My Marketing Mentor: Madonna
In my consulting practice, the economic crisis of 2009 has brought about the need to change, retool and reinvent everything we do in the leasing and marketing of multifamily rental assets. What worked as little as two years ago will simply not cut the mustard today. In fact, it won’t even be close to the results those efforts created 24 months ago. My experience has taught me that this is the time to be at the top of my game so that I can rise to this challenge.
Like everyone else, I need someone I can learn from. This is why I have chosen Madonna as my marketing mentor. For me, Madonna came on to the music scene while I was in my first few years of high school. Even though we wore uniforms, we would try to put a lace band in our hair that would match our lace socks. Every girl running around Fisher Catholic High School wore not less than 6 – 10 black rubber bracelets on her arm and risk detention for a uniform violation infraction. I have to admit, I was influenced by Madonna.
As the years rolled on, Madonna sprinted into a provocative direction and defined herself with her extremely open sexuality. She stared in her movie called “Truth or Dare.” She shifted that X rated image and was nominated for her performance in musical movie Evita. Then in yet another grand process to change her ever evolving image, today, she is writing children’s books. Do you remember the last book she wrote prior to her children’s books? It was sold with a paper cover at the bookstore because of its cover! How does a woman go from pop artist to sexual icon to movie star to author of children’s books? She does it by constantly reinventing herself. She can retool her image to fit her business needs. This is a person who is a marketing genius. She has a unique ability to change her image and position in the spotlight year after year.
If we take a lesson from the marketing manual lived by Madonna. Any apartment community, no matter when it was built, can survived and thrive as Madonna has. I am excited to be working on some projects which are being rehabbed. The “before and after” photos of the apartments are astonishing. To follow suit the marketing needs to be rejuvenated often with a new name, logo and market position. However, you don’t have to redevelop your buildings to conduct a marketing rehab. And, there is no better time than now to reintroduce your apartment community to the market with a fresh look. This is what it takes to get the attention of today’s consumer.
I think Denny’s should receive an award for their effort to get America back to their dining rooms. The Tuesday following Superbowl Sunday, Denny’s offered a free Grand Slam breakfast to everyone who visited. Including the Superbowl ad to launch the campaign, Denny’s spent six million dollars on ads, food and staffing. 200,000 American’s waited in line for up to two hours for a free breakfast valued at $5.99. Not only did Denny’s receive over 100 million dollars in free advertising due to the fact that every media outlet covered the event, they also got old customers and future customers acquainted with the value they offer on a plate.
I drive past apartment communities in every city I visit and many have invested in a rejuvenation effort in years. Their signs have not changed, the landscaping is overgrown, and their exterior colors are out of date. When I open the apartment rental magazines I still see ads with the same old photos and tired words that have not been freshened since the 90’s. If Madonna was your marketing director, she would jump on this need to refresh, renew and reposition. The styles we use for new logo’s has changed. For just $180, the online designers at www.CrowdSpring.com will send you a minimum of 25 entries for new logo options. This small investment is a great start to kicking your image into the current day.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Good News For Apartments
Hi Friends! Thought we could all use a little good news these days. Since CNN is covering the comment Miss California made instead of job growth in Texas and other meaningful states, I feel it is my duty to report. The numbers are not record setting but they are a positive step.
Let's keep in mind that jobs drive the apartment market. In addition, it has been my experience that when San Antonio starts to recover or experiences any trend the country will soon see the same trends. -Kate
Best Cities for Jobs
by Joel Kotkin, Forbes.com
Over the past five years, Michael Shires, associate professor in public policy at Pepperdine University, and I have been compiling a list of the best places to do business. The list, based on job growth in regions across the U.S. over the long, middle and short term, has changed over the years -- but the employment landscape has never looked like this.
In past iterations, we saw many fast-growing economies -- some adding jobs at annual rates of 3% to 5%. Meanwhile, some grew more slowly, and others actually lost jobs. This year, however, you can barely find a fast-growing economy anywhere in this vast, diverse country. In 2008, 2% growth made a city a veritable boom town, and anything approaching 1% growth is, oddly, better than merely respectable.
So this year perhaps we should call the rankings not the "best" places for jobs, but the "least worst." But the least worst economies in America today largely mirror those that topped the list last year, even if these regions have recently experienced less growth than in prior years. Our No.1-ranked big city, Austin, for example, enjoyed growth of 1% in 2008 -- less than a third of its average since 2003.
