No More HomeMade Flyers

False Advertising: Spanx for Your Apartment Community

Published September 1, 2010 Apartment Marketing is Like a Personal Ad Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Dating Website, Photoshop, False Advertising, iStockphoto.com, Caribbean, Seaplane, Kenmore, Washington

Dating websites have helped those of us in the world who have “great personalities” find others who are willing to go out with them. It pretty much takes all the shame out of someone saying no, and you can more or less mold yourself online so that “no” isn’t even an option. Photoshop, anyone? Ladies, you know we all already do it on Facebook. And you can take as many pictures at just the right angle as you want in order to get the best picture possible! Then just stretch it a little to make yourself look thinner, crop out that extra arm fat, cover blemishes, and add a little shading for abs and cleavage. Brightening your eye color also adds a world of difference. And voila! In no time, the date requests will come rolling in (that is, if you left out “WoW” and “LARPing” from the interests on your profile.

Now, you aren’t home free yet. Even if you do have a great personality, those altered photos might be considered false advertising by your date. All I can say is, I hope they don’t just walk in, look at you, and walk out. But at least you used a photo of yourself – cause I can guarantee if you put up a picture of Eva Longoria or Brad Pitt, you aren’t fooling anyone.

Ok, I know by now you’re thinking, Why am I reading about creating an internet dating profile on an apartment marketing blog? Stick with me here. Say you are now creating a website for your apartment complex – obviously you want to include pictures showing your community in the best light possible. For example, what potential resident wouldn’t want to come check out this place?

The CARIBBEAN in my backyard?? Holla!

So the picture of the lady that was layered on clearly was taken in the ‘90s, but who is even paying attention to that? I’m ready to get my furniture moved in and go lay out under that palm tree.

Now, how about something that appeals to those who would rather go on an adventure than lay out in the sun? Done:

Yeah, I’ll definitely be buying myself a Seaplane after moving in.

Not only can the residents of this place get on a Seaplane on a whim, but apparently they can stand in the middle of a lake, too. Sign me up.

But…wait a minute. How is there a Caribbean-quality ocean with white sandy beaches AND an Alaskan-esque lake with a mountainous backdrop so close to this place? Is anyone else a little suspicious? They couldn’t have used STOCK PHOTOS could they?

No, no, that couldn’t be the case. I’m sure it’s just that the community is in a magical land that offers any terrain you could possibly want. Yeah, that’s it! See, the address is …… Kenmore, WA ……. WTH??!

Is your apartment advertising funding iStockphoto.com? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

On to the Next One

Published August 12, 2010 Creative Apartment Marketing , Marketing Gone Awry Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment, Apartment Marketing, Balloon, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Dollar Store, Monkey, No More HomeMade Flyers, Renewal Letter, Resident Retention

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: resident retention is one of the most important aspects of apartment marketing. But some of the retention ideas I’ve seen floating around out there suck need some fine tuning. For example:

Attach renewal letters to a balloon.

Followed closely by…

Attach renewal letters to a Mylar balloon.

WHAT??? I can attach a renewal letter to a non-Mylar OR a Mylar balloon?! And if your mind isn’t already blown, wait ‘til you find out that either kind of balloon can be attached to the doorknob in case the resident isn’t home. If that doesn’t work for you:

Attach renewal letters to a 100 Calorie Pack with a clever phrase about residents “desserting” you.

Oh, come on people! I know that there’s an obesity epidemic in America, but you couldn’t spring for some Ho Hos or Little Debbies? I’m a woman – I read into things, and I would get a very different message from the 100 Calorie Pack than you are intending. Moving on:

Party: A theme party; example – a murder mystery dinner – have the papers ready for them to sign.

You could even take it a step further and just make those who don’t sign the papers the victims of your murder “mystery”. Done. It’s all about the hard sell. But if you’re concerned that blood stains will scare away new prospects, try a more lighthearted approach:

Attach renewal letters to a Whoopee Cushion and incorporate the expression “Whoopee!!”.

Your 8 year old male residents (or maybe those with the maturity of an 8 year old), will be sure to renew their leases on the spot. Huh? You don’t have 8 year olds renting apartments? Well that’s strange…

Inflatable Monkeys: Attach a sticker or card that says ‘Don’t monkey around! We want you to stay!’

