Our webinar with Todd Breen was packed with great ideas and best practices on how to use video in your property management business. From shooting fantastic marketing videos to using inspection videos to communicate with owners, Todd Breen (CEO of VirtuallyIncredible.com) provided so much information we ran out of time for questions. So…here they are (along with the recording of the webinar, streaming from YouTube of course!):
How do you use AppFolio with your YouTube videos?
We upload our Video Tours to YouTube, and cut and paste the link to the YouTube video into the Marketing Information in the Property / Unit Record. Many of the vendors like RentalHomesPlus.com will actually feed the videos to their sites, and the Craigslist ad generated by AppFolio references the video tour as well.
How hard is it to set up your own channel on YouTube?
Pretty easy. If you’re not sure how to do it, just ‘YouTube’ it!
Do you video the current residents condition or last known video/pictures?
We will sometimes include a video of the current resident’s condition in a paid Annual Property Review.
What is your favorite video format?
If you buy a YouTube ready camcorder, they’re all my favorite.
What is your average video size in MB? With that, image size?
Depends on whether you shoot in Standard or High Definition. Standard def is under 100Mb, while HiDef takes 500Mb or more.
About how long, on average, are your videos for properties?
The pace of the video is actually more important than the length of the video. However, in general, I would not exceed 5 minutes for a condo or apartment and 10 minutes for a house.
Can we have access to Todd’s training videos? Is there a cost?
There is a property management video package that comes with everything including sample videos for your reference. This costs $299. Find more info here – http://www.virtuallyincredible.com
I know you said with the right training video editing is not necessary, but can you recommend a software that can do some light editing at a low price point?
I used to use the Windows editing software called Windows Video Maker. Now I have a MAC computer and it comes with iMovie. Right now, YouTube is developing simple video editing tools that people can use to edit video and post it to the Website.
Do you have dedicated employees that video exclusively for your company? This seems like a full time job for someone.
You don’t need slick video skills to make these property videos. You want someone who is knowledgeable about the property and can describe its features. So it is best to train your property managers to film the videos.
Do you think it is necessary to include pictures of the property in online ads and Websites if we are going to have a video?
Yes, because video does not replace photos. If someone is viewing your ad or Website and likes what they see in the photos, then they will invest the 5 minutes to watch the property video. People expect to see both.
Do you recommend Flip video cameras?
I usually recommend the Kodak z18 for a video camera but lately I have been loving my iPhone 4 videos! Be sure to check out the review of the iPhone4 that I posted on my blog at http://virtuallyincredible.com/video-blog/.
We had a great webinar with Lisa Trosien and our co-host Grace Hill yesterday. Lisa shared many marketing ideas to help your properties stand out from the crowd and ways to use some inexpensive technology to improve your marketing. Attendees were very happy with the presentation – here is just one of the many glowing quotes: “Loved it! The best webinar I’ve attended in a while. There were lots of great ideas, links and information that we can actually use!”
We’ve compiled some additional information for you:
A video recording of the complete webinar can be viewed below.
Interested in learning more about social networking? Grace Hill has a class and Lisa was a contributing author – you can check out the video demo here. If you’re interested in taking the class, contact the folks (education@gracehill.com) at Grace Hill to learn more.
Lisa was nice enough to write up answers to the questions from the webinar.
Video
Questions & Answers From Lisa
Q: What are ways to get your teams engaged to drive rents? How do you sell rent increases when customers still think we are in a recession? How do you sell higher rents when the competitors are not? A: This is a difficult question to answer without knowing more about your asset and your market. Some markets are simply tougher than others. While we’re seeing comebacks in most markets, not all are quite ‘there’ yet.
Your team needs to focus on selling the value proposition of living at your community and build the value in their presentation. Value added salespeople sell three things: themselves, their product and their company. I would suggest making sure your team knows how to sell value and if they do not, make certain they get some training on it. Also, consistently shop the marketplace and find out what is going on with rents, concessions, etc.
