Buddha - the Social Media Strategist!

Recently, I've been involved in many discussions pertaining to the impact of social media conversations and how to best monitor and manage an organizations' online presence.  Much dialogue revolves around the necessity for good quality engagement, transparency of message and adding value to the consumer.  How is this attained?  In a nutshell, the Buddhist path is a great starting point for "how to manage" a social media strategy.  


To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:

(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

 Let's break this philosophy down.  Point (1) tells us as marketers that we need to be open and realistic about our product/service.  Give an honest representation of how we can accommodate our prospective customers.  Always strive to under promise and over deliver, you will sleep better at night if you do!  Point (2) reminds us to ALWAYS think before you speak, or tweet, or blog, or post.  Be aware that you are representing your company and your voice is heard around the world.  Be mindful of the impact that your comments have on your organization - positive or negative!  And point (3) is critical to success.  Never stop your education, stay humble and remember that there is always more to learn and understand.  Put yourself in the shoes of others - often.  

It's Smart Business to Thank Good Behavior

The tale of the Subway foot-long sub.  I'm often excited to witness 'smart business' strategies in action;  the following is a recent experience with Subway.  Let me first set the stage.  Here at Princeton Corporate we have a longstanding tradition in which all the executives eat together daily in a "working lunch".  We order food from local restaurants and quick service places on a daily basis and dine together in one of the board rooms.  There's been a standing 3 or 4 different restaurants to choose from, this limited selection provides some comic relief as it often feels like groundhog day during any given lunchtime meal.  Personally, I've consumed enough "Panera Fuji Apple Salads" to fill a football stadium.  


I digress.....a few weeks back we decided to shake things up and order from Subway.  Historically this establishment wasn't on our lunchtime radar.  Our CEO enjoyed his sandwich so much that we added Subway to our weekly rotation.  To date, we've order approximately 2 times per week for the past 2-3 weeks.  


This is where the story gets good!  Today, Subway showed up at our Corporate Office with a surprise.  They delivered a giant tray of sandwiches and other goodies as a Thank You for our recent flurry of business.  Now THIS is 'smart business'.  Subway proactively thanked their customers for simply being their customers.  A Simple and Valuable strategy in Customer Service.  This gesture cemented their place in our "working lunch" tradition.  I foresee many more 6" Flatbread subs in my future.  Thank you Subway, I will be back to order again soon!     

Apartment Social Council

Looking forward to participating in the Apartment Social Council starting on September 15, 2011.  I'm thrilled to be serving on a panel with such brainpower.  Check out my fellow Council Members here: Carmen Benitez; Mark Juleen; Sara Scarborough Graham; Sarah Greenough; Eric Brown; Brian Owen; Ed Javier.  We will be taking on topics pertaining to "Apartment Innovation".....more specifically we'll be chatting about best practices and strategies for implementing effective digital marketing efforts for the multifamily industry.  Technology has significantly altered (in a very good way) how we provide resident customer service and how we market to prospective residents.  Join us on the 15th when the Council will discuss leasing and marketing ideas to consider implementing at your community and/or company.  Check out the Facebook link above for more information on the Council members and air times for the conversation.  Looking forward to talking with you all in September!

The Meaning of Life.

Okay, so I don't have the answer to "What is The Meaning of Life?".... I will leave this question in the capable hands of Monty Python. But I do have some thoughts on the meaning of my life and how they relate to my professional life! Recently I was asked to reflect on attributes that may contribute to having a successful career. I’ve been marinating on this question for a few weeks trying to get to the heart of it all. My conclusion is that the following two traits mixed with a dose of luck and good timing will lead many down a successful path.

Diligence and Humility. This is the combination for success.

Diligence will allow you to really hone your craft. By putting your head down and doing the work – all the work – you will begin to fully understand your job and the bigger picture of your impact on the organization. Mix in humility; this by no means should be mistaken with meekness or timidity. It is entirely possible to simultaneously be a confident and humble person. Humility will allow you to keep your mind open to new ideas, it will serve as a constant reminder that you’re continually learning and improving. Humility will take away the chance of getting caught reflecting solely on the “glory days” instead of making new great moments now and in the future. Your diligence will allow you to seize new powerful ideas and implement them.

I feel these attributes have helped me along the way, what traits to you feel contributed do your success?

To + or not to +...that's the question, or is it?

Google + ..... I have mixed emotions about this one. On one hand, I certainly LOVE all things Google. In fact, if Google and Apple had a love child it would be me. Oh, and Tivo would be a really close friend of mine as well! All kidding aside, I admire so many of Google's products and platforms but do I really need another social platform? I have so much "time" invested in Facebook, I don't think I will abandon it. Perhaps if I can work out some sort of syndication between Google+ and Facebook, then I could update both social sites. I'm not sure I will maintain both sites, what's the point?

Competition is good. Facebook crushed My_____ (ridiculous logo)....but will Google stand a chance again Facebook now? Timing is everything, do you think it is too little too late? I suppose if the Google+ platform can significantly impact search engine rankings then the product will begin perking up my ears a lot! Perhaps dangling this search carrot in front of us will encourage the transition from Facebook to Google+. Time will tell. Goodness knows Google has the money to throw at this project.

There is rumor of an internal Google memo in which a senior exec warned that the company was behind in social networking and needed to catch up fast. Later, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt acknowledged that the company had "screwed up" when it came to social and the threat from Facebook. Is it too late for serious competition for Facebook? Even it if is coming from the juggernaut that is Google? My synopsis - I am interested, intrigued even.....and ready to get my +Circles going. You?

