Christmas trees date back to the 1500s and these days, many people don’t feel their holiday decor is complete without one. From Frasier Firs to fake trees, check out this great infographic, The Christmas Tree Deconstructed, from our friends at Ubersignal to learn more about the lush history of the Christmas tree!

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From everyone at Apartments.com, we’d like to wish you a happy holiday season. To thank you for your readership throughout the year, we are providing everyone with a complimentary MyMedia flyer! This MyMedia Holiday Hours flyer lets your residents know that the leasing office will be closed Christmas Day. We’re offering two options: One flyer states that the leasing office will close early Christmas Eve and will be closed Christmas Day. The second option states that the leasing office may close early Christmas Eve, giving you and your leasing agents some flexibility, and will be closed Christmas Day.

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If you work in marketing for the multifamily housing industry, you may have heard Apartments.com has launched community reviews. And, you most likely sit in one of two camps: nervously optimistic or somewhat ticked off (I heard from both sides at last week’s NMHC OpTech conference in Dallas).

Let me explain why we’re going down this controversial path and why we believe it’s the right thing to do: Read More

This fall, Apartments.com is again raising awareness and taking action with a Campaign to Help End Homelessness and renters across the country are helping. Throughout the month of November, we will donate $1 for every new Like on our Facebook page, in an effort to raise up to $25,000 equally benefiting People Serving People of Minneapolis, MN and Vogel Alcove of Dallas, TX.

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The team at Apartments.com had the opportunity to give a recent grad a leg up on relocating for a sought-after job opportunity on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Watch as Ellen surprises a Spokane-resident with her dream job as a production assistant on her favorite talk show. Job hunters should take notice of how the recent grad created a video resume rap showing just how much she wanted to work for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. With a little help from Apartments.com to make the move from WA to LA, Erica Norris’ dream is now a reality!

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When social media and digital innovations first came on the scene, many presumed it would be the start of a slow decline in person-to-person interaction. However, as the years go by, it becomes more obvious that in many cases social media is doing just the opposite. Through social media, consumers and businesses are able to interact like never before. Companies can now address consumer issues, complaints or praise in real-time and in turn, consumers are inviting brands into their everyday life through Facebook and Twitter.

A recent article from Forbes, The Age of Mass Intimacy: CEOs Share Secrets of Connecting with Customers in a Digital World, dives deeper into how social media and digital marketing are affecting the relationship between consumers and companies. Dan Jauernig, CEO of Classified Ventures, the parent company of Apartments.com, participated in a round-table discussion with other leaders from industries such as healthcare, energy, telecommunications and technology to discuss how they use social media to connect in their business. Read More

We’re all familiar with the typical shopping process: Go to the store to shop for a product, evaluate your options, make a purchase and experience your new item at home. In 2005, Procter & Gamble defined the in-store evaluation as the consumer’s First Moment of Truth (FMOT), with the Second Moment of Truth (SMOT) happening once the item purchased is brought home. But, what about the research that takes place before a consumer goes to the store?

We learned during the Importance of Online Video Training Series Live! webinar, hosted by Patrick Grandinetti,  Head of Real Estate at Google, that online research and reviews are changing the game and are becoming what Google calls the Zero Moment of Truth, or ZMOT. The ZMOT, which first came to our attention last summer, takes place before the First Moment of Truth. In his presentation, Patrick described how the ZMOT impacts the housing industry and what we as multifamily housing professionals can do to maintain and increase success through online video. Read More

Kicking off premier week for the 10^th season of the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the team at Apartments.com had the opportunity to provide $20,000 toward free rent for a year to a family who lost their home during Hurricane Isaac. Over 13,000 people in the New Orleans area were affected by Hurricane Isaac, including the Schaffer family, from Braithwaite, LA. Despite their loss, Jesse Schaffer and his son, Jesse Schaffer, Jr., grabbed boats and set out to help those affected by the storm. Within a 24-hour period, during the height of the Hurricane, they had rescued 120 people and their pets and brought them to safety.

When she heard the Schaffer’s story, Ellen, a New Orleans native, wanted to recognize them for their heroic efforts. Apartments.com is proud to be able to provide the Schaffer family with $20,000 toward free rent for a year! Watch the clip below to hear more about the Schaffer’s story and see Ellen surprise them with free rent! Read More

Happy Apartments.com Appreciation Week!

In honor of Apartments.com Appreciation Week, we wanted to thank all of you who have partnered with us and those of you who are considering us as an advertising solution in the future.  As a token of our gratitude, we are giving you a chance to win a brand new Amazon Kindle Fire!*

To win, all you have to do is to be the first to name the tagline of our new advertising campaign in the comments section below. Read More

By now, most of us have heard the term SEO. You might even know it stands for Search Engine Optimization. But, what exactly does that mean? If your response is along the lines of something about showing up in Google, you’re on the right track, but there is so much more! SEO helps your website be found, read and favored by search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Many of us shy away from SEO because it sounds confusing and hard to manage, but it’s not. With a few tips, you can take control of your SEO!

To prove our point, we asked Amado Candelario, SEO Manager of Apartments.com, to host the Apartments.com Training Series Live! webinar on search engine optimization. In this 30 minute session, Amado covered a lot of ground, explaining why SEO is crucial for small business web design, how to implement an SEO strategy and what to avoid. The recorded webinar is available for you to view here. A few of the highlights from the Q&A session are: Read More