Factoria Security Self Storage in Bellevue, Wash., is participating in the Kids Care Coat Drive to benefit children and adults who need coats.

The self-storage operator is partnering with Bellevue High School Fashion Club and Bellevue Youth Link to collect new and gently used coats. Donations can be made through Dec. 14 at Factoria Security Self Storage and several Washington-area schools.

The donated coats will be distributed to families from 4-7 p.m. on Dec. 15, 16 and 17 at the Crossroads Community Center, 16000 N.E. 10th St., while supplies last.

By Brandon Honeycutt

No matter what industry you work in, a solid marketing plan is essential in gaining public awareness for your products or services. With so many different forms of advertising available, its important to keep your target audience in mind and consider the reach and effectiveness each medium will have for that specific demographic.

Search-engine optimization, or SEO, is rapidly becoming one of the most talked about marketing strategies among self-storage operators, offering an extremely targeted form of advertising combined with low cost and high return. Other traditional advertising includes TV, radio, magazines and periodicals, direct mail, and print directories. Each medium differs in price, but its important to look beyond the initial cost when deciding how youre going to allocate your marketing budget.

Cost, audience reach, response/reaction rate, length of campaign term, and value of leads are all marketing factors that play a role in your bottom line. To achieve the highest return on investment, each factor should be carefully examined to determine the method of advertising in which your hard-earned marketing dollars will go furthest. 

Effectiveness of Other Avenues

In June 2010, Harris Interactive conducted a survey for Buddy Media on marketing tactics considered very effective by U.S. brand managers for reaching customers in local markets. The results reinforced the idea that SEO has become one of the mostif not the mosteffective forms of marketing. Websites optimized with local content were considered by far the most effective tactic, named by 30 percent of brand marketers. Compare that to:

• TV ads: 18 percent
• Print ads: 15 percent
• Local programs offering products: 11 percent
• Radio ads: 10 percent
• Social-media fan pages: 10 percent
• Paid social media (sponsored ads): 7 percent
• Banner ads: 5 percent
• Short text-message marketing: 3 percent

The most effective forms of marketing differ between industries, primarily due to the diversity of the appeal, value and demand for the products or services being offered. While television or radio advertising may be extremely effective for business A, business B may find the same method to be completely ineffective.

For example, if you own a luxury car dealership and sell sleek, sexy, top-of-the-line automobiles, a 30-second network television time slot that allows you to show off your inventory and current promotional offers may be worth the $80,000 to $600,000 price tag. To evaluate the return on investment (ROI) for that network commercial, consider how much each new customer generated from that ad campaign is worth. You own a business that sells luxury automobiles, so if you spent $100,000 on a 30-second network commercial, you would only need that commercial to bring in a few new customers to see a reasonable ROI.

However, for self-storage operators, advertising and marketing can be much more difficult. You have no flashy sports cars to grab the viewers attention. You have storage units, which are considerably less eye-catching than a Mercedes or BMW. In addition, youre marketing to a much smaller demographic. Everyone needs a car; not everyone needs storage. Spending thousands of dollars on TV advertising would likely only generate a few leads for a self-storage company, and those leads are worth an average of $600 for each that converts to a unit rental. Compared to the value of a lead on a luxury automobile purchase, it equates to pennies on the dollar.

If a self-storage operator paid for that same 30-second time slot, chances are he would take a considerable loss on the investment. He would need approximately 170 leads converted to unit rentals just to make back the initial cost of advertising! Needless to say, this is not a fiscally viable option for most facility operators.

Internet Search Stats

So whats the most cost-effective form of marketing for self-storage operators looking to increase occupancy levels? SEO produces an exceptionally high ROI, primarily because search-engine users are already seeking your services when they see your online listing. Now more than ever, people are using search engines to find what they want rather than flipping through traditional print directories.

If you were a self-storage operator in Timbuktu, and someone looking for self-storage in your area used a search engine such as Google or Bing to search for Timbuktu storage, imagine the impact being the first result out of millions of other websites would have on the amount of calls you receive and, ultimately, on your facilitys occupancy.

Consider the following statistics gathered in a search-engine study performed by Forrester Research: 93 percent of all Internet traffic is generated from search engines. Out of that 93 percent, 89 percent are first-time visitors. Additionally, 65 percent of online revenue is generated by websites ranking in the top three organic positions on search-engine results pages, and 92 percent of search-engine users do not search beyond the first three pages of results.