The study is based on job growth in 333 regions -- called Metropolitan Statistical Areas by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which provided the data -- across the U.S. Our analysis looked not only at job growth in the last year but also at how employment figures have changed since 1996. This is because we are wary of overemphasizing recent data and strive to give a more complete picture of the potential a region has for job-seekers. (For the complete methodology, click here.)
The Big Winner: Texas
The top of the complete ranking -- which, for ease, we have broken down into the two smaller lists, of the best big and small cities for jobs -- is dominated by one state: Texas. The Lone Star State may have lost a powerful advocate in Washington, but it's home to a remarkable eight of the top 20 cities on our list -- including No. 1-ranked Odessa, a small city in the state's northwestern region. Further, the top five large metropolitan areas for job growth -- Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas -- are all in Texas' "urban triangle."
The reasons for the state's relative success are varied. A healthy energy industry is certainly one cause. Many Texas high-fliers, including Odessa, Longview, Dallas and Houston, are home to energy companies that employ hordes of people -- and usually at fairly high salaries for both blue- and white-collar workers. In some places, these spurts represent a huge reversal from the late 1990s. Take Odessa's remarkable 5.5% job growth in 2008, which followed a period of growth well under 1% from 1998 to 2002.
Of course, not all the nation's energy jobs are located in Texas, even if the state does play host to most of our major oil companies. The surge in energy prices in 2007 also boosted the performance of several other top-ranked locales such as Grand Junction, Colo., Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodoux, La., Tulsa, Okla., Lafayette, La., and Bismarck, N.D.
Looking at the energy sector's hotbeds, however, doesn't tell the whole story. Another major factor behind a city's job offerings is how severely it experienced the housing crisis. There's a "zone of sanity" across the middle of the country, including the region around Kansas City, Mo., that largely avoided the real estate bubble and the subsequent foreclosure crisis.
College Towns as Emerging Hubs
Still other factors correlating with job growth -- as evidenced by Shires' and my current and past studies -- are lower costs and taxes. For example, the area around Kennewick, Wash., is far less expensive than coastal communities in that same state, and residents and businesses there also enjoy cheap hydroelectric power. Compared with high-tech centers in California and the Northeast, such as San Jose and Boston, places like Austin offer both tax and housing-cost bargains, as do Fargo, N.D. and Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
College towns also did well on our list, particularly those in states that are both less expensive and outside the Great Lakes. Although universities -- and their endowments -- are feeling the recession's pinch, they continue to attract students. In fact, colleges saw a bumper crop of applicants this year, as members of the huge millennial generation, encompassing those born after 1983, reach that stage of life. More recently, college towns have emerged as incubators for new companies and as attractive places for retirees.
Specifically, the college town winners include not only well-known places like Austin and Chapel Hill, but also less-hyped places like Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia; College Station, Texas, where 48,000-student Texas A&M University is located; Morgantown, W.Va., site of the University of West Virginia; and Fargo, the hub of North Dakota State University.
Democratic states are glaringly absent from the top of the list. You don't get to a traditionally blue state -- in a departure from past years, Obama won North Carolina -- until you get to Olympia, Wash., and Seattle, which ranked No. 6 among the large cities.
But political changes afoot could affect the trajectory of many of our fast-growing communities -- and not always in positive ways. It's possible that the Obama administration's new energy policies, which may discourage domestic fossil fuel production, could put a considerable damper on the still-robust parts of Texas and elsewhere where coal, oil and natural gas industries are still cornerstones of economic success.
Economic and Power Shifts
By contrast, the wind- and solar-power industries seem to be, as of now, relatively small job generators, and with energy prices low, endeavors in these areas are sustainable only with massive subsidies from Washington. But still, if these sectors grow in size and profitability, other locales that have not typically been seen as energy hubs over the past few decades may benefit -- notably parts of California, although Texas and the Great Plains also seem positioned to profit from these developments.
Another critical concern for some communities is the potential for major cutbacks on big-ticket defense spending. This would be of particular interest to communities in places like Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia where new aircraft are currently assembled. Over the years, blue states like California have seen their defense industry shrivel as the once-potent Texas Congressional delegation and the two Bushes tilted toward Lone Star State contractors.
