All A Twitter (JPM)
Experts & IREM Members Discuss the Opportunities & Pitfalls of Social Media Networking
by Claire Bushey
The following is an excerpt from the Jan/Feb 2010 issue (Volume 75, Number 1) of JPM®, Journal of Property Management.
The residents who live in your apartments, the tenants who lease your commercial space, they’re talking about you.
“Understand that people are now communicating about you and your properties online,” said Paul Gillin, author of Secrets of Social Media Marketing. “Those conversations are going on whether you want them to or not.”
Gillin defines social media as technology that allows people to publish quickly and cheaply on the Internet. It promotes live and instant discussion on a variety of topics. In a business context, it allows consumers to promote their purchases or air their grievances, and business owners to receive feedback about their products or services.
“It’s a cheaper, faster way to connect with a target audience,” said Patti Guerzo, president of Guerzo Business Solutions Center, a Chicago-based business advisory firm for entrepreneurs that offers social media consulting.
BLOGGING, TWEETING, LINKING, FRIENDING
Various social media tools exist: Blogs are a series of brief, regularly published commentaries on a particular topic. Twitter (www.twitter.com) users provide “followers” with regular updates on their thoughts and undertakings, but each update is limited to 140 characters. The social networking sites LinkedIn (www.linkedin. com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com) allow users to create personal profiles and then link to profiles of friends and acquaintances. Facebook is more socially oriented at this time, with people listing their favorite books and movies and posting photos. But companies are starting to dip their toes in to Facebook as well, creating “Fan Pages” to connect with their audience. LinkedIn is the more professional site; profiles read like resumes, and it’s acceptable to connect with bosses, co-workers and customers.
Shannon Alter, CPM®, president of Alter Consulting Group in Santa Ana, Calif., said she recently began using LinkedIn for networking purposes. She said it’s like having six degrees of separation from anyone in the profession who also uses the site, making it helpful to those individuals looking for work or wanting to connect with colleagues for advice.
Amanda Young, CPM, property manager for Brandywine Realty Trust in Richmond, Va., has used LinkedIn to find reputable vendors. After talking with other property managers in a LinkedIn discussion forum about how to stop the spread of germs, Young bought the Dyson hand dryers recommended by other discussion participants for one of her commercial buildings in Glen Allen, Va. Young began using LinkedIn after receiving several invites from vendors and another co-worker.
Nicholas Dunlap, CPM, property supervisor at Dunlap Property Group, AMO® in Fullerton, Calif., said he waded into social media one tool at a time. He started writing a corporate blog at http://dpgliving.wordpress.com in 2006 offering his perspective on property management industry news. Dunlap added a second blog in 2009 aimed squarely at potential residents. It shows interior photos from available units to entice people to schedule a showing. His motivation for using social media tools stemmed from his company’s success using Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) and other online advertising years ago. He said it was obvious social media sites could be used to the company’s advantage.
"For us, it works two-fold,” Dunlap said. “First and foremost, we are capable of providing our current and prospective clients with updated information and insight into the marketplace, and second, we are able to quickly and creatively market our move-in specials, bonuses and incentives to the masses by way of cutting-edge, online advertising."
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