their counterparts. (Not only do they sell fast, they usually sell for MORE.) (real estate facts found here.)

Which feels more welcome to you? The vacant room or the staged/modeled family room?

What happened to that school of thought – give them a blank slate, and let them imagine it themselves! The reality is, people have stressful lives, they want immediate gratification, they want EASY. Why is television so much more popular than books these days? Television is easy gratification, no imagination needed. People don’t have to think after a long stressful day. Let’s give them EASY folks! Make it easy for your prospects to imagine living in your apartment community – in one of your apartments. After a long stressful day at the office, or a long day of apartment hunting, having imagination is the last thing on your prospect’s mind. Make it EASY for them! Make the model apartment feel welcoming!

The question always comes back to COST. If you have more than 10 vacant units at a time – you can’t afford NOT to have a model. Consider this example of vacancy loss:

OK, let’s make it easy and do the math. Let’s say we’re talking about ABC Apartments. They have 100 units. Their average rents are $1000.00/unit.

Prior to the rental market taking a downward turn, ABC Apartments has been running along great, apartments never took very long to lease, and they had been at 97% occupancy for many years. (only 3 vacant apartments)

Fast forward to today, they are at 88% physical occupancy, which means they are at 12% vacancy or 12 vacant apartments. All of the sudden, they are struggling with just staying ahead of the renewals and turnover. Increasing the occupancy in the midst of the resident turnover looks very daunting.

Let’s do the math.

At 97% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

(Average Apartment Rents) x (# of Vacant Apartment Units)

$1000.00 x 3 vacant apartment units = $3000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. This is what they are used to operating at. Annually (x12), this amounts to $36,000.00 of annual vacancy loss.

TODAY, the apartment project is at 88% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

$1000.00 x 12 vacant apartment units = $12,000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. Annually (x12), this amounts to $144,000.00.

The different in vacancy loss monthly is $9000.00! ($12,000 – $3000) And annually, the difference is $108,000.00! ($144,000 – $36,000)

If we apply the real estate facts – that well staged homes sell 30-50% faster than their vacant counterparts, how much does the $108,000.00 mean to this apartment project? The Owner/Developers/Investors? The apartment community manager?

If we can spend a couple thousand dollars (or a few thousand – depending on your budget, your property, and your clientele) and reduce the vacancy by 30-50% over the next couple of months, wouldn’t that model be TOTALLY worth it?

My next blog will focus on budget conscious tips for putting together a model! It doesn’t need to cost a FORTUNE to make an IMPRESSION! Please check back to read all about it!

Don’t GET IT? Make it EASY! RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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MOBILIZE Your Apartment Website For Smartphones, iPhones, Blackberries!

Jul 22nd, 2010
by daisynguyen.
5 comments

Smart phones, iPhones, Blackberries are everywhere. They keep us connected to our world – through the phone, internet, text messaging, etc.

I am addicted to mine. Not JUST addicted to it, but I LOVE it.

And I LOVE it even more, when my favorite sites have applications for my mobile device OR they have “mobilized” their websites for mobile devices. Not only do I LOVE those people who have mobile apps or mobilized websites, I am ANNOYED when someone doesn’t have a mobile app or mobilized website!

It used to be that you had to have a website. THAT is SO 1999. TODAY, you have to have a mobilized website!

Surprising, in the apartment industry, so few of our websites are mobilized. And when it comes right down to it, it’s due to pricing, leaving only the big guys able to afford to mobilize their websites. SAD!

RENT SODA’s blog is now “mobilized” thanks to a FREE application that took only 3 minutes of set-up time. In my attempt to mobilize my blog, I found it amazingly simple and FREE to mobilize it! Here’s the service I currently use:

http://mippin.com

Instructions are simple:

1.) Sign-up for an account

2.) Use the “MIPPIN MOBILIZER” – enter in your website URL or feed URL.

3.) Choose your lay-out

I was up and running in 3 minutes, with a few minor glitches:

  • I found that my blog title and my blog article titles were running OVER each other. – I emailed customer service, and they fixed it within 24 hours. (WOW – and this is free!)

