This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

It’s that time again.  Back to school!  If you have an apartment community near a college campus, then you are gearing up for the busiest time of year.  As soon as you get all of your 2011-2012 residents moved in, you have to start thinking about getting leases signed for next year.  I had the opportunity to chat with Kim Cory, Sales and Marketing Director for University Village, about marketing to students.  She offered five tips for reaching your key audience and having a positive presence on campus. Read More

I know consumer reviews are scary.  Trust me.  Having worked in public relations my whole life, user-generated content that can disparage a brand I’ve been working years to uphold, has kept me tossing and turning more than one night.  Something you used to have control over is not totally in your hands anymore: your public image (e.g. branding, advertising, marketing collateral, and even to some degree, the press being generated about your company).  Sure, people could complain about your property, but that was typically somewhat contained.  Today, anyone can publicize their praise or contempt for your brand by going online.  What’s worse than consumers finding it?  Consumers looking for it, especially renters.  In fact, 58% of renters, who are also active on social media, told us at Apartments.com they search for additional apartment information and recommendations online when looking for a new place to live.

My name is Tammy Kotula, and I’m addicted to review websites Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

Thanks for tuning into the Apartments.com Got a Minute? video series, where experts from Apartments.com answer questions and tackle topics in about a minute.  This month our Marketing Manager and Online Marketing Specialist discuss the importance of testing email subject lines and provide four tips to do so.  If you have any questions, make sure to comment below. Read More

This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

We’ve all been there. You have this great piece of new content; a fresh article or updated information about a property or model type and you don’t want to wait for the search engines to take their sweet time finding it and getting it indexed.  Lucky for us, Google has recently provided a couple of options for getting that content discovered a little quicker.  You need a couple of things set up in order to take advantage of them.

The Essentials Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

A fairly popular playwright once asked What’s in a name?  Well, I’m going to argue a lot!  Our names are very important to us, so your potential renters’ and current residents’ names should be even more important to you.  Here are five unforgettable tips to help you remember the name of everyone who walks into your leasing office: Read More

Our Online Marketing Specialist, Omer Navaid, shares some exciting news in his guest blog post below.

You won’t see the words “record breaking” in too many sectors of the economy these days (well, at least not in a positive context), but Apartments.com and ApartmentHomeLiving.com have both broken single-day records!  On July 25, 2011, Apartments.com and ApartmentHomeLiving.com drove more emails and phone calls from interested renters to our customers than ever on a single day; up 67% over last year.  This is actually the second time this month the record has been broken.  The previous record was broken just two weeks prior on July 11 when we drove 58% more emails and phone calls than on the same day the previous year. Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

Thanks for tuning into the Apartments.com Got a Minute? video series, where experts from Apartments.com answer questions and tackle topics in about a minute.   This month our Internet Support Specialists review the top three questions that we hear from our advertisers and provide the answers.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or email support@apartments.com. Read More

Bed bugs were a popular topic at NAA this year and the conversations were lead by Greg Baumann, Director of Technical Services for Orkin Pest Control. With over 30 years of pest control experience, Greg was the perfect person to ask to contribute to our Ask the Expert blog series. Below is his post on avoiding, controlling and eliminating bed bugs in multifamily housing.  He can be contacted at gbaumann@rollins.com. For more information, go to http://www.orkincommercial.com/ and make sure to comment below with questions.

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This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

Every day there are new social networking sites or tools being released that we don’t hear about.  But when a giant like Google announces a social network, everyone pays attention. I was lucky enough to get an invite to join the Google+ Project and have had some time to play around in it.  Here are some of the main features and how they can be used at your apartment community. Read More

This post was originally written by Kerry Sugrue, former Social Media Specialist at Apartments.com. 

Everyone loves dogs!  But you know what they don’t love?  Their aftermath!  Having to watch where you step around your apartment community is not the way to make a good impression.  But don’t worry, that’s why we’re here!  Use this free flyer from our MyMedia Library to remind residents and passersby that it’s up to them to keep the community clean and part of that is picking up after their dogs. Read More