Raise Your Glass In A Toast

Published April 4, 2012 Creative Apartment Marketing , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Today we celebrate eight years in business. Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing is truly one of those ideas that started on the back of a napkin (a cocktail napkin, by the way) that grew into a small, boot-strapped company with heart. Although our milestones have been many, we celebrate original customers who have grown with us and remain partners in our success today.

As we toast our 4/04/2004 birthday, we renew our vows to the mission of Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing:

We believe in clouds. Rainy days in Seattle and software that’s stored in the sky. We believe marketing works when it’s beyond expectations and too clever to be forgotten. No dinosaurs roam here. Cute is not cute and sophistication is savvy. We believe in professional, not free. Consistent is repeatable, easy. Branding is a state of mind rather than standard fonts and pantone colors. We believe work should be fun. Martinis need an olive. And every office is better with a dog, or two. Technology is King and anything less than instant is too long. Jeans inspire creative thought and an easy chair is more comfortable than a desk. We believe laughter and banter is more important than titles on business cards. We believe every day is a chance to explore the edges. Never play in the middle. And your coffee is only as good as your beans. Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing. We make apartment marketing that doesn’t suck.

If Maintenance Affects Retention, How do You Package It?

Published January 6, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

On my way to lunch today, my eyes gravitated towards a magnificent figure. This man was tanned, with glowing skin, sculpted biceps, rippling abs…. but, much to my dismay, also two dimensional and stuck to the side of a car.

Man Car

Oh, hey there, Handsome!

While Handsome and I won’t have a future together anytime soon, he did highlight a unique (and shirtless) ploy to promote Basic Home Maintenance. But honestly, who looks like that?

From personal experience I can confirm that average maintenance technicians almost never resemble tool belt models that just strolled off the runway and into my apartment. If they did, I would “accidentally” drop things down the drain at least three times a week. But that’s all beside the point. Let’s save misguided residents from potential heartache and devastation when Mr. Fixit looks a less like runway material and more like this:

Mr. Fixit

Hey, Goodlookin'. What’s crackin'?

Apartment maintenance teams deserve a round of applause for technical skills, customer service and responsiveness to work orders. So, if we know professional services can attract, retain, and renew apartment residents when presented to customers through a strategic marketing angle how are you promoting maintenance-free living? Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing develops innovative, fun, and fully-clothed themes to help multifamily apartment communities highlight the best assets of their maintenance teams.

Typos Make Life More Creative, In Joy.

Published October 11, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

I admit it. I’m a girl that can’t read a restaurant menu without stumbling over typos.  My problem dates back to college when Journalism 101 instilled radar in my brain for misplaced letters. It’s not always a gift. More often than not I can be totally immersed in a new book when a typo jumps out at me and breaks the spell of a good storyline. Who was the copy editor and can he refund the $24.00 I just shelled out for the hardback copy?

Imagine what it must be like for people searching for a soul mate on Internet dating websites. I shudder to think of the thousands of typos, misspelled words and grammatical errors sprinkled throughout online personal profiles. There are certain times, like when looking for a spouse, that Spell Check is essential or the results can be a deal breaker.

Just Marryed

We can only hope it was the best man who decorated the car, and not the groom.

Internet profiles, Craigslist ads … there is a perception that words written online are less important because we move along quickly to the next thing. It’s okay to spell things incorrectly because it’s not permanent, right? “It’s only temporary,” you may say to yourself, forgetting that written words on the internet can live forever.

Then or Than, who cares?

One of my favorite forms of entertainment is to watch for typos in Facebook status posts. Within mere seconds your clever wit can be reduced to an embarrassing faux pas. It’s almost as if friends are poised, keyboards at the ready, to catch you in a moment of grammatical weakness so they can unleash their wrath.

There, Their and They're

There, Their and They're -- why do we need three ways to say the same thing?

Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing can’t help you spell everything correctly in Facebook status updates, but our software features Spell Check to make sure multifamily brochures, newsletters, Craigslist ads and apartment marketing collateral are always typo free. Be careful out there.

Witness The World’s Most Bedazzled Toilet

Published September 6, 2011 Apartment Marketing Gone Awry , Creative Apartment Marketing , Marketing Gone Awry , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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This summer I’m embarking on a project to remodel my bathroom. Although functional, there is a 1970′s vibe that leaves me feeling less than proud to show off this space. I’m fairly certain the drab aesthetics contribute to my dread of climbing out of bed every morning to start the daily shower routine.

The bath project starts with one goal: Fit an antique claw-foot tub within the 8′ x 8′ square room. I want the unexpected “Wow!” when someone slides open the pocket door and finds a stunning white porcelain beauty. Let’s face it, there are only so many things you can do with a sink, toilet and tub. And, unless it’s gilded in gold, the proverbial throne is not a stunning architectural structure. Sure, I want to feel like a princess while soaking in my new tub but eventual resale value is the real motivation for bedazzling the bathroom. After all, what else is there in this room that can produce an enticing real-estate photo that sets your bathroom above the standard, luring prospects to make a purchase or sign a lease?