Other things you should know about mippin:

  1. This service hosts the mobilized version of your website on their servers – which means mobile traffic is redirected to a URL that they host. (i.e. your traffic is leaving your site)
  2. They do support advertising on the mobilized version of your site through ADMOB – you keep 100% of the revenues. I have not tried this as I do not want ads on my blog, mobilized or non-mobilized. :-)
  3. Even if a website is not on the mippin server, if you goto mippin.com, and use them as a browser for any website that has an rss feed option, it will try to mobilize that website for your viewing pleasure.

I mobilized my blog (http://blog.rentsoda.com ) – I’m curious to see someone mobilize their apartment’s website and give us feedback on that process, and how it looks, so please leave a comment if you have used this to mobilize your apartment website.

Do you know of other services that are able to mobilize websites FREE or at a low cost? Please leave a comment and share with everyone!

Don’t GET IT? MOBILIZE IT! RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Leasing Agent Compensation?…First a word about VACANCY!

Jul 14th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

As a consultant to the apartment industry, I am asked a LOT, “What’s fair leasing agent compensation? Is their a leasing commission structure you would recommend?”

There is no easy or short answer to this question, so let’s take a round about way of discuss it, and then my next article will zoom RIGHT into what I recommend.

I find it a little backwards when people want to know what OTHER properties or OTHER management companies are doing when it comes to leasing agent compensation. I never say it out loud, but I’m always thinking, “What’s it worth to YOU?” (as owner/manager) AND, “What’s it worth to THEM?” (your leasing agent/leasing specialist)  What do I mean by that?

FIRST, let’s first talk about the REAL problem – VACANCY.

I don’t have a vacancy problem!

Well, then, you shouldn’t worry about leasing agent compensation then!

OK, OK. Let’s talk about vacancy…

TO make it easy, let’s say we’re talking about ABC Apartments. They have 100 units. Their average rents are $1000.00/unit.

Prior to the rental market taking a downward turn, ABC Apartments has been running along great, apartments never took very long to lease, and they had been at 97% occupancy for many years.

Fast forward to today, they are at 88% physical occupancy, which means they are at 12% vacancy. All of the sudden, they are struggling with just staying ahead of the renewals and turnover. Increasing the occupancy in the midst of the resident turnover looks very daunting.

Let’s do the math.

At 97% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

(Average Rents) x (# of Vacant Units)

$1000.00 x 3 vacant units = $3000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. This is what they are used to operating at. Annually (x12), this amounts to $36,000.00 of annual vacancy loss.

TODAY, at 88% occupancy, the vacancy loss is:

$1000.00 x 12 vacant units = $12,000.00 of vacancy loss monthly. Annually (x12), this amounts to $144,000.00.

The different in vacancy loss monthly is $9000.00! ($12,000 – $3000) And annually, the difference is $108,000.00! ($144,000 – $36,000)

How much does the $108,000.00 mean to the site? The Owner/Investors? The manager? Now that we have things in perspective, it brings up a WHOLE bunch of other questions, like:

  1. Do you have the right staff in place? If your maintenance guy is doing showings – you may have a problem.
  2. Do you have a plan in place for resident retention? If you have vacancy problems, you HAVE to have a plan in place to close the back door to your vacancy problem.
  3. Is your staff properly trained? Not just in customer service, but in closing on leases?
  4. Is your staff properly motivated and positioned to succeed? (This question leads into the real TOPIC: What’s a fair Leasing Agent compensation package?

Do you have other questions? Other considerations? Leave me a comment in the COMMENTS section!

My next blog article, will discuss different leasing compensation programs, and how to pick what works best for you, your site, and your staff.

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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New to the Apartment Industry/Job/Career? 4 Stages to an Epiphany!

Jul 13th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
1 comment

Are you new to the apartment industry? New to your employer? New career? New promotion? On a new project? There are 4 stages that every NEWBIE goes through before becoming comfortable in the new position.

When I first started at Dominium Management Services several years ago, I was lucky enough to take a class called “Managing for New Managers,” taught by a wonderful human resources mentor named Claudia. I took away a few lessons from that class, that not only helped me in my new job - I still remember those tips to this day and pass along this info to all newbies I meet!

