By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

I get asked this question a lot: “What’s the best way to build my rent roll?” I always reply, “What are your business’ goals for growth?”

There are two viable methods for building your rent roll – organic growth and acquisition. But, truth is, choosing a method requires you to consider which best aligns with your business’ growth strategy and can successfully achieve your goals. There’s a catch – whatever method you choose must be strategically planned, implemented, and managed in order for it to effectively build your rent roll and achieve your goals.

Organic growth

Consider organic growth. This method builds your rent roll through inquiries generated from planned marketing activities. In order to strategically plan, implement, and manage this method, you must understand your market area. Understanding your market area means knowing its statistics, such as the potential number of properties that make up the market area. Knowing such statistics gives you the ability to plan the number of properties that can be gained, average weekly rent of these properties, and projected growth horizon. This method also requires a team that can effectively manage gained properties and retain business.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of organic growth? Does it align with your business’ growth strategy and goals?

Pros:

• More cost effective than acquisition
• You charge fees in accordance with your own fee schedule
• You accept managements and property owners that match your criteria
• You don’t end up with managements that another agency has poorly managed
• Property owners are nurtured and managed by your agency’s policies and processes
• Managed growth, therefore managed retention

Cons:

• Takes longer to build your rent roll
• Requires more patience, planning, and marketing investment
• Requires outlay for resources and team members prior to income converting to profits

Acquisition

Now consider acquisition. This method builds your rent roll as you purchase other agencies’ rent rolls. Many principals use this method if their rent roll is experiencing slow growth. But, just like organic growth, acquisition requires investment, being the agreed amount for the value of the business on offer. You build your rent roll through acquisition by dealing with a broker who lists rent rolls for sale.

Once again, you must consider whether acquisition aligns with your business’ growth strategy and goals by weighing up its pros and cons.

Pros:

• Builds cash flow quickly
• Potential to increase income and asset value by increasing properties’ rental rates
• Potential to increase income and asset value by increasing and/or introducing further fees
• Further builds brand awareness and agency profile in market area

Cons:

• Fees can be low and inconsistent
• Extra charges can be low, non-existent, or inconsistent
• Property owners can be loyal to the previous agency and/or property manager
• Properties could be poor quality, placing extra pressure on your team
• Managements could be properties you would otherwise never choose to manage
• A poor rent roll purchase could damage your agency’s brand and reputation
• It takes a long time to gain a return on the investment

Which method should you use?

As you can see, neither method — organic growth or acquisition — is perfect, but what’s also clear is that either method can effectively build your rent roll. The key is to consider which method best aligns with your current growth strategy and goals then strategically plan, implement, and manage your chosen method to successfully build your rent roll. Keep in mind, the solution may in fact be to use a combination of both methods. It just depends on your business’ current situation, what you want to achieve, and when you want to achieve it – that should lead you to the how.

How are you building your rent rolls? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA

If your tenants don’t own pets, they’re in the minority. That’s the finding of a new Apartments.com survey, in which a full 75% of renters said they owned one or more pets. That’s up a staggering 32% since last year. Most of these pets are cats and dogs, with fish trailing behind at 6%. (Sorry, Nemo.)

Curiously, only 63% of renters who own pets said they were required to put down a pet deposit. The most common deposit was $200+.

What’s possibly more interesting is that 58% of renters who don’t own a pet still sought out pet-friendly buildings. They want to live near pet owners. Of those renters surveyed in 2013, 78% said they lived in pet-friendly buildings, up from 59% in 2012.

The trends are clear: More renters are owning pets, and more renters without pets are warming to the idea of living near them. Add to this the fact that 65% of pet-owning renters said they had some problems finding pet-friendly rentals, and it seems clear that having pet-friendly units could put your property at a competitive advantage. Put another way, if you’re not allowing pets, you’re turning away a large subset of renters.

Are the risks of allowing renters’ pets greater than the rewards? Do you allow pets in your units? Why or why not? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

(Note: The dog featured in the photo belongs to Buildium’s own Ian Pirro.)