A similar study performed by Jupiter Research showed 68 percent of all search-engine users will not select a result beyond the first page of listings, basically in the first 10 results. This means that if you arent on the first page of search results, more than half of the potential tenants who are searching for self-storage in your area will not even see your listing, let alone visit your website. With fewer people turning to phone books to find what theyre looking for and more people using search engines, your online visibility has never been such a valuable marketing asset.

The SEO Advantage

A properly designed and optimized website will not only help you rank well in the search engines, but will give your self-storage company a modern look thats difficult to convey through other advertising mediums. Remember that luxury automobile dealership mentioned earlier? You still cant make your storage units as attractive as a sports car, but you can create a website thats just as visually appealing to potential tenants.

When a user views your website for the first time, his first impression is almost always based on whether your site has a user-friendly interface and is aesthetically pleasing. Even if you have the lowest prices, cleanest facilities and best customer service, chances are prospective tenants will move on to another site if they dont like what they see. It may be wrong, but its human nature to make judgments based on appearance.

A quality website is necessary to give users a good first impression and keep them on your site. Creating a website thats fully optimized for both users and search engines, and developing a multifaceted SEO strategy can keep your self-storage company ahead of your competitors for a fraction of the cost of other marketing tactics.

In addition to saving you thousands of dollars in advertising costs, SEO allows you to work personally with a professional SEO marketing consultant, individually assigned to develop an online marketing plan tailor fit to meet your self-storage companys specific wants and requirements. In todays constantly connected world, making your brand visible online is rapidly becoming a new standard in marketing protocol, redefining the status quo of self-storage marketing, one site at a time.

Brandon Honeycutt is a content writer and marketing consultant for Storage Marketing Strategies, a full-service website-design and online-marketing company catering exclusively to the self-storage industry. For more information and a free website analysis, visit www.storagemarketingstrategies.com .

Research and Markets, a Dublin, Ireland-based source of international market research and data, has added a "Self-Storage Services" report to its list of offerings. The report includes an industry overview, quarterly update, forecast and glossary of common acronyms. It also addresses self-storage business challenges, trends, opportunities, financial information, and website and media links.

According to the report executive summary, the U.S. self-storage industry consists of about 9,000 companies with about $6 billion in combined annual revenue. The industry is fragmented, with the 50 largest companies generating about 40 percent of total revenue.

More information about the report can be found and a free sample requested at www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a962f4/selfstorage_servi.

The California Self Storage Association (CSSA) and several of its member facilities have partnered with Kure It to raise $1 million dollars for cancer research. The organizations are working together to promote the "Store For The Kure" and "Round Up For Research" contribution programs, which aim to raise money through self-storage owners/operators and tenants.

Store for the Cure generates donations through self-storage operations by increasing street rates on all unit rentals by 50 cents per month. That 50 cents is donated to Kure It. Round Up for Research generates donations by allowing self-storage customers to voluntarily add 50 cents per month to their rental rate. Again, that 50 cents gets donated to the Kure It cause.

US Storage Centers has been effectively administering both programs for more than a year, having raised $150,000. Because all contributions are passed through as charitable donations, there is no negative impact on a facilitys net operating income. Both programs are easy to implement and track. For information on how to participate in the CSSA Kure It programs, call Kellie Newcombe at 949.428.7081.

The CSSA announced its goal of raising $1 million at its annual conference and tradeshow in San Diego, Oct. 13-16. During the event, a donated surfboard was auctioned off for $1,000, all of which went directly to the cause. The board was donated by Greg Wells of Cushman & Wakefield and Aaron Alsweiler of Storman Self Storage Software. The winning bidder was Ray Tuohy, co-founder of TNT Self Storage Management.

Kure It was created by Barry Hoeven, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1998. In April 2007, Hoeven partnered with cancer center City of Hope to create the Kure It! Kidney Cancer Research Fund, which raised more than $400,000. Kure It Inc. was established in January 2010 as an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Its goal is to be the leader in granting funds to cancer researchers investigating progressive treatments and cures.

Uncle Bobs Self Storage, the chain of facilities operated by Sovran Self Storage Inc., will host a barbecue at its three Charlotte, N.C., area sites on Nov. 20 to benefit the local chapter of Toys for Tots. Anyone who donates a toy valued at $5 or more will receive a voucher for a free food plate. Vouchers are redeemable from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations:

• 6720 East WT Harris Blvd., Charlotte
• 1400 Orchard Lake Drive, Charlotte
• 556 Cox Road, Gastonia

"Our goal is to make sure every child has at least one toy to open during the holidays," said Susan Strange, store manager.

The Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation, started in 1947, has been successful in bringing thousands of smiles to needy children each year. Its mission is to ensure less fortunate children experience the joys of the holiday season. A complete list of Uncle Bobs locations that are accepting Toys for Tots donations can be found at www.unclebobs.com/toys-for-tots.

Sovran is a real estate investment trust in the business of acquiring and managing self-storage facilities. The company has more than 160,000 customers in 24 states.

Extra Space Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust, has joined forces with The Early Development of Global Education (EDGE) Foundation and the Miami-Dade Metro Police Department to collaborate in the 2010 Annual Holiday Toy Drive. The drive is expected to collect thousands of toys for children of migrant families in South Florida.

The 47 Extra Space Storage sites in the greater Miami-Dade and Broward counties will serve as drop-off locations. The facility at 910 S.W. 68th Ave. in Miami will be the main hub and collection point for all toy donations.

"Extra Space Storage appreciates the opportunity to be involved with local charities and looks forward to exceeding the number of toys collected last year by 100 percent. Our goal for this year's drive is to collect more than 6,000 toys," said Ken Speegle, divisional vice president for Extra Space Storage.

Last year, a large caravan consisting of the EDGE Charitable Foundation, volunteers and community partners joined the Miami-Dade Police Department to deliver the collected toys to children of migrant families in South Florida.

"The EDGE looks forward to sharing the sense of gratitude and enthusiasm when experiencing the sight of hundreds of children and families in need receiving their toy donation. It's truly an amazing and touching effort that will stay in your memory for a lifetime. Without Extra Space Storage's assistance it would be difficult to allow the community so many donation locations," said Maria Paez-Garcia, executive vice president for corporate strategic planning at the EDGE Foundation.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space owns or operates 809 self-storage properties in 34 states and Washington, D.C. The companys properties comprise approximately 540,000 units and more than 58 million square feet of rentable space.

Burlington Self Storage in Burlington, Mass., received $8 million in permanent financing. The new loan replaces a maturing conduit loan. Fantini & Gorga arranged the transaction on behalf of its client, BSS Properties Inc., which owns and manages the facility.

"The lender was familiar with the property, understood the industry, and recognized the management expertise and experience of the borrower, said Casimir Groblewski, Fantini & Gorga managing director. "Self-storage as a property type has performed well in the face of the economic downturn, and has been shown to be a good investment.

Built in 1991, Burlington Self Storage has five buildings with more than 88,000 rentable square feet and 816 units. The property is near condominiums and apartments, as well as small businesses and shopping centers.

BSS Properties develops, owns and manages self-storage facilities and other properties in New England and Florida.

DoorKing Inc., a manufacturer of access-control systems and vehicular gate-operator products, was voted No. 1 gate-operator manufacturer by readers of Professional Door Dealer in its annual Best of Business reader poll. Its the second year in a row the company has received this honor.  

Once again, we are thrilled and extremely proud to be recognized by our loyal distributors and dealers in this category, said Richard Sedivy, director of marketing. We work very hard to support our customers and it shows that customer service, along with a broad product line, is an important part of our sales and marketing strategy. But our biggest appreciation goes out to our network of professional distributors and dealers. They are the ones who continue to support us, and we sincerely thank them for this support and for voting us No. 1 again!

Professional Door Dealers Best of Business invites door and access-control professionals to vote for their top companies in more than 20 categories. Professional Door Dealer is published by Virgo Publishing LLC, Inside Self-Storages parent company.

Police recovered an estimated $750,000 worth of stolen cash, fur coats, jewelry, guns, art and other items from a self-storage unit in East Lyme, Conn., and arrested two men in connection with a string of residential burglaries.

The items were recovered from Rent-A-Space at 9 King Arthur Drive. Police believe the men were involved in nearly 100 residential burglaries along the Interstate 95 corridor.

State police arrested Bernard McAllister, 40, and Mark Missino, 43. Both are convicted felons.

The men were arrested Thursday about 5:40 p.m. in Massachusetts just hours after police held a press conference displaying the stolen goods and released wanted posters with photos of the men.

