All,
I am discontinuing this blog on blogger.com and moving to my new site: https://www.landlordmarketingsecrets.com/blog/
It's a good thing though. I'll be blogging alot more often and dabbling in online video more in the months to come. YouTube (and that little camera on my laptop) are about to become my new best friends.
Click on over and let's pick it up there! And be sure to download your copy of my FREE report '30 Ways to Fill Your Vacancy FAST'. Thanks for your interest!
Best,
- Drew
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
3 Things Successful Landlords Do
Tune in to learn 3 things successful landlords do that all others don't.
I will be interviewed by Julie Johnson, the president of the Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound at 9am (PST) Saturday, 8/20.
The interview airs on Seattle's Freedom 1590am. www.freedom1590.com
I will be interviewed by Julie Johnson, the president of the Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound at 9am (PST) Saturday, 8/20.
The interview airs on Seattle's Freedom 1590am. www.freedom1590.com
Monday, July 11, 2011
Upcoming events!
I'm excited to announce some new developments!
1) I'll be on the Landlord Talk Radio show this Thursday to share some great marketing tips for landlords. Click on this link to join in the conversation:
http://landlordtalkradio.com/
2) Looking forward to speaking at the Real Estate Club of LA on July 23rd. Should be a great meeting. Info here: http://www.realestateclubla.com/
1) I'll be on the Landlord Talk Radio show this Thursday to share some great marketing tips for landlords. Click on this link to join in the conversation:
http://landlordtalkradio.com/
2) Looking forward to speaking at the Real Estate Club of LA on July 23rd. Should be a great meeting. Info here: http://www.realestateclubla.com/
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Apt Assoc. of CA - Southern Cities Tradeshow!
Excited to be speaking to the AACSC Tradeshow in September!
http://www.longbeachcc.com/calendar/index.cfm?eventid=4716
http://www.longbeachcc.com/calendar/index.cfm?eventid=4716
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
4 Steps to Greater Rental Profits
Step 3: Mine For Gold
Get more out of your tenants. Another popular term in banking and in retail is ‘share-of-wallet’, which is defined as ‘the percentage that you receive of a customer’s total spending over time’. One of the best ways to increase your profits is to expand the services you provide your tenants. This will ultimately bring in much more money than just raising the rent alone can do. And while rent increases are often necessary, they do irritate tenants. But finding new ways to meet their needs (and charging for it) helps them and you by increasing the amount of money they spend with you! Truly a win-win.
So, what other tenant needs can you meet to increase your share-of-wallet?
• Additional storage space
• Parking garage or car port
• On-site laundry facility
• Housekeeping
• Lawncare
• Pet sitting
• Lock-out service
And tenants who use one or more of these other types of benefits automatically end up staying with you longer!
But be aware that the most important need you must meet is when there is a maintenance emergency or required repair. None of these other ‘nice-to-haves’ will matter at all, if you’re not first taking care of the critical needs like working appliances, heating/cooling, etc. We have to provide the basic necessities before we can reach these higher aspirations!
Get more out of your tenants. Another popular term in banking and in retail is ‘share-of-wallet’, which is defined as ‘the percentage that you receive of a customer’s total spending over time’. One of the best ways to increase your profits is to expand the services you provide your tenants. This will ultimately bring in much more money than just raising the rent alone can do. And while rent increases are often necessary, they do irritate tenants. But finding new ways to meet their needs (and charging for it) helps them and you by increasing the amount of money they spend with you! Truly a win-win.
So, what other tenant needs can you meet to increase your share-of-wallet?
• Additional storage space
• Parking garage or car port
• On-site laundry facility
• Housekeeping
• Lawncare
• Pet sitting
• Lock-out service
And tenants who use one or more of these other types of benefits automatically end up staying with you longer!
But be aware that the most important need you must meet is when there is a maintenance emergency or required repair. None of these other ‘nice-to-haves’ will matter at all, if you’re not first taking care of the critical needs like working appliances, heating/cooling, etc. We have to provide the basic necessities before we can reach these higher aspirations!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Did I meet you in St. Louis?