These days it's big-city mayors and big blue-state governors who are looking for financial support from Obama. Northeast boosters are convinced more money on mass transit, inter-city rail lines and scientific research will rev up their economies. Boston -- No. 16 on the list of large cities and a leading medical and scientific research center -- could be a beneficiary of the new federal spending.
The most obvious winner from the recent power shift should be Washington, D.C. The Obama-led stimulus, including the massive Treasury bailout, has transformed the town from merely the political capital into the de facto center of regular capital as well. Watch for D.C. and its environs to move up our list over the next year or two. Already the area boasts one of the few strong apartment markets among the big metropolitan areas in the country, which will only improve as job-seekers flock to the new Rome.
More Promising Places
Yet Washington is an anomaly, because most of the places that stand to benefit from this unforgiving economy are ones that are affordable and therefore friendly to business, reinforcing a key trend of the last decade. It also helps regions to have ties to core industries like energy and agriculture, a sector that has remained relatively strong and will strengthen again when global demand for food increases.
Some areas have attracted new residents readily and continue to do so, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Over time this migration could be good news for a handful of metropolitan areas like Salt Lake City, which ranks seventh among the big cities for job growth, and Raleigh-Cary, N.C., which was No. 1 among large cities last year and No. 8 this year. Over the last few years, these places have consistently appeared at the top of our rankings and are emerging as preferred sites for cutting-edge technology and manufacturing firms.
Below these winners are a cluster of other promising places that have already managed to withstand the current downturn in decent shape and seem certain to rebound along with the overall economy. These include the largely suburban area around Kansas City, Kan., perennial high-flyer Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Greeley, Colo. -- in part due to their ability to attract workers and businesses from bigger metropolitan centers nearby -- as well as Huntsville, Ala., which has a strong concentration of workers in the government and high-tech sectors.
In the end, most of the cities at the top of the lists -- whether they are small, medium or large -- have shown they have what it takes to survive in tough times. Less-stressed local governments will be able to construct needed infrastructure and attract new investors so that job growth can rise to the levels of past years. If better days are in the offing, these areas seem best positioned to be the next drivers of the economic expansion this nation sorely needs.
Joel Kotkin is a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. He is executive editor of newgeography.com and writes the weekly New Geographer column for Forbes.
Let's keep in mind that jobs drive the apartment market. In addition, it has been my experience that when San Antonio starts to recover or experiences any trend the country will soon see the same trends. -Kate
Best Cities for Jobs
by Joel Kotkin, Forbes.com
Over the past five years, Michael Shires, associate professor in public policy at Pepperdine University, and I have been compiling a list of the best places to do business. The list, based on job growth in regions across the U.S. over the long, middle and short term, has changed over the years -- but the employment landscape has never looked like this.
In past iterations, we saw many fast-growing economies -- some adding jobs at annual rates of 3% to 5%. Meanwhile, some grew more slowly, and others actually lost jobs. This year, however, you can barely find a fast-growing economy anywhere in this vast, diverse country. In 2008, 2% growth made a city a veritable boom town, and anything approaching 1% growth is, oddly, better than merely respectable.
So this year perhaps we should call the rankings not the "best" places for jobs, but the "least worst." But the least worst economies in America today largely mirror those that topped the list last year, even if these regions have recently experienced less growth than in prior years. Our No.1-ranked big city, Austin, for example, enjoyed growth of 1% in 2008 -- less than a third of its average since 2003.
The study is based on job growth in 333 regions -- called Metropolitan Statistical Areas by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which provided the data -- across the U.S. Our analysis looked not only at job growth in the last year but also at how employment figures have changed since 1996. This is because we are wary of overemphasizing recent data and strive to give a more complete picture of the potential a region has for job-seekers. (For the complete methodology, click here.)
The Big Winner: Texas
The top of the complete ranking -- which, for ease, we have broken down into the two smaller lists, of the best big and small cities for jobs -- is dominated by one state: Texas. The Lone Star State may have lost a powerful advocate in Washington, but it's home to a remarkable eight of the top 20 cities on our list -- including No. 1-ranked Odessa, a small city in the state's northwestern region. Further, the top five large metropolitan areas for job growth -- Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas -- are all in Texas' "urban triangle."
The reasons for the state's relative success are varied. A healthy energy industry is certainly one cause. Many Texas high-fliers, including Odessa, Longview, Dallas and Houston, are home to energy companies that employ hordes of people -- and usually at fairly high salaries for both blue- and white-collar workers. In some places, these spurts represent a huge reversal from the late 1990s. Take Odessa's remarkable 5.5% job growth in 2008, which followed a period of growth well under 1% from 1998 to 2002.