The collection of stolen items was discovered Saturday when East Lyme Police Det. Donald Marr and Officer Mark Comeau spotted the men coming out of a storage unit. The men ran away, leaving behind a vehicle that matched the description of one seen at a burglary earlier that evening. Police are now attempting to find the owners of the stolen items.

President Obamas Health Care Bill requires that businesses involved in health care file a 1099 with the IRS for any purchased goods valued at more than $600. As a follow up to the bill, Representative Barney Frank introduced the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5297). Ostensibly the goal of the act is to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, provide tax incentives for small businesses and create jobs.

That all sounds nice, depending on your political affiliation. However, one of the requirements of this act extends the Form 1099 requirement to anyone receiving rental income from a rental-property business. While this is clearly a revenue-raising measure designed to offset other losses from the credits issued by the new act, the thinking is more reported payments will result in more taxes to collect. This change in the law has two potentially negative impacts to your day-to-day self-storage operation.

What You Need to Know

First, youll need to require a 1099 from anyone your business pays in excess of $600 a year not in the form of wages and salaries. Ordering a batch of new locks and boxes in excess of $600 per year? Make sure you receive a form 1099. Same with landscapers, asphalt repair, gate repair, software upgrades, etc.the list goes on and on. This even applies to your trusted lawyer. If youre going to spend more than $600 on anything you may deduct as a business expense, youre going to need a 1099 from the person or company selling products or services to you.

As if the first issue isnt a big enough paperwork nightmare, several state tax commissionerswith more to follow, Im surehave interpreted this change in the law as assistance in making a bigger sales-tax grab. In their interpretation, if you make a sales-taxable purchase and the receipt doesnt indicate sales tax was charged and collected, you the self-storage operator/real estate owner will be liable for payment of that tax to the state. The new Form 1099 requirement makes it easier for the commissioners to follow the money and check sales-tax collections and payments.

For example, lets say you use a company to mow the grass at your facility. If, in your state, thats a sales-taxable event, not only must you get a 1099 from the lawn-care company because youve paid it in excess of $600 per year (which you will use to support your business-expense tax deduction), the invoices the company sends you must show that sales tax was charged.

Some tax commissioners will say that if the invoice for grass-cutting doesnt show sales tax was charged when they crosscheck the 1099 you file with the IRS, they have the right to assume sales tax was not charged, thus not paid, and hold you personally liable. Many vendors have said for years that sales tax is simply included in the price. In many states, by 2012, that will not do; and for safetys sake, you should insist that any bill you pay for a sales-taxable event in your state should clearly delineate the portion of the bill thats sales tax.

Whats a Sales-Taxable Event?

Of course, the problem is knowing what qualifies as a sales-taxable event in your state. Purchasing a product at your local store is easythe register figures it out for you and puts sales tax on the receipt. But what if you order supplies from an out-of-state vendor who feels its not necessary to charge sales tax to out-of-state customers? Suddenly, you become the CPA who has to figure out whether your vendor is right. The larger national vendors know this information, and its safe to say that if you ask once, you can rely on their answer. But what if youre ordering from a smaller, less sophisticated company?

For example, lets say you hired a vendor to install cylinder locks on 500 storage doors. The act of making these changes may be considered a service, and thus a sales-taxable event in your state. The company you hired didnt charge sales tax because its from another state, or sales tax is not indicated on the bill. This is likely because the vendor doesnt want to file 50 sales-tax returns every year.

In some states now, if your taxing authority crosschecks your 1099 with the companys bill and fails to see a sales tax, you could be held liable for it. By the way, if this happens, its a personal liability, not a business liability. Simply closing up the business or filing bankruptcy doesnt necessarily make it go away.

I warn you of this because, although the federal requirements are not necessarily in effect until 2012, you have to begin gathering the 1099s in 2011 to get used to the requirements and make a 2012 filing. This is a good time to check with your accountant and understand the specific requirements in your state and under the federal law.

Also discuss with your tax advisor the sales-tax issue and how your state commissioner may be interpreting the law as it pertains to sales-taxable events. Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork in place before you make your 2011/2012 tax filings.

Jeffrey J. Greenberger is a partner with the law firm of Katz Greenberger & Norton LLP in Cincinnati and is licensed to practice in Kentucky and Ohio. Mr. Greenberger primarily represents the owners and operators of commercial real estate, including self-storage owners and operators. To reach him, call 513.721.5151; visit www.selfstoragelegal.com .