StorageMart on 52nd Avenue in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has completed a renovation of its storefront office space and is adding approximately 25 climate-controlled units to the facility.
 
The renovation included transforming the exterior and interior of the office space, bringing the facility up to par with the trademark and displaying the black and gold of the StorageMart brand. A 600-square-foot retail space was added, offering a supply of packing and moving supplies.
 
In addition to the cosmetic remodel, StorageMart is converting space behind the office into approximately 25 climate-controlled units, adding 3,050 square feet of storage to the facility.
 
StorageMart acquired the facility when it took over InStorage REIT. Headquartered in Columbia, Mo., the company owns and operates more than 125 storage properties in the United States and Canada.

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A+ Mini Storage and Container on Wheels (COWs) are leading a donation drive to benefit people of Haiti who have been devastated by the recent earthquakes. The companies are collecting donations of clothing, water, and dry and canned goods for immediate distribution by the Red Cross.

Donated items will go directly people in Haiti who have been hit the most severely by the water shortages, power outages and famine that has struck the island following last week's earthquakes and subsequent infrastructure collapse. The drop-off locations include A+ Mini Storage facilities in Doral, Hialeah and Miami, Fla.

COWs provides mobile storage and moving services. It has locations in a dozen states and two countries.

A+ Mini Storage is a privately owned and operated Miami area storage company, serving Miami-Dade and Broward counties for more than 25 years.

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After renovating a Coca-Cola Bottling plant in 2007, Capital Self Storage in York, Pa., now plans to add to the existing building.

The Springettsbury supervisors unanimously approved a plan recently opening the way to add another 38,000 square feet and 350 more storage units.

However, because the facility is located close to the street, limited landscaping and buffering will be required.

Source:  York Dispatch,  Springetts OKs Expansion for Storage Business

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A palm tree that caught fire at about 3 a.m. this morning caused extensive damage to A-American Self Storage in Bakersfield, Calif. Eight units were burned when the flames spread to the building, causing approximately $200,000 in damage, according to a report on KGET 17. Firefighters from Kern County and the Bakersfield City Fire Department responded. No injuries were reported.

Source: KGET 17, Fire heavily damages south Bakersfield storage facility

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On the Move Inc. introduced its new moving and storage box rental program, which allows self-storage operators to purchase plastic boxes from the company and sell or rent them to self-storage customers.

Boxes can be rented six to eight times for short-term storage or purchased for long-term storage.  The plastic boxes are reusable and moisture-resistant. Once self-storage customers are finished with the box, the self-storage operator can offer to repurchase it, then rent or resell the used box.

Boxes are available in four standard sizes:  small, medium, large and wardrobe.

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Last Monday a man in gray hooded sweatshirt slapped and pushed a manager at Metro Self Storage in Gilroy, Calif., right before he robbed her facility. He entered the building at about 10 a.m., removing $2,879.20 in cash and $1,700 in checks from drawers behind the counter. He than removed the video-surveillance tape from the recorder and ran out of the facility.
 
According to The Gilroy Dispatch, the suspect’s identity is unknown. He was described as Hispanic, slender with a mustache, about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 120 pounds.

Source: The Gilroy Dispatch, Police incidents: Man goes wild at Saint Louise; three busted with pound of weed

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As I talk with self-storage owners and managers across the country, I’ve concluded that many of us need to shift our perspectives about our businesses and bottom-line results. To bury your head like an ostrich, unwilling to deal with the new reality, isn’t healthy for you, your facility or anyone else.

While a few storage locations will maintain or return to 90 percent-plus economic occupancy this year, they’ll be the exception and not the rule. We’ve been seeing a growing gap appear between physical occupancy (square footage or unit count) and financial occupancy. There’s no way to close that space while you’re giving away rent and other discount incentives.

As an owner, if you’re budgeting with a 90 percent or higher financial-occupancy goal, you’re setting up yourself and your management team for disappointment. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that by attempting to motivate your managers with unrealistically high goals that you can somehow get them to work harder. In my experience, when everyone from the top down agrees to the budgetary and written goals for the year, you have a real chance at achieving them.

It’s still early enough in the year to consider resetting your budgetary goals. Consider the answer to this question: “What do I really think the new ‘normal’ is for my business?

What’s On Your Education Schedule This Year?

I’m curious what owners and managers are planning for themselves in terms of educational opportunities in the year ahead.  Will you be taking online training sessions or participating in a local Toastmasters International? Will you become an active member of the Self-Storage Talk online community or attend a national or state expo or conference? Perhaps you’ll download a special-interest webinar or podcast?

It might be as simple as starting your own book or magazine-article club where everyone reads the same item and shares thoughts on how its lessons could be applied to your business. The opportunities for education are virtually endless. However, it takes intention coupled with resources (time and a bit of money) to include learning as a goal for the months ahead.

I’ve debated the concept of continuing education with owners for years. Some still believe their employees are “just fine the way they are, thank you!” I couldn’t disagree more. No matter how skilled your people are, there are always new things to learn and different methods to improve your facility’s operation or customer service.

If you haven’t included dollars in this year’s budget for education, it’s not too late to add some into your expense calculations. The money and time devoted to manager training will produce tangible benefits for your business and your staff. 

SEO

If you have a website and can’t explain what those three letters mean, you could be losing money.  Take a few minutes and ask your circle of friends or business associates. It won’t take long before you run into someone who not only understands SEO but is using it to benefit their business 24/7/365. Those of you who already know the power this acronym represents ... are you really using it effectively?
 