Of course, not all the nation's energy jobs are located in Texas, even if the state does play host to most of our major oil companies. The surge in energy prices in 2007 also boosted the performance of several other top-ranked locales such as Grand Junction, Colo., Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodoux, La., Tulsa, Okla., Lafayette, La., and Bismarck, N.D.
Looking at the energy sector's hotbeds, however, doesn't tell the whole story. Another major factor behind a city's job offerings is how severely it experienced the housing crisis. There's a "zone of sanity" across the middle of the country, including the region around Kansas City, Mo., that largely avoided the real estate bubble and the subsequent foreclosure crisis.
College Towns as Emerging Hubs
Still other factors correlating with job growth -- as evidenced by Shires' and my current and past studies -- are lower costs and taxes. For example, the area around Kennewick, Wash., is far less expensive than coastal communities in that same state, and residents and businesses there also enjoy cheap hydroelectric power. Compared with high-tech centers in California and the Northeast, such as San Jose and Boston, places like Austin offer both tax and housing-cost bargains, as do Fargo, N.D. and Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
College towns also did well on our list, particularly those in states that are both less expensive and outside the Great Lakes. Although universities -- and their endowments -- are feeling the recession's pinch, they continue to attract students. In fact, colleges saw a bumper crop of applicants this year, as members of the huge millennial generation, encompassing those born after 1983, reach that stage of life. More recently, college towns have emerged as incubators for new companies and as attractive places for retirees.
Specifically, the college town winners include not only well-known places like Austin and Chapel Hill, but also less-hyped places like Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia; College Station, Texas, where 48,000-student Texas A&M University is located; Morgantown, W.Va., site of the University of West Virginia; and Fargo, the hub of North Dakota State University.
Democratic states are glaringly absent from the top of the list. You don't get to a traditionally blue state -- in a departure from past years, Obama won North Carolina -- until you get to Olympia, Wash., and Seattle, which ranked No. 6 among the large cities.
But political changes afoot could affect the trajectory of many of our fast-growing communities -- and not always in positive ways. It's possible that the Obama administration's new energy policies, which may discourage domestic fossil fuel production, could put a considerable damper on the still-robust parts of Texas and elsewhere where coal, oil and natural gas industries are still cornerstones of economic success.
Economic and Power Shifts
By contrast, the wind- and solar-power industries seem to be, as of now, relatively small job generators, and with energy prices low, endeavors in these areas are sustainable only with massive subsidies from Washington. But still, if these sectors grow in size and profitability, other locales that have not typically been seen as energy hubs over the past few decades may benefit -- notably parts of California, although Texas and the Great Plains also seem positioned to profit from these developments.
Another critical concern for some communities is the potential for major cutbacks on big-ticket defense spending. This would be of particular interest to communities in places like Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia where new aircraft are currently assembled. Over the years, blue states like California have seen their defense industry shrivel as the once-potent Texas Congressional delegation and the two Bushes tilted toward Lone Star State contractors.
These days it's big-city mayors and big blue-state governors who are looking for financial support from Obama. Northeast boosters are convinced more money on mass transit, inter-city rail lines and scientific research will rev up their economies. Boston -- No. 16 on the list of large cities and a leading medical and scientific research center -- could be a beneficiary of the new federal spending.
The most obvious winner from the recent power shift should be Washington, D.C. The Obama-led stimulus, including the massive Treasury bailout, has transformed the town from merely the political capital into the de facto center of regular capital as well. Watch for D.C. and its environs to move up our list over the next year or two. Already the area boasts one of the few strong apartment markets among the big metropolitan areas in the country, which will only improve as job-seekers flock to the new Rome.
More Promising Places
Yet Washington is an anomaly, because most of the places that stand to benefit from this unforgiving economy are ones that are affordable and therefore friendly to business, reinforcing a key trend of the last decade. It also helps regions to have ties to core industries like energy and agriculture, a sector that has remained relatively strong and will strengthen again when global demand for food increases.
Some areas have attracted new residents readily and continue to do so, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Over time this migration could be good news for a handful of metropolitan areas like Salt Lake City, which ranks seventh among the big cities for job growth, and Raleigh-Cary, N.C., which was No. 1 among large cities last year and No. 8 this year. Over the last few years, these places have consistently appeared at the top of our rankings and are emerging as preferred sites for cutting-edge technology and manufacturing firms.
