Wildomar, Calif., let its moratorium on new self-storage facilities expire Jan. 13, opening the door to more development. However, the city council is trying to enact some caveats, most notably that traditional facilities can't be built in "desirable" commercial areas.

The city will default to the existing county ordinance for boat-, vehicle- and RV-storage facilities, which makes them legal on property zoned commercial general, scenic-highway commercial and rural residential. A conditional-use permit application is required for rural residential and scenic highway commercial zoning. A plotplan application is required for commercial-general zoning.

As for traditional self-storage facilities, council members told staff to write an amendment to the existing county ordinance to prohibit them in desirable commercial-general zoning. Such facilities are already prohibited in rural residential and scenic-highway commercial designations, according to city documents.

Councilmember Bob Cashman argued for the amendment. In his opinion, the city needs to draft its own ordinance once and for all to deal with storage facilities, according to the source. He expressed concern that by allowing self-storage facilities to build on prime commercial retail sites along key city thoroughfares, such as Clinton Keith Road, potentially "desirable" future development could be thwarted.

Im worried about permanent concrete structures, Cashman said in the meeting, pointing out that storage facilities are not aesthetically pleasing and bring little revenue to the city.

Councilmember Marsha Swanson argued that drafting a city ordinance now would cost Wildomar money at a time when self-storage businesses are not beating down our doors. However, city staff told the source recent inquiries from self-storage developers have been made, and the moratorium was put in place in December 2010 because city personnel had received numerous development proposals, according to city documents. Wildomar is about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Hessam Nadji, senior vice president and managing director of research and advisory services for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, was featured on a Fox Business exclusive on Thursday, Dec. 29. Nadji shared his opinions on the state of the U.S. economy, retail property sector, and financing availability, as well as discussed commercial property fundamentals. A copy of the broadcast can be viewed at www.marcusmillichap.com/Video/fox_122911.asp.

Nadji called commercial real estate "a compelling investment in 2012." He pointed first to a strengthening overall economy, citing the addition of 1.7 million private-sector jobs in the past 12 months. He also predicted fewer commercial real estate bankruptcies, resulting from greater cash flow at commercial properties because of higher occupancy and higher rents. As owners solidify their cash statements, they will be more able to refinance loans.

Nadji, with more than 20 years of experience in real estate research, marketing and technology management, joined Marcus & Millichap in 1996. He oversees the companys research division including economic and real estate information tracking and analysis and the production of the groups various publications. He also manages the design and application of various research and marketing tools and analysis-related technology, as well as various real estate supply and demand analyses and databases.

Marcus & Millichap is one of the largest investment real estate brokerage firms in the nation, with more than 1,300 real estate specialists in more than 70 offices. The company includes a National Self Storage Group that specializes in self-storage real estate transactions.

In a struggling economy and competitive environment, it's critical that self-storage operators maximize every opportunity to generate revenue while minimizing the operational expenses that cut into the bottom line. On Jan. 19, Inside Self-Storage and AAAA Self Storage Management Group will present a free webinar titled, "Strategies to Boost Income and Cut Costs: Taking a Page From the Playbook of Top Self-Storage Operators," open to all self-storage professionals.

During the webinar, industry experts will share strategies used by top self-storage operators to bolster their profit. Attendees will learn

• How to establish new profit centers in a self-storage business
• Do-it-yourself marketing for little to no cost
• How to achieve bulk buying power through group memberships
• Strategies for building and maintaining a more effective management staff
• How to make more money through a self-storage operation

The webinar will take place at 2 p.m. EST. Registration for the webinar can be completed for free at www.insideselfstorage.com/webinars/2012/01/strategies-to-boost-income-and-cut-costs.aspx.

The webinar is presented by Tom Nicholson III and Scott Styer. Nicholson, president of AAAA, joined his father in the business in 1979 after earning a four-way degree in business, English, biology and psychology from Roanoke College.  Since that time, he has continuously been involved in the development, design, construction and management of self-storage facilities.

As a district manage for AAAA, Styer handles the company's marketing and affiliate programs and is a member of the operations department. He joined the company in 2009 after overseeing a top self-storage operator Northeast Florida for more than eight years.  Styer is a graduate of Lanier Technical College in Atlanta.

Norfolk, Va.-based AAAA is a full-service management and development company incorporated in Virginia in May 1962. A Nicholson Cos. affiliate, AAAA provides management/consulting services to the owners of more than 50 facilities throughout 10 eastern states, containing more than 3 million square feet of space and representing more than $200 million in value. Most of the company's management accounts take advantage of the brand recognition offered by using its AAAA Self Storage trade name.