It was such fun in St Louis speaking to the Mr Landlord national convention. Got a lot of great feedback and came away energized by the excitement so many landlords and real estate investors have to grow their business and increase their profits.
My talk was on 'The 5 Steps to Bigger Profits'.
My talk was on 'The 5 Steps to Bigger Profits'.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Appearing on The Rebelbroker tomorrow morning!
Catch my interview on The Rebelbroker Saturday, 4/23 at 9:15am (PST).
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rebelbroker/2011/04/23/real-estate-realities-with-the-rebelbroker
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rebelbroker/2011/04/23/real-estate-realities-with-the-rebelbroker
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
4 Steps to Greater Rental Profits
Step 2: Become sticky
Banks use a term called “sticky services” to describe account features like direct-deposit, online bill pay and ATM usage. And they’ve found that customers who use these services ‘stick’ with the bank much longer than those who don’t. Hence the term ‘sticky services’.
Wouldn’t it be nice to make your properties more ‘sticky’ for the tenants who live in them? You can in some simple ways -
• Respond quickly to maintenance or repair needs.
• Setup electronic rent collection.
• Capture your tenants’ email address and send a monthly newsletter via email.
• Also get their cell phone number in your application.
Other great ways -
• Measure and practice customer satisfaction by sending out a survey with 5 or 6 questions like ‘how did you hear about us’, ‘why did you choose to rent with us’, ‘how satisfied are you with your rental experience’, ‘would you recommend us’, etc.
• Send birthday and holiday cards. One of my favorite things to give (and get) is lottery tickets. Just $10 or $20 in lottery tickets makes a fun little gift (with tongue firmly planted in cheek as you hope they don’t win big and move out!)
• Do something fun for their kids like host a party at Chuck E Cheese or rent one of those bouncy-houses for a picnic and games in the park. Appeal to the parental instincts of your tenants; it’s a fantastic way to set yourself apart from any other landlord they’ve ever had. Happy kids make for happy and grateful parents! And guess what happy and grateful parents do? They tend to pay on time.
Banks use a term called “sticky services” to describe account features like direct-deposit, online bill pay and ATM usage. And they’ve found that customers who use these services ‘stick’ with the bank much longer than those who don’t. Hence the term ‘sticky services’.
Wouldn’t it be nice to make your properties more ‘sticky’ for the tenants who live in them? You can in some simple ways -
• Respond quickly to maintenance or repair needs.
• Setup electronic rent collection.
• Capture your tenants’ email address and send a monthly newsletter via email.
• Also get their cell phone number in your application.
Other great ways -
• Measure and practice customer satisfaction by sending out a survey with 5 or 6 questions like ‘how did you hear about us’, ‘why did you choose to rent with us’, ‘how satisfied are you with your rental experience’, ‘would you recommend us’, etc.
• Send birthday and holiday cards. One of my favorite things to give (and get) is lottery tickets. Just $10 or $20 in lottery tickets makes a fun little gift (with tongue firmly planted in cheek as you hope they don’t win big and move out!)
• Do something fun for their kids like host a party at Chuck E Cheese or rent one of those bouncy-houses for a picnic and games in the park. Appeal to the parental instincts of your tenants; it’s a fantastic way to set yourself apart from any other landlord they’ve ever had. Happy kids make for happy and grateful parents! And guess what happy and grateful parents do? They tend to pay on time.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
4 Steps to Greater Rental Profits
Want to know the 4 steps to increase your rental profits? It's not just about raising the rent. It is about thinking like a business owner, protecting yourself and meeting customer needs. But where to start?
Step 1: Buckle Up
Tighten your screening process. Always do a credit check and background check. Most landlords know this but sometimes we let some tenants slip through the cracks. The challenge is more inside than outside. It’s a mindset, a way of thinking. It’s good to want to trust people, but every landlord is a business owner with assets to protect and customers to serve. So, why would we fail to screen tenants? Maybe to get our places rented faster. But experience shows time and again that’s both short-sighted and dangerous. Think of credit and background checks as an “insurance policy” to protect against much greater costs down the road. Besides, landlords should be charging an application fee to cover the costs of screening. If you’re not charging for this, ask yourself ‘why not?’ Is it to get the place rented faster? Again, short-sighted and dangerous. If your applicants don’t want to pay $20 or $30 for screening, then they’ve just weeded themselves out and saved you a lot of money and hassle down the road!