By Matt Donnelly, Buildium, Boston, MA

If you’re a property manager, how can you encourage your tenants to support local businesses? Create a rewards card.

This is the approach taken by LLC Property Management, based in Los Angeles and Dallas. They offer each tenant a card they can use to get discounts at local shops. The tenant saves money and local shop owners get more business.

“Tenants usually save about 5-10% with each purchase. For example, every time they shop at their local markets or grocery stores, they can show their LLC Rewards card and receive the discount,” says Stefanie LaRue of LLC Property Management. “Dollar stores are very popular too. The vendors appreciate us directing local business their way, and the tenant’s savings adds up over time to where they truly value being a part of the program. They never leave home without their cards.”

This is just one of many ways that property managers can add value for their tenants. For example, Gallagher & Lindsey Property Management, based in Alameda and the East San Francisco Bay Area of California, rewards some long-term tenants (12 months or more) with a cash rebate that can be applied when those tenants buy a home through Gallagher & Lindsey REALTORS.

Another example comes from the Barrington Group, which manages properties in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia, and Florida. It has created a Residents Reward program in which tenants are rewarded with points for doing things such as paying their rent on time, helping orient new tenants or donating to a local soup kitchen. The points can be exchanged for apartment upgrades such as granite countertops, new carpeting or custom painting. The objective is to increase tenant loyalty, foster a feeling of community and ultimately reduce turnover.

There are numerous other rewards programs offered by property management companies. What programs does your company offer to your tenants?

By Brooke McDonald, VSM Real Estate, St. Paul, MN

Last time, in “How to Renovate Older Rental Properties,” I discussed the best way to get old properties ready to rent. Now I want to discuss ways to show your older property.

So how do you show her off in style? Here are a few tips:

• Target the right profile. Choose the right audience. You have to find people who can picture themselves living in your property– whether for the price or its characteristics – and who will find beauty in its age.  If it’s an older apartment or home, perhaps targeting young, prosperous families is not the right move.

• Tug at their heartstrings. People who appreciate the music, movies and stories of bygone days typically have an emotional connection with bygone eras. Tap into the emotional connection buyers have by referencing the property’s nostalgic qualities, its value, and yes, its charm and character. Everything vintage has experienced a distinct surge in popularity – play with this fascination with old things.

• For youngsters, appeal to their desire to be unique. Older properties are often one-of-a-kind. If you have younger renters tantalized by updated models and stainless steel, assure them of the uniqueness of an older property. The crown moldings, intricate wood plaster, claw foot tub and gigantic trees in the backyard are simply not something they’ll find in a newer property. Highlight how special these details are, and make sure to point out little details like this on the walk-through.

• Show ‘em old can be cool. Property managers take varying approaches to presenting older homes in an appealing light, using words like unique, sophisticated, or quaint, words adults may value and older souls can appreciate but words which young buyers may read as outdated, irrelevant, or ancient. Try using some new, bold descriptors to market this property. What about sassy? Who says old can’t be sassy?

• Remove their doubts quickly. Realize they’re afraid the property is going to fall down in a year and provide a detailed record of updates, fixes, and repairs. If everything has been serviced recently, your renters will sleep much easier knowing the property isn’t dying – it’s just old.

When you have an aesthetically appealing, clean property with a great story on your hands, marketing it well just means helping renters reframe old in their heads. Show them the possibilities of the property, and assure them that even an old property will still provide plenty of enjoyment.

Older properties have always got a chance in the rental beauty pageant. They may be old, but they can still win your heart over.

By Brooke McDonald, VSM Real Estate, St. Paul, MN

The unique nature of older properties makes renting them out a bit of a challenge. While newer homes and apartments boast modern conveniences, older properties sing charming songs from an earlier era. They just don’t build ‘em like that anymore, the old fogies mourn. There’s truth to it: People are truly not able to recreate the age and qualities of an older home, unless you take the expensive route and custom build and design a home.