Just what I need. More crap lying around my apartment. How about offering me an extra closet for storage? But if you combined this idea with a Mylar balloon (cannot be non-Mylar)…

Consider. It. Renewed.

Or there’s always the option of not having a crap apartment with crap customer service that turns residents off. But that doesn’t include a fun trip to the dollar store, now does it?

Is a monkey trying to get you to renew your lease? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Round Peg, Square Hole

Published August 3, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, HGTV, Round Peg Square Hole, IKEA, Measure Twice, Moving, Furniture, Interior Designer, American Dream

A few weeks ago I experienced a whole new level of “closeness” to my mother.

During a visit to celebrate my graduation, my mom and dad took me to IKEA to help pick up a shelf I wanted for my graduation present. (Yeah, I wanted a shelf – deal with it.)

Going against my gut feeling, I agreed that we only take my parent’s rental car, instead of both that car and my own. The back seat of the car folded down in separate sections so we could easily slide the boxes in and still leave a seat available for me in the back.

Well, here’s a lesson we should have learned from the HGTV star designers: measure twice…drive to IKEA once. After purchasing the two boxes of parts needed to assemble my fab new shelf, we quickly realized that when stacking the boxes, they were too thick to slide through the space connecting the trunk and the back seat. Soooo typical.

The solution? Folding down the entire back seat, shoving the two boxes in side by side, and then shoving my mother and I in the front seat side by side. Actually, it wasn’t so much side by side as partially stacked. Within the first few minutes of our 40 minute ride back to my apartment my left butt cheek and upper thigh were already numb. Needless to say, this is an experience I would like to avoid in the future.

Now, I know I’m not the only one who has had issues fitting a round peg into a square hole (though hopefully for others it doesn’t result in body parts going numb); and we all have to admit this is a very frustrating experience…ESPECIALLY when it involves moving furniture.

Wouldn’t it be great if houses and apartments all had extra-wide doors and hallways so your favorite oversized couch could be easily maneuvered through your new place, and you could avoid putting holes in the walls on day one. Or…

…your beloved couch finds a new home in the parking lot. Maybe this is why we see so many lonely couches sitting on the side of the road waiting for a new home.

So what’s the lesson we’ve learned today, kids? Always have an interior designer from HGTV buy new furniture for every new home/apartment you have and let them worry about measuring and moving the furniture in.

Hey, it’s the American dream: hiring someone else to do your dirty work!

Is your furniture failing to fit in in your new apartment community? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

There’s a (Pool) Party in My Bedroom…All Night Long!

Published July 26, 2010 Creative Apartment Marketing Leave a Comment
Tags: Air Conditioning, Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Fish, No More HomeMade Flyers, Nordstrom, Plastic Pools, Pool, Renter's Insurance, Seattle, Summer, Toys 'R Us, Water

I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but SUMMAH TIME has FINALLY arrived in Seattle, and I couldn’t be happier…with one exception: no pool.

When I was little, I used to say if I could be any animal, I would want to be a fish so I never had to leave the water. Of course, now that I’m working full time and have to face the stresses of being out in the real world, I would choose the stress-free life of a cat, but my love of swimming hasn’t died. In fact, I choose to break the bank every month with a membership to LA Fitness just for the lap pool. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until it was too late that their pool is over-chlorinated. I mean, really, are the other adults at lap swim relieving themselves?

Actually, I don’t want to know.

Now, I will be the first to admit, it seems kind of silly to have a pool in Seattle. It costs how much and you can only use it for maybe three months out of the year without freezing your tushy off? So, I can’t be too upset that my new apartment building doesn’t have a pool. In terms of amenities, I would have to choose a washer/dryer in-unit over a community pool.

But what to do about those occasional unbearably hot days? I have yet to meet anyone else in the area who has a house or apartment with air conditioning (so Nordstrom, here I come!), and standing in front of the freezer with the door open is just going to send my utility bill out the roof.

Now, when I was younger, the solution was one of those little plastic pools from Toys ‘R Us – actually, not just one, but many. Seriously, those things got holes faster than a lawn being aerated. Regardless, they provided hours of entertainment and relief from the 70 degree heat! (Hey, I said we were in Seattle, not Florida.) So maybe we were on to something as kids that’ll come in handy with these pool-less apartments…

Aaaaahhhhh, sweet SUMMAH TIME!