You want to attract the best tenants who are more likely to pay on time and never go to court or have to be evicted. But who are these ‘best’ tenants? Well, you know them instinctively. They’re the ones who pay their application fees for screening. Who take decent care of your property. Who have stable employment and transportation. Who have many options available for places to live. That’s who you want to aim for. So, buckle up. Tighten down your screening process and you’ll start reaping big rewards from your rentals.
More in future posts on what the next 3 steps are . . .
Step 1: Buckle Up
Tighten your screening process. Always do a credit check and background check. Most landlords know this but sometimes we let some tenants slip through the cracks. The challenge is more inside than outside. It’s a mindset, a way of thinking. It’s good to want to trust people, but every landlord is a business owner with assets to protect and customers to serve. So, why would we fail to screen tenants? Maybe to get our places rented faster. But experience shows time and again that’s both short-sighted and dangerous. Think of credit and background checks as an “insurance policy” to protect against much greater costs down the road. Besides, landlords should be charging an application fee to cover the costs of screening. If you’re not charging for this, ask yourself ‘why not?’ Is it to get the place rented faster? Again, short-sighted and dangerous. If your applicants don’t want to pay $20 or $30 for screening, then they’ve just weeded themselves out and saved you a lot of money and hassle down the road!
You want to attract the best tenants who are more likely to pay on time and never go to court or have to be evicted. But who are these ‘best’ tenants? Well, you know them instinctively. They’re the ones who pay their application fees for screening. Who take decent care of your property. Who have stable employment and transportation. Who have many options available for places to live. That’s who you want to aim for. So, buckle up. Tighten down your screening process and you’ll start reaping big rewards from your rentals.
More in future posts on what the next 3 steps are . . .
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Catch my interview on Logical Soul today, 3/15.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/logicalsoul/2011/03/15/landlord-marketing-secrets
I'm talking with Dr. Michael Craig about how smart marketing tips can increase rental profits for landlords and property managers.
I'm talking with Dr. Michael Craig about how smart marketing tips can increase rental profits for landlords and property managers.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
When What Used to Work Doesn't Anymore
Have you have ever had too many qualified applicants for your rental properties? So many you had to turn them away and even stop advertising? I mean what a happy problem, right? A landlord’s dream.
If this has ever happened to you, you probably wish for the good ol’ days to return. More often we have units or homes available and few good applicants in sight. So our properties sit empty. Week after week. Month after month.
STEP 1 – Put a “For Rent” sign on the building
STEP 2 – Run an ad in the newspaper
STEP 3 – Another ad in the local apartment guide
STEP 4 – Offer 1st Month FREE
Is this your marketing plan? Wonder why what used to work doesn’t anymore? Why does it take longer to fill vacancies? One word: change. What do the economy, the weather, your competitors and consumer behavior all have in common? Constant change. It’s a situation hardly unique to landlords and property managers. Think of a different industry. Think of Ford Motor Company.
Ford saw huge sales declines and billion-dollar losses the past few years. At the brink of bankruptcy in 2008, what they had been doing clearly wasn’t working anymore. Why? Consumer demand shifted away from the models that Ford produced. The company had largely stopped meeting the needs of its customers. When a business loses its way and sales falter, it can often be traced back to losing sight of the customer. Ford’s new CEO Alan Mulally responded by cutting unprofitable models from their lineup and redesigning some of their most popular models. And Ford is back in a big way with record sales growth and increasing market share.
But what about a recession like we’re climbing out of now? There too. Change demands that we respond to consumer needs differently. Abandon what doesn’t work. Explore and adapt new strategies to restore what’s been lost.
So what does this mean for us landlords? 3 things.
