Using Twitter is one thing, but really understanding how it can work for you and the available tools for optimizing your tweeting is something else. Here are some links to get you tweeting with the best of ‘em!

• Twitter expert Joel Comm’s how-to book  Twitter Power, which will help you dominate your market one tweet at a time.
• Are you curious about what words you’re tweeting the most? Wonder what day and time you tend to tweet? Find out all about your Tweeting behavior at TweetStats.
• The primary purpose of Twitter is to engage others and there are many cool tools to help you do this just. One of them is TwtPoll, which allows you to survey your followers on anything you would like … as long it is no longer than 140 characters!
• If you’re interested in connecting people with the same interests, the Twibe application allows you to join specific affinity groups. (We’re members of the Multifamily Twibe. Come join us!)
• We love Twitter and would love to engage with our readers.  Click here to follow Buildium on Twitter.

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For more than a year now, the marketing world has been abuzz with all things Twitter.  And while Twitter has yet to prove whether or not it will stand the test of time as a viable marketing tool, with more than 70 million registered users, there’s no doubt that all property managers should at least be considering exactly how Twitter can help them grow and promote their business.

Why all the buzz over Twitter?
Of all the social networking and electronic marketing tools out there, Twitter is the most easily maintained. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, Twitter doesn’t require users to invest large quantities of time into creating profiles or maintaining a web page. With Twitter it’s as easy as signing up, creating a profile of no more than 160 characters (keep in mind that creativity counts with this sort of word limitation) and then beginning to broadcast updates (or “tweets”) of 140 characters or less. Because of the character confines, Twitter offers a blogging alternative that does not require a lengthy brainstorming or writing process. These short updates are also known as micro-blogging. Essentially, you can think of it as a “mini-blog;” it’s as simple as writing a sentence or two update and you’re done.

Twitter demographics
Businesses are especially drawn to Twitter because of the application’s demographics. Unlike other social networking sites that are primarily driven by tweens or young adults, Twitter appeals to older demographics. According to an April 2009 comScore study, Twitter’s highest user demographics are in the 45-54 year old age range, with 25-34 year olds filling in the second slot. In fact, Twitter’s two lowest scoring age contingents are the 18-24 and 12-17 year old age ranges respectively. With these demographics and the sheer number of users in mind, it’s safe to assume that a good number of your clients (and potential clients) are utilizing Twitter.

What am I supposed to tweet about anyway?
The beauty of Twitter is that it allows you to complete two separate functions, both of which are important to your business. First, you can broadcast general messages. These 140 characters can be used to engage or communicate with your customers, promote your business and achievements, market your company as an information source, and even to advertise vacancies. For example, start a discussion with customers by tweeting about pertinent breaking industry news or if you’ve recently purchased a new investment property, let everyone know.

You can also use Twitter to engage in ongoing dialogues and, through this, start building personal relationships with potential clients or renters. By keying in “@[insert username] before a message, you can tweet an individual or another company.

How do I get people to read my tweets?
Twitter updates will automatically show up on the home feeds for those who have subscribed to “follow” you on Twitter. While non-subscribers can still see your updates, they will have to proactively seek out your page. Obviously, the goal is to gather as many followers as possible so that your updates automatically appear on their home feed. So how do you get people to follow you? Simply use other media you are currently utilizing to point people toward your Twitter feed. Have a website? Be sure to provide web visitors with a link to your Twitter page. You can also actually create a feed on your web page that will allow site visitors to view your Twitter updates while they’re on your site. Also consider including your Twitter address on emails and other material that goes out to tenants, customers, and anyone else who follows you.

Keep in mind, though, it’s just as easy for people to “unfollow” you as it is to “follow” you in the first place. In order to keep people’s interest, keep your tweets as informative and/or entertaining as possible. Also remember that even though you have a 140-word limit you can also include links in your tweets that can direct followers to longer articles, blog posts, web pages, or anywhere else you may want them to go. To ensure that you don’t use up all of your precious 140 characters with a long link, utilize websites like www.bit.ly, which provide shortened links that lead customers where you want them to go.

Finally, think before you Tweet. News moves fast in cyberspace and, although this can be a very good thing, there are also some potential negatives to bear in mind. Consider this article about a landlord who set off a whole cycle of negative publicity by responding to a negative tweet involving him. When you’re only dealing with 140 characters, it’s particularly important to choose your words carefully.

Tweeting with the best of ‘em
For more information on making Twitter work for you, be sure to check out these  articles:

How to Use Twitter

Forbes’ 21 Top Twitter Tips

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Ian Greenleigh of DriveBuy Technologies authored the following post for the Buildium Blog.  DriveBuy Technologies provides text message marketing for Property Managers and owners, promoting the availability, prices and other amenities of available rentals and sales. Ian is also the author of the DriveBuy Blog.