PS: Don’t forget the renter’s insurance!

Is your apartment community cooling down in creative ways? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Painfully Polite Notes on Apartment Marketing

Published July 8, 2010 Apartment Marketing Gone Awry Leave a Comment

I didn’t even notice the bright yellow post-it-note on my windshield until I had already climbed behind the wheel and settled into the driver’s seat. Maybe one of my friend’s recognized my car in the Target parking lot and left me a note, or better yet, an invitation to join them next door for happy hour. Upon further investigation though, I found myself victim to a Passive Aggressive Note Attack. “Who taught you to park?”, the note said. A quick glance down revealed my tires slightly crossed the solid white line that neatly divides each space. The euphoric high I was feeling from a shopping spree at my favorite store quickly sobered and my good mood deflated.

Get your act together. Exercise some consideration when you leave your large hunk of metal in a public place.

If you didn’t already know, there is a popular website devoted to passive aggressive notes. Cruise around the site and you’ll find a great collection of funny stories and a small disclaimer that says notes posted here “share a common sense of frustration that’s been channeled into written form rather than a direct confrontation. It’s barbed criticism disguised as something else — helpful advice, a funny joke, simple forgetfulness.” Now, imagine what would happen if our current residents and potential prospects began to leave us notes about our apartment marketing. What would they say?

MARKETING CITATION

Now Leasing. “Seriously. Did you ever stop leasing?”
Materials that are copies of copies of copies. “Cough up a couple quarters and pay for a color print.”
Pictures of the community sign in advertising. “Is this sign really the best thing you’ve got going for your community?”
Photos of empty swimming pools. “Is there something floating in the water?”
Thanks for Popping In tag on a bag of microwave popcorn. “We can see that big, bulk-size box of popcorn every time we shop at Costco.”
Hop on Over. “Did you mean to send this cartoon drawing of a frog to me or my five-year-old kid?”
We Love Our Residents. “No you don’t.”
Multiple signs with flags. “C’mon kids, everybody out of the car. It’s a theme park!“
Balloons. “What time does the clown arrive?”
Ignoring rants on ApartmentRatings.com. “If you close your eyes, they will go away.”
Fliers on pizza boxes. “The 90′s called and they want their idea back.”
If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now. “If I lived here, I would be dodging traffic in the median.”
Microsoft Publisher. “I’ve seen that flier somewhere … the church bulletin board. No, it was a PTA meeting. And, the corner deli. Wait a minute, I have seen that flier everywhere!“
Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. “Otis is better than 6-degrees from Kevin Bacon. Everybody knows him.”

After a list like that it’s time to give a shout out to The Apartment Expert – Lisa Trosien for opening a similar conversation on her Facebook Fan Page. Have you received a passive aggressive note about your apartment community? If so, share it with us.

Baby It’s Cold… Inside?

Published May 12, 2010 Marketing to Your Needs Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Cold, Craigslist, Igloo, Nature, Unique Apartment Features

I suddenly find myself again facing that awful task of searching for a new apartment. And this time, I’m looking for something special. Last year my concern was finding something affordable, close to school, and on central bus lines; however, I now have real job and a car, so my priorities have changed. I don’t want to end up in some cookie-cutter apartment with no character. When friends visit, I want their jaws to drop with jealousy because they couldn’t find an apartment nearly as unique as mine. But at the same time, the rent does need to be reasonable (sadly my starting salary is not $100,000 a year).

So where am I going to find this amazing apartment? Why, craigslist of course! I mean, these days, what can’t you find on craigslist? And luckily for me the apartment selection on craigslist is expanding. Say I was looking for a cozy studio apartment that made me feel at one with nature:

Say whaaat?

This can’t be for real…

Yeeeeaaah! Welcome home!

Cost: $200/month (Affordable: check.)

Neighborhood Security: Campus Police (Safe Area: check!)

Water: Must be melted by occupant (Utilities Included: check!!!)

The only downside here is that the landlord won’t be held responsible for loss of walls/roof/entire structure of the building. But then, it’s not like I’ll be signing a 12 month lease, so bring it on!

Is your apartment community providing unique, if not long lasting, qualities? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Why Get a Broker When You Have Craigslist?

