Category: Small Business

Behind-the-scenes info on RentConfident’s life as a small business in Chicago.

Blog Idea Generation Part 1: Scope and Tone

Share Button

Recently I've started to get a bunch of comments on these articles from friends. This is fantastic, as every blog author hopes to receive some sort of feedback on their work. However, the comments of late have centered around a theme of "I have no idea how you keep coming up with topics for an apartment blog." Some established bloggers would take this as a sign that they've stayed on one topic too long. Those seeking to establish their professional cred would blather on about how easy it is to generate topic after topic, week after week. Well I'm neither of these things, so here's the upshot: it's tough, it requires consistent effort, and I really have no choice in the matter when it comes to topics given that this is a corporate marketing effort. However. I will take the hint.

For the next month I will set the apartments aside for a four part series on how to create and maintain a longterm single topic blog. Today we'll be focusing on the initial planning process that I went through before I created a single article, back in 2014. We'll then take what I did and expand upon it so that you can hopefully apply it to your own blogs. Continue reading Blog Idea Generation Part 1: Scope and Tone

Published by

Kay Cleaves

Behind the Blog (or, the article explaining why there’s no article today)

Share Button

On Monday we will be posting the first installment in a four-part series. It was actually supposed to start today, but it isn't quite ready yet. This is the first time since we started this blog that we've actually missed a print deadline, so I wanted to give you guys a thorough reckoning as to why there's no article today.

The series that will start on Monday was first conceived in November of 2015. It's been on our publishing docket every month since then, but it has taken us until very recently - two days ago, in fact - to combine the correct research and the correct format to figure out exactly how the story should be told.

Version 1: Dry and Dull.

Most of the latest developments in tenant rights come out of the court system. Last fall I was trying to figure out what sort of events led to the creation of the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance (CRLTO) - that's the official Chicago body of law governing the rights of apartment renters. It's a big, complicated mass of laws and I was curious to find out what exactly brought about some of its more particular sections. This is good stuff to know about when you work in tenant education. Continue reading Behind the Blog (or, the article explaining why there’s no article today)

Published by

Jon Hoferle

Introducing the Fingerprint Report and Pay-what-you-can Pricing

Share Button

Tomorrow (March 1, 2016) we will be launching a new report format, a new price structure and a new look for our website. Unlike many other web-based startups, we do not job out our code to third party web designers. I build our site entirely in house - no collaboration, no support. Today I wanted to share with you a bit about what the new report is and how it developed.

The Concept

When we opened last year we had two report formats - the Signature Report at $65 and the simpler Initial Report at $35. As there is no other company out there doing exactly what we do, setting the price for the Reports was something of a guessing game. However, I knew that the going rate for tenant background checks was in the $25-75 range and used that as a reference point as those costs have traditionally been covered by tenants without much problem.

Given the tight budgets that many renters have to work with and the rising rents in the Chicago area, we were surprised to see that the more expensive Signature Reports were selling a lot better than the cheaper Initial Reports. When I thought it through the reasons for this became apparent. Continue reading Introducing the Fingerprint Report and Pay-what-you-can Pricing

Published by

Kay Cleaves

The RentConfident Roadmap for 2016: “Pay What You Can” and More!

Share Button

Happy new year! 2015 was probably the most risky and rewarding year of my life so far. As we enter a new calendar year RentConfident is still only 10 months old. We've been open for business for just 7 months. Even so, this time of year is when we focus on long term planning. I wanted to share with you some of the exciting things that we'll be doing to reach more renters and shake up the apartment hunting process over the next year.

A new product that puts you in control.

Those of you who subscribe to our mailing list will already know that this is coming. Starting in March 2016, we will be adding a quick, single-address report to our product line. In contrast to our current reports, which are intended for renters who are very close to the end of their apartment hunts, the new report will be designed for renters who are just starting their search.

More importantly, it will be offered with a "pay what you can" price tag. Continue reading The RentConfident Roadmap for 2016: “Pay What You Can” and More!

Published by

Kay Cleaves

Why and How we Obtained our Chicago Business License

Share Button

According to the city of Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, "every business operating in the City of Chicago requires a City of Chicago business license." There are 66147 active business licenses in the city's online database. However, at the time of the the most recent economic census from 2007, there were 255,502 firms in Chicago. While the recent recession certainly caused many of those to end, we can still consider it a reasonable assumption that a large percentage of Chicago businesses are operating without licenses.

The need to obtain a business license was broached to us in our very first discussions with our mentor in the fall of 2014. I hadn't really considered it to be a necessity at the time. Right up until we opened I was on the fence about it. Some of our advisors said we needed one. Others said we could try and go without. It became clear that it was really our call and a matter of personal ethics if we decided to pay for the city license. Continue reading Why and How we Obtained our Chicago Business License

Published by

Kay Cleaves