Ghosted! A Craigslist posting nightmare.

Put a Flip video camera in the hands of a "marketeer" and let the fun begin. Our business partners, RentSentinel are running a fun video contest this month. We here at Princeton Properties decided to submit a video highlighting the Craigslist posting worry of getting "Ghosted"! See our submission below, let me know what you think!

YouTube link

*And yes, I absolutely realize that I MUST keep my day job. Acting is not in the cards for me! :-)

Humans are Social Animals (thankfully)

We crave feeling supported, valued and connected.

Research points to the benefits of social connection:

• Increased happiness. In one compelling study, a key difference between very happy people & less-happy people was good relationships.
• Better health. Loneliness & feeling disconnected was associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure in a recent study.

I can now use myself as a case study for this research......

Sometimes connections come in the form of an intimate conversation, a spill-it-all-out talk with a best friend. But often times it's just a laugh-out-loud e-mail or video (this one gets me every time) or a compelling blog post, tweet or Facebook post. The "simple pleasures" if you will. Given the amount of time I spend on social sites, these quick "drive by" connections are common for me.

Simple connections should not be minimized; in fact recently they have become more pivotal to my wellness and happiness. These relationships, these connections, have kept me afloat and moving forward over the past few months in a much more instrumental and critical way than I ever imagined possible. On December 6th, my spouse was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer. This new found illness crushed me, paralyzed me. We began and continue to be in the fight of our lives.

I've always been someone that truly lived by the adage "work hard, play hard". This new chapter of my life seemed to take this slogan away from me, leaving a void. I wondered what could be my adage now? How do I even focus on creating one? Why do I even care? I've had dark days since December, sometimes viewing my work as trivial. Thinking that I go to work to play on Facebook while my spouse is home fighting to stay alive. I've had "why me" days; I'm a good person, I do good - why isn't karma on my side?

I've begun breaking through this haze, this terrible disease is not going to take two people out so obviously. I was going to fight to appreciate, fight to accept and fight to find my new adage.....I began drawing more strength in the varied connections that I have with wonderful, insightful people from all over the world. My "real life" friends, Industry friends, social site buddies - they all add value and normalcy to my life. Normalcy!

They get my jokes....heck, they will even join in. They offer congratulations or praise on my work efforts - my work does matter. I do good things.

Connecting with people, on or off line has the power to lift you out of a dark and stuck place. These relationships can keep you moving forward. All of these connections have helped me reduce stress and boost my well-being as well as give me hope. Consider this blog post a public thank you to all my connections and a reminder that even when you don't realize you are positively impacting others - you are.

1000 Ways To Use Your iPad

As many of you know, I am an Apple product junkie. Having grown up using the Apple IIC, it seemed only natural that I moved on to the iMac, iPod, Macbook Pro, iPhone, AppleTV and now the iPad. I really enjoy the fact that all Apple products seem to be fantastically user friendly & tremendously stylish. Fashion and Functionality - a perfect combination.

Recently Property Solutions asked that I join them to discuss their iPad App, SiteTablet, in a webinar titled: "1000 Ways to Use Your iPad". I think tablet and wireless products have great potential for the Multifamily Industry. Check out the webinar; I would love to here your thoughts and thanks for stopping by - iSarah.

Feelin' like a proud parent!

Yesterday a few members of our River Place Towers leasing team took it upon themselves to start a Vlog (a video blog). I am thoroughly impressed with their innovation and creativity. I feel like a proud parent. It's the most accomplishing feeling when your team members pick up and run with ideas beyond what you are teaching. When they push the boundaries of your mentoring, it is a phenomenal feeling. I dedicate 100% of this blog post to my team-mates at Princeton, here is a link to their most recent video blog: Downtown Dish

This serves as a reminder that inspiration and motivation is all around us. We can draw fantastic ideas from anywhere at anytime. Keep your eyes and ears open; I will! :-) Where have you found inspiration lately?

Quinoa - The Perfect Icebreaker!

Recently an Industry Friend of mine posted on Facebook his desire to start a new diet. A fascinating thread of conversation spurred off of this Facebook post. Many people weighed in on the topic, giving food and diet advise. People from all over the country and from many different walks of life posted a response. Reading the thread back, I started to noticed a trend - everyone seemed to band together to promote quinoa. This supergrain was connecting people in the most unique way. Individuals, stranger from around the country, were finding common ground and starting a dialogue stemming from quinoa.

My interesting take-away from the "quinoa-palooza" was that we have more opportunities to find connections with others than we might realize - we just need to look for it! On first blush, many of us tend to categorize and even (dare I say) judge people based on very surface criteria such as: democrat/republican; male/female; gay/straight; vegetarian/carnivore; college education/high school education. We then put people in a category of expectation based on our first blush scan. (I would be remiss if I didn't state the old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover".) If we challenge ourselves to dig a little deeper, I'm sure we will find common bonds with most people we come in contact with - we will find our own quinoa. It's a great feeling when you're talking to someone and you click with them, when you realize that you have shared interests, experiences, values, or world views. Feeling that warm, fuzzy moment of true connection with another person is something to be happy about, something to strive for daily. These connections not only assist us in forming relationships, these interactions can be very rewarding emotionally.

Look for your "quinoa moment" whenever possible! I know I will. We might just have more in common with the world-at-large than we ever imagined.