Before we get started, I first want to mention for anyone who is new to the apartment industry: CONGRATS! You have just joined the most exciting, most demanding, most fun, most fullfilling, most intelligent, most rewarding industry – EVER! If your manager hasn’t prepared you, I’m preparing you now:

4 Stages to an Epiphany in the Apartment Industry

  1. STAGE 1: UNCONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT: You read it right. INCOMPETENT. In this stage, you’re feeling good. You just landed a job – especially in this economy, this is quite a feat! You beat out the hundreds of other applicants and you were chosen as the best fit for the job. CONGRATS! You’re being introduced to everyone, your resume is being passed around, people are oohing and ahhing. Everyone LOVES  you and can’t wait for you to get started. YOU can’t wait to get started! You feel important, after all, you’re working for ABC Apartments/ABC Management Company and they own millions worth in real estate. The honeymoon’s just begun. This feeling can last anywhere from a week to a month before you head into…
  2. STAGE 2: CONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETANT: This is when you start to feel a little insecure. There’s SOOOO much to learn! You’ve just started to realize you are in charge of this multi-million dollar asset, and no one’s ever trusted you with even $100 before, let alone an asset worth millions! Then there’s Fair Housing – oh my! They expect you to market, lease, understand financials, manage people, respond to residents, live on site, deal with maintenance issues, vacuum on occasion, AND all with a smile, please and a thank you. Budgets? Maintenance? HAP? HUD?  OOOOOHHHHH MY. You’re ready to pull your hair out and rethink this whole new industry, whole new career, whole new job thing. BUT STOP! This stage is perfectly NORMAL. I tell ALL new job applicants, and all new hires, give it 90 days, and if you don’t feel better by the end of 90 days, let’s have a serious talk. The good news is, EVERYONE goes through this, it’s perfectly normal, and it WILL get better. I’ve done takeovers where I’ve had people cry in my office because of how overwhelming it is – and they’re not use to the chaos of change. Give it 90 days, and those same people are skipping, having a good old time, and thanking me for letting them know – IT’s OK. This stage usually lasts anywhere from 90-120 days, with some relief right around 90 days.
  3. STAGE 3: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: At this stage, you’re starting to GET IT now. It’s not easy, but you know where to find the answers, and you’re starting to kind of like the job/industry/career! You understand what your job entails, and you’re starting to understand not only where you fit into the equation, but the whole bigger equation of the APARTMENT industry. Things that seemed like a foreign language to you, terms like, gross potential rent, RUBS, HAP, HUD, NOI, cost per lease, marketing cost per unit, traffic, replacement reserves, Yardi, MRI, multi-family residential – terms once alien, are starting to roll off your tongue. Things that used to bother you (residents coming into your office and interrupting your line of thought, vendors vying for your time, overly dramatic leasing agents, non-communicative maintenance technicians, etc.)  – are now an everyday part of your life. You’re drinking the koolaid, and it’s starting to taste good. You see light at the end of the tunnel, and you contemplate taking a day off – soon.
  4. STAGE 4: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: EPIPHANY! Then one day, all the sudden, you’re walking along, multi-tasking with your blackberry in one hand, maintenance work orders in the other hand, picking up trash/stuffing it your pockets, and just as you round the corner, your leasing agent and maintenance guy are waiting with an angry resident in tow. You have 10 minutes to compose yourself and your office before your apartment owners/asset manager/big-wigs come for their annual visit. You smile, look at your crew, and say, “What a beautiful day outside. Let’s talk about what’s bothering you so you can enjoy the rest of the morning!” An epiphany hits and you realize, I LOVE this crazy industry/job/career, and if not for the variety, people, experiences, life could be SOOOO boring! I’m GETTING IT! WHOOHOO!

Loss of new hires usually occurs at STAGE 2. Before you give up or before you allow YOUR new hire to give up! Realize, IT’s OK. Give it time, and you’ll GET IT.

Since I’ve started to tell every new employee I hire about these stages and open the door for honest discussion, give them permission and encourage them to vent to me during STAGE 2, my employee turnover has dropped significantly. In addition – those people will come vent, talk and sometimes cry in my office – but 90 days later, they are laughing with me, hugging me, and asking for new projects and challenges. I LOVE this crazy apartment industry!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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TOP 10 TIPS to Get the MOST Out of CRAIGSLIST Apartment Ads

Jul 12th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
8 comments

Craigslist, when smartly used as part of your marketing/advertising campaign, can become one of your apartment community’s top traffic generators. If it’s not, you’re not getting the most out of your Craigslist ads.