Below these winners are a cluster of other promising places that have already managed to withstand the current downturn in decent shape and seem certain to rebound along with the overall economy. These include the largely suburban area around Kansas City, Kan., perennial high-flyer Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Greeley, Colo. -- in part due to their ability to attract workers and businesses from bigger metropolitan centers nearby -- as well as Huntsville, Ala., which has a strong concentration of workers in the government and high-tech sectors.
In the end, most of the cities at the top of the lists -- whether they are small, medium or large -- have shown they have what it takes to survive in tough times. Less-stressed local governments will be able to construct needed infrastructure and attract new investors so that job growth can rise to the levels of past years. If better days are in the offing, these areas seem best positioned to be the next drivers of the economic expansion this nation sorely needs.
Joel Kotkin is a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. He is executive editor of newgeography.com and writes the weekly New Geographer column for Forbes.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Twitter Traffic Explodes...And Not Being Driven by the Usual Suspects!
Take note of a great article! - Kate
By Sarah Radwanick
Twitter seems to be just about everywhere these days, infiltrating pop culture and challenging traditional communication channels as people answer the simple Twitter question, “What are you doing?” Many people have hopped on the Twitter bandwagon - from businesses to celebrities to professional sports players to President Obama.
Over the past several months, we at comScore have watched how quickly traffic to Twitter has exploded. Worldwide visitors to Twitter approached 10 million in February, up an impressive 700+% vs. year ago. The past two months alone have seen worldwide visitors climb more than 5 million visitors. U.S. traffic growth has been just as dramatic, with Twitter reaching 4 million visitors in February, up more than 1,000% from a year ago.
Reuters reporter Alexei Oreskovic recently authored an interesting blog post about the demographics of Twitter users. What he discovered was that 18-24 year olds, the traditional social media early adopters, are actually 12 percent less likely than average to visit Twitter (Index of 88). It is the 25-54 year old crowd that is actually driving this trend. More specifically, 45-54 year olds are 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter, making them the highest indexing age group, followed by 25-34 year olds, who are 30 percent more likely.
The skew towards older visitors, although perhaps initially surprising for a social media site, actually makes more sense than you might think at first. With so many businesses using Twitter, along with the first generations of Internet users “growing up” and comfortable with technology, this is a sign that the traditional early adopter model might need to be revisited. Not only teenagers and college students can be counted among the “technologically inclined,” which means that trends are much more prone to take off in older age segments than they used to. And with those age 25 and older representing a much bigger segment of the population than the under 25 crowd, it might help explain why Twitter has expanded its reach so broadly so quickly over the past few months.
Keep an eye out for the March U.S. Twitter data, which should be available later this week. An early peek at the data suggests it’s going to be another HUGE month for the increasingly popular site. Follow comScore on Twitter and be the first to find out how the site did! You can also follow comScore chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni on Twitter to hear his thoughts and insights on the digital media industry at large.
By Sarah Radwanick
Twitter seems to be just about everywhere these days, infiltrating pop culture and challenging traditional communication channels as people answer the simple Twitter question, “What are you doing?” Many people have hopped on the Twitter bandwagon - from businesses to celebrities to professional sports players to President Obama.
Over the past several months, we at comScore have watched how quickly traffic to Twitter has exploded. Worldwide visitors to Twitter approached 10 million in February, up an impressive 700+% vs. year ago. The past two months alone have seen worldwide visitors climb more than 5 million visitors. U.S. traffic growth has been just as dramatic, with Twitter reaching 4 million visitors in February, up more than 1,000% from a year ago.
Reuters reporter Alexei Oreskovic recently authored an interesting blog post about the demographics of Twitter users. What he discovered was that 18-24 year olds, the traditional social media early adopters, are actually 12 percent less likely than average to visit Twitter (Index of 88). It is the 25-54 year old crowd that is actually driving this trend. More specifically, 45-54 year olds are 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter, making them the highest indexing age group, followed by 25-34 year olds, who are 30 percent more likely.