Published April 18, 2010 Apartment Marketing is Like a Personal Ad Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Craigslist, Emails, Facebook, Inbox, Personal Ad, Responses, Texting

I will be the first to admit that emails can sit in my inbox for months before receiving a reply (if they are lucky enough to ever get one). I don’t know what it is I find so daunting about writing back, but most of the time I just make excuses to myself about why I can’t get around to replying until I legitimately forget. Now, you’d think this would make me more understanding of instances when others do not reply to my emails; however, I am bound to get super frustrated, especially when I don’t receive responses to work-related emails.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. In fact, I always laugh a little when I see wall posts on Facebook from people whining about someone not responding to a text. At least I don’t get that worked up about lack of communication. But what about when it’s something really important? Like you found the perfect place to rent on Craigslist and haven’t gotten a response to the message you sent the owner. What to do now?

Clearly this person did not want to just move on and try to find another place:

To be perfectly honest with you, when I saw this headline I was really hoping for some drama. Maybe a warning about how dangerous the neighborhood is, or exposing the person who posted the house as a liar. I’ve never seen a Craigslist war before, so it could have been pretty exciting. Sadly, that was not the case:

While I have to admit that this person was resourceful in using another Craigslist post to reach out to the owner of the house they want to rent, something tells me they are a lot more likely to be contacted by Craigslist creepers than the person they are actually hoping to speak to. I mean really, posting your phone number? And you’re not fooling anyone by leaving out the area code. The Internet makes it veeeeery easy to find this kind of information…

PS: Is it really that hard to write in complete sentences? You’re already making the effort to post this, why not just go all the way?

Do you feel like you’re placing a personal ad on Craigslist instead of renting an apartment? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

When Your Newsfeed Turns Into a Broken Record

Published April 10, 2010 Marketing to Your Needs Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Facebook, Social Media, Facebook News Feed, Broken Record, Repetition, Twitter

Social media is one of those marketing tools that can work to your advantage if you know how to use it, or give you a bad rep if you don’t. Well, I guess that’s true for ALL marketing, but since social media is still so new to many people, I see it hurt a lot more than I see it help.

One of my biggest pet peeves, as both a Twitter follower and Facebook fan of businesses, is seeing a misunderstanding of how to use the two websites differently. I get really bored when I get on Twitter after checking Facebook and see the exact same things posted on both websites. I understand this practice to an extent, but come on, you can put in a little more effort than having Facebook and Twitter connected so that your FB statuses are Tweeted (and vice versa) by the magical Internet fairies.

Along the same lines, if you are in charge of social media for numerous apartment communities under a larger company, you need to spice things up. As a FB fan of yours, I want to see posts relevant to the area that your apartment community is located. I want to feel as though you actually are engaging me in conversation. However, if I am a fan of all (or even just a few) of your apartment community’s FB pages, any insincerity or repetition will be more than obvious.

So, for the sake of experimentation and proving a point, let’s check my Facebook News Feed for the latest:

Wow! They sure care about how my week is going! Let’s tell all of Indiana (and Miamisburg, OH) how I’m doing!

“My week is going pretty well! I’m busy too – lot’s of Facebooking to do!”

………

Anyone else sick of this? I thought so. Point made? Good. Next time, change the wording or throw in something about the weather specific to each city… Geez. In their defense, though, at least it wasn’t repeat posts letting me know they have a two-bedroom apartment available and I should lease now.

Is your Facebook community filling up your newsfeed with repetitive messages? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

These Boots Were Made For Walkin’ (In A Different Neighborhood)

Published March 31, 2010 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Tags: Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Central District, Craigslist, Public Transportation, Safety, Seattle, Walk Score, Walkability, Walking

I have spent the last four years of my life walking. Well, walking and riding the bus (public transportation baby!). That’s what happens when you spend all your money (and your parent’s money) on tuition instead of buying a car. So it was like a small miracle when I finally graduated, got a job, and was able to buy a car. Now I drive everywhere: to the gym, to visit friends, to Safeway a block away from my apartment. Maybe my carbon footprint has grown a size or two, but hey, I’m living the American dream.