Q: What about services like Foursquare or Scavenger that allow check-ins – are people using these services for coupons? A: I have yet to see a property management company utilizing any location based apps successfully with coupons.
Q: What is a cost effective and easy way to create a 2D floor plan to then convert to 3D? What is the service you recommended? A: The service is www.3DPlans.com.
Q: Lisa- By not showing a global view of prospects on your property media, could sends the hidden message that only want one type of prospect? Whether its your staff or not? A: There’s nothing wrong with showing your staff in advertisement photos. It was very clear in the ad that I showed that the people in it WERE the on site staff. As always, if you have a concern, run the issue by your legal counsel before proceeding.
Q: Please type out the name of the book and author you recommended. A: Any book by Dr. Robert Cialdini is great for sales and marketing techniques.
Q: For the Starbucks free resident event is there a contact email or anything or should we just contact our local Starbucks location? A: Simply contact your local Starbuck’s for more information.
Q: Loved the advice about VirtualStagingSolutions.com for photos. But do you still recommend virtual tours too? A: No. I don’t like Virtual Tours and most prospects don’t either. They really create kind of a skewed view of the apartment and can actually make the apartment look smaller than it is. I’d prefer a video over a virtual tour.
Q: You had some great Facebook and Twitter stats at the end of the presentation – where are these from? A: The Twitter and Facebook stats were from DanZarella.com. He’s a social media strategist who examines social media.
Webinars are a great way to learn – you can sit at your desk and take in a lot of information with minimal disruption to your day. We record our webinars too so you can go back and review or watch those that you missed. Here are a few of our best performing webinars you can watch when you have a moment – probably instead of watching a hit TV show like Glee.
1. Resident Retention
Mindy Williams, President of RentandRetain.com gave us tips on how to increase your occupancy in a tough market. Mindy had many ideas to help you stay connected with your current residents as well as clever and inexpensive ideas to help you market your properties and find new residents too. Video Here: http://www.appfolio.com/blog/2010/09/mindy-williams-resident-retention-webinar-recap/
2. Property Management Law
Daniel Bornstein www.bornsteinandbornstein.com (experienced California real estate attorney) presented the top ten pitfalls that can potentially get property managers into legal trouble or cost them time and money. This post contains Q&A with Daniel. Video Here: http://www.appfolio.com/blog/2010/07/property-management-law-top-10-pitfalls/
3. Marketing
How Property Managers Use Social Networking to Grow Their Business. Mike Whaling (http://30lines.com/) shared his thoughts on how property managers can use tools like Facebook, Blogging and Twitter to improve relationships with current residents as well as potential customers. Mike gave some practical tips on how to include these social networking tools into your day-to-day marketing.
Video Here: http://www.propertymanager.com/2010/04/property-managers-use-social-networking-to-grow-business/
4. Success
Mike Levy interviewed many successful property managers and wrote the book, “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers”. http://members.propertymanagers.50interviews.com/ In this webinar he compiled the 7 top lessons he learned after speaking with so many successful property managers. The webinar includes the best practices learned as well as real world examples on how you can incorporate these into your business too.
Video Here: http://www.propertymanager.com/2010/02/50-interviews-with-property-managers/
5. Technology
Jason Randall, our VP of Product Management presented three technology trends that will be important for property managers in 2011. He covered the importance of social networking, the future of online reviews on sites like Yelp and the impact Gen Y will have on technology in our industry.
Video Here: http://www.appfolio.com/blog/2010/11/technology-trends-property-managers-need-to-know-in-2011/
We do love webinars and get really nice feedback from our attendees – they appreciate the well-known speakers and valuable content. So to kick-off 2011 we’re hosting our first webinar in partnership with Grace Hill (www.gracehill.com) and our featured speaker is Lisa Trosien, the Apartment Expert.
Lisa is always full of real-world ideas and she is a fantastic speaker – you should reserve your seat because this free webinar is filling up quickly!