The challenge of preparing old properties for market fits the analogy of a beauty pageant like a glove (an old-fashioned Grandma glove, no less). Not only is your contestant up against the fierce competition of the newly-remodeled-three-car-garage-whirlpool-tub crowd, but her charm and character need to make a fast impression.

Most real estate agents and property owners emphasize that the most important marketing strategy is to foresee common buyer objections and address concerns with renting an older property. What can you do to showcase your elderly gem’s best qualities and minimize any concerns from cautious renters?

The best of old and new

Old homes are stereotypically smelly and dark, with out-of-date appliances, peeling paint and dirty carpet. Property owners may be tempted to scrap it all and invest heavily in renovations. The key, however, is to retain the character and uniqueness your old property boasts but equip it for modern living as best you can. Conducting a deep clean, ensuring the working order of major home systems and making small renovations will go a long way to beautifying your old property.

• Make sure it looks good on the outside. Eliminate a new renter’s concern that the property is falling apart by making any big property renovations that must take place – like a new roof, chimney repairs, new windows, new siding, etc.

• Check mechanical systems (water supply lines, drain lines, heating system, circuits, etc.). Make sure everything’s working like it should so that renters do not worry that something will break in the middle of the night.

• Update ancient appliances. Ensure that everything works, and buy new appliances to replace near-death ones. Consider consulting a designer to make sure you choose appliances consistent with the home’s character.

• Freshen up the bathrooms and kitchen. These rooms sell a house. New coats of paint, new hardware on the cabinets, and perhaps new countertops or mirrors all go a long way in maintaining the charm and loveliness of the property. Nobody likes the look of kitchens or bathrooms that are in disrepair, dark or dingy. You can update these without a huge investment. For the showing, set out new towels, soap and flowers.

• Know the story. Time permitting, take a look at the history books, old newspaper articles and library archives. Having interesting tidbits on hand to share with your potential renters will help people value the property more. It’s not a bad idea to create some marketing materials specifically for telling the story. Often, older properties are located in areas with rich history and great ambiance.

• Have a property inspection done. Do this before renters show up in order to give relief to suspicious prospects who think a big bad issue will crop up at any moment.

Once you have your older property all spruced up, it’s time to show it to potential renters. What are the secrets to showing an older rental property? That’s the topic of, “How to Show Older Rental Properties,” my next blog post.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Whether you like it or not, online marketing is here to stay. Don’t think that tomorrow you’ll wake up and not have to deal with it or worry about it, like a fad. No such luck. Burying your head in the sand and hoping that it’ll go away is not likely to help either.

So what is a person to do who doesn’t want to do anything, but deep down they know there are some minimum things they should be doing for the “greater good” of their company and future generations of that company?

Well, my first rule of thumb is to advise the person in charge of the company to protect the brand. Okay, so what on earth does that mean? What it means is to get your name secured in the top online marketing platforms out there, and if you don’t have a domain or blog, get the name registered as well.

What sites am I referring to? The major sites include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. All of these sites offer customized URL links and, depending on your business, there may be others as well. Again, you ask, what does that mean? It means these labels or URL links are a pattern of letters or numbers or whatever your name is composed of. If someone else in another geography, company, or industry has a similar name, they may beat you to it, so grab it now.

For instance, if your company name is Markington Real Estate Services, you will want to secure the following URL customized names:

http://www.facebook.com/markington-real-estate-services

http://www.youtube.com/markington-real-estate-services

http://www.linkedin.com/company/markington-real-estate-services

http://www.twitter.com/markington

http://www.pinterest.com/markington

These are only examples, and whether you wish to use these services or not depends on your business. However, the names are going quickly, and those with more common words or names will not have much of a selection when they do decide to select a name to match their brand.

If you’re a new company, it’s strongly recommended that you do your homework before you start your new property management company. Research the name and find out if the name is available across the various social media platforms. Do not select a name until you determine the availability of these sites, as well as the domain name for the company website and blog.

