Contrary to what Joan Jett would have you believe, it does matter what people say. Especially if they’re saying it online. Keeping a handle on your community’s online reputation takes some attention and effort, but it can make all the difference when you’re trying to woo potential residents. Reputation management is so much more than knowing how to respond to a bad rating on a third-party ratings site, it also involves everything from SEO to your social media strategy. Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. Property Solutions is offering a webinar with resident retention whiz, Jen Piccotti, from SatisFacts on February 22, 2011 at 10am MST to discuss best practices. Register here. In the meantime, here’s a collection of tips to help your communities avoid a bad rap.

• Know thyself: Maybe Socrates wasn’t thinking reputation management when he said it, but having a clear picture of how you are perceived by others is the first step to protecting your good name. This means vigilantly monitoring third party ratings sites from Yelp to ApartmentRatings.com. You should also set up alerts to let you know if your community becomes a topic of discussion on other sites.




• When in doubt, ask: Conducting regular surveys among residents can help you stay ahead of the game and resolve issues before they make their way onto the internet. It’s easy to make questionnaires a standard part of your move-in and move-out process, and you can use your ResidentPortal or newsletter to conduct polls of current residents. Extra Credit: Consult the professionals to figure out which questions to ask and how to interpret the results.




• Be a social butterfly: Conversations are taking place on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube whether you’re there or not. The smart move: Be there. Get into the game by creating an account for your community and implementing an honest-to-goodness social media plan for your properties.




• Have a strategy: It helps to keep in mind that there’s often a fair amount of hyperbole on discussion boards and ratings sites, especially when the same troll just flamed you for the third time this week. Stay calm and remind yourself not to take it personally. Have a plan in place to respond to negative reviews in a positive way. But don’t develop too thick a skin. Keep an eye out for patterns and trends and act accordingly.

In our February 22 Webinar, we will discuss each of the points above and more. We’ll also share some of the tools that will help make it easier to manage your online reputation, such as Property Solutions’ new social media toolbar and Facebook tools. Don’t miss it!