Lisa will talk about how you can avoid spending lots of time and money on fancy new things this year, instead she’ll give ideas on how to maximize what you already have…and make it even better:
Tips and tricks to maximize your ILS ads so they are more effective, maximize SEO and attract more applicants.
Suggestions on how to attract residents of all ages from Gen Y to the Boomers and how to target messages that will appeal to different genders.
Ideas that will improve your property presence without investing a ton of money.
How you can use technology to make your marketing stand out from the crowd.
Who should join us? Property management professionals (Owners, Managers, Marketers, Leasing Agents) interested in learning more from one of the industry’s most respected speakers.
Jason Randall, AppFolio’s VP of Product Management, recently provided his perspective on three important technology trends that property managers need to watch in 2011. He covered the future of online reviews for property managers, Gen Y’s impact on technology and how social networking will continue to grow and be a major part of business for property managers. We recorded the webinar and you can watch it below.
We had many questions from the audience for Jason as well as questions about Facebook best practices. What follows is the transcribed Q&A session at the end of the webinar and three helpful articles to learn more about how Property Managers are using Facebook.
1. Can renters apply online or sign a lease online today? How does that work?
It is definitely possible and a number of vendors provide this service. You can use electronic signatures for a lease and we actually just rolled out an application that allows you to include an “Apply Now” button to your vacancy postings and to your Craigslist ads. This makes it much easier for your applicants to submit an application for a property. They can look at the property and go home and fill out the application at home that night, or even at the property using an iPad. Our online applications are completely integrated so you don’t have to hassle with the double entry of data into your system. If you do approve the applicant, you can press a button and they are moved in.
2. What are a couple of simple strategies that are effective for property managers to use while working with the online feedback services?
First, you should set up your system of alerts (like Google Alerts) and start monitoring what people are saying online about your company. I think it is easiest to put your alerts in an email folder and then set aside some time each week to review them. Some of these online review sites, like Yelp, allow you to subscribe and manage your own profile. I recommend managing this as an extension of your marketing that is already in place. Lastly, respond to some of the comments that are out there and be honest and remember that it is a long-term game to present yourself well. Set a goal to be online an hour or two each week — try to not get overwhelmed and just tackle a few sites at a time.
3. Are property managers using Facebook Marketplace or will they use it in the future? What do you think about it as a tool for property managers?
I think that Facebook Marketplace is gaining acceptance among online users. I worry about being solely committed to it because of the Craiglist effect or the “free classifieds” service. Anytime you are trying to challenge the free classifieds model you will find adoption slow. Many of us experienced the shift from paid newspaper ads to the free online listings. I don’t think it hurts to play around with this platform and put a few vacancies up and see if it yields results. I have heard that some people have been successful with it and others tend to turn to the free classifieds because of its popularity. I would love to hear additional feedback from property managers on this topic as well.
4. Do you envision that using social networking information for background screening will apply not only to prospective renters but to prospective employees as well?
Yes – this is already happening today. Property managers are doing searches on prospective employees as well as residents. I think this is an area where the laws have not yet caught up with the capabilities of the technology. In the future, we will probably see the implementation of new rules and regulations regarding what is acceptable or and what is not. You have to be a little careful because you can’t tell for sure what’s fact or fiction online. You can get an impression but you can’t rely on this information 100%. I see these issues working themselves out in the next couple of decades but not over the next year or two. Some people may pull back on the kind of data they put online but in general, the trend is towards more and more data being available on the Web.
5. Do you see that property managers will be using more mobile applications and texting to drive their business?
Texting does not seem to have the benefits that people once projected it to have. The feedback that I’ve received is that there is not a good response rate when it comes to texting and it has not been worth the time. It’s possible that people do not want to conduct business communications over text yet. Where people have been pleasantly surprised is in the area of mobile websites. You can build your own Website specifically made for listings to be viewed from a mobile platform. These people are seeing actual changes to their bottom line because of how their vacancies are being filled. I would look to mobile-based Websites that are specifically formatted for mobile devices in the future.
