My Desktop

You can see it happening. The desktop is moving onto the Internet. It started with Google. Now LinkedIn and other services are encouraging you to conduct business from inside their platforms.  And their platforms automatically link you to other services. (For example, there are many applications (Twitter, Blogger, Box etc.) that now can be automatically enabled from within www.LinkedIn.com.)   Twitter from inside LinkedIN.  Blog.  Connect.  Advertise.  Share documents.  All from a platform that resides outside your computer.  Outlook, the king of all things email and calendar, is now integrated into other services as a mere piece of something bigger. It is no longer the central piece.

I am beginning to look at this this way. The Internet itself is the highway. (yes, I guess we all know it is the information highway.)  But now, the desktop is a car on the highway.  Now we have different car makers. LinkedIn, Google, MS Live are those auto makers.

And after we choose a car maker, we have to choose the car and its features. Different cars offer us different features; some standard, some add-ons.  Some cars have air conditioning. Some have radios. Some power steering. These features are the on-line programs we are signing up for.

So, we now must all design our car. We get the basics in the platform we choose. But after that, we are each the head of our own Detroit auto maker and we can design whatever we want (and can afford).

So what will you design?

www.MyRentalUnits.com is working on ideas to help you figure this out.

Manage your property, don’t let your property manage you!

Countdown

Need insurance advice?  We have it.  Want technology ideas?  We have it.  Want ideas about late fees?  We have ‘em.  Move-in procedures?  Got it covered.  Twitter 101?  It’s here.  Financial advice?  Well, close to complete! 

Register TODAY!  What are you waiting for?  It’s FREE! 

And if you are in property management and you don’t check out our Twitter idea and use it, well you are just not taking advantage of technology.  It’s a great idea and it’s all FREE!

Less than 30 Days Away

January 1 is just around the corner.  There is so much new content, there is too much to mention it all here.  We have completed much of the technology section and we have terrific ideas about using all of the best tools on the Internet to make your management job run more smoothly and faster. 

We have found all of the best FREE resources and have determined you can actually manage a number of units just using the FREE solutions available.  So many companies provide the small owner no-cost solutions whether it is electronic signatures, to on-line payment solutions.  If you just take the time to look, you can find the best deals. 

But we know YOU don’t have the time, which is why MyRentalUnits.com is you newest and best staff member.  We do the work, so you don’t have to and all we ask in exchange is that you sign up for our service.  No cost.  No obligation.  No credit card needed.

So, what are you waiting for?  Join us today!  Registration is fast, simple and easy.

Status Report

Everything is moving forward and much progress has been made, even with a part-time staff.  The Shortcuts are bountiful and full of surprises.  Our Outsider Blogs are feeding into the site.  Our Daily News feeds are working.  You won’t be disappointed as there is a lot to read and digest.

We are making our lists of companies and services to review.  I am working on our Jott review now.  If you are an owner with units but little or no staff, you will be delighted to learn that for a reasonable price you can have your own assistant named Jott!  We are also getting are systems in place to test RentOmatic, an on-line payment solution with maintenance and advertising compentents.

We have also made progress in our content.  More pages are added each week.  If you have not already joined we hope you will consider becoming a MRU member.  There is no cost, obligation or risk, so what do you have to lose? 

Remember to manage your property, don’t let your property manage you!

Another month passes.............

It has now been another month since we started to build the site.  And oh what can be accomplished in a month!

First, there are not enough good things to say about SquareSpace.  The product is excellent.  It is easy to use, flexiable and their response time to questions is amazing.  So far, almost everything I have wanted to accomplish can be done without knowing code or understanding SQL or HTML.  So, if you are looking for a really great host providor that allows you to have a secure site with multiple user catagories, I strongly encourage you to look into SquareSpace. 

The outline of the MRU site is now fully flushed out.  While MRU members can’t see it because many of the pages that have no content are disabled, the flow of the site is now set.  My job over the next 90 days will be to get as much of the site as possible populated with great content.  And since I LOVE to write about property management, this is a dream job for me. 

Many of the site features,

Coffee Talk (interviews with industry Movers),

RE Management Matters (our product reviews),

the Daily News (our compilations of the daily RSS headline news),

Job Listings (our member supplied job listings for management jobs) and our Career Center,

the MRU Management Forum (our discussion group), and

ShortCuts (our growing direct links to all the important property management and business products),

just to name a few,

are starting to take shape and become focused.  Each feature is beginning to develope a real purpose.  In fact, the site is becoming a tool I am starting to rely upon.  MRU complies information which just two weeks ago, I could only obtain by visiting many sites. Now I can access the same information by going to the single site - MRU.  The time savings is real.  You know you have done a good job building a site when you use your own tool! 

If there is something you would like to see, or if you found a feature in a location that was not convenient for you, please tell us.  We want to make the site work for you, in the way you like to work!