Delaware Gov. John Carney signed an update to the state’s self-storage lien law on Sept. 14 that enables facility operators to advertise and conduct their lien sales online, place value limits on stored items, charge late fees, and tow motor vehicles from spaces that go unpaid. Senate Bill 46 (SB 46) went into effect with the governor’s signature.

Similar to other recent state lien-law updates, the measure allows self-storage operators to advertise auctions in the print or online version of the local newspaper, or via a “publicly accessible” auction website. A house amendment that would have stipulated operators advertise their sales through both channels failed; however, auction notices must include the “name of each occupant whose property is to be sold,” according to the bill’s language. A single advertisement may be used “when a sale involves the property of more than one occupant.”

The law allows operators to conduct lien sales online as long as the auction website “regularly conducts online auctions of personal property.” If the proceeds from an auction are more than what’s required to settle the lien, operators must hold the balance “for delivery on demand” to the former tenant for up to two years. After two years, any unclaimed balance becomes the property of the self-storage owner.

SB 46 also includes language that absolves storage operators from liability for identity theft or “other harm” that may result from the misuse of personal information found among the unit contents sold during an auction, so long as the self-storage owner had no knowledge the information was being stored in the unit.

In addition, the measure allows storage operators to place a maximum value of stored contents based on value limits expressed in rental agreements, as long as the lease provision is in bold type or underlined.

It also enables operators to assess late fees equal to the greater of $20 or 20 percent of monthly rent. Late-fee policies must be stated in the rental agreement.

Finally, SB 46 also allows self-storage operators to have stored boats and motor vehicles towed after default reaches 60 days, but tenants must be notified of the removal by “verified” mail or e-mail communication that includes the name and full contact information of the towing company.

The measure was supported by the national Self Storage Association (SSA). “Combined with last year's effort to allow e-mail notifications of an impending lien sale and the removal of the requirement to send notices by Certified Mail, Delaware becomes the third state in the nation to have achieved full lien modernization," Marcus Dunn, the SSA's government-relations representative, said in an Oct. 2 e-mail newsletter to SSA members.

The state senate passed the bill on April 27, while the house approved it on July 2.

Snow Valley Mini Storage has opened in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. The property at 1521 10th Ave. is owned by partners Marsha Churchill and Kurtis Ellis. The couple, who have two children, were seeking a business they could operate together when they decided to build a self-storage facility, according to the source.

“We’ve wanted to do mini-storage for the last 10 years,” said Churchill, who owned the Lunch Box restaurant in the downtown area until last year. She also helped Ellis operate his business, Valley View Contracting, which constructed the new facility. “Working as a team is so much better. It takes the stress off, and it’s something you can talk about together.”

The property is in an industrial area of the city and was a former dumping yard for a roof business. “This was the last lot in town that was zoned for [storage],” said Ellis, adding construction was hampered by the weather.

Snow Valley Mini offers drive-up storage units, online billpay and tenant insurance. Churchill and Ellis provide free storage to local nonprofits, including Outdoor Connections, which plans to store kayaks and camping gear, the source reported.

More than 50 million businesses use Facebook pages to promote their brands. However, social media has been relatively slow to gain popularity in the self-storage industry. Its effective use comes with a pretty steep learning curve, and many operators don’t see the point to investing in something with so little obvious return.

This argument has merit. Self-storage is an event-driven business, so you’re unlikely to convince someone they need the product if they don’t have a pressing necessity. Following this vein, it seems unlikely you’ll convince someone to rent a unit by connecting with them on social media. From this perspective, it doesn’t seem Facebook would be an effective tool to grow business.

Even so, it can’t be ignored. This summer, Facebook reached 2 billion users. That’s almost nine times the population of the United States. There’s simply no other platform through which you can reach that many people. Even if you’re only able to connect with a fraction of its users, your return will be far superior to your reach with print ads, door hangers, chamber meetings and bench advertising. Keeping that in mind, here are five ways Facebook can help your self-storage business.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a big, ugly term. It scares people because it’s often misunderstood; but it’s simple, really. You want your business to appear on the first page of search engine results because studies show 75 percent of users don’t scroll beyond that. Since self-storage is an event-driven business, you need to ensure you’re easy to find when potential customers search for storage in your area.

Social media profiles rank in search engine results. With effective SEO, you can rank with multiple pages on your website as well as your social media profiles. Theoretically, your facility could take up the entire first page of Google results. Additionally, social media pages affect local rankings. This is a huge advantage for a brick-and-mortar business like a self-storage facility.

To make your social media pages work for SEO, you have to populate them with content—preferably content to which people will respond. Engagement is the key. You want other users to like, share and comment on your posts.

Using Facebook effectively for SEO starts with profile information. The first 140 characters of your Facebook bio will appear in a search engine result. Include keywords and ideas about your business so searches can quickly get an idea of what you’re about. After you’ve optimized your bio for SEO, you simply need to focus on engaging your audience on your Facebook page and doing it often.

Facebook Ads

Facebook is a business, and it doesn’t want other businesses to benefit from its platform for free. The good news is it will let you benefit for little money. You can set a Facebook advertising budget as low as $5 per day. Considering how many thousands of dollars self-storage operators previously spent on Yellow Page ads, it’s baffling that so few are taking advantage of this inexpensive ad platform.

Facebook ads can be specifically targeted to your audience—by gender, income level, education level and interests. Many operators are already collecting this marketing data from renters. You need to put that information to use in targeting Facebook ads. It’s not a coincidence, when you’re using the platform, that ads pop up for things you were searching for earlier in the day. This is by design. You, too, can target ads to Internet users searching for self-storage.

Community Involvement and Brand Loyalty

You can become an active part of your community by reaching out to local people on Facebook. You can also establish a great customer-service relationship with existing customers by connecting with them on the platform. Offer referral credits to your tenants and, hopefully, increase your word-of-mouth exposure. Millennials recently became the largest consumer base in the United States. They’ll be looking for you on social media.

Facebook is also a great place to get reviews from customers who love you! Most consumers look at reviews before making a purchasing decision, and many of them are on Facebook.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

Facebook allows you to link your website to any post you make and provides a thumbnail view of your website when linked. It’s a great way to drum up interest for people looking for storage. Facebook also provides business pages with the opportunity to have a call-to-action button prominent on the page. This button can take people directly to a specific page on your website.

Monitor Your Competition

Facebook allows you to make a list of pages for other storage operators that you want to watch. You don’t have to “follow” them, and they don’t have to know you’re watching. You can simply see how much engagement their posts are getting and test to see if those types of posts might work for you. You’ll also be able to quickly see if they’re running any specials or offering any extra perks for tenants and prospects. This will allow you to stay relevant in your market.

Facebook doesn’t directly result in rentals the way a door hanger might. Rather, it’s similar to the time you spend attending chamber events. This time allows you to become part of your community and part of the conversation, albeit a digital one. Given the recent climb to 2 billion users, it doesn’t seem Facebook is going anywhere any time soon. Embrace the platform and make it work for you!

Cheli Rosa is director of marketing for StorageStuff.Bid, which provides online storage-auction services. She’s a former high school teacher turned storage professional turned auctioneer. She’s worked in all areas of self-storage. Her constant desire for additional knowledge led her to immerse herself in the lien-foreclosure process. For more information, call 877.758.4243; visit www.storagestuff.bid.