I have seen so many companies make the mistake of selecting a name, incorporating the name, and then later determining there is no chance to obtain a cohesive name across all customer touch points. What does this mean? If your name is Markington, people are going to search Markington. That’s it. The letters are the online link back to you and your content. If you are marketing apartments, offices, and retail, and you’re looking for new building owners, they are going to search for Markington.

If you think it’s easy to get good SEO for three or four different variations, you’re mistaken. It’s hard enough to build your SEO with a single name, let alone a variety of configurations.

If you are set on a name and there’s no other way around it, think of creative ways to abbreviate or create acronyms with your name, again, being consistent and creating a brand with the abbreviation or acronym.

So if your company name is Markington Real Estate Services, consider MRES or MarkRES, etc. The other way to do it is with a geographic reference, say MarkingtonAZ, etc. Use caution, as the letters you are permitted may be limited. For instance, with Twitter, the number of letters is defined on their support pages for the real name, different than the username. Also note, with Twitter, the real name can change as often as you wish, but the username is fixed. Click here for more information.

How long can real names and usernames be?

• - Your username can contain up to 15 characters.
• - Your real name can be 20 characters long.

The bottom line is that all of the sites work together to let customers find you. It’s important to plan and think ahead. At present, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube are not going anywhere. Based on that information, it’s prudent as a company executive or business owner to protect your brand and get your URL before somebody else grabs it and makes it that much harder for you to have the name that is so near and dear to you and your customers.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

The answer is yes and no. Newsletters are a vital connecting point between you and your building occupants — that is, if you do a newsletter. As a property manager, I always felt compelled to reach out to and keep in touch with occupants and tell them what we were doing in and around the property. The newsletter also served as a simple way to provide them with information about the area, property, or anything at all pertinent to their involvement in the community.

I would feel incomplete if I were not able to reach those customers and share something with them at least monthly. My attitude was that customers needed to be kept informed in some way.

The trick is to make sure the message is short and to the point. Everyone is inundated with so much to read and follow and keep up with. We have work, family, church, hobbies, and where we live and work, all trying to grab our attention. All of these groups want to send us messages, and it’s hard to keep up.

As a property manager or leasing agent, we have to walk in our customers’ shoes and understand what works and what doesn’t. Times are changing for all of us in property management, and newsletters have been such a big part of our operations and marketing, and way to reach our customers. For many, the newsletter is a longstanding part of a resident or tenant retention program.

So are newsletters old news today? Or are there ways to improve on this long tradition of resident and tenant communication? What is the best way to get our customers to read those important messages we send, and is the old-fashioned paper newsletter obsolete?

I think the term newsletter is old news, but I still believe communication that is consistent and effective remains vital. It’s not a good idea to think what works at one property works at all properties. Why? Because the profile of a customer changes from property to property and in different markets. In some markets, the single-page, slip-under-the-door newsletter may still be viable, while in other markets or properties a Tweet, Facebook post, or blog post may do the trick. Today the sky is the limit on how to deliver the communication. But you can’t assume that everyone has high-speed Internet, and you can’t assume that everyone has a computer either!

When making the decision on newsletters and communication, the first thing to consider is your customer profile. Do your customers use the Internet? That sounds like a crazy question, but many communities that are active-living or over-55 communities may require a hybrid approach. Communities of families, students, and under-55 profiles are likely more accepting of Internet communication. Again, depending on the profile, you need to decide what communication works best.

For instance, if the property has entry points or common areas where messages can be posted or where flat panel television screens can be installed, live, up-to-the-minute communication is most effective. If you have elevator lobbies, those are the most ideal locations to install flat panels that can provide timely communications to all residents or tenants. No matter what age, most folks appreciate knowing what is going on, and the entry area is the most appropriate location to post a communication to your customer! How it looks or how it is delivered will depend on budget, physical limitation, aesthetics, and manpower.

As far as using these technologies, it is important that your database programs have fields set up to collect all of these touch points. For instance, be sure there are e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and cell phone numbers collected on all resident profiles. With a cell phone, you can also send text messages. Text messages are an effective way to communicate as well.

