McMullen Booth Elementary PTA

Frontage Marketing Group, LLC

As marketers, we know a thing or two about events. The excitement, the education, the entertainment…and the exhaustion. Oh boy, do we KNOW the exhaustion. Especially after a massive event like CAI’s Annual Conference & Expo. The first thing you want to do when you get back home is sleep for at least a week, maybe two.

Rest is important, but don’t lose the momentum! There’s a lot to be done after a show wraps up that can help you make the most out of your conference experience (not just for CAI National, but any event or user conference you attend) and make sure you get the absolute biggest bang for your buck.

Submit your CEU credit and certification forms!

Do not let all of your hard work go to waste just because you miss a deadline. We’ve all done it before–truly. You get back, thinking you’ll send in the forms that week, but then you open your inbox and you’re playing catch up for three days, and by the time you realize you never mailed the forms in, the deadline has come and gone, and you spent all that money and time for no credit. Review the submission deadlines ahead of time and get everything ready to send out first thing after the show.

Hold a big-picture retrospective with your entire team–not just those who attended.

You don’t have to do this the moment you get back to the office, but the sooner you hold a meeting to talk about everything you saw and heard at the conference, the better. Go over the biggest trends you saw speakers and panels discussing, the new features major products or service providers seem to be offering, and the topics that dominated the networking events. These are going to inform your whole year! If the industry is abuzz about something, you want to make sure you’re at least talking about it in your offices to make sure you follow (or lead!) trends as they come to serve your clients better.

Build a list of vendors you want to call

You’ll want to tackle this pretty quickly, too. Making it a priority will ensure the conference is fresh in your mind, and you’ll have a better memory of who really excited you, and who left you feeling unimpressed. Sift through all of the business cards, brochures, pamphlets, and assorted goodies you picked up (or had thrust into your hands), and start building a list. Whether you’re already searching for a new service provider, or just want to follow up with the salesperson who went above and beyond to wow you, deciding which vendors to call is an important follow-up step after every conference you attend.

Industry conferences are an important part of any business, and for community managers and management companies, they’re a fantastic opportunity to knock out a lot of work in one go. CAI has a list of the events they’ve got scheduled for 2022, but don’t forget to check out your local chapters and pencil in other major events like the Cooperator Expos (you can find their full list of 2022 shows on their event site footers) and CACM Law Seminars (both NoCal and SoCal have passed this year, but they have a virtual law seminar scheduled as well as several other events throughout the year).

Bonus Tip: Share that swag!

You got the to live the fun first-hand, but your team who stayed behind deserves to share the experience. They’ll all appreciate a little piece of the event to keep for themselves. And yes, that includes the tasty treats you picked up, too. I know you want those fancy chocolates all for yourself, but sharing is caring!!

Post-Expo Best Practices: 3 Ways to Make the Most Out of a Conference - Frontage Marketing Group, LLC Rest is important, but don’t lose the momentum! There’s a lot to be done after a show wraps up that can help you make the most out of your conference experience (not just for CAI National, but any event or user conference you attend) and make sure you get the absolute biggest bang for your buck.

Frontage Marketing Group, LLC

Your brand’s personality dictates how your brand is seen and remembered by your audience. If your brand were a person, what would its personality archetype be?

Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, defined 12 core archetypes that reflect the inner roadmap that we all follow. They describe who you are, what motivates you, and how you can motivate others.

Marketers look to the Jungian personality archetypes to create a framework for how a brand presents itself. Doing so helps your brand:

Better reflect your ideals and values

Present a consistent visual identity

Create consistent messaging that speaks to your audience

Better align with your clients’ needs, wants and hidden desires

We applied these Jungian personality types to community association service providers to help you understand who your brand is — or who you want it to be!

Table Of Contents

The Innocent

The Everyman

The Ruler

The Rebel

The Hero

The Caregiver

The Sage

The Jester

The Explorer

The Creator

The Lover

The Magician

What’s Your Brand’s Archetype?

Want to find your archetype? Take the Brand Personality Quiz!

