Are you looking for an apartment in Dallas Fort Worth? Have you been completely frustrated by the process? Well you’re not alone. In fact, that’s come to be expected.
Honestly, one of the biggest surprises I’ve had since starting YourentWesplit.com is learning just how many people, despite all of the readily available search engines and apartment locators, simply can’t find the apartment their looking for. And from what I’ve heard, even the people who manage to find an apartment locator, quickly learn that they are slow to respond so it’s all but impossible to get ALL the information you want WHEN you want it.
Sound about right?
SO WHY TWITTER?
Twitter has become the go-to venting platform / link sharing / Q&A resource for just about everything. And with the previously mentioned quantity of frustrated apartment shoppers, it’s also become a treasure trove for yourentwesplit.com.
Here’s how I do it, at least once I day I pull up Twitter’s advanced search function and search for the following keywords:
Unfortunately the vast majority of what you find is nothing more than noise (i.e. ads), from people who either don’t know how to use Twitter properly or who believe that spamming people is an effective way to build your reputation online. Not sure I agree with that strategy, but such is life.
If you work hard enough, you inevitably uncover a tweet similar to the following:
Now whenever I stumble across something like this I inevitably send a follow up asking how I can help. Sometimes I never hear back, but often I receive a response via Tweetdeck (my preferred 3rd party application) with something like this:
Now, whenever I receive a response like this, I immediately follow up by sending a list that matches their preferences. In this instance, I managed to find a great loft apartment for someone who thought they wanted to live in Downtown, but who is now looking to move into Adam’s Hat Lofts in Deep Ellum (close to Downtown), because she had a knowledgeable person to discuss all the pros and cons with.
SO HOW CAN I GET INSTANT FEEDBACK ON TWITTER?
For those of you on Twitter, tweet the following:
“@yourentwesplit I need help finding an apartment! Looking for a [insert bed/bath preference] for under [insert maximum monthly rent] in [insert city]. Thanks!”
IT’S THAT SIMPLE. (Click here for feedback via Facebook)
A WIN-WIN
If you don’t mind, let me stop here for a second and point out 5 things from the previous example:
- I have found someone looking for an apartment but who needs a little extra help (good for me).
- I have enough information to provide a meaningful response (good for them).
- I have a direct line of communication (good for both of us).
- Sending an @reply is non-invasive and you can easily check my authenticity by looking at my profile (good for them).
- Total Cost: $0 (great for me).
In previous years (even 2 years ago), I would have spent $100′s of dollars to simply have the opportunity to win this client through some combination of advertising or email marketing. And odds are that they would not have bothered to click on the ad. Now thanks to Twitter, in about 30 minutes I was able to provide a potential client with the exact information they were seeking without wasting either of our time. Plus, SHE’S GOING TO EARN $300 just for writing our name down.
In other words, a highly personalized apartment search experience that takes place in real-time. What more could you ask for?
(FYI, unfortunately I received no compensation from Twitter for writing this post)