Here are the TOP 10 Things You Need to Know to Maximize Your Craigslist Ads for your Apartment Community:

  1. Generally, web traffic is highest during the week, especially during working hours of 8:00AM – 5:00PM. For the apartment industry on Craigslist, the highest traffic day is actually on SUNDAY. According to Yield Technologies, their RENTSENTINEL product, a web-based application that manages posting content for rental properties, they have noticed that Sunday’s see much less posting activity for apartments than any other day of the week. Couple that with higher traffic, and your posting efforts will get the biggest audience with less competition! (SUNDAYS have the HIGHEST average views/ad than any other day for our apartment industry!) This is true of every portfolio class, geographic location or market segment.
  2. Although Craigslist is “free,” there are TONS of different services available that can help you manage your content, produce “snazzier” looking ads, track traffic, provide analytics, and MORE – OH MY! Some more common ones include RENTSENTINEL and POSTLETS. Depending on your needs and preferences, these may work for you, are pretty affordable, and provide lots of extra’s to help you maximize your craigslist ads. There are TONS of other services available – if you know of some additional ones, leave a link in the COMMENTS section of this blog post and share with everyone! OR Leave a comment about your experience with the services listed here.
  3. PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES! – And not just any old snapshot – make sure to have good lighting, take pictures of clean, rent ready or model units – try to make an positive impression that gets your target market to pick up the phone and call you! Don’t turn them off with the wrong picture.
  4. Many people ask me, “what generates more traffic? The traditional organic craigslist ads or the jazzed up ones with hyperlinks, pictures, formatting, etc?” The answer is that they BOTH work. The key to a successful craigslist campaign is VARIETY. Switch it up between your traditional craigslist ads and fancier ones.
  5. Speaking of VARIETY, switch up your posts! Make sure you have an ad targeted specifically to attract your 1 bedroom renters, or your pet lovers, or one to attract roommates, or one to highlight the fact that you are near a bus route, etc! Be sure to keep within fair housing rules, but there is nothing that says you can’t switch up your ads and highlight specific features. Variety is the spice of life, and so it is with apartments on craigslist!
  6. Speaking of PETS, whether your building is pet-friendly or does NOT allow pets, there IS a specific market for THAT! Make sure to have a specific ad targeted towards your pet lovers (for those apartment communities that accept pets) or ones that specifically state that you do NOT allow pets. Believe it or not, there are those people who look specifically for pet-free buildings, due to allergies, conditions, fear, etc. If you are targeting pet-owners, be sure to use the Craigslist “Meow” and “Woof” options to state you are pet friendly, in addition to including this information in your title/content.
  7. And since we are drilling down on specific life style choices, a choice that is becoming increasingly popular in apartment searches is “smoke free apartment.” There are new organizations promoting living smoke-free popping up everyday. Here in Minnesota, one that is making quite a splash is LIVESMOKEFREE. Make sure to include those words for the craigslist search engines (as well as all other search engines) to pick up!
  8. While we are on the topic of search engines, make sure to include search engine friendly terms in your ad! If you are near a bus-line, post that. If you are near shopping/retail, make sure to mention the shopping or retail center name. If you are in a highly sought-after school district, name the school district or even better, name the schools. If you are nears parks, name the parks. People search for apartments based on their lifestyle choices, and if those choices are based upon transportation, schools, shopping, food, retail, etc – YOU will get picked up in their search, and your competition might get buried in the masses….
  9. Another question I get asked constantly – “how often should I post?” From my perspective, it’s not a matter of “how often,” but more importantly, CONSISTENCY. According to Eric Broughton of Yield Company’s RentSentinel product, ”the most important global trend is for communities to post their available units on a consistent basis, don’t take a day off from posting an available unit, your competitors aren’t.  Equally important is respecting the craigslist community and not posting multiple ads in a short period of time.  Never post more than 1 ad in the same hour, and never post for the same unit type more than once in 24 hours.  Our analytics show that following these simple rules will provide far greater results than someone that spams a region with multiple ads over and over again.”
  10. And lastly, and MOST importantly, be a good Craigslist Citizen. Common sense folks! Pay attention to things such as knowing the Craigslist Terms of Use, posting only available Units/Unit Types, not over-posting (never more than 1 ad per hour and 8 total ads in a day – this is for LARGE sites – many of you may not have larger enough sites, where posting every other day is more than enough), and posting to only one category and region at a time.  As an industry we can all be more effective and increase our traffic if we use the craigslist environment for which it was intended which is bringing renters and landlords together in an open marketplace. Let’s not ruin the “free” part of craigslist, by over-doing it. In some regions, and some industries, craigslist DOES impose fees. (See Craigslist FactSheet.)