Start the Quiz

The Innocent

(aka Idealist, Believer, Cheerleader)

The Innocent brand is pure, following a strong set of beliefs upon which their faith is unwavering. The innocent brand can plow through barriers put up by red tape and cultural expectations because their ideals tell them what is right, even when it’s not so clear to others. They tell the truth even if it’s unflattering to them. They don’t take shortcuts or step into gray areas just because everyone else is doing it.

The innocent is their clients’ biggest cheerleader. They motivate their clients to have trust that things will turn out well in the end, if they only persevere. As a result, the Innocent brand is trusted and loved by their clients.

Innocent brands can be perceived as goody-goody, but woe unto you if you step over that line even a little bit. Your competitors are watching you for the slightest misstep, and they will make sure EVERYONE hears how you are not as true to your ideals as you say you are.

The Everyman

(aka Realist, Egalitarian, Survivor)

The Everyman company knows where their customers are because they’ve been there too. Inclusive and open, the Everyman company cultivates a sense of belonging. All are welcomed, and all work together to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. The Everyman brand isn’t out to impress, they just want to help their clients to be an agent in their success.

As a realist, the Everyman brand is not afraid to confront hard situations or ‘face the facts. The Everyman is willing to put in the hard work to help their clients overcome adversity, and encourages their clients to be a part of their community and celebrate their successes together.

Beware of getting too far removed from your customers. If they feel you have developed airs of superiority or they feel left out of the group, they will lose their belief in your company.

The Ruler

(aka Leader, Orchestrater, Peacemaker)

The Ruler is a company that leads and others follow. Rulers speak authoritatively and present a polished, sophisticated image. They are strong, confident and in control of every situation. Ruler brands excel when they can help to bring order to chaos.

The Ruler is not afraid to leverage their power and influence on their clients’ behalf. They are good at motivating others to match their high standards, and they love the opportunity of a challenge to help create a positive outcome for their clients.

Beware of your rigidity. If you allow your business to get bogged down in policies or procedures, your very need for order can create its own version of chaos that could be your downfall.

The Rebel

(aka Revolutionary, Outlaw, Reformist)

The Rebel brand is an antihero. Their goal is to disrupt the status quo, and uproot the evils of cynicism, conformity and repression. Never tell the Rebel ‘This is how we’ve always done things.’ You’re guaranteed to have a new way to do it tomorrow. Rebel brands are not afraid to push the envelope when it comes to new technologies or reforming processes. For the Rebel brand, good enough is not good enough, they always strive to be better.

The Rebel is an advocate for change to help their clients better themselves. The Rebel brand is not afraid to challenge the client to let go of old systems, processes or habits that may be causing them harm. The Rebel brand envisions a better future for their clients, and challenges the client to see that vision become a reality.

Rebels are agents of chaos because they understand that from chaos comes order, and change is a healthy way to challenge societal ‘rules’. But beware of change for the sake of change, or a non-stop flow of changes. Both your team and your clients need a chance to settle into a new process and get the flow of it before they are ready to be uprooted again. Showing them the reasoning and logic behind your changes will also help to get their buy-in before their lives are disrupted.

The Hero

(aka Warrior, Competitor, Savior)

Hero brands are the champion of the little people. Whenever a prospective client feels stepped on, victimized or underestimated, the Hero company swoops in and saves the day. Hero brands are confident and competitive, working harder to be the best, and inspiring the best in others.

Hero brands are disciplined and focused. They thrive when given an opportunity to challenge the odds, and they work best for clients when given a goal or objectives to work toward.

Saving a new client earns a lot of goodwill and praise, but don’t move on to the next battle and forget the battles you won in the past. You need to keep fighting for your existing clients to prove every day that you are their Hero. Luckily, not every battle is a big one. Even something as small as introducing new efficiencies or saving a client some time will be hailed as a win.

The Caregiver

(aka Nurturer, Advocate, Altruist)

Caregivers are nurturing and compassionate. They work hard to make sure their clients feel secure and well-cared for. Caregiver brands strive to provide consistent, high-quality service, so their customers can grow and thrive.

Caregiver brands work to form an emotional connection with their clients, They are a strong advocate for their clients, addressing their needs with empathy and kindness. The caregiver is always available to provide the client with counsel and support.