If you set up a system of collecting these methods, and you keep it up to date, pushing messages out can be very effective. Now the message can include a hyperlink that takes the customer to a blog, or it can be a message in itself. Either way, it is still relevant to communicate with customers and make sure the communication is effective. Do you have a plan today for communicating to your customers? Are you currently collecting e-mail addresses, Twitter, Facebook, and cell numbers? If not, I suggest you start. At least you can collect the data so you are ready to convert your paper newsletter to an online and electronic message in the future. Once you are ready, it will be ready for you!

As far as using online, digital options, websites, blogs, Tweets, e-mails, texting, and Facebook can all be used today for both brief communications and timely messages that communicate important announcement or updates to your customers. The great thing about websites and blogs is that your customers can be added to an e-mail distribution list, and those messages can go out to all via automation each time an update is posted. WordPress, for example, has built-in tools that provide subscribers. The process would be added to your move-in of each new customer. When you add the lease, you also add their e-mail address to your distribution list. The resident will get an e-mail that permits them to accept the opt-in as a subscriber. It would be part of the orientation to the property to educate the new customer on how you communicate so they are aware.

Twitter is much more advanced technology and is not ready to be used on a widespread basis today, but hopefully someday it gains more use with the masses. If the group is a student profile, Twitter can be used to push messages out.

The bottom line is that the concept of a “newsletter” is not about the physical document or blog, but about communicating to your customer. You should reach your customers in some way, shape, or form, and today the choices are unlimited. Do not ignore this vital piece of your marketing program.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

The other day a property manager asked me how one can make money for their company and building, using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other online network. It was a great question. I believe so many property managers, leasing agents and real estate professionals are confused about how these tools can be used.

Networking sites are just that: tools. For example, just because you use Twitter, you will not make money. Twitter is a vehicle to carry a message with the potential for your message to be read by many more people without paper, postage or labor to stuff an envelope. So if you want to get the word out about a property you are leasing for instance, the goal is to touch as many people with your message as possible.

How do you do that? Well if you are a leasing agent there are companies with many employees in a given market that you want to do outreach to. It is very difficult and time consuming to create email lists of those contacts and maintain current emails. Those businesses have employees who want to live as close to work as possible. By reaching those businesses, you have a very good chance that the employees at the company also follow their own company on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIN. By sharing your information through their stream of influence, you are touching a wider audience. Yes, you have touched the company, but they touch many more people as well. Also, you can build up a great list, which is all part of the public domain and much easier to track and maintain than say a single person’s email address.

If you can imagine the postcard, brochure or three fold flyer we all used to market our vacant apartments or spaces in the past, it was a stagnant piece of paper that might be read and maybe shared, but highly unlikely. Also, you needed to maintain actual email addresses as well for each contact. All of that is outdated almost as soon as you collect it. People move around, but company Twitter, LinkedIN and Facebook pages do not!

Today, that postcard takes the form of a “post” hence the term is so closely related to the term postcard! So now you can post to that source or stream and that post does not go away. It is very powerful and lives online forever. So if you send a “post” today on any virtual business network, like Twitter or a business Facebook page or a LinkedIn status or your network du jour, your “post” does not get thrown in the garbage can. It is still alive, searchable and quite possibly being shared.

So the moral of the story is that our fundamentals are the same, but our tools are different. We are greener, using less manual tasks, such as folding, stuffing, labeling, merging, stamping and doing more outreach and online networking. As well as more researching of who to follow and who to reach. There is no difference in the fundamentals that you need to create a powerful, target market list, it is just that when you send the “post” you are pushing a tweet button or a share link, in lieu of the manual labor we are most accustomed to. The plus of all of this is that once you get your outreach system in place, it actually begins to expand as opposed to a paper mailing list or labels which actually becomes stale and outdated. The outreach and contacts you build via your Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIN outreach, if done thoughtfully, can become an extremely valuable and powerful tool for filling vacant apartments or finding new employees, or giving your customers property updates. It truly is about quality and connecting to those people who are your target market and are likely to share your news and help to expand your reach!

