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Hello,

We would like to thank everyone that has used Home Jotter in the past and we would like to thank new users that are just discovering Home Jotter.  Changes had to take place in order to upgrade Home Jotter into a more effective web site, so what you see are the results.  Here are just some of the changes/additions the site has received:

• Improved interface, which creates a cleaner, simpler, and faster web site.
• We have developed a fast search method to find properties.  If you are a college student, all you have to do is select your college and a list of properties for that colleges comes up.  You also have the ability to narrow the results further by filtering methods.
• Property owners have an even bigger opportunity to get their properties seen by the use of our “Featured Property” feature and other features included in the new web site.
• A news section (what you are on now) where we can keep you up to date with the last Home Jotter news.
• Finally, we have fixed a ton of bugs that bogged down the website from its true purpose.

There are more changes that have been made, but the changes listed are the major ones.  We are constantly striving in making Home Jotter a better web site for college students and property owners.  Do not hesitate to send us an email with feedback of the web site.  We read every email that gets sent our way.  Thanks for making Home Jotter possible.

If you are a college student, see what’s new for college students.
If you are a property owner, see what’s new for property owners.

Thanks,

Andrew & Brett

Home Jotter Helps You Find Perfect Off-Campus Home
Posted By Allison Margulies On January 19, 2010 @ 1:00 am

I couldn’t wait to move off-campus. It was exciting, but, with classes, homework and finals, it was also stressful. It’s hard to find the time to get everything done, not to mention find a new place to live. Two young entrepreneurs, Brett Stapper and Andrew Tarcon, have come up with a fast and easy way to help college students find their newest home sweet home. It’s called Home Jotter and it currently has listings in over 500 colleges across the country. In the upcoming weeks, they will be adding 65,000 new properties to the site. This will make Home Jotter the largest off-campus housing website in the United States.

YOUNG MONEY: Where did you get the funding for your business?
HOMEJOTTER: So far, we have funded the business with our own personal money. Just recently, we began seeking out investors and are currently discussing investment opportunities with several different individuals.  The 65,000 new properties are coming from the website ForRent.com who contacted us several weeks about forming a partnership.
YM: What gave you the idea to start this business?
HJ: My partner Andrew Tarcon came up with the idea after struggling to find off-campus housing himself. Andrew is the brains behind the operation. Without his creative ideas, the site would be nowhere.
YM: What was the hardest thing you encountered while starting your business?
HJ: It is very difficult to find time to do everything. Especially with our lack of employees, we really have to choose what portion of the business we want to focus our attention on. We try and switch it up by dedicating one month to contacting landlords and the next month to creating brand awareness.
YM: What surprised you the most?
HJ: I have been very surprised by the success we have achieved so early on. When we first started the site it was nearly impossible to gauge how things would go. We had originally planned to only offer properties for Wisconsin Colleges but within a few weeks, we had companies from all across the country contacting us about signing up for our services so we made the decision to take Home Jotter to the National level.
YM: Is this your first business?
HJ: When I was 16 I started an advertising business called Northvalley Advertising. The business achieved little success but I learned valuable lessons which I feel have helped grow Home Jotter into what it is today.
YM: How do you get your name out there and get customers? What has been your most effective marketing technique or tactic?
HJ: Our most effective marketing has come from the media. We have been featured in newspapers and on news stations throughout Wisconsin which has played a big part in our success.  We also rely heavily on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist.  Other than that, a majority of our time is spent cold calling and emailing landlords.
YM: How many employees do you have?
HJ: Currently, we do not have any employees. I handle the business aspects and my partner, Andrew Tarcon handles the creative end of things. We have gone through several different partners and employees but have not been able to find anyone dedicated enough to work as hard as we do.
YM: What effect has the recession had on your business?
HJ: Strangely enough, I feel the recession has had a positive impact on our business.  Now more than ever, landlords are struggling to fill vacancies and Home Jotter is a perfect source for inexpensive, direct advertising.
YM: If you could offer one piece of concrete advice to other people, what would it be?
HJ: If you feel that you have a good idea, don’t hesitate, go for it. Money should never be an excuse to not go after your idea, there is always a way and if you work hard enough, things will work out.

For more information, or to find your new home, visit www.homejotter.com.

Direct Link:  HERE

Nov. 5–Brett Stapper, just 19 years old, has been in business for years.

At 16, the entrepreneur launched Northvalley Advertising, a business that let local companies put their business cards — at a price — in boxes at high-traffic locations in Marshfield. People could retrieve the cards with the press of a button.

“It was called ‘business-card display advertising,’ ” said Stapper, a Marshfield High School graduate who now lives in Eau Claire. He said the company enjoyed moderate success — “pretty good for (age) 16.”

Now Stapper is involved in another enterprise, this one concerning property management companies nationwide.

Stapper and UW-Stout student Andrew Tarcon, 22, launched Homejotter.com in July. Similar in format to Apartments.com, the Web site aims to help college students find off-campus housing near their schools.

Stapper said Tarcon approached him in March about helping him with the site.

“He was looking for housing for the next year … and he couldn’t find anything. That’s how he came up with the idea,” Stapper said of Tarcon, who declined an interview request.

Stapper said the site allows property companies to list houses for free. The only other site he knows that allows free listings is Craigslist.com, but he noted that Craigslist doesn’t cater specifically to college students as Homejotter does.

People using Homejotter choose the state in which they want to look for housing then select locations according to the college they attend. As of Wednesday, there were listings in 30 states.

They hope to expand the business internationally by the end of the year, Stapper said. Partners in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and Canada are expected to help harvest listings for the site in those places.

Ed Garlick, who owns EDJ Rentals of Eau Claire, said the site “appears to be working very well,” noting that he has received calls from people who have used it.

“Anytime you can get exposure without costing you any money, it’s definitely a plus,” Garlick said of the ability to post listings for free.

EDJ Rentals, which had six properties on the site as of Wednesday, caters primarily to college students in UW-Eau Claire area.

The site eventually is expected to make money through advertising, Stapper said. But first it must increase the number of daily online visitors; currently, the site gets between 500 and 1,000 hits a day, Stapper said. The site must get 10,000 daily hits before he and Tarcon will seek advertisers, he said.

“That seems like the magic number for (companies) to be interested in advertising,” Stapper said of the 10,000-hit quota.

They hope to get that many daily hits by next summer.

Direct Link:  HERE

Home Jotter

919 Fairfax Suite 209
Altoona Wisconsin
54720

Phone: 715-215-1416
http://www.homejotter.com

HOME JOTTER is an online service for college students looking for a place to live. The site allows rental companies to place college housing ads for FREE. College students often don’t have time to physically look for housing near campus, or search through all of the online listings in a city just to find a few near their school. With a few simple clicks, college students can find perfect off-campus living.

Direct Link:  HERE
858 Graphics:  HERE