Caregivers thrive when taking care of others, but you must learn to delegate! Your bleeding heart can cause you to take on more than you have the resources to afford, resulting in burnout or worse. Place value on your work and charge for what you do, and your clients will appreciate that you can continue to be there for them in the future.

The Sage

(aka Analyst, Thinker, Teacher)

The Sage brand is wise, a seeker of knowledge. The Sage brand is a teacher, They have accumulated a lot of knowledge in their quest to understand the industry, and they are eager to share. The Sage brand is experienced in their field, so is not often surprised when crazy things happen. Sage brand clients feel safe and secure because they know the Sage will explore all angles of any situation before they attempt to do anything that may affect their clients.

A thinker and a planner, the Sage brand does not make decisions quickly, but you can rest assured that if a decision has been made, every angle has been explored and researched so that there are no surprises or disruptions to the client. The sage brand is a thought-leader in the industry, and always open to new opportunities to share their gathered knowledge to help make the clients lives better.

Unfortunately, when the time to think and plan is taken away from the Sage brand, they tend to flail around. You can address this by making contingency plans in advance and evaluating emergencies after the fact to help you plan for the next one in advance.

The Jester

(aka Entertainer, Fool, Truth-Teller)

The Jester brand knows that work is better (and goes faster) when you have a little fun doing it. Jesters aren’t afraid to laugh at themselves, or point out a funny situation. Jester brands share videos of office chair races, incorporate cheeky language into boring emails and forms, and engage their audience with amusing anecdotes and inside jokes. Customers of Jester brands feel comfortable because they feel included, like they are in on the joke.

The Jester brand does best when they can use their wit and cleverness to help a client succeed. Whether it is brainstorming or finding a new way around an obstacle, the Jester may offer an unconventional solution, but they will never tell a client ‘no’.

Laughter is the best medicine, but anything that is funny can also offend someone. Jester brands need to be aware of where the line is, and know when to stop, buckle down, and be serious. Staying true to brand is important, but the Jester brand needs to be clever enough to recognize the difference.

The Explorer

(aka Seeker, Trailblazer, Adventurer)

Explorer brands are bold and daring, and thrive on any opportunity to blaze a new trail. Seekers are more willing to embrace a new trend, or try a new technology. They are always on the lookout for the next great thing, and they are not afraid to tackle a new challenge.

Curious and motivated, Explorer brands encourage their clients to embark on a journey of discovery with them. Explorer clients respond well to learning new discoveries and hidden secrets that are newly revealed. For clients who want to stay on the cutting edge, the Explorer brand is the perfect partner.

Explorer brands are willing to boldly go where none have gone before, trying new ideas quickly, and discarding them just as quickly when they don’t pan out. Beware of giving your clients whiplash. They need to be on board for the adventure with you, not dragged along for the ride.

The Creator

(aka Visionary, Inventor, Dreamer)

The Creator brand is a visionary that excels at creative thinking. Rather than seeking out a better way to do something, the creator will build a bespoke solution that perfectly fits their, and their clients needs. The Creator brand sees beauty in function and form, and is excited by any opportunity to push a new idea, system or process.

Creators have a vision of a better solution for their clients, and they have the drive to make it a reality. Creator companies want to inspire creativity and innovation in their clients, positioning themselves as the agent to unlock the client’s imagination.

Pushing boundaries is great, but beware of your lack of follow-through, spending too long on getting it perfect, or taking on more than you can handle. If you can find a way to stay focused and make the boring parts creative too, you win.

The Lover

(aka Intimate, Harmonizer, Seducer)

Lover brands seek to form a sense of intimacy with their clients – to make their clients feel special. The Lover brand’s clients are more than just customers, they are friends, family, partners. These close and lasting emotional ties bind the Lover brand to their clients. The Lover brand is passionate about what they do, and they will enthusiastically share their sense of wonder with their clients.

The Lover brand sees potential in their clients and works to give them the freedom and security to realize that potential. Lover brands place harmony above all things. They are the peacemakers, seeking to replace petty drama with passion and enthusiasm to achieve something greater than the sum of its parts.