For more than 20 years, ISS has provided informational resources to self-storage owners, managers, developers and investors. Its educational offerings include a monthly magazine, bi-annual tradeshows, an extensive website, an education institute and Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online community.

Self-Storage investor W. P. Carey & Co. LLC completed more than $1.2 billion of investments in 2011, including several large self-storage transactions. They include 99 properties totaling more than 10.7 million square feet with tenants in 11 different industries ranging from self-storage to consumer products. The company also completed financings of acquisitions and refinancings of existing portfolio holdings of more than $650 million.

During the second half of 2011, W. P. Carey completed approximately $630 million in investments. The transactions involved 74 facilities containing approximately 6.2 million square feet. The facilities were acquired both for its own portfolio and on behalf of its publicly-held, non-traded real estate investment trust affiliates, including CPA: 17 - Global Inc., which acquired nine self-storage facilities in September from A-American Self Storage for approximately $46 million.

Self-storage transactions completed in the second half of 2011 comprised 19 self-storage properties totaling approximately 1.4 million square feet. With the closing of these transactions W. P. Carey is now the eighth largest storage operator in the United States with nearly 8.6 million net rentable square feet and 143 properties, according to the company.

"With more than $1 billion in transactions and more than $650 million in financings and re-financings completed, 2011 has been one of our most successful years, said CEO Trevor Bond. Our acquisitions added to the geographic and industry diversity of our portfolios. With respect to our financing strategy, we continued to adhere to moderate leverage ratios with the objective of maintaining the longer term stability and value of our holdings.

W. P. Carey & Co. LLC is an investment-management company that oversees a global investment portfolio of $12 billion. It provides companies worldwide with long-term sale leaseback and build-to-suit financing, and engages in other types of real estate-related investment.

A contract dispute between Dave Hester, a star of the reality TV show "Storage Wars, and the A&E Network, could result in Hester leaving the series. When approached by videographers from celebrity-gossip outlet TMZ in a Los Angeles parking lot, Hester voiced his displeasure with the network's salary offer and expressed disdain for how A&E has been treating him, specifically citing not being invited to the company Christmas party.

"I don't know what their plans are, but I would like to be on the show," he said in front of the camera. "Maybe 'Storage Wars' without Dave Hester?" The ball is in their court, he said.

Hester, known for his repeated utterances of "Yuuup!", is one of four auction buyers on the show. In its second season, the show documents the pursuits of Hester, Darrell Sheets, Barry Weiss, and the team of Jarrod Waltz and Brandi Passante, along with auctioneers Dan and Laura Dotson. During each weekly episode, the four teams compete against one another to see who can obtain the most valuable items relative to bids on storage units. The series has been on-air since Dec. 1, 2010. It spawned a spinoff series, "Storage Wars: Texas," which debuted in December.

Many self-storage facilities across North America have reported much higher lien-sale attendances since the show's run began. Another well-known TV program, "Auction Hunters" on SpikeTV, has also drawn attention to self-storage auctions, inspiring droves of enterprising people to join the ranks of auction buyers. Some operators welcome the additional attention and think it increases the potential of recouping lost revenue from delinquencies. Others think the shows paint an inaccurate picture of the industry and wouldn't mind seeing them fade into oblivion.

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large, according to the American Marketing Association (AMA). For the average self-storage manager, marketing is a bane of his existence. How the heck do you make a self-storage facility enticing to the average consumer, especially when you're in over your head and dont know what to do or how to proceed?

For starters, you need to know your customer base and circle of influence. Then you need creative and memorable ways to reach that target audience. Following are examples of inspired marketing promotions that can make a long-lasting impression on your self-storage prospects.

Using Promo Items

Take a look at your citys community calendar to see what events are likely to draw good crowds and provide marketing opportunities for your facility. Next, jump onto a reputable promotional-products website and peruse the options available. Have a budget in mind and determine which items would make a good fit for the events that interest you.

For example, one year during a local July 4 parade, it was particularly hot, and we noticed people fanning themselves with whatever they could find. That was an Ah-ha! moment. The next year, we passed out 500 hand fans with a patriotic image on one side and our company logo with a discount promo on the other. We associated ourselves with a great event, helped alleviate a comfort problem for spectators, and offered a product and solution. In the end, our $200 investment netted half a dozen long-term tenants.

Our self-storage facility also uses personalized pens, key chains and other items as giveaways in the office, and we strategically put them into play in creative ways. For example, we make reusable welcome bags printed with our logo for the community's new teachers. The bags generally include our key chain, some paper clips printed with our website, and Sharpie pens, also printed with our logo. Teachers store their materials during the summer months, and if they routinely see your logo during the other nine months of the year, why would they go to a competitor?