Swarovski Toilet

You put crystals where?

Have you noticed how many apartment bathrooms show up in brochures and get a featured spot in Craigslist online ads? At Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing, we’ve never seen a photo of a bathroom that elicits a “Wow!” while flipping through housing for rent ads.  Actually, most apartment bathroom photos make us wonder why the standard oak cabinet and a colorful shower curtain are the best features you want to show a prospect. Yep, that’s a toilet. If it’s not bedazzled or gilded in gold is it your best foot forward in a photo gallery?

Show us your gilded toilet at No More Homemade Flyers.

Apartmizzle Marketing, Fo’ Shizzle

Published January 26, 2011 Expectations of Apartment Managers Leave a Comment
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Well, folks, we’re almost a full month into 2011.  Pretty hard to believe, eh?  This year is going to fly by.  So I think it’s about time for us to check in on our New Year’s Resolutions.  Have you been hitting the gym every day?  Eating healthier?  Reading more and watching less TV?  Flossing twice a day?

Chances are that in the past four weeks you’ve already fudged up your resolutions – in fact, 36% of people who even bothered to make resolutions have completely given up by February.  Personally, I have a few resolutions I haven’t even started yet.  (When is the Chinese New Year?  I’m all for fresh starts.)

These statistics are due to a lot of factors, including setting unrealistic goals or simply not acting on them (guilty!), but at the end of the day it comes down to one thing: accountability.  It’s hard to make the most of anything if you aren’t holding yourself accountable and have systems in place so that someone else is holding you accountable too.

Did anyone see this week’s episode of The Office?  Well, if you didn’t, Pam created a Resolution Board for everyone to post their New Year’s Resolutions.

When they hold a Resolution Check-In Meeting as a way to help hold each other accountable, well, things go in typical “Office” fashion thanks to Michael Scott:

“It’s not about being perfect, it’s about trying.”

Clearly that is Pam’s philosophy, not Michael’s.

OK, while they have the general concept of holding each other accountable right, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Beyond any personal resolutions, did you make any for your apartment community?  Increasing resident retention?  Improving your apartment marketing efforts?  Tracking your marketing moves to make the most out of services you currently use?

I mean, what good are your marketing efforts if no one is paying attention?  And if no one’s seeing it, where’s the financial return?  In the end, it’s all about the Benjamins, baby:

“I love apartmizzle marketing, fo’ shizzle!”

So in 2011, try to stick to some of those apartment marketing New Year’s Resolutions – and don’t be afraid to ask for some help to hold yourself accountable!

Does your apartment marketing currently have you rolling in a Ford Festiva instead of a Cadillac Escalade?  Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Part 1: Apartment Marketing Girl vs. the Smartphone Unfriendly Apartment Community Website

Published December 10, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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You know those people who drive slowly through neighborhoods trying to peek in windows to see what the inside of a house looks like (no, not Peeping Toms).

Or the ones who tramp through new neighborhood construction to get a feel for the layout of a house that’s being built?

For some reason a piggyback ride through construction just doesn’t seem safe.  Hopefully they are not on the second floor…

Yeah, that was totally my family.  Maybe that’s what has influenced my strange need to look up websites for apartment buildings every time I see one that looks nice from the outside, despite the fact that I have no plans to move anytime soon.  Or maybe it’s just because I write this blog…

Either way, I recently came across a really nice looking apartment building in Seattle near some great retailers, and I immediately had to look it up.  Because I have a terrible memory, I usually forget the name of apartment buildings I want to look up by the time I get home, or just forget in general  that there was even a building I wanted to research, so this time I decided to just search for it on the spot (yay smartphones!).

Low and behold, the website for this particular apartment community wouldn’t load on my BlackBerry.  Strike one.

In today’s tech-savvy world, I can’t stress how important it is to make your website smartphone-friendly!   These days it really shocks me when a popular website, or website of a popular business, isn’t altered for smartphones.  Now, I realize that it isn’t as easy, or maybe isn’t financially feasible, for less-visited websites to make a special website for smartphones, but even if you can’t make a separate smartphone version of your website, at least take off some of the flash so it can load on a person’s phone!

For all you know, a loaded website could have resulted in a lease (hey – they didn’t know my current lease isn’t up yet).

Luckily (or maybe not), I was still interested in getting some information on this apartment community, so I went back to the search results and the next related link was for the building’s reviews on ApartmentRatings.com.  Dun dun dun!

Tune in next week to find out what happens in the adventures of Apartment Marketing Girl!

