Owning the Problem: My Move from Founder to Marketer
In 2004, I started a home rental advertising service called Rentblurb. At the time, there were many resources available for apartment hunting, but few if you needed to rent a home. I was leaving Washington, DC after years of working as a defense contractor. I had a young family and pets and was moving back home to Orlando after eight years away. At the time, print publications were mainstays, and Google was primarily a keyword-based directory with unpredictable results, different from the reliable answer engine it is today. The most popular resource at the time was the Apartment Guide for apartment hunting, which came in print and web versions, and RentClicks.com, a fringe national website with scant inventory and lacking important comparison features.
The Search
Back then, a family remotely searching for a home to rent had few options for reserving one without actually being present in the destination city. I remember we printed out a number of listings from RentClicks.com, phoned the property managers mentioned (real estate agents who fit in home rentals on the side or took on the role full-time when they couldn’t make it in sales) and were told to wait until we were in the area to see what inventory was still available once we arrived.
Coming Home
When we left Washington, DC and arrived in Orlando, the property managers we had been in touch with in DC were suddenly difficult to get ahold of, and the properties we previewed online had all been rented. We were starting over from zero. What good was all the research we had done, and what might happen to us if we couldn’t find a suitable home to rent for our family? With a young child in tow, all our belongings on hold, and pets sitting in a hotel room depending on us, there was a lot on the line and no time to waste. We opened up a phone book (there was no Google Maps at the time) and went to visit every property management company we could locate, hoping to arrange a tour of their properties right away.
From Founder to Marketer
After two difficult weeks, we ended up finding a home to rent, but the experience was horrible, and it opened our eyes to what other couples might have been dealing with as they searched for houses to rent for their families. In 2004, we built Rentblurb.com, the first home rental site with side-by-side property comparisons. I signed up all the major property managers in the Orlando area and displayed their available inventories on the site. We simultaneously published a monthly print guide - the first Homes for Rent guide - and placed it next to the Apartment Guide in area grocery stores, gyms and convenience stores.
We didn’t intend to start a business, but there was a problem we had to address for families, which we just couldn’t turn away from. At the height of Rentblurb’s popularity, we were top-ranked on Google search, featured on local TV and radio news, covered by the business press, and advertised in publications and billboards across Central Florida. Never again would transitioning families have to endure the uncertainty our family had.
In 2008, RentBlurb was purchased by an outside investor, and I began a career in Marketing, motivated to help other founders grow their businesses.
Aaron After Rentblurb
Today, Aaron Hassen is a well-respected marketing leader, strategist, and hands-on practitioner. For the last 18 years, Aaron has led emerging B2B technology companies to 2X and 3X annual revenue growth. Aaron currently runs AH Marketing, a full-service marketing strategy, demand generation and brand development agency for founders with little time or sufficient help to address their marketing challenges. With a proven track record of helping companies grow, Aaron is best described as a founder’s best friend and secret weapon.