The skew towards older visitors, although perhaps initially surprising for a social media site, actually makes more sense than you might think at first. With so many businesses using Twitter, along with the first generations of Internet users “growing up” and comfortable with technology, this is a sign that the traditional early adopter model might need to be revisited. Not only teenagers and college students can be counted among the “technologically inclined,” which means that trends are much more prone to take off in older age segments than they used to. And with those age 25 and older representing a much bigger segment of the population than the under 25 crowd, it might help explain why Twitter has expanded its reach so broadly so quickly over the past few months.
Keep an eye out for the March U.S. Twitter data, which should be available later this week. An early peek at the data suggests it’s going to be another HUGE month for the increasingly popular site. Follow comScore on Twitter and be the first to find out how the site did! You can also follow comScore chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni on Twitter to hear his thoughts and insights on the digital media industry at large.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Marketing 101: Desperate is Not Desirable
Wendy Muse with Tarragon Residential sent me a photo of a hilarious banner which reads “As Long As You are Breathing, We Will Rent You An Apartment.” Can you believe it? Whenever I show this banner in my seminars and keynote speeches, the crowd roars with laughter. Many simply think it is funny and some recognize the desperation in this marketing attempt and are laughing because they know it just won’t work.
Desperate is not sexy. Desperate is not professional. Desperate is a last ditched effort to effect change. I have made a hobby out of observing human behavior. Recently I was on vacation in Hawaii where my dear friend Janet married her middle school sweetheart. There was a group of single women vacationing together and they all seemed to be looking for a vacationship. One by one, each of the women met someone to flirt with and pulled away from the group. The women who was left was wearing the most provocative outfit that left little to the imagination. She just had the look of desperation. She may have been the coolest chick in the group but she looked like she would settle for anything. Not sexy if you get the picture. The first gal to meet someone was elegant and carried herself with amazing poise and confidence. Men found her irresistible. People are attracted to confidence, not desperation. This is true with people and product marketing.
While I support honest marketing, desperation will never work. Another banner in Dallas, TX reads “Save Kathy’s Job, Lease at Gentry’s Walk.” Kathy seems to be standing on the corner begging and it seems she would accept any applicant. Don’t lower marketing message to say our flood gates are open and it is a leasing free for all! The type of resident you really want will never fall for it. Instead you will get people who are possibly not qualified to live there because of a poor credit record. However, that risky resident knows you need them and they will take a shot thinking you will over look their past eviction because you want to increase occupancy.
I know it is tough out there. I am not just a professional speaker, I also have a healthy consulting practice that puts me in the seat of the leasing and marketing role every day. I know we are no longer order takers and advertisers. Today we have to be seasoned sales pros and marketing strategists. Desperate marketing seems to be popping up all over but it is more than likely an attempt by someone who has run out of ideas.
I'm interested to hear about the desperate marketing in your town. Even better, I love to see examples of this marketing. We have a lot of fun showing these photos in my programs but it also serves as a good example of what not to do. So, send me pictures of desperate marketing in your town. My email address is Kate@KateGood.com . The best photos will be rewarded with a special gift from me!
Desperate is not sexy. Desperate is not professional. Desperate is a last ditched effort to effect change. I have made a hobby out of observing human behavior. Recently I was on vacation in Hawaii where my dear friend Janet married her middle school sweetheart. There was a group of single women vacationing together and they all seemed to be looking for a vacationship. One by one, each of the women met someone to flirt with and pulled away from the group. The women who was left was wearing the most provocative outfit that left little to the imagination. She just had the look of desperation. She may have been the coolest chick in the group but she looked like she would settle for anything. Not sexy if you get the picture. The first gal to meet someone was elegant and carried herself with amazing poise and confidence. Men found her irresistible. People are attracted to confidence, not desperation. This is true with people and product marketing.
While I support honest marketing, desperation will never work. Another banner in Dallas, TX reads “Save Kathy’s Job, Lease at Gentry’s Walk.” Kathy seems to be standing on the corner begging and it seems she would accept any applicant. Don’t lower marketing message to say our flood gates are open and it is a leasing free for all! The type of resident you really want will never fall for it. Instead you will get people who are possibly not qualified to live there because of a poor credit record. However, that risky resident knows you need them and they will take a shot thinking you will over look their past eviction because you want to increase occupancy.
I know it is tough out there. I am not just a professional speaker, I also have a healthy consulting practice that puts me in the seat of the leasing and marketing role every day. I know we are no longer order takers and advertisers. Today we have to be seasoned sales pros and marketing strategists. Desperate marketing seems to be popping up all over but it is more than likely an attempt by someone who has run out of ideas.