1. Don’t be surprised. In fact, anticipate it. Relationships evolve, including those with your tenants. Needs change. Remember the Boy Scout motto: be prepared.
2. Communicate with your tenants. Find out where they are spending their time. Maybe you know where they work. What about where they like to hang out or relax? You need to be there, reaching others with a strong, relevant offer. People are spending more and more time online. Think how you can turn that into an opportunity.
• Try advertising your properties on Craigslist.
•Try a Google Adwords campaign.
•Put together some helpful tips or a checklist for prospective tenants to use in their apartment search.
• Keep an eye out for garage sales. They can sometimes be an early indicator that the residents are thinking of moving. What if you could be first-to-market and schedule a tour with them for one of your properties?
• Put on an “Open House” to showcase your available property and invite the neighbors and your other tenants over. Word-of-mouth can build from there.
Provide value. Get your name out into where your market is. Don’t think of it as “branding”. Think of it as solving problems. Meeting needs. That’s how you start to make a connection and attract new tenants.
3. Discover your Unique Selling Proposition. What sets you apart from the many other apartments, houses and condos in your market? Armed with a host of resources available online, today’s renter is in control like never before. Play to that. Put yourself in their shoes. Think back to when you were younger, before kids, looking after work and on weekends to rent your first, or second, or third place. Have it in your mind? THAT is your customer. Now go get ‘em.
If this has ever happened to you, you probably wish for the good ol’ days to return. More often we have units or homes available and few good applicants in sight. So our properties sit empty. Week after week. Month after month.
STEP 1 – Put a “For Rent” sign on the building
STEP 2 – Run an ad in the newspaper
STEP 3 – Another ad in the local apartment guide
STEP 4 – Offer 1st Month FREE
Is this your marketing plan? Wonder why what used to work doesn’t anymore? Why does it take longer to fill vacancies? One word: change. What do the economy, the weather, your competitors and consumer behavior all have in common? Constant change. It’s a situation hardly unique to landlords and property managers. Think of a different industry. Think of Ford Motor Company.
Ford saw huge sales declines and billion-dollar losses the past few years. At the brink of bankruptcy in 2008, what they had been doing clearly wasn’t working anymore. Why? Consumer demand shifted away from the models that Ford produced. The company had largely stopped meeting the needs of its customers. When a business loses its way and sales falter, it can often be traced back to losing sight of the customer. Ford’s new CEO Alan Mulally responded by cutting unprofitable models from their lineup and redesigning some of their most popular models. And Ford is back in a big way with record sales growth and increasing market share.
But what about a recession like we’re climbing out of now? There too. Change demands that we respond to consumer needs differently. Abandon what doesn’t work. Explore and adapt new strategies to restore what’s been lost.
So what does this mean for us landlords? 3 things.
1. Don’t be surprised. In fact, anticipate it. Relationships evolve, including those with your tenants. Needs change. Remember the Boy Scout motto: be prepared.
2. Communicate with your tenants. Find out where they are spending their time. Maybe you know where they work. What about where they like to hang out or relax? You need to be there, reaching others with a strong, relevant offer. People are spending more and more time online. Think how you can turn that into an opportunity.
• Try advertising your properties on Craigslist.
•Try a Google Adwords campaign.
•Put together some helpful tips or a checklist for prospective tenants to use in their apartment search.
• Keep an eye out for garage sales. They can sometimes be an early indicator that the residents are thinking of moving. What if you could be first-to-market and schedule a tour with them for one of your properties?
• Put on an “Open House” to showcase your available property and invite the neighbors and your other tenants over. Word-of-mouth can build from there.
Provide value. Get your name out into where your market is. Don’t think of it as “branding”. Think of it as solving problems. Meeting needs. That’s how you start to make a connection and attract new tenants.
3. Discover your Unique Selling Proposition. What sets you apart from the many other apartments, houses and condos in your market? Armed with a host of resources available online, today’s renter is in control like never before. Play to that. Put yourself in their shoes. Think back to when you were younger, before kids, looking after work and on weekends to rent your first, or second, or third place. Have it in your mind? THAT is your customer. Now go get ‘em.
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