One of the many benefits that can come from volunteering to be in neighborhood events is free publicity. Community programs can be one of the most beneficial and cost-effective ways to advertise, mainly because they are usually publicized in some manner—television, newspaper, etc.
As we all know, advertising can become one of the largest costs of running a business. Actually, in all honesty, our company, Bell-Anderson, does not do a whole lot of media advertising because it is so expensive. I also think that our community does not pay attention to paid advertising like they do the news.
A few months prior to the event that I am about to speak about, one of our employees, Dawn Hardley, was asked to star in a video on recycling for the city of Kent, Washington. Luckily, she had been wearing her company shirt that day. Dawn was so well spoken on the topic of recycling that they asked if she could get a group together for a community event called the Recycling Relay. Dawn instantly thought, “Free PR!”
The event itself was put on by Allied Waste (our local garbage company), King County, and the City of Kent. A week or so prior to the event, it was featured in the Kent Reporter, our local newspaper. In the article promoting the event, a picture of each team was included. When our photo was taken, we wore our Bell-Anderson shirts to take advantage of the free advertising opportunity.
The day of the event, it ended up being a kind of media circus. I was actually a little shocked as to the amount of people that showed up. I think it was because Washington is known for being a green state and the fact that we take our recycling seriously.
There were more than six news organizations that covered this event. We ended up being in a few newspaper articles, radio programs, and local television shows. Afterwards, we were contacted by multiple connections in our industry that had seen us on these various media outlets.
I am not sure how much total time we were featured in the news, but I know Bell-Anderson would not have had funds for that much advertising. We even won the event so we had a little more coverage than the other groups. This was all free, and had a bigger impact than any ad would have—on myself and those viewing it! The event was so much fun that we will do it again next year for sure.
Remember to keep involved in your community because it truly will pay off. The more the public sees your logo and colors, the more they will remember you and, in turn, call you for business.
When we pulled up to the event, I was very surprised to find a garbage truck and real garbage!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Carrie Fjeld, RMP® ARM® has been with Bell-Anderson & Associates, LLC, AMO®, since 1999. She currently manages 175 single-family units. Carrie has been actively involved with NARPM® since 2003, and received her RMP® designation in 2005. She is also a member of IREM® and received her ARM® designation in 2003. NARPM® has been such a great asset to the company that Carrie works for because of the member-to-member referrals and industry knowledge.
Copyright © January 2010 NARPM®. Reprinted from the January 2010 issue of the NARPM® Residential Resource news magazine. For additional information about the National Association of Residential Property Managers, visit www.narpm.org.