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Twitter is a fascinating tool. You can love it or hate it, but if you love it, there are a multitude of styles and personalities you can apply to this powerful online tool. While there are many different ways to use Twitter, I think up close and personal is the best style of all!

Rule #1 Get your name.

First of all, I strive to match my project name and my Twitter site in all ways possible. Examples include my own for theBrokerList and its companion Twitter site is @theBrokerList. Same name. In all cases, it helps tremendously to get your name, so get it now! Many folks are out there building a brand name for themselves or their company and have not yet reserved their Twitter URL. That is a big mistake in my opinion. Go get your name, even if you have no time to set it up!

Rule #2 Create your icon.

Now that you have your name, the image that you associate with that name will be your brand icon as well. Twitter comes with a generic egg-shaped image on all profiles. So many folks are just continuing with the egg and never take the initiative to brand their tweets with an image. That is wasteful because they are wasting all of that work in tweeting but they have not created a memorable picture that folks will immediately recognize. When I tweet, my eye catches images faster than words. If I see a colleague’s brand it draws me to it instantly, which saves time. The same holds true for your brand. If you send out five tweets or one tweet, your name is travelling through the Internet with that brand icon and you should remember pictures are worth a thousand words! There are unlimited ways to set up your icon. If you’re not a company, your picture is perfect. If you are a company, a snip of your logo or an acronym will do. It can be an image of almost anything, but remember, it is your brand! It is a good idea to add an element or create one that will remain your symbol, at least for now. Do not change the symbol frequently as that will cause confusion.

Rule #3 Fill in Profile Blanks.

Next thing that is absolutely necessary to add is a hyperlink to your online profile, your website, or anything about you! So many people leave their profiles blank, and that defeats the entire purpose! You want traffic to you or your brand and people want to check you out. Also, if you are really an online wizard, you can even add an extra hyperlink in the content of your profile description! That gives you two links folks can click on. Even more bang for the buck!

Rule #4 Use a Strong Password.

Due to the power of Twitter, it is frequently a target for hackers and spammers. The spammers love to take over Twitter accounts and spew garbage and bad hyperlinks out to your followers. For that reason it is vital that you use a STRONG password. A STRONG password is one you will not ever remember. It is so difficult that there is no sense even trying to remember it. My approach is to use an online password generator and generate a long and totally meaningless password that I would never remember. I store the password in a safe place for future use. If you do not want to generate a strong password like that, make it really long and mix up letters, numbers, symbols, and anything that you will remember, but would be hard for a spammer to crack. Even with using strong passwords, it is no guarantee, but if your account gets hacked or hijacked, just change the password immediately. Basically the password was cracked, but if you change it, the spamming will stop.

Rule #5 Know the Basic Tweetology.

As you probably know already, Twitter is a micro blog and permits micro posts, or Tweets, of 140 characters per message. With that in mind, much of the messaging lingo is abbreviated. For instance, RT = Retweet, and FF = FollowFriday. Check out sites like Webopedia and Social Media Today for a complete listing of Twitter lingo. A search for Twitter abbreviations will also yield many sites with similar lists.

Rule #6 #HashTagsAreGood.
A hash tag (#) is just a way to help organize or tag messages for grouping, alerting, or searching. For instance, if you are hosting an event you can name the event “#2012Event.” Now each time that hash tag combination is used that message will be searchable via “#2012Event,” etc. Hash tags exist in organizations, industries, geographies, and are unlimited. There are already so many hash tags, with new ones created every second, the sky’s the limit.

Rule #7 How to Use the Twitter URL.
Many folks have no clue what their Twitter URL is or how to present it. For instance, on signage you would use @MyURL, but in online use you need to use the full URL, http://www.twitter.com/myurl. The difference is that everyone knows when they see an “@” in front of the name, it is for a Twitter account. Twitter has really claimed that symbol.