Is your website a villain to smartphones?  Shine the AMG signal and share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Classy Is To Dirty, As Elegant Is To… Peeling Paint?

Published November 3, 2010 Apartment Marketing is Like a Personal Ad , Marketing Gone Awry Leave a Comment
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Growing up, I had an Adidas jacket that I never wanted to take off.  And living in the Seattle area, there weren’t many months in the year that I couldn’t wear this heavy coat.  Unfortunately, when I was in fourth grade our class pet, a hamster who will remain nameless, got hungry while I was holding him and took a bite out of the sleeve of my jacket.

Considering the size of a hamster’s mouth, the hole wasn’t initially very big, but being a fidgety fourth grader who couldn’t just leave the hole alone, it quickly grew.  The hole didn’t bother me, but eventually my mother couldn’t handle me looking like a little ragamuffin girl anymore and made me get a new coat.  Traumatizing, right?  (Although these days I don’t think I would complain if someone wanted to buy me new clothes.)

As a child, it’s understandable that I didn’t care – but of course my mom didn’t want people thinking I wasn’t being taken care of properly.  However, nowadays I care a little bit more about what people think of me.  For my job I usually speak to people over the phone before I meet them in person, and I (like to think that I) present myself verbally in a very professional manner, so of course when I eventually meet people I want my appearance to match the impression I’ve given.

It’s all about not sending mixed messages – walking the talk.  And that lesson should apply to all aspects of life, no?  Well, then I’ll let you make this connection all on your own:

Why, yes, the words “classy” and “elegant” always come to mind when I see dirt and peeling paint!

My only hope in this case is that the words speak louder than the appearance of this sign.  And that the apartment building doesn’t match.

Does your apartment marketing need a bath?  Beyond Wine & Cheese Marketing has the soap.  Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

Dear Marketing D-Bags:

Published September 30, 2010 Marketing to Your Needs 2 Comments
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I’m not the type who does well making decisions, particularly when I have too many options.  For example, when I was buying a car, I knew off the bat that I liked Civics, but then my mom suggested I lease a car so I looked at the CR-V.  Then a close family friend suggested I go to a local VW dealer, and I started to look at the Tiguan.  Then I realized I would rather just buy up front instead of lease, so I started looking at used cars that the dealers had in stock, and just as I was starting to feel guilty for not buying American and was on the verge of having a nervy-b from looking at too many cars, I gave up and got a Civic.

Now, this ended up working out because what I really wanted was a Civic, and I just let too many other suggestions cloud my judgment during the buying process.  (I can only imagine what’s going to happen one day if I get married and am planning my wedding.)  But let’s say you’re looking for an apartment in a new city and aren’t set on a particular building because, well, you don’t live there and don’t know the city.  So when you hop on Craigslist and start browsing through postings, you really do want a wide array of options.

Speaking from personal experience, it’s when you don’t have enough choices that browsing Craigslist can get quite annoying.  Has anyone else experienced something like this?

SEPTEMBER 13

SEPTEMBER 15

SEPTEMBER 17

SEPTEMBER 20

There are more, but I think you get the idea…and I’m already bored with this.

Now, I should give the poster a little credit (they didn’t cut and paste, but changed up the “infoprmation” – see September 20 – a little every time), but really cutting and pasting would have been the smart thing to do to save some of their time.  It’s not like the message changed so drastically that the most recent posting on September 27 suddenly compelled me to go rent the apartment.  Where are the pictures??  Where are the amenity lists??  And those aren’t the only questions raised:

  1. Is it the same unit they keep advertising?
  2. If it’s not the same unit, why are there so many units available in this building?
  3. Why does this person consider Craigslist to be a server for him/her to pump as full of spam as a pantry from a 1960’a nuclear bomb shelter?
  4. Who made the decision that re-posting ads every other day was somehow a benefit to their renters?
  5. How much money is the company wasting paying interns to re-post these ads ever other day just so annoyed Craigslist searchers can take time out of their day to flag them for removal, when those ads would stay up for seven days if you just left them alone?
  6. What would it take to make this person go away so I can look for a new house without having to wade through all of your worthless ads???

Sorry, got a little sidetracked there…

Maybe instead of posting this Craigslist ad AGAIN tomorrow, the culprit can take the afternoon and read through all of my previous blog posts (or just go ahead and call Beyond Wine and Cheese) for some tips and inspiration.  The apartment marketing message may remain the same, but it is always presented in a unique package!

Are your Craigslist postings starting to sound like a broken record…broken record…broken record…broken record…broken record?  Share with us at blog@beyondwineandcheese.com!

PS:  Thanks for inspiring this blog post, Kevin!

False Advertising: Spanx for Your Apartment Community

Published September 1, 2010 Apartment Marketing is Like a Personal Ad Leave a Comment
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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
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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!

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