Marketing Your CIC Management Company Through : A Guide to the Most Basic Elements of the New Marketing Frontier by Jeffrey C. O'Brien, Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A.

crc management company, like create their own target audience with dations on your any other business, needs to which to target with their message. page. What could understand the tools available be better than A Linkedln (www.Linkedln.com): Linkedln to them to market through social media. positive word-of- is the most popular professional network- While this subject could comprise an mouth advertising ing site. Here, users have a profile page entire issue of CIC Midwest News, a that is displayed 24 which they populate with their education, basic understanding of what the main hours a day, 7 days employment history, website(s) and other social media sites are, what they do, and a week, 365 days a information. LinkedIn also allows its how they can be used, is key knowledge year? LinkedIn is a users to establish "connections" to other to anyone looking to grow their business must for all profes- professionals, and these connections can O'BRIEN in a cost effective manner. sionals, including be used to make virtual introductions those in the crc industry of all stripes. It's hard to go anywhere these days through a mutual contact using the with-out seeing some reference to LinkedIn site. Users can join groups (in Facebook (www.Facebook.com): Facebook "LinkedIn", "Facebook" or "." fact, crc Midwest has a LinkedIn group made its name as a site for connecting These three social media sites are at the for members) which can include discus- friends on a personal level, but Face- forefront of a marketing revolution, a sions among members and even from time book's exponential growth (if it were a revolution which all businesses need to to time, referrals of business. LinkedIn country it would be the fourth largest in recognize and adapt to. also accommodates company profiles in the world) has led to an inevitable target- Social media is changing the way compa- addition to individual profile pages. The ing by the business world. Having a "fan nies market their goods and services. most powerful marketing tool, however, page" on Facebook has become almost Unlike the Yellow Pages, TV and radio, offered by Linkedln, is the recommenda- as imperative as having a LinkedIn profile, all of which reached a broad, untargeted tions section, which allows satisfied and you can inform your "fans" of population, social media allows users to customers and clients to post recommen- Basic Elements continued on page 9

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CICS continued from page 3 Find your evangelists. The term "evan- mentioned on the internet, Google sends thing negative unless they feel they've gelist" is one you'll often see in relation you an email with this information. been wronged somehow. Thank them for to social media. Your evangelists will use bringing the issue to your attention. Give Create a response plan. Respond appro- word of mouth marketing on your behalf an honest explanation of the situation, priately to the comments you receive in because they believe in your manage- and show that you're taking action to your alerts. Reach out to whoever's doing ment company or your community, and correct the problem. the talking, especially the unhappy ones. they have had good experiences. Keep in Robert Turnbull says that if you are mind that evangelists often pop up out The number one rule of honest and funny about a negative of what was once a negative situation. If thumb when engaging in situation, your Generation Y clientele you handle complaints weIJ, you can will embrace you. earn a great deal of respect from those social media is transparency, Truly off-the-wall and crass comments, who originally felt wronged by you. The more honest you are, the on the other hand, do not require a re- Monitor what is being said. Set up free more credibility you'll have, sponse. When people use profanity and Google Alerts for your company name, are disrespectful, they've already dis- your company owners and managers, or Act as quickly as possible and always credited themselves and disqualified your association - whatever you'll find approach (legitimate) complaints with their own claims. Have your evangelists helpful to monitor. Consider setting up empathy. We've all had bad experiences rally around you. Let them call out the alerts for your competitors. Whenever or just plain bad days. Chances are that negative person. This often happens your company name (or other alert) is people won't take the time post some- naturally, without prompting. _