My Dad

Those of you who’ve read this column over the years know that I occasionally mention my children, a new grandchild or my wife, Jackie. I now ask your indulgence as I acknowledge my father, Sydney Frederick Chiswell. As I write this column, my family has just learned that he has stage IV lymphoma and only months to live. After his 90 years of life, he still has an upbeat attitude. He said to me, “Hey, I’ve had a good run!”

For the past 10 years, with my sister’s help, my father has been a full-time caregiver for my mom, who suffered a stroke and has been confined to a wheelchair. He has been a model of unconditional love for me and our entire family.

I know in my heart that my father will probably not live to read this piece when it’s published, but I’d still like to pay public tribute to this World War II Navy veteran, amateur radio operator for W2ICZ, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. I remember him cooking me steak and eggs every Saturday morning before my high-school football games. I know I’ve disappointed him with some of my decisions over the years, but he has always stood by my side without judgment, and I never doubted his love for me.  In some of my darkest hours, he has been my light.

I share these thoughts to encourage everyone to look for that light in those around you and thank or hug them a bit more in the days ahead. If I had to put my dad’s approach to life into just one phrase it would be, “Others first, Father, others first.” I love you, Dad, and thanks.
 
Jim Chiswell is the owner of Chiswell & Associates LLC, which provides feasibility studies, acquisition due diligence and customized manager training for the self-storage industry. He has served for a number of years on the Inside Self-Storage Editorial Advisory Board, is a moderator on SelfStorageTalk.com and a faculty member of the Self-Storage Training Institute. He can be reached at 434.589.4446; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.selfstorageconsulting.com.

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While self-storage is still a good investment, it takes more diversified and creative marketing strategies to fill those units. If your occupancy levels are suffering, you may need new marketing and advertising tactics. But rather depending on just one avenue, try a ratio like the one below to get the best results.
 
Print Yellow Pages: 60%

Between July 2008 and July 2009, 25 million consumers used the Yellow Pages to find a self-storage facility, and the national average shows 60 percent of new customers come from print YP (numbers differ by location). The average return on investment (ROI) from print Yellow Pages is 2.5 to 1. Based on our proposed formula, you should allocate 60 percent of your marketing and advertising budget to print YP advertising.

If you’re not seeing 60 percent of new customers coming from Yellow Pages, make sure your positioning and content are competitive before cutting back. It’s also critical that your front-line people are able to close a sale. Print YP has an average conversion rate of 35 percent for the self-storage industry and, historically, has converted higher than any other advertising medium.
 
Internet Yellow Pages: 15%

Many operators seem to forget about online Yellow Pages websites such as Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, Dexknows.com and Yellowbook.com; however, many people are using them to find self-storage. Internet YP doesn’t deliver the same number of inquiries as print, but it’s less expensive and provides a higher ROI.

It will take some time and research to determine which sites are more effective for your facility, but the statistics don’t lie. Ask your rep how he derived the number of visitors to the site and the number of clicks, and make sure the traffic research was performed by a third-party independent marketing firm.

Since Internet YP is position-driven rather than content-driven like print, try to get your listing as close to the top of the page as possible relative to your physical location. Remember the “position” advantage for storage facilities: If you’re listed in fifth position, but the first four are outside your 3- to 5-mile service radius, you’re competitively in first position.

Internet YP also provides some impressive advantages to capture consumers who are using other media to find a service or product. First, if you include a local phone number and address on your listing, the search-engine Web crawlers will likely pick it up and drop it into the “Local Search” section of Google or Yahoo (on the center of the results page under the sponsored listings). Second, when you invest in a video that’s accessible by an icon adjacent to your listing, it will also be available on YouTube.
 
Search-Engine Marketing: 10%

Seventy-five percent of storage customers have Internet access in the home, so it stands to reason that a good percentage of your prospective customers will use a search engine for research. The downside for self-storage operators is the conversion rate for this medium is very low.

There are two reasons for this: Low relevancy results and the percentage of search-engine users are more often browsers, while Internet and print YP users are buyers with an immediate need. The upside is search-engine marketing (SEM) is relatively inexpensive and the number of users is growing rapidly. SEM should definitely be part of your marketing mix.  
Direct Mail: 10%

The advantage of direct mail is its ability to strategically target a specific demographic. Because direct mail may only provide a 1 percent return, it’s imperative that you know who your current customers are and direct the campaign to that market. If most of your customers are home or apartment renters rather than owners, then target apartment buildings within 5 miles of your location.

If you have a lot of businesses within your service radius and would like to attract more, your mailing list should aim for that group. Be sure to do a series of mailings; this medium requires getting in front of prospects on a regular basis.
 
Mobile Web, Social Networking, Community Outreach: 5%

Mobile search and social networking are new media by which you might be able to capture new customers at a low cost per thousand. They’re too new to offer any statistics but growing too fast in use to be overlooked. Community outreach could be partnering with a charity or local organization to do a fundraiser.
 
Test Your Strategies

The above suggestions for budget allocation are based on average statistics. The only way to ensure you’re spending the right percentage on the best media for your location is to test everything you do. Whether you’re using print, Internet or direct mail, create a special test number for each and every campaign. Track calls and the conversion rate. Your ultimate goal is to combine media in a mix that works best for unique property.
 
Sue Weinman is the vice president of Yellow Page Services for Michaels Wilder Inc., an advertising agency specializing in Yellow Pages, Internet marketing and talent recruitment for the self-storage industry since 1989. For more information, visit www.michaelswilder.com. 

To learn more about self-storage marketing, take advantage of the comprehensive education program at the Inside Self-Storage World Expo. Click here for details.

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