apartments
Ratings and reviews
Mr. Bill Szczytko wrote an important piece over on his blog BSitko. The gist of the post speaks to a ruling handed down in a Virginia court this past week. In essence it calls into question identity of a reviewers’ as a relates to leaving malicious or false remarks about one’s products or services. The court ruled that Yelp must turn over the identities of people who left negative reviews on the basis that they were not true customers of the business who brought the suit.
I don’t care anymore
It got me thinking about the last time that I actually used a review to consider a purchase. It was on Amazon. I took the time to read a couple of reviews written about a book that I intended to buy. I remember getting to the end of the narratives and deciding that I really didn’t care about reviews anymore.
Half of them sounded like sales speak. That is to suggest that somebody who had an interest in selling more books was reviewing the literature in a very positive light. Another group railed against the literature and/or supported it in a way that was just borderline mindless. And still others sounded like – I-need-to-keep-my-review- quota-up-so-I-will-say-a-few-nice-things.
Prediction
At some point in the next three to five years people will revolt against ratings and reviews; writing them off as just another platform overcome by savvy marketers. Gone will be the need or want to know who said what because nobody will care. And gone will be the day that ratings and reviews carried any merit at all.
Your writing ratings and reviews off three to five years ahead of its time MultiFamily Maniac,
M
What is the most important word in marketing?
Most important word in marketing?
Will.
That is it. Everything else is at your fingertips. The Internet. The platforms. The audience. The creativity. Even, the money to do it.
What is lacking?
The will to go for it. Call it fear. Call it lazy. Call it clueless. Nothing fits as a good logical reason.
Last year was the best time to get started. Now is better than tomorrow.
Drive your own traffic. Forget the ILS. Forget print. Forget those that would suggest they are your partner. Learn it and go for it. And guess what – you WILL be okay.
Your understanding that lazy doesn’t cut it Multifamily maniac,
M
Solve for Lonely
Roughly 20% of the of the total American population suffers from some form of loneliness. Some healthy percentage of that number live in apartment communities. As we all know, property managers wear many hats. And one of those hats runs akin to the various professional counseling services.
Solve for Lonely
- Say hello to people
- Smile when you see them
- Wave
- Wave from afar and yell their name out
- Make random monthly calls to people – just because
- Drop by someones apartment unexpectedly
- Pull out their social data – likes, dislikes, what they collect, what they like to do in their spare time.
- Don’t wait until renewal time to give them the free prize inside
- Don’t settle on typical renewal concessions, carpet cleaning, or fixture updating
- Make people feel like a million bucks
- Go for something people will talk about –
How do you get to that last point?
By exercising all the points before it. If you learn through conversation that Charles likes music – drop him a random iTunes gift card – just because. If Mike loves Starbucks – drop him a gift card out of the blue (My friend Michael Cunningham did in fact send me such a gift). I thought that was pretty darn cool and I still talk about it.
People Need a Push
People are lonely and in the same respect they need a push. And that does not mean they need to attend our pool party or resident function. Sometimes that just means saying hello, smiling or dropping by. Sometimes it means a small token gift card.
Best kept Apartment Leasing Secret
This ranks up there with answering lead medium whatever they may be (telephone, text message, facebook post, email, etc..) following up and asking for the sale:
What is Your Gut Worth
How many times have you sat back and said, I wish I would have just listened to my gut? My guess is likely equal to the several times you sat back and said, I wish I would have listened to my parents, coach, mentor or other significant people in my life.
Can’t Keep it In
Like Cat Steven’s suggests in the first two lines of his classic – Can’t Keep it In:
Oh I can’t keep it in,
I can’t keep it in, I’ve gotta let it out.
Now – Cat was waxing poetic about a number of themes on arguably a number of levels. But somewhere buried in there, I think he was admonishing multifamily maniacs on the need to trust thy guts. His overarching folk music profession in Can’t Keep it In was for types like us to rock the multifamily universe with the one and only thing we truly own in this world. Our voice.
You’ve got so much to say, say what you mean,
Mean what you’re thinking, and think anything.
Catch a Tiger by the Tail and an Elephant’s Behind
I know a cool cat in the multifamily business that waxed a poetic line that has held true in my head:
I would prefer to catch a tiger by the tail than light a fire under an elephant’s ass.
The other Cats take on this:
You allow too much to go by, and that won’t do.
Translation: Stop – Stand Up – Trust thy Gut – Speak Up – Shut Up (with the bad gut negative can’t do attitude mucky muck) – And Go and Do
Guess what – it’s highly likely someone has that same thought and the same gut arrest that you have. And guess what happens when you don’t speak up in that situation – two or more people get cheated. You out of being a better person the rest of the group out of being a better group.
Your no stupid thoughts or questions in my book multifamily maniac,
M