In order to effectively market a rental community, you must differentiate it from the competition. This much, we can all agree on. Your community may be positively unique, but what about the ways in which you deliver this message?

Content + Delivery = Message
Most of what the prospective renter encounters during their hunt is content-focused. But content is only half the equation. For your marketing to stand out, it needs to be delivered creatively. After repeated exposure to similar styles of delivery, content starts to matter less and less. It’s human nature, and this effect is amplified by our diminished modern attention spans and the sheer volume of information we now see daily.

Special Delivery
Everyone claims that their community is unique, that their amenities can’t be beat, that they simply do things differently. Prove it! If your message is “we’re different”, its delivery should reflect as much. The following are two ideas to get you thinking about the “special delivery”.

MotionNotes Video Messages - Personalized follow up
An incredible idea that I learned about through a weekly industry twitter dialogue called #aptchat (highly recommended). The smart folks at Nessel Development mentioned that they used this platform to set their follow up emails apart, and the example they provided wowed me.

I spoke to Angelo Directo, VP Design for Whiteboard Labs, the minds behind MotionNotes. He explained to me that the product was originally developed for Dallas-based developer Hanover Property Company as a way to enliven their post-tour outreach efforts. Since then, a number of other development and management outfits have followed suit. I imagined receiving a personalized Thank You email from a leasing agent who had just showed me around, with video reiterating the features in which I had specifically expressed interest. It’s exactly the type of high touch someone like myself appreciates, proving that not all digital communications have to be sterile or canned.

MotionNotes requires a considerable $1,500 set-up fee for corporate accounts, after which it’s $20 per month. This allows for multiple sub accounts (ideal for different leasing agents), a shared contact list, and the custom branding of a white label solution.

Beyond Gift Cards
Another participant of #aptchat was taking vendor discounts and privileges to a whole new level. Why brand the vendors when you can brand your communities? With a single card, prospects who have toured will have access to a host of local discounts and special offers. Every time they take out that card, they will remember your community and arouse the interest of those around them. You’ll maintain a constant presence in a memorable way, the kind of exposure others dream of.

Don’t be afraid to ask.
I’ve only highlighted two unique approaches to message delivery, but there are countless others out there already. Many are waiting to be dreamed up. That’s where you come in. To adopt or create the best approach to “breaking through”, talk to members of your target market. Whether they ultimately lease with you or not, most people don’t mind being asked things like, “What’s your typical experience with follow up efforts from communities you’ve toured?”, “Which communications stand out? Why?”, and so on. Their answers will guide your thinking toward approaches that fit your particular situation.

What other ways are you reaching out? Share your story below.

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The good news is that in this day and age, there are a number of options for keeping tenants updated about property events and updates on a real-time basis. Now it’s up to you to identify the mode of communication that works best for all of your tenants … and for you. Following are a few of your best communication bets and some tips for determining which ones will work best for you and your tenants.

Electronic communication
If you opt to communicate with tenants electronically, you have a few options: posting news and events on your company’s website, sending notification emails to tenants on an as-needed basis, or sending out a regular e-newsletter. When determining which sort of electronic communication works best for you, make sure that you carefully analyze its pros and cons. For example, updating tenant news on your company’s website requires minimal effort on your part—simply dash off a few sentences, post it on the website, and you’re done! But remember that websites offer a passive means of communication. In other words, if your tenants aren’t taking the initiative to surf on over to your site and seek out news, your updates may very well never actually make it to their intended audience.

Emails and e-newsletters offer landlords a more active way of distributing information; in other words, when you send out an email or a newsletter and you know that your tenant will see it in their inbox. But, remember, newsletters and emails tend to require a bit more maintenance than website news updates. You will have to update mailing lists, deal with distribution and bounce-back emails, and (if your property management portfolio is big enough) may even have to invest in a specialized mass mailing system.

Again, both websites and emails/newsletters offer today’s landlords a great, relatively low-maintenance way of keeping tenants informed in real-time. Just remember to carefully consider the pros and cons of both when you are determining the most efficient and effective way to communicate with your tenants.

Hard copy communication
Although sending letters and memos was the standard mode for landlord-tenant communication not so long ago, today it is one of the least efficient and cost-effective routes to take. Sending out notices via snail mail involves putting a mailing together, spending money on postage, and accounting for the lag time it takes between when communication is sent and when it is received. This is compounded by the fact that because many of your tenants (particularly those in younger demographics) communicate primarily electronically, they may not even check their mail boxes that often anymore. In other words, all of this effort could potentially be for naught in the end.

If you do want to utilize hard copy communication methods, your best bet is to post bulletins in highly visible areas of your property. For example, on the front door or near elevators and stairwells. If you do need to distribute hard copy communication to tenants on an individual basis, save time and money by distributing communication directly to their door. Despite all of these caveats, do remember that we are not yet living in a completely electronic world. Some of your tenants may still rely on hard copy mailings. Depending on your tenant demographic, even if you are on a primarily electronic system, posting bulletins may still be a necessary step.