We had a great webinar with Mindy Williams yesterday. Her presentation was super entertaining (we learned how often she brushes her teeth and that she only pays her bills online ) and full of interesting information. We have a few great follow-up items for you too.
1. A video recording of the complete webinar can be viewed below. 2. Interested in a free copy of the Fall Rent&Retain.com Magazine? Download it here (PDF – 2.7MB). Thanks Mindy! 3. We had so many questions and Mindy was nice enough to write up some answers. See below.
MARKETING
Q: We are looking for new ideas to market student housing. Your thoughts?
1) Use the Campus Newsletters – Alloy Media + Marketing found that 82% of students read their campus newspaper, a rate that more than doubles most major metro dailies. Also, 78% of respondents in the study claimed to have responded to coupons or promotional codes. So make sure you put an ad with a coupon in the campus newspaper (coupon for a free month’s rent, waived application fee, whatever you are offering as a special, etc.).
2) Involve the parents. The parents normally pay for the apartment, so keep them in the loop by sending newsletters, e-updates, etc. Online rent payments are also going to be a great marketing tool to help hook parents.
3) Give things away: It’s important to match your giveaways with your audience. If the giveaway is something your customer wants they’ll be more apt to buy from you. If your customer does not want the giveaway, you are not enticing them to live at your community.
What can you give away? Here are some ideas from an article by Torrie Williams. Her assignment was to find promotional and giveaway items that appeal to teens & college students. Of course, follow Fair Housing guidelines whenever you give anything to your customers.
Her Ideas – Smaller Promotional Items:
iPod Nano, Shuffle, and Classic
Burt’s Bees lip balm kit
Coach wristlets (small purses that hang from your wrist)
Starbucks (or local ice cream store) gift cards
Escada perfume – women’s and men’s fragrances
Local sports teams’ baseball caps
Bobbi Brown brightening lip-gloss
Tarte cosmetics cheek stain (tartecosmetics.com)
Smencils: “Gourmet-scented pencils made from recycled newspapers” (smencils.com)
Gift card to see free movies at the cinema, or a Blockbuster special gift card that includes popcorn, candy, and a Blockbuster video rental
Facials & Spa Trips work too! Facials are a great way to treat acne, so why not give gift certificates for facials as a leasing promotion for college students? How about inviting a spa technician to your community and giving facials to the first 10 people who sign up?
Q: We’re having challenges filling our upstairs apartments in a senior community without elevators. Currently we’re offering the upstairs at a reduced rental amount to entice prospects…any other suggestions on how to move these apartments?
Yikes! My first thought is, whose idea was it to have a Senior Apartment Community without elevators? Eek. I would find out why the residents who live upstairs like it. Is it quieter? More private? Why did they choose upstairs?
Next, I would get together as many resources as I could to bring the outside TO them. For instance, arrange for grocery delivery, laundry/ dry cleaning pick up/ drop off, computer techs/personal trainers/dog groomers – whatever your residents would need – I’d bring as much to them as possible so they wouldn’t have to leave the apartment. Do they have to be seniors to rent upstairs? Could you open up the leasing niche to include their family members or younger folks?
Gee, that’s a tough one. So if anyone else has ideas, post them below in the comments section and we’ll share them with the group.
Q: How can I increase my occupancy in this economy?
1. Find what is new about your community: In the October IKEA newsletter the word, “New” was used 221 times in the 68-page catalog. So about three times per page. What can you do to make your community seem new, or what can you add that is new? By adding and focusing on new things, it will draw traffic and if you have an older community help the mindset to get past some of the older aspects of your community.
2. Focus on a niche: For example, Pets – the whole pet industry has gone wild (so to speak – LOL – sorry for the bad pun!). Spark up your pet amenities and pet services (Love your pet day is February 20th ). Offer a dog groomer, pet wash area, have a pet psychic come to your community, have pet food delivered on site, find a dog walker, improve pet clean up services, etc.
RESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS & RETENTION
Q: Any ideas how to promote online rental payments that require a $35 fee?
Ask your current residents why the $35 fee is acceptable. Use that in your sales presentations. Also see what you have that saves the residents MORE than the $35. Do you have a great fitness center so they don’t have to pay for gym memberships? Do you have a free guest suite for relatives to save $X in hotel costs? Are you closer to work than your competitor, so the gas savings equals more than $35?
Can you find credit cards where the points add up quickly so the residents earn more points for free stuff faster with the $35 charge?
I don’t know your situation, but build value elsewhere to make up for the $35. You can also investigate other options to pay rent online without the charge.
Q: How do you feel about the use of “feel good” emails, a blog, or an online forum to maintain ongoing communications with tenants?
Sure! If it works for them (and you), it works for me. Think about any movie referral you’ve received – if a friend says it’s a bad movie, are you going to go see it? Probably not. If a friend says it’s a great movie, you are more apt to see it. So definitely use positive testimonials in your marketing. There is a study out there that says a person is 8 times more likely to believe a review or testimonial over any marketing ad or slogan. Go for it!
P.S. I would check with your attorney first, and get written permission from the residents. I’m not an attorney, so make sure yours like this idea.
Q: Where can I find new ideas for Resident Appreciation Day?
Check the calendars on Rent & Retain Magazine (a free download in this post). There are more than 132 different things you can do. (See how I used a number to “sell” the download? Doesn’t more than 132 things mean more to you than “lots of ideas”? Do that in your marketing too. You are 1.2 miles from Starbucks or you are 1/2 block to the bus stop.”)
Q: I have a 500 unit residential property and can’t seem to get my Residents to follow my social media. Suggestions?
Find out what they will follow or are interested in and do that. Do they want an old-fashioned newsletter? Do they want posters in your lobby or common areas that promote what you want them to know? (Kinko’s can enlarge a letter-sized piece of paper to poster size for a few bucks.)
I’d lay off the social media for a bit, and then regroup in a few months. Also ask your residents why they aren’t following your social media efforts. Make sure you are giving them what they want to read/find out about.
Q: We have trouble getting people to come out to our events. We send out flyers, put out boot legs and even email and don’t have a great turn out. What can we do differently?
Hmmm…at the risk of repeating myself: Find out what your current residents want/like/need and do more of that. That’s a huge mistake many marketers make – they do what THEY think is great vs. what their CUSTOMER thinks is great.
I worked with one manager who held events on Tuesdays, even though her residents said Thursdays would be better. But since SHE wanted Tuesdays, she continued with Tuesday events. (I couldn’t believe it either.) So don’t waste your time and energy on things they do NOT want.
Look at the Rent & Retain Magazine calendars, find some of the goofy holidays, and ask the next 25 people who come into your office if they would be interested in attending an event from several of the choices you made. Then do that event!
Q: What are some tips to help collect the rent in a timely manner?
One manager in Long Beach, CA would send letters to her residents each month reminding them to pay their rents (maybe email would work too)? She said it was a pain – but residents paid their rents more quickly. That saved her more time in the long run.
If you don’t think this idea would work for you – consider doing this only for months where there are holidays around rent-time so people might be traveling (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Christmas/New Year’s.).
Online rent solutions often offer the ability to schedule recurring rent payments too.
STAFF PRODUCTIVITY AND MOTIVATION
Q: How can I give my leasing staff a boost in this difficult market?
Give them more training and more tools to do their jobs better. Many of your peers are doing just that as my book sales and subscriptions have skyrocketed in this market. Management companies are buying Rent & Retain subscriptions for every manager like nothing I’ve seen before.
It makes me a bit sad that my sales are up because the economy is so bad. But smart people find ways to survive and in many instances its finding tools to help you do your jobs better. There are tons of free resources for you – just do a Google search. I get an amazing number of ideas from the Wall Street Journal.