Because of the close personal ties Lover brands form with their clients, your instinct will be to go far above and beyond for them. Remember that you are still a business at the end of the day, and your clients will make business decisions even if it goes against their heart. The same goes for you! You need to make decisions that are in the best interest of your business, so that you will still be around to love on your clients in the long run.

The Magician

(aka Visionary, Wizard, Catalyst)

Magicians are visionaries that create solutions out of chaos and discord. Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” The Magician brand looks at the client’s problems and envisions a car. Magicians think outside the box to solve problems clients didn’t even realize they were having, and turn the impossible into a reality.

Magician brands are able to conduct a transformative change for their clients. They empower their clients and themselves to devise win/win solutions. Clients may see magic, but the Magician brand works hard behind the curtain to pull off their vision.

When engaging customers, magicians listen for the problems and the roadblocks clients are having, not the actual thing they are asking for. While your instincts tell you to hold your cards close to your chest to wait for the big reveal, doing so can erode the client’s trust in you. Let them in on your process and they will be cheering your brilliance while you work to make the magic happen.

What’s Your Brand’s Archetype?

Want to find your archetype? Take the Brand Personality Quiz!

Start the Quiz

Regardless of your archetype, the community association industry can benefit from what you bring to the table. The key is to stay true to your brand and focus on attracting and keeping clients that match your brand’s personality. Instead of trying to be all things to all people, find the people who match your brand and you will have loyal customers for life!

What is Your Brand’s Personality Archetype? - Frontage Marketing Group, LLC Your brand's personality dictates how your brand is seen and remembered by your audience. If it were a person, what would your brand's personality archetype be?

Frontage Marketing Group, LLC

Before you can market to an organization, you need to understand it. And if you are trying to break into the market as a community association service provider, that can be even more challenging, since getting a big picture of the industry itself can be confusing to newcomers.

But before we can even begin to explore the ecosystem that is the community association industry, we first need to understand the core organism. So what is a community association, exactly?

In the United States, a Homeowners Association (HOA), Condo Association (COA) or Housing Cooperative (Co-Op) are all separate legal entities. Collectively, depending on your state, these organizations will be referred to as Common Interest Properties, Planned Unit Developments, or Community Associations.

The core purpose of a community association is to preserve, protect and maintain the community. In most cases, when a community is first built, the developer will establish the association as a way to keep property values high to protect their investment.

What is it? Is it a government? Is it a business? Is it a social club? The answer is D. All of the above!

But community associations are often much more than just a set of rules to follow.

In some ways, they are like a small government – there are rules that need to be enforced, and there are elected officials that uphold and set those rules.

In other ways, community associations are a business – they are incorporated, there are shareholder members (the homeowners), and there is a board of directors making decisions in the best interest of the company.

Community associations can also be a social club. There are committees, activities for members to join in, and amenities for members to enjoy.

Collectively, community associations are all of these things. And that might be why they are sometimes hard to categorize.

Characteristics of a Community Association

While there are many different facets to community associations, they do have some shared characteristics:

The Shareholders / Members

Collective Ownership

A community Association is owned by the community itself – that is the homeowners who own property within the association. In some cases, this is meant even more literally, such as in a condo or a co-op, in which the homeowners actually own a small portion of all common elements, as well as their own unit.

Common Elements

Outside of the individual lots or units of each home, the community association maintains any shared community amenities or property. These are called common elements, and they can include shared areas such as the elevator, lobby, green space, or parking lot. But also facilities like a clubhouse, swimming pool or gym, and even property, such as storefronts or parks.

Mandatory Membership

Unlike other associations you may join, membership in a community association is tied to the property. If you own a home in a community association, congratulations! You are a member. As a member, you have certain rights, such as the ability to vote in new board members, or even run for a board or committee position yourself.

The Organizational Structure

Governing Documents

In many ways, community associations are like a small government, in the sense that they are ruled by a set of laws. Those laws are called the governing documents, and they are almost always created at the time of the community’s creation, by the developer or builder. The governing documents dictate everything from how decisions can be made in the community to what color paint you are allowed to use on your garage door. Of course, the laws of the land still apply, and always supersede the governing documents!