Please leave comments on any tips I might have missed, leave comments about other craigslist applications or services, and your experiences with these services!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not affiliated with Yield Technologies or Postlets. Yield Technologies has provided me with information for this blog post. THANK YOU! (Roboblaster, another posting service also provided information for this blog, however, at the time of publication, they have folded.)

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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RENT SODA Welcomes Jim Baumgartner!

Jul 6th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

It’s July, and RENT SODA is shaking it up once again – with groundbreaking news: (drum roll please!)

WELCOME JIM BAUMGARTNER to team RENT SODA!

With the addition of Jim, we are adding more texture to the RENT SODA landscape through rich experience & ideas. Our end result will remain the same: striving to help RENT SODA clients achieve excellence and success in the evolving marketplace.

And now, a note from JIM:

The Year of the Tiger!

Last February several friends commented that this year—the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar—was my year.  They predicted a year of change!  I had my doubts but they were right.

My last day as Vice President of Operations for Bigos Management was June 25th.  After over four amazing years it was time to move on to new challenges—the urge to shake it up struck!  I am thankful for the amazing people and experiences I have enjoyed.  During my time at Bigos we built several new projects—including the amazing Lowertown Lofts in Downtown St. Paul, The Gables at Park Pointe in St. Louis Park and a new office building in Golden Valley.  We also started a new quarterly training/personnel development program, maintenance zone restructure, implemented energy-saving measures and came through the recession several percentage points better than industry average.  It has been good!

Now for the change—I have joined Daisy Nguyen at Rent Soda where I will be developing training programs, assessing the feasibility of new developments, creating marketing programs and assisting clients in achieving excellence amongst many other exciting things. 

Please take a moment to update my contact information:

Cell:  612-710-0546

Email: Jim {at} RentSoda(.)com

Web:  Http://rentsoda.com

Look for me on Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter: JimWBaumgartner

Watch for exciting new updates and announcements over the next couple of weeks.  If you have any questions or would like to learn more about Rent Soda please feel free to contact Daisy or me.

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Cheers!

Jim Baumgartner in Minneapolis, MN

Senior Vice President, RENT SODA

 RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Jim {at} RentSoda(.)com

DON’T GET IT? RENT SODA!GET IT!

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Apartment Leasing Tips Learned From George W. Bush at #NAA10 – Education Conference

Jul 1st, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

At the NAA 2010 Education Conference last week in New Orleans, the keynote speaker was George W. Bush.

I didn’t know what to expect and was a little leery how this would fit into the rest of the week. When I walked out from the session, not only did I have a little crush on George W., I had a new-found appreciation for him. As I reflected on his session, I realized, there were many things we can apply from George W.’s speaking techniques that could help us lease apartments! How did he turn me from “a little leery” to a “fan with newfound appreciation?” Here are some of my observations:

1. George talked about his family. He openly appreciated his wife, talked about his struggles with his children regarding his work, and how much he loved his parents. In the first few minutes of his speech, he became immediately human to me - I quickly identified with him. Looking around the audience, I saw that almost everyone could identify with appreciating a spouse, struggles with family-work balance, and love of parents. As apartment leasing agents, sales professionals, or in any business interactions, identifying with your prospect/client/ business associate sets the stage for transition to the next stage of the sale – your pitch.

2. Next, George W. spoke about his beliefs and his values. In this portion, he was passionate and moving. Whatever my position was, I found myself understanding his point of view. In the leasing of apartments, this would be your value proposition. Whatever objections your prospects might have, you’ll need to find a way to overcome them or at the very least, have them believe in your value proposition. Being passionate and believable makes this process an easier transition to the next step – the closing.

3. Lastly, George W spoke about his toughest decisions, and why he made the decisions he made. He was convincing – and if he were selling something, I would have happily signed on the dotted line right then and there.

George W. made we laugh with his humor, nod in agreement with his personality and cheer out loud for his passions. When he was done I GOT IT.

What were your observations of George W. Bush at the NAA (National Apartment Association) Education Conference?

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

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