SPRING 2010 CIC MIDWEST NEWS 5 WE BSITES continued from page 7 moving into our communities have where we track metrics now saves $4,500 The average file cabinet takes up approxi- grown up with the internet and have per year by allowing the board and man- mately 4 square feet of floor space. If that come to expect instant information. The ager access to online data. This has storage space happens to be in your main board and manager's time is valuable and reduced time, paper and postage. office, you are paying for it as if it were any can be quickly used up with requests for other office space, which can be costly. For management companies, consider the information that may be more easily availability of shared data and the time Communication provided online. that can be saved when internal staff can The web offers us many avenues for Second, consider the benefit of access- access all data through an online system, communicating with people. "Social ing data rather than creating reports. It reducing the need to constantly go to the media" has become a buzzword that sounds peculiar, and yet ours is a very manager to find the information. In addi- refers to any methodology that allows a resource intensive industry, especially tion, customer service to home owners can group of interrelated parties to communi- when it comes to paper reports. Consider be significantly enhanced when they can cate. Facebook, Twitter, texting, blast the time required to compile the data for get data either online or through a client emails and auto dialers all provide func- a management report: creating the indi- service person easily and quickly. The type tional communication. The question that vidual components, making copies and of functions and information in this type must be asked is, "what is needed and collating the pieces into a packet and of role and password protected system helpful in your community"? As I said then photocopying the entire packet for can include: homeowner ledgers and earlier, many of our homeowners do not each board member. Time, paper, copies, payment history, direct access to a specific use computers and require traditional delivery and then storage all consume accounting person, maintenance requests, correspondence. Whatever system you resources and add cost to running a com- architectural requests, newsletters, and choose should have the ability to use munity. Better to talk about accessing the documents specific to the community. In both mediums. Next is "how much is too addition, management companies can data electronically, printing only what much"? I hear often that emails have just you require, and saving money in the save money, not only on document pro- process. One association (of 220 homes) duction, but on document storage as well. Websites continued on page 11

BASIC ELEMENTS continued from page 5 special deals or other information about and it might possibly be the most effective. and Twitpic, to name just a few your company. Twitter is a "" site which - users are able to post links to news allows users to "tweet" information to stories online, blog posts and pictures, Twitter (www.twitter.com): Twitter is their "followers" using 140 characters or and they are also able to converse with perhaps the most misunderstood of the less. Through a variety of third party their followers on whatever catches their "Big Three" of social media websites, applications - , TweetDeck, fancy. Nonetheless, the ability to push educational content through Twitter to individuals allover the world is a powerful ~C'CH~e.-a tool that, when used effectively, can • A ,I,v,~ oIlVHA (I /.Ib' ;g"';;1 ';;.;gili';';; jli !II "'pm Mu' i ?W greatly expand the reach of your business. Businesses who take the time to learn crc Midwest Committee Chair: November. Deliver your ads/articles on or Cynthia Reiter, Westport Properties before the 4th Tuesday of February, May, how to effectively use Twitter often find cindyrei [email protected] July and November. themselves in the media spotlight as the Publications Subcommittee Chair: Please send articles and news releases as "it" company. Darby Bitzan, ServiceMaster Cleaning Word documents only. Print ready artwork Social media is not, as some might think & Restoration must be provided in either a high resolution (or hope), going to go the way of the pet [email protected] pdf, or on a disk as a tif or jpeg file. Ads rock of the 1970s. Social media is here to Editor/Advertising: Connie Kingrey Anderson on disk must be accompanied by a print- stay as a marketing medium, and busi- 952-548-2214 out. Black and white ads only, no bleeds. email: [email protected] Email your ad to nesses of all sizes need to take advantage of these tools. Those that avoid social Publications Director: Tom Cassidy [email protected] send to: 952-548-2218 crc Midwest media do so at their own peril, as partici- email: [email protected] c/o Minnesota Multi Housing Association pation in this new form of communication crc Midwest News is published South point Office Center is quickly becoming standard operating quarterly. For an ad rate sheet go to 160b W. 82nd St., Suite 110 procedure for marketing your business. • www.cicmidwest.com Bloomington, MN 55431 Due Dates: Reserve your advertising space Phone: 952-854-8500; Fax: 952-854-3810 Jeffrey C. O'Brien & confirm article assignments by the 1st email: [email protected] Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A. Tuesday of February, May, July and Website: www.CICMidwest.com 612-339-4295 [email protected]

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