The single hottest item we've tried is our talking stress head, which has our contact info printed on the back. The thing is really dorky looking, but it's a barrel of laughs. Every person who crosses our threshold receives one, even if it's just the mailman or UPS delivery guy. Our goal is that no one leaves our office without a smilewhich people do the second they hear the item say, Relax. Calm down now. Dont stress. Take it easy. Even if a customer is just planning ahead or insists on shopping around, we give him one of our stress guys. Guess who they remember when making their final storage decision?

We order the talking heads in bulk and, although they're a bit pricey at roughly $2 per unit, they're well worth the cost. We've garnered many a rental from this little guy, so he'll definitely remain a part of our marketing bag of tricks. We've even had people wear out their item and come back begging for a new one a year or so later. One lady asked for five stress heads for her womens group. I received a very nice thank-you note from the group, thanking us for helping them relieve some stress.

Do you see whats happening here? Our customers are distributing our marketing materials for us! We've created a positive image of our company among our prospects, and they'll share their impressions with friends. We've expanded our circle of influence without ever leaving the office.

Remember an effective marketing piece can be an unusual business card or postcard mailing, a flier, or an inexpensive promo item. We once had a huge field of weeds behind our facility that we plowed and planted with wildflowers. We ordered seed by the pound and wound up with much more than we needed. So many people raved about the flowers that the next spring, we purchased some tiny manila envelopes, filled them with seeds, and added a label with our facility information. Our total cost was about 30 cents per packet. The seeds were a hit with the community and helped our image. We strategically targeted our market, and the wildflowers beautified the area.

Finding What Works

Not all marketing promos will work for your particular self-storage audience. The point is to find what works for your site, clientele and budget. That might mean a terrific ice-scraper in cold-weather climates or perhaps a reusable green shopping bag for eco-friendly communities. A smart approach is to align your marketing decisions with your communitys focus or identity.

Self-storage facilities that follow this type of strategy achieve the AMAs marketing concept: They effectively communicate their offerings, and their company name lingers in a customer's mind when he needs storage.

Not every idea will be successful. In trying various approaches, we've had our share of flubs. Start small and see what works for your faciilty. Once you find an item or tactic that resonates with people, youll know youre onto something good, and then simply let the marketing piece do the work for you.

Gina Six Kudo is the general manager of Cochrane Road Self Storage in Morgan Hill, Calif. She has more than 15 years of self-storage experience and a strong customer-service and sales background. She is also a moderator for Self-Storage Talk, the industrys largest online forum and community.

Over the last 30 years, technology has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. This major change started in the mid-80s with the adoption of the personal computer. Fast forward to today, and technology is the epicenter of our daily lives. No longer are people forced to carry a cell phone the size of a brick or use a computer with the bulk of a file cabinet. Consumers can buy a refrigerator with Internet access and Hi-Fi speakers or control their homes thermostat with a smartphone.

Communication is now almost instantaneous. Smartphones have more processing power than a personal computer had just 10 years ago. This new technology will open more doors for the self-storage industry than ever before. The ability to be in constant contact with customers, existing or possible, is an almost overwhelming wave of potential. The changes in customer service will revolve around three items: product quality, communication and information storage.

Product Quality and Your Online Reputation

The Internet has already permanently changed the way consumers shop for products and services. How many times over the last year has a customer contemplated purchasing an item in a brick-and-mortar store such as Walmart or Barnes & Noble only to be overheard saying, I wonder how much it costs on Amazon? or I wonder what the reviews say? There are smartphone applications that will allow a customer to scan a bar code on an item and pull up a price or review. How about using the Internet to find a good restaurant or a great dry-cleaner?

Perception is reality, particularly in business. How do your self-storage customers perceive your facility online? Do they like the services you provide? Do they rave about your great managers? Do they talk about how clean your facility is? Do you even know what potential and current customers are saying about your business?

If you dont, stop reading this article right now. Go to Google, Yelp, Merchantcircle and Citysearch and search for your facility. These sites will give you a good idea of how customers value your facilitys services and what theyre saying about you on the Internet, which is now essentially the worlds largest billboard. (To read a great blog entry on how powerful the Internet can be in self-storage, read "The Power of Viral Media: Angry Customers Armed With New Weapons," by Teri Lanza.)

Limitless Communication

It wasnt long ago that to connect with a current or potential customer, a self-storage operator was limited to three options: call the customer, wait for him to visit the facility, or send a letter. Technology has changed communication forever. Today, the options are limitless. Telephone calls, personal visits, letters, e-mails, text messages, instant messaging, video conferencing, website and social media are just a few ways to keep in contact with customers.