I'm interested to hear about the desperate marketing in your town. Even better, I love to see examples of this marketing. We have a lot of fun showing these photos in my programs but it also serves as a good example of what not to do. So, send me pictures of desperate marketing in your town. My email address is Kate@KateGood.com . The best photos will be rewarded with a special gift from me!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Three Things Rule
I was once asked by my very first property manager, Glenn Rand, to make a list of “100 great reasons to live at The Hamptons.” I will admit it now, when I got to around #54 I started to repeat. Honestly, was anyone even going to read all 100 reasons? I had better things to do with my time like eat some frozen Otis Spunkmyer cookie dough! There are many great things about your apartment community. We have all been trained to successfully demonstrate all the features and benefits. But the truth is, the customer only remembers what is important to their own personal needs. A wise leasing consultant knows that when people’s needs are met, the buying decision is made. Isn’t that what we want? Yes, people to make their buying decision while standing in our model or vacant apartment. Then we slide in the application conveniently located in the kitchen drawer or our leasing kit.
Getting to the buying decision is not so hard when you take the time to discover what the potential resident’s needs and wants are. To do this we have to ask open ended questions that get the customer talking about themselves. In their answers, listen for what might be a deal breaker and what will be a deal maker. I have found that most people have three things they need and want. If you meet these three things you are a sale maker.
Once you have heard what the customer is looking for, successfully demonstrate the apartment by using their needs and wants and link them to the features and benefits of your apartment community. By doing this you are personalizing your tour to custom deliver the information this individual customer needs to make a decision.
So what happens if they don’t lease right away? Use those three things that were most important to the customer and talk about them in your follow up notes, phone messages and emails. If you become really good at drawing out their three things and linking them to your apartments, you show the customer that apartments are not one size fits all and this apartment was made for your customer.
Getting to the buying decision is not so hard when you take the time to discover what the potential resident’s needs and wants are. To do this we have to ask open ended questions that get the customer talking about themselves. In their answers, listen for what might be a deal breaker and what will be a deal maker. I have found that most people have three things they need and want. If you meet these three things you are a sale maker.
Once you have heard what the customer is looking for, successfully demonstrate the apartment by using their needs and wants and link them to the features and benefits of your apartment community. By doing this you are personalizing your tour to custom deliver the information this individual customer needs to make a decision.
So what happens if they don’t lease right away? Use those three things that were most important to the customer and talk about them in your follow up notes, phone messages and emails. If you become really good at drawing out their three things and linking them to your apartments, you show the customer that apartments are not one size fits all and this apartment was made for your customer.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Quick! Get out of your OWN way!
Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. We reason our way out of things. We tell ourselves we can’t do something. We hold back from something we want because of fear. We have denied things we want saying to ourselves that we don’t deserve them. The list can go on and on and tomorrow we will add more self sabotaging behavior. I know because I often do this myself and I see this happening the in the lives of people closest to me.
Today, I want to encourage you to think about this and look at your actions and see if you are getting in your own way of having what you really want. When you actually see yourself doing this, it starts to feel a little silly and maybe you will reconsider.
I recognize that I have a tendency to want things to be perfect and set myself up for failure with such high expectations. People will disappoint me, I won’t be able to control everything in my life and there will be many times that I have to understand that while it may not be exactly the way I want it I really like what I experience.
The very best thing for us can often be standing right in front of us. It was always there, we just failed to recognize it really is what we want and what is best for us. Hold back no longer. Remove fear, insecurity, limitations and rules. Grab what you want and hold on. You deserve it. It is in your path for a reason so take it without expecting something more and take joy in what the universe has given to you. These are often the best opportunities. Fill each day with life and heart. There is no pleasure in the world comparable to the delight of being happy with what you have and knowing it is good enough for you.
When see self sabotaging behavior and thoughts, you have an opportunity to make a positive change for yourself. A good life is not lived by chance, but by choice. Choose to take bold steps in the direction of your dreams and don’t let anything or anyone hold you back. Don’t worry about what people will say! I have come to the realization that people don’t talk about me or think about me half as much as I think they are. They have lives too! The people closest to you want to see you succeed, not conform. They want you to be happy and will support your choices. Be not afraid to be the person you want to be. Ask yourself “if the life I’m living is the life that wants to live in me?”
