There are thousands of beautifully designed websites for apartment communities and management companies on the Web today yet most do little to influence their existing resident base, the ‘bread and butter' of their business. Sure these websites attract prospects. They are designed to sell a company and/or apartment community(s), but the time that has been spent crafting the prospect's online experience has - slowly but surely, and perhaps unwittingly - marginalized the process of creating and maintaining content residents actually care about.

Traditionally communication with residents has been through printed newsletters and notices posted on doors or electronic versions of the same emailed or posted on-line. There is no doubt that a well designed newsletter with good content can be a desired source of information, but its quickly becoming an antiquated mode of communication. Recently Eric Brown of Urbane Apartments suggested that we ditch our newsletters and try a Community Blog in his post DITCH THE COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERS Urban Lab Project#033809 on multifamilyinsiders.com. Eric's idea is viable as one can communicate all that is needed and than some on a Community Blog and do so less expensively and in real time.

Community Blogs are meant to be less formal. Although you control the content they become part of a conversation where residents can comment. They are also a great way to join residents' discussions, provide tips and insights and receive feedback. When used in a forum where one's main objective is not to sell, a deeper connection forms between residents and the on-site team. The benefits of a Community Blog allow companies to:

• Offer an easy way for residents to find the information and resources they want and need.
• Deliver communication timely and keep the information current.
• Build community. Through good content and discussions stronger relations develop with existing residents.
• Broadcast a unique lifestyle at their community(s). Postings and comments reflect a community's personality and set it apart from other apartment communities.
• Build creditability when on-site staff post and respond to comments. According to Edelman's 2008 Trust Barometer Report, consumers say that a company that blogs is 1/3 more trustworthy. Trustworthiness skyrockets to almost 2/3 for "people like me"-that is, people who share interests and activities with the consumer you want to persuade.
• Control their brand. The main advantage of a blog is that it provides a microphone for the community setting it up, offering control over the subject matter and the degree of interactivity.

Company's concerned about receiving negative comments should remember that objectivity raises trustworthiness. So if a company or representative has made a mistake, own up to it. Then when a company praises itself its more credible. One can restrict comments to residents only and generally speaking residents are less inclined to make baseless comments when their identity is posted along with their comments. While this will not stop someone from making negative comments, monitoring and responding appropriately to such comments can keep a community's reputation in a positive light. Foul and truly inappropriate comments can be removed.

Blogging allows a community of people with similar interests to contribute to a mutually beneficial resource. A site featuring up-to-the-minute news of interest pulled from a wide variety of sources and contributed by an ever-growing group of individuals can become a rich and valuable retention tool.