St. Louis Apartments
Multifamily Management: Release
“My motto is ‘release’ I have it written in my violin case. ‘Release’ , meaning, ‘Step back a little’. Those are the words of world renowned violin virtuoso Charlie Siem. It struck me as I was reading through the latest copy of Monocle magazine. So many times in life and in the multifamily business we get caught up in the detail of things. We major in the minors making huge mountains out of what should be considered but mere speed bumps in the path of progress.
Major in the Majors
Charlie goes on to say, “Because when you hone in on all the tiny details, it’s natural to tense up – and then nothing flows.” Suffice it to say that everything moves at the speed of light anymore. Not when you tense up and take time to focus on the minutia at a very granular level. It stalls flow, it mitigates advancement and it stifles trust.
Granted mistakes can be and always are traced to the details of things and more astutely to people. Causes are often found in flawed policy and or application of business practices by teams or individuals. It’s still, at least in my head, not cause for alarm but rather time to address the mess and move on; a teachable moment.
I rather think you pick a course, put your metrics [budget] in place, gear yourself up [get the right people on the bus] and run the marathon set before you. Understand that you will experience adversities along the way, just make sure you have plans in place to address them quickly. But overall, stick with the majors. Sticking with the majors as it relates to a marathon would be to pace yourself, keep yourself hydrated and feed yourself mentally and physically along the way. Do that and the rest falls into place.
In contrast, focus on the nagging toe nail pain, foot pain, side cramp or bleeding nipples caused from friction between your shirt and skin and all of a sudden you stall your pace. You forget to hydrate and your mental and physical faculties give way to fatigue. It’s just not worth it.
My word this week – ‘Release’
Your releasing contributer,
M
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Business, Love, and Other Guts
In the beginning…
It began with strategy. We set out to re-think our marketing. Scratch that. We set out to re-think Everything. Our mission includes Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and a new website for the online world as well as other off-line ingredients.
So the first question was: Who shares our passion and do we have the support we need to be successful? – Yes.
Here we go!
Our delectable combination…Business, Love, and Other Guts. (This combination is true for all our social media and other endeavors, not just blogs)
b.l.o.g.
business: Apartments, the experience of
love:
- People
- St. Louis
- Apartments (crucial that your business falls in the love category as well)
other guts: The fire in your guts that is dying to come out. Passionate people with everything to say.
And then we blogged…
We selected Mills associates who are creative, passionate, and gifted writers – they all have a common b.l.o.g. (Learn more about them here) And then, we gave them the matches…
We knew we had a talented group of associates but our first blog posts were INCREDIBLE, and the next ones, equally amazing. I feel like the best is yet to come!
Our quest is still in its infancy, but every day I am excited to see what we will ignite next. Check out their work at millsapartments.net/neighborhoods…
Tell us what you think!
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Apartment Marketing: Facebook Like Page – Race to 10k – Good or Bad Idea?
The core of Social Media is not “eyeballs and ears” but rather “hearts and minds.” Go for quality, not quantity. – As tweeted by @NW_Mktg_Guy
I have read a few blog posts as of late that promote the thought of racing to certain thresholds of users on the various Social Media platforms, i.e. – 10k Facebook Likes. Despite FBs flip-flopping position on the 10k number as it relates to the Like page – I am baffled as to why that would be a strategic aim. Outside of understanding the would be advantages – if FB flops again – I would have to question the quality of such a forced end result. That is to suggest that if the number grows to 10k organically via rich experiences then hooray but if the number is achieved by coercion then – booray. Simply put – don’t race to 10k just because you can.
Quality vs. Quantity
Let me preface this section by saying that I’m the last person that should be writing a post taking sides on this subject. One could move right to my personal FB profile and question – why I friend everyone that comes across the recommendation page [it is not exactly everyone – only if there are multiple mutual connections between the networks]. The somewhat akward and funny answer is that I love defending myself from indefensible positions. That aside, the real answer is – despite the overlapping networks – I don’t know but I have been thinking about it for a couple of months now. I will admit that I am closer to deciding that quality is the better aim although I don’t have a premise for that position as of yet. And I would not suggest there is a right or a wrong answer.
All that being said, the tweet above really resonated with me concerning Like pages. If you take a strict interpretation of the word engagement – it really does boil down to the soft stuff. Like the quote suggest – heart’s and minds. In my head – that translates not to – Like your organization but rather Love your organization. I think there is a difference but that discussion is for another day.
What are your thoughts? Race for the thresholds despite quality – or, slowly grow to the threshold through remarkable experiences that people naturally invite their friends to be a part of? Or, do you have a completely alternate position on the subject?
Photo credit scs.ryerson.ca
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Multifamily Rehab: Mills $4m CityView Rehab Kicking Off
After ten long months of living in flux – residents of CityView Apartments [formerly known as Plaza Square] in downtown St. Louis are going to see the property rehabbed. This is especially near and dear to me as it is part of a portfolio of real estate that I manage for Mills Properties – the place where I spend most of my day time and a good deal of night time hours.
We actually transitioned the property management piece to Mills some ten months ago in August of 2009 after a bank foreclosure. Since that time we have worked to position the property for this eventual rehab are no less excited than the Laker’s will be when they take the NBA title this year and or when the Blackhawk’s took the Stanley Cup just a few days ago.
The property has a rich history but had fallen on hard times especially in the past three to five years. We are really looking forward to being a part of something bigger than ourselves with this project. It’s right on the fringe of one of the hippest neighborhoods in all of downtown St. Louis and as such will cater to a number of different target markets.
As we move through the rehab – I hope to post many of the before and after pics, vids, social efforts, etc..
Should be an uber over the top awesome experience –
Mills Properies spending $4 million on CityView upgrades – St. Louis Business Journal
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Apartment Marketing – Love is what Engagement is aiming for –
A recent email from a uber-satisfied resident to be –
From:
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 6:34 PM
To: leasing2@millsproperties.net
Subject: attn:
J , thanks for showing me the place today.
[Resident] and I are set on living there. It is exactly what we want, and more. We’re looking at June 11th to be the day we move her and all her stuff to St. Louis. But having a week beforehand to get the place ready for her would be great. We’re really serious, and I’d hate to have to tell her we have to start all over from square one again. She said it countless times, that this is the place for us, that we both want to live there, and shes fallen in love with it the first time she saw it. It’s perfect. I’m sold and she is as well. Just hope everything else falls into place. I really hope we can get things movin’. Thanks again J , and call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx whenever you hear the great news. Thank you.