One other thought – my E-newsletter comes out once a month and is free. You can always unsubscribe and/or not read the emails. But if you do sign up, you’ll always have the info there…. When and if you need it.
Q: How can my team members and I maintain a positive attitude when the economy is preventing us from being occupied at our desired occupancy level?
It’s tough, isn’t it? Look for outside sources to motivate you. I listen to Tony Robbins almost every time I’m in my car. My family rolls their eyes and turns it off. But personally I get a lot out of his Cds.
I gave out “My Boss Loves Me” mugs to the folks who work for me. Honestly I was shocked at how well they went over. I mentioned this idea in my E-news and one Regional Manager bought “I am appreciated” mugs for her team members for Christmas. Mugs are great for things like this as your team members are reminder of your message with each sip.
Q: How do you stay on top of your team’s goals?
Make sure the goals are established and under stood by everyone.
Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Include your sales team in this process.
Follow up with a consistent training/learning plan.
Send a motivating email or message once a week.
Use the Rent&Retain calendars to choose fun holidays that support the goal.
Every time sales goals are reached, reward the person/team. This could be as easy as 15 minutes extra for lunch, or coming in 10 minutes late the next morning.
Ask for feedback from salespeople for ways/methods/tools that will help them do their jobs easier/faster/better.
Remind them that your internal customers (existing residents) could be their highest source of new leads.
It’s always helpful to have written goals posted where everyone (but prospects and residents) can see. With your motivation and support, your sales team is sure to lead the pack!
We had a great webinar with Daniel Bornstein last Thursday. He shared his perspective on the top 10 property management pitfalls that cost business money and can potentially get them into legal trouble. Daniel is an experienced real estate lawyer and runs his own property management business – we are very fortunate to have his expertise on the webinar!
A video recording of the complete webinar can be viewed below.
There were so many questions we didn’t get to all of them on the call so Daniel was kind enough to answer your questions below.
Q. If the owner fails to give the deposit back to the tenant after move-out due to a repair dispute, they are liable?
A. That is correct
Q. If you provided education regularly, does an employee on-site have a personal liability if they are the procurement error of a liability suit?
A. Education is your best insulation from liability even if there was an employee error.
Q. Do you consider the California Association of Realtor (CAR) forms comprehensive enough?
A. The C.A.R. agreement could be supplemented and there are more comprehensive agreements available.
Q. What amounts of liability insurance do you recommend for the tenant?
A. Tenants should have liability insurance. The 3 factors that should be considered are:
1. Size of the apartment building
2. Amount of rent being paid
3. Quality of the building
Q. When you state that the property manager should be named as beneficiary on insurance, do you mean the property manager personally or the property management company?
A. The property management company.
Q. In our agreement, we have the option of canceling if the property does not meet our “minimum home requirements.” Is that sufficient?
A. As the property manager, you can terminate them if they do not meet the minimum standards that you set for that habitat. For example, if the building is hit by the City or County with violations then you have the right to terminate.
Q. Can an unlicensed person set an appointment and open up a rental unit for a potential tenant to view it? This would be for a house or condo we manage, not an apartment community. He/she would only open the property for them and provide an informational flier to them, prepared by the broker. This is in California.
A. That is OK if the person is simply handling administrative matters. Opening the door to a unit is potentially more problematic, but probably ok.
Q. I know you mentioned never hiring an unlicensed handyman to do work on a heater or some major system, because of the liability involved. What are your thoughts about hiring an unlicensed handyman to do minor repairs (i.e. paint, sink repair, yard work, etc.) that are under $500? I understand there is no “handyman” license in California. I find many companies do this for minor items. Is this foolish in your opinion?
A. It is acceptable, though “drift” occurs often and the handyman starts doing work that requires a permit (and potential licensing).
) and full of interesting information. We have a few great follow-up items for you too.