Determining which will work best for you
Not sure which communication method is best for you? Go straight to the source for input—your tenants. Ask them what their preferred method of receiving information is (you can even do this at the time of move-in by having them check their preferred option off of a list at the same time they fill out the rest of their paperwork). Once you’ve received this feedback you can either go with the majority or, if your bandwidth allows, set up electronic and hardcopy mailing lists, placing tenants on their preferred option as specified. Particularly if you opt to use both a hardcopy and electronic system, remember that while it’s important to make sure your tenants have a mode of receiving information efficiently, you also need to make sure the process is as simple as possible for yourself. After all, you don’t want to spend all your time distributing information to tenants through every communication channel possible.

Having a selection of communication options is great, but remember to use them wisely. Whether you’re using an electronic or paper system, any type of communication will simply become white noise if you’re constantly deluging tenants with information. Post all the information you want on your website (where tenants can actively go to seek out information), but send only important, must-know information out actively. This way, tenants will know that when they receive an email or a hard copy bulletin from you, it’s something they should pay attention to, taking any appropriate action as quickly as possible.

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The Property Investment Checklist consists of three major tasks: calculating projected profitability, getting inside of renters’ minds, and thinking long-term. All three of these steps are much easier with the proper tools at your disposal. The following links will help you more easily navigate your way through the Property Investment Checklist.

• The Real Estate Game by William Poorvu is a must-read for any real estate investor.  Check out Google’s book excerpt about the “back-of-the-envelope method of valuation.”
• If you’re considering purchasing a multi-family property, make sure to familiarize yourself with the different loan options at your disposal. PNC offers a list of the different Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loan options.
• One of our favorite sites, RentWiki.com, provides residents’ feedback about area rentals.  If you’re thinking about purchasing in a specific area, check out what Rentwiki users have to say about it.
• Engage renters on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and ask them what apartment residents are looking for when they search for rentals.
• What does long-term real estate investment really mean?

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When it comes to selecting an investment property, there are a few issues that every landlord must take into account. No matter how wonderful a property is or how eager you are to invest, never make a property investment without carefully evaluating the following items on your property investment checklist.

1. Calculate your profitability.
Although determining the likely profitability of an investment property may seem like a given, you might be surprised how many investors find themselves in a losing situation simply because they fail to do the math. Before buying an investment property at any price point, be sure you carefully determine how much rental income you are likely to generate on an annual basis. Weigh this against not only your mortgage and property taxes, but also all of the other costs that are likely to occur over the course of a year, such as advertising vacancies and doing general repairs and maintenance.

When calculating these costs, be conservative when estimating income and err towards over-estimating your outgoing expenses. You want to make sure you have enough wiggle room in your profit margins to afford your investment property payments no matter what unforeseen events may unfold in a given year.

About.com’s real estate business page offers some great calculation tools that will help you calculate your risk based on several different variables.

2. Get inside renters’ minds.
Sure, you’re the one who’s purchasing the investment property but never forget that you are purchasing it for the purpose of renting it out to tenants. Which means that while you obviously have to make a pragmatic investment decision, you also have to think like a renter. Take a long hard look at exactly what sort of properties seem to be the most desirable in your area. Evaluate things like number of bedrooms, location, square footage, and other amenities. Knowing what renters want ahead of time helps guarantee that you won’t struggle to fill vacancies or be forced to settle for less desirable tenants later down the line.

3. Think long-term.
Will this property still be good a few years down the line? Remember, when it comes to investments, you’re not only investing in your financial well-being—you’re also investing in your future. Which is why it’s so important to take a good, hard look at long-term trends in areas you are considering. Look at city and county records to see how the neighborhood you’re looking at buying into is trending. Have properties been increasing or decreasing in value over the past five or ten years? How about crime rates? Has the demographic remained stable over the past decade or has it evolved (for instance, are residents generally shifting from families to young, single occupants)?

While no one can predict the future, much can be learned from the past. Make sure that you know exactly what direction the neighborhood you’re thinking about buying is headed.

Checking these few items off your Property Investment Checklist can make all the difference between a good investment and a bad one.

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The very nature of emergencies is that they arise without notice and are unpreventable. The key to being prepared to handle emergency is to think possible scenarios through ahead of time, always putting safety first.  The following links will help you better prepare for any property emergencies.

• All residential units should have easily accessible fire extinguishers. Learn more about extinguishers at FireExtinguisher.com, a fun and informative site.
• Watch out for the silent killer; make sure every unit has a carbon monoxide detector.
• Property management offices should be just as prepared for an emergency as their residents. OSHA has a great how-to guide for workplace emergencies and evacuations.
• Make sure to provide tenants with printed evacuation maps.
• Help your residents protect themselves from emergencies by informing them about renters insurance policies. Esurance is a great place to compare quotes.

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