Boards of Directors

The board of directors for a community association is an elected body that represents the owners’ interests in governing the association. While the board is required to follow the rules set in the governing documents, they also have the power to change them through resolutions and amendments. The board is fully responsible for all decisions that affect the community, such as setting the budget, contracting with vendors, and hiring and firing. Board members are held to a legal standard called their ‘fiduciary duty’, which means they are expected to make decisions that serve the best interest of the community itself.

The governing documents dictate things like how elections work and how long a board member can serve. Board positions are almost always voluntary, but the board will often hire a professional management company to run the day-to-day operations of the community.

Nonprofit Corporations

Most community associations in the US are non-profit corporations. This is not the same as a charity. Nonprofit in this sense simply means that no one individual profits from the association’s funds. Instead, any money collected by the association goes back into the association.

The Money Trail

Assessment Dues

Most community associations collect assessments from the members (homeowners) to cover the costs of running the association. Because membership in the community association is both mandatory and property-based, assessments are lein-backed, meaning that if the homeowner does not pay the assessments, the HOA can place a lein on the home that the assessments apply to.

Assessments are often the sole source of income for the association, and they are needed to not only cover the costs of the day-to-day operation of the community but also to create a ‘rainy day fund’ called a reserve, that predicts and pays for future costs. This is vitally important because the association’s members are collectively responsible for ALL costs in the association, not just what they budgeted for. So if a community gets hit with a big cost they don’t have the funds to cover, the homeowners might get hit with a huge ‘special assessment’ bill to cover that cost.

Reserves

Reserves are specific funds that have been put aside to cover the costs of future ‘big ticket’ items that the community will need to address. In community associations, predicting how much these reserves will need to be, and when they will be needed is a big deal. For example, if you know that an elevator unit has an average life of 20 years and a price tag of a few million dollars, you might want to start saving up for that now, so that you are able to pay for it when it does break down.

Budgets

In community associations, predictability is everything. The community’s budget gets approved once a year at the Annual General Meeting. Part of that budget sets the assessment that each owner will be expected to pay for the year. Because the community has little to no income outside of assessments, and the reserves are earmarked for specific items, there is very little room for surprises in the budget.

How to Target Marketing to Community Associations

So if you are a business that wants to provide services to a community association, there are a few things we’ve learned:

1. Identify the Decision Makers

First, the officers on the board of directors are your decision-makers. So if you want to sell your services to a community association, you will first need to identify who the board members are, and learn how to connect with them. You may also be able to connect to the board through the management team, if the board has hired one.

2. Follow the Rules

Remember that the board is beholden to the governing documents, so it’s a good idea to learn early what the rules say about hiring new vendors. Some documents will require a certain number of bids be received, while others call for a blind bidding process, still others spell out a complicated RFP process that must be followed.

3. Timing is everything

The budget is going to be a big obstacle for you, so you need to get yourself on it if you want the community to hire you. Find out when the community works on their budget. (Community Association budget season is usually in September/October.)

4. Get Professional Help

You are the professionals in your field. But if you want to get in with HOAs in your area, you may want to call in a professional to help. Frontage Marketing Group is experienced in marketing services to community associations nationwide, and can help you get your message to where it needs to go! Schedule your free consultation today.

What is a Community Association? - Frontage Marketing Group, LLC What is a community association? Is it a government? Is it a business? Is it a social club? Yes.

Great back to school topics: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-back-to-school/1/

Back To School: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News Big News on Back To School. Includes blogs, news, and community conversations about Back To School.

Reminder: Today is the spring fundraiser pickup day! Please make arrangements to pick up orders between 2:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. We cannot send items home with students. See you later today!

Please come out to the Fall Festival today. There will be games, bounce houses and much more!

Reminder: Wednesday, November 20 is the fall catalog fundraiser pickup day! Please make arrangements to pick up orders between 2:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. We cannot send items home with students. See you Wednesday!

Due to the threat of thunderstorms, we have had to reschedule the fall festival to December 7th. Hope to see you all there!

Wednesday, November 20 is the fall catalog fundraiser pickup day! Please make arrangements to pick up orders between 2:40 p.m. and 6 p.m. We cannot send items home with students. See you Wednesday!

Hope everyone had a great first day!

Have a great summer! Don't forget to Read, Read, Read!