Do you have military customers stationed overseas or disabled customers who cant visit the facility on a regular basis? Why not speak with them using Skype? Google just launched a new service called "Hangouts" within Google+, the Web giants new social-media platform. Why not hold a hangout with some of your customers? Did one them disappear? Try searching for him on Facebook. Quite often a customer will update his Facebook status before updating friends and family directly.

Do you want to announce a new product or service at your facility? Update your website and social-media accounts and then e-mail current customers. Remember, one of the issues customers have with any business or service is the feeling that theyre not important or the company takes them for granted. With the tools available today, none of your tenants should feel that way.

Information Storage: Stay Organized

Increased data storage also has a huge impact on customer service. On the surface, this sounds like an odd component, but think of it in terms of being better organized.

A self-storage operator often has things coming at him from all directions. For example, the customer in Unit 101 has an issue with his bill, a landscaping bill is due to be paid, a vendor is supposed to come by and give a bid to repair an AC unit, the facility gate has come off track, and you need to pick up milk on the way home. On top of this, a potential customer would like a tour of your facility. How do you handle it all? Technology can help.

First, start by installing Web-based management software. With online software, the accounting for Unit 101 be checked quickly and accurately and from any Internet-based device. An electronic calendar syncs to your smartphone, helping you keep track of due dates. It will also track vendors appointments and allow you to schedule facility tours. An online contact list will allow you to immediately contact the gate vendor for repairs.

Also consider using a cloud-based storage system for invoices. When that landscaping invoice comes, scan it into the system. It will never be lost and will always be accessible online.

Finally, download an online note-taking program such as Evernote, which can be accessible from your smartphone. Evernote is great for lists. That milk you need will be on your grocery list, so you dont have to remember it.

Technology will never replace good customer service. No piece of technology can take the place of having great self-storage managers. Technology can't automatically keep a facility clean or bring a cup of coffee to a tenant on a cold day. What technology can do is supplement customer service so it can be provided in an accurate and timely manner. Take the time to streamline some of your operations with technology and it will only increase the level of customer service you provide.

Matthew Van Horn is vice president of Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management, which specializes in self-storage management, feasibility studies, consulting and joint ventures. Mr. Van Horn is well-known for finding hidden profit centers in self-storage operations. For a complimentary copy of Hidden Profit Discovery Session, e-mail [email protected] . For more information, call 866.970.EDGE or visit www.cuttingedgeselfstorage.com . Follow the company on Twitter, @Cuttingedgemgt, and on Facebook at Cutting Edge Self-Storage Management.

Two bills that will improve the lien law for self-storage operators in the state of Florida have been filed in the House and Senate and will be heard in committee hearings next week. The national Self Storage Association (SSA) and Florida Self Storage Association (FSSA) have been working or three years to improve and modernize the state's self-storage legislation. The current statute was established in 1979.
Senate Bill 646 and House Bill 715 are sponsored by Sen. Steve Wise (R-Jacksonville) and Rep. Matt Caldwell (R-Fort Myers).

The Florida Legislature convened this week for its 60-day session. The FSSA expects its bill to be heard in the House committee on Jan. 18 and the Senate committee on Jan. 19. The association is meeting with committee members to secure support for the bills. The SSA will testify during the Senate committee hearing.

If passed, the proposed legislation will accomplish the following:

• Allow a tenant to provide a change of address to the facility using First Class Mail or e-mail. Currently, a tenant must hand deliver his address-change notice or send it via Certified Mail.
• Allow a Notification of Default to a tenant be sent using First Class Mail with a Certificate of Mailing or e-mail, provided receipt of the e-mail by the tenant is verified. Currently, these notices must be hand delivered or sent via Certified Mail.
• Require that self-storage rental contracts or applications ask whether a person is in the military. By knowing which tenants serve in the military, he can extend to them protections against lien-sale proceedings according to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

A Certificate of Mailing was not available through the United States Postal Service when the current Florida lien law was created. This mailing product costs only $1.15 compared to $2.80 for Certified Mail, allowing self-storage operators to save money when sending notifications. In addition, customersparticularly military personnelcan sometimes be reached more readily by e-mail than the postal service, according to the FSSA.

In an e-mail sent this week from FSSA President Michael Mele, the association asked that members and other state self-storage operators directly contact state legislators to show support for the bills. The association is also soliciting contributions for the legislative campaign. If the proposed changes are passed, the average Florida self-storage facility will save hundreds of dollars in lien-law expenses, Mele wrote. Donations can be made at www.floridassa.org/donate.asp.

The Florida bills are among 12 working their way through various state legislatures as the early-year sessions are underway, according to the SSA.