Rule #8 Use Your Twitter URL.
Twitter is a micro blog and an easy way for folks to find you. So use it! Add it to your business cards, brochures, email, LinkedIn account, and any other sites you utilize. There are more property management websites and blogs missing out by not sharing their Twitter site URL or hyperlink. People have no way to know what your Twitter URL is or how to follow you if it’s not posted! The goal is to get people you know, customers, or potential customers to follow you. When they follow you, they are up on your blog posts, announcements, and messages. It is a tremendous customer service tool.

Rule #9 Twitter, aka Phone Ringing or Email.
It may sound a little odd, but when someone sends you a message on Twitter you must reply! It is becoming a more efficient messaging system than email. It forces you to be brief, and it can take people (via hyperlinks) where you want them to go. Also, it’s FREE! It is very easy to use on your mobile device. As a property manager or leasing agent, you should definitely offer Twitter as an option to your customers so they have that ability to communicate with you quickly and at any time!

Rule #10 Twitter is a Business Tool.

So many people have made Twitter out to be a ridiculous and silly tool. You hear the stories of folks like Justin Bieber and other celebs using it for silliness, but in reality, it is a massive PR tool for them. Not only do they have crazed fans following them, but they can promote what they do. You are no different! You are not Justin Bieber, but you are marketing properties, your company, and your services. With that in mind, you need to take it seriously and use it wisely. Do not mix a business or professional Twitter site with personal use or activity. Keep business and personal separate. Be nice, polite, and professional. Use Twitter to post messages, make announcements, and network. It is also the most efficient way to cold call, or perform a community outreach to find customers. If you spend time searching Twitter, you can find many businesses in your community that use it. Reach out to them to share your promotional news about space or units available. Isn’t that the name of the game? It should be, and Twitter can do that for you if you follow these rules.

There is so much more to Twitter, including tools to use with it and what messages you should send. Look for future blog posts about this incredible online marketing tool that every property manager and leasing agent should be familiar with.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

When creating an Internet presence and building a new public website, the first thing you’ll want to do is identify a domain name as close as possible to your company or property name. Don’t bother searching in multiple locations for your potential site’s name — you’re too busy for that! Go straight to a search engine like namechecklist.com.

Create your website on a platform such as WordPress. Put in the time, effort, and money to design and plan the site. Consider paying a designer to create a logo and graphics. Add content to the site, such as (in no particular order):

1. About Us
2. Services Properties and/or Listings
3. Team
4. Executive Bios
5. Contact Us
6. Affiliations
7. Blog
8. Testimonials

After all this work is done — content is added, graphics are selected, colors are finalized, fonts, headlines, and widget boxes are chosen — you (and only you, as you spearheaded the project!) can send out an email to everyone in your contact list to say, “Look! We have a new website and blog!” Yippee!

But then, if you’re like most website owners, the site sits, and sits, and sits. From time to time you might add a blog article, or update listings. If you’re smart, you thought to add a live feed of listings from another database service provider that’s integrated into the site. When new employees come and go, maybe you’ll update the site when you get around to it.

Don’t fall into this trap! Your website should be a living, breathing, active representation of you and your company. Make time to promote on social media. Push out your blog articles to LinkedIn and to all of the LinkedIn groups you belong to (maximum of 50 per person!). Encourage your team to tell all of their contacts about your new website or blog. Ensure that the domain URL is on every single thing you publish or post. Place simple share buttons on your pages or blog posts via the admin tools. Anything less, and you’re virtually guaranteeing that no one will ever share anything about you, your firm, or your great content.

While you’re at it, let your employees have access to sites like Facebook, and encourage them to keep an up-to-date LinkedIn profile (the modern-day business card). Your people and properties will be found and links will be out there in Google, where they can be discovered or exploited by new clients. If your website is found, that means traffic! Traffic is numbers, and numbers mean increased chances that you’ll meet a new client, tenant, or even find a buyer.

And get a Twitter page. Twitter is neither complicated nor difficult to navigate. It will bring t-r-a-f-f-i-c to your firm, which is only a problem if you plan to remain under the radar. Remember, you want every client to see your name in the media or an online content stream.