But regardless of whether I have a car or not, walkability is still important – especially when you live in a big city. When looking at apartments, renters want to know how easily they can get their errands done on foot. Hence, the Walk Score was created. Not sure what Walk Score is? The website describes it as “the walkability of an address based on the distance from your house to nearby amenities…not how pretty the area is for walking.” Well, I’m glad they cleared that one up for me…

So to increase the attractiveness of an apartment community to would-be renters, managers are starting to post the Walk Scores for their communities in Craigslist ads. But do they really tell you the whole story? Let’s find out…

First we have this beautiful studio apartment:

Nice! I don’t even have anything sarcastic to say about this! And the walk score?

Well, well, look who’s bragging. I feel like we’re talking about a dog now instead of an apartment. “Oh yes, my little Fifi here is VERY walkable. I doubt your mutt Fido has her walking abilities.” Snobs. I bet Fifi is a poodle. But I digress. There must be a catch here somewhere…

The price? No. The size? No, keep reading to the right. The Central District? Yeeeeeah. That would be the one. If you live in Seattle, you understand this might not be the area you WANT to be walking around in. So when you leave your “Very Walkable” apartment to go to the grocery store or park, you might want to pack your brass knuckles, some mace, and a blow horn. This just reinforces the point that the Walk Score doesn’t take into account how pretty the area is for walking…or how safe. Before you sign a lease based on an apartment community’s Walk Score, walk the area for yourself!

This message had been brought to you by the voice of my mother that lives in my head. I never feel safe walking anywhere alone; therefore, neither should you.

Is your apartment’s Walk Score leaving out a few important factors? Let us know at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

You Can Get It Free, But Does It Suck?

Published March 26, 2010 Marketing to Your Needs Leave a Comment
Tags: Apartment Industry, Apartment Marketing, Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, Craigslist, Cupcakes, Free, Free Advertising, Free Sucks, GoGoPin, Nordstrom, Shopping, TJMaxx, You Get What You Pay For

Whoever said, “The best things in life are free,” was a big fat liar. OK, maybe if you’re talking about friends and family and the first day of sun after a long, overcast Seattle winter, it’s true. But from a business perspective, it’s a load of bull. The truth? You get what you pay for.

Take customer service for example. I am the type of person who likes to be treated well when I go shopping, so I’m willing to pay that extra $70 on a pair of shoes at Nordstrom because their salespeople are so nice, instead of going to TJMaxx for the bargain that comes with no service. And as someone who works at home, I welcome that 15 minutes of small talk with a stranger during which we find out that we both know people who have studied abroad in Florence.

Now, I know there are also quite a few people who would rather creep through racks of clothes and go unnoticed by salespeople – shopping might be the only time you have to yourself all week. But what if we’re talking about the business that you run and are trying to promote? Wouldn’t you want vendors who provide you great service? Even if it’s just showing up with a box of delicious cupcakes in exchange for a few minutes of your time? Well, if the cost of their service is FREE, don’t pour yourself a glass of milk anytime soon…

One great example of this in the apartment industry is Craigslist ads. Anyone can post an ad on Craigslist (which is a whole other topic for another time), so big apartment communities with luxury units need to do something to really stand out from the crowd. This might include…

Posting a poorly designed ad that doesn’t even mention the name of your community? And that links not to your website’s homepage, but:

That’s right, the homepage for GoGoPin so you can get a free account! I gotta give it to GoGoPin – that is one smart way to advertise your own service while “providing a service” for another company. Is it things like this that give the business world a bad reputation? Nah…this is just innovation and creative thinking (although not so much on the part of the apartment community who attempted to advertise this way).

I’m sure the community realized the problems with this ad though, both the content and the link to GoGoPin’s website, because it looks like they decided to try posting another ad using photobucket this time:

It’s still graphically challenged, but at least they got the proper information in this one. Let’s try clicking on the ad and see where we end up this time…

SURPRISE! It’s photobucket’s homepage! Didn’t see that one coming, did ya? Man, they tricked us real good that time. But ultimately, I think the joke is on this apartment manager in Fremont, eh?

So apartment communities, I know the economy is tough, but shopping at TJMaxx instead of Nordstrom isn’t going to get your units leased at the end of the day. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and those of us who can return just about anything and get our shoes repaired at Nordstrom are going to win.

Is your apartment community providing free advertising for a free advertising company? Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!