EVERYONE has had a bad roommate experience in their life. Here are some NEW highlights of those experiences. #roomienightmares
"both of my roommates decided to quit their jobs and join start-ups...they went broke and had to move out..."
"I promise sir, my roommate told me that a greencard could be substituted as a drivers license...”
"half leftover sandwich turns into quarter leftover sandwich..."
"I know I left my deodorant cap on when i left...WTF"
"stop leaving notes on toilet paper all around the apartment..."
"why am I making breakfast for the random girl you brought home last night...?"
"It’s never good when you get a text from your roommate, "I just washed your sheets bro...”
"Overheard Kanye tell Kim K. that she is his Beyonce...AWKWARD!" -JAY-Z
We will be updating more each week on BuiltinChicago!
WHO AND WHAT IS AMERICAN ROOMIES?
American Roomies is a Chicago based start-up that is trying to revolutionize roommate searching by merging the concept of an online dating site and roommate finding site - but in a platonic way.
Each year, millions of internationals arrive in the U.S. for school, work, visit, etc. We are focused on making their experience in the states as amazing and safe as possible through the help of an American Roomie!
UPDATE on American Roomies Progress
First off, THANK YOU everyone for your support and advice! We are in an exciting time right now at American Roomies and EXECUTION will be the key in the upcoming months. This blog post will be focusing on our Marketing and I hope that we can get great feedback!
Current Marketing Strategy
Our current marketing focus has been on the Chicago market. Chicago is familiar to the American Roomies team and my partner and I both attended the University of Chicago. There are two specific marketing strategies that we have been implementing for success here in Chicago. The first strategy is focused on the Listers and the second strategy is focused on the Renters (Currently International Market). Social media will play a huge part in getting the word out to the public about our service to both Listers and Renters. We also have an amazing marketing video launching in two weeks!
For the Lister marketing strategy, we have been utilizing our personal connections from the top 25 universities and have been setting up student organization presentations at the University of Chicago and Northwestern. We believe our main initial Lister will be the young alumni and graduate students in Chicago. Upperclassmen in Undergraduate studies will also be a major focus as students constantly are moving off campus and living in different apartments throughout their time in College.
We have been trying to get in contact with every Alumni group in Chicago of the top 25 universities to inform them of our service. We are looking to host mixers or even small presentations at coffee shops, etc. with Alumni groups across Chicago to spread the word. Our service benefits any Alumnus of a top 25 university looking for a subletter/roommate and also gives the Alumnus some extra cash for each month that they have a completed transaction on American Roomies!
The Renter marketing strategy is a trickier situation. Getting the word out to internationals will be a little tougher on our end without a history or track record of transactions. Our main focus of marketing to the Renter will be on the international counselors and housing directors of every university/graduate program in Chicago. Informing these parties about our service will help benefit any international coming to the US to study or work and will also help give safe housing alternatives to Universities in Chicago. English Language Programs will also be an area of attack as housing can be an issue for certain attending internationals.
We will also be marketing to international student organizations at universities in Chicago and utilizing "country captains" at each of these universities to spread the word to their fellow countrymen. We will also try and utilize our personal contacts with certain Consulates in Chicago. Having our personal international contacts market to their friends and family members will also help us increase our presence in different areas. The international blogs (ex: Turkish US student blog), which students use to find roommates and information on studying/traveling to the US will benefit us as well.
We have come up with a great incentive program and great presentations for student and alumni organizations. We believe that if we can execute correctly on these areas, the Chicago market can be extremely successful for American Roomies.
Please let us know your thoughts and if you have any advice for marketing! If you would like us to present to your organization or would like some additional information on American Roomies, email me at [email protected].
Sorry again for the long post and remember to CHOOSE SMART, ROOM SMART!
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