Taking chances can be exhilarating. Step forward even if the opportunity is not perfect and make it what you want it to be. Nothing great in life was ever achieved without hard work. I admire the relationship of President and Mrs. Obama. Each one has been quoted to say that it does not come naturally and they make a concerted effort, everyday, to serve each other. They are not always perfect but they are better than most because each one try’s without reservation.
Geena Davis once said “If you risk nothing, then you risk everything.” Be brave and don’t let fear of rejection or failure be a reason why you never try. You must be fearful about what you are doing or it may not be the right thing for you. Fear is not bad when you are seeking something you love and want. Playing it safe will never deliver what gives you amazing joy and satisfaction. In fact without fear we might become complacent and lazy.
People always tell me that they could not do what I do as a professional speaker because they are afraid to be on stage. Guess what? Me too! Each time I turn on the microphone I have fear yet I also have the time of my life. I know this is truly where I am meant to be. How can fear and self satisfaction and joy all come from one experience? I often wonder if this is really the key to a well fulfilled life. I have learned that when I do not have fear, I am not ready to turn on the microphone. Turn that fear into positive energy to ignite the behavior necessary to succeed in any relationship, job, competition or opportunity.
When you look fear in the face and overcome it amazing things can happen for you. The most exciting experiences of your life will be your most recent memory that you will come to respect as the best that life has to offer you.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do. So jump on your ship and throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails and don’t accept life as merely having what you can live with. Grab a hold of the things you can’t live without and embrace them. Enjoy the adventure and send me a postcard.
Today, I want to encourage you to think about this and look at your actions and see if you are getting in your own way of having what you really want. When you actually see yourself doing this, it starts to feel a little silly and maybe you will reconsider.
I recognize that I have a tendency to want things to be perfect and set myself up for failure with such high expectations. People will disappoint me, I won’t be able to control everything in my life and there will be many times that I have to understand that while it may not be exactly the way I want it I really like what I experience.
The very best thing for us can often be standing right in front of us. It was always there, we just failed to recognize it really is what we want and what is best for us. Hold back no longer. Remove fear, insecurity, limitations and rules. Grab what you want and hold on. You deserve it. It is in your path for a reason so take it without expecting something more and take joy in what the universe has given to you. These are often the best opportunities. Fill each day with life and heart. There is no pleasure in the world comparable to the delight of being happy with what you have and knowing it is good enough for you.
When see self sabotaging behavior and thoughts, you have an opportunity to make a positive change for yourself. A good life is not lived by chance, but by choice. Choose to take bold steps in the direction of your dreams and don’t let anything or anyone hold you back. Don’t worry about what people will say! I have come to the realization that people don’t talk about me or think about me half as much as I think they are. They have lives too! The people closest to you want to see you succeed, not conform. They want you to be happy and will support your choices. Be not afraid to be the person you want to be. Ask yourself “if the life I’m living is the life that wants to live in me?”
Taking chances can be exhilarating. Step forward even if the opportunity is not perfect and make it what you want it to be. Nothing great in life was ever achieved without hard work. I admire the relationship of President and Mrs. Obama. Each one has been quoted to say that it does not come naturally and they make a concerted effort, everyday, to serve each other. They are not always perfect but they are better than most because each one try’s without reservation.
Geena Davis once said “If you risk nothing, then you risk everything.” Be brave and don’t let fear of rejection or failure be a reason why you never try. You must be fearful about what you are doing or it may not be the right thing for you. Fear is not bad when you are seeking something you love and want. Playing it safe will never deliver what gives you amazing joy and satisfaction. In fact without fear we might become complacent and lazy.
People always tell me that they could not do what I do as a professional speaker because they are afraid to be on stage. Guess what? Me too! Each time I turn on the microphone I have fear yet I also have the time of my life. I know this is truly where I am meant to be. How can fear and self satisfaction and joy all come from one experience? I often wonder if this is really the key to a well fulfilled life. I have learned that when I do not have fear, I am not ready to turn on the microphone. Turn that fear into positive energy to ignite the behavior necessary to succeed in any relationship, job, competition or opportunity.
When you look fear in the face and overcome it amazing things can happen for you. The most exciting experiences of your life will be your most recent memory that you will come to respect as the best that life has to offer you.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do. So jump on your ship and throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails and don’t accept life as merely having what you can live with. Grab a hold of the things you can’t live without and embrace them. Enjoy the adventure and send me a postcard.
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