Self-storage operators in New York and New Jersey continue to step forward with assistance for residents and businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy. Treasure Island Storage, Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage and Westy Self Storage are all holding donation drives to either collect items for victims or raise money for storm-related relief funds.

Treasure Island Storage is offering storm victims a month of free storage for all unit sizes at all nine of its facilities in New Jersey and New York. In addition, the company will donate $25 from all new rentals from Nov. 1 through the end of the year to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund created by Gov. Chris Christie and his wife Pat, and the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City, which is accepting financial donations to support hurricane-relief efforts.

The companys goal is to raise more than $25,000. Many of our employees, customers and families are located in New York and New Jersey, and our thoughts are with them as they work through the damages caused by the storm. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many have been unfortunately impacted by flooding, wind damage and fallen trees, company officials said. During this difficult time, Treasure Island Storage would like to help in any way we can. We are very fortunate that we had no damage to our buildings and our clients spaces. We believe in safety first and resulting in a secure environment for our staff and clients.

Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage has designated 25 portable units for a month of free rent to New York residents or businesses severely affected by the storm. The company is also offering free pick-up service, moving support and boxes for those who rent the portable units. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Renters must present proof of residence in a flooded or damaged area and answer basic questions outlining their needs, company officials said.

We were grateful that all of Tuck-It-Aways storage units were spared from damage, and wanted to give back to the community, said Pam Sprayregen, director of marketing.

In addition, Tuck-It-Away is offering a free month of storage and two free boxes for all new customers in New York who stay a minimum of two months at any of its 13 facilities. The company is also setting aside money for the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City.

We know some New Yorkers wallets are hurting after Sandy, with the lack of subways and price-gouging cabbies, and we wanted to offer a little financial relief as well, said Nick Sprayregen, Tuck-It-Away president. Additionally, we know people might be feeling a little more cramped than usual if they have extended parts of their homes to others. We wanted to offer the one thing that we really can, which is a little bit more space and breathing room for everyone.

Westy Self Storage has designated its three facilities on Long Island as drop-off points for those wishing to donate items for victims. Needed supplies include pillows, pillow cases, blankets, mops, brooms, buckets, shovels, batteries, work gloves, winter gloves, contractor garbage bags, pails, crow bars, sledge hammers and storage bins.

The company is working with Family-to-Family Inc., a nonprofit hunger-relief organization. Along with providing needed supplies for hurricane victims, Family-to-Family is matching donors with individual families in need of assistance to help with recovery over a longer duration.

Westy will provide temporary storage for collected donations and deliver them via its rental truck fleet and Family-to-Family to the areas most affected by the storm, company officials said.

With such vast devastation in our area, we had to do something to help. said Yasir Zaidi, Westys district director for its Long Island locations. Together with Family-to-Family, I am confident we can make a difference. Even the smallest of donations will go a long way in helping areas of complete devastation.

The company operates 17 self-storage locations across Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

Self-storage software provider Centreforce Technology has released an updated version of RapidStor, its online reservations system for the self-storage industry. RapidStor enables customers to view real-time prices for spaces available at participating self-storage facilities and gives them an option to move in now or reserve a space for later. Since it was launched in June 2011, the system has assisted more than 1,000 online move-ins and reservations at facilities across Australia, company officials said.

Based in Strathpine, Queensland, Australia, Centreforce spent 12 months working on RapidStor V2, using market analysis and customer feedback to improve the product. Our in-house development team redeveloped the application to account for the change in consumer demand and new features requested by customers, said Dallas Dogger, managing director of technology. Self-storage suffers from a lack of awareness in the [Australian] community, and this lack of awareness translates to understanding what self-storage is all about on the Web.

Centreforce created RapidStor specifically to use the application programming interface (API) from SiteLink Web Edition self-storage management software to access real-time data. The system interacts with the SiteLink API and the facilitys database to complete the move-in task, including the acceptance of the storage agreement, payment processing, e-mail invoicing and updates to the facility software.

The new version includes a custom space calculator. Storage units are broadly defined as small, medium or large and display inventory based on the size selected by the customer. The system will display a standard rate or push rate along with any discount. Push rates are displayed dynamically as they change in SiteLink.

Customers can also purchase storage supplies and tenant insurance through RapidStor. Once they decide to rent a space, they receive a prefilled copy of their rental agreement and their first-month invoice, including information about their chosen facility. SiteLink automatically completes the transaction in the back end and notifies the manager at the storage property.

Some self-storage websites offer a reservation system for self-storage spaces, but these systems rely on a response from an e-mail, sent from the form on the website, Dogger said. These are not automated systems, don't take payments and do not complete the move-in process in the operational software, and are not secure. They are just e-mail systems. If sites don't respond within two minutes, customers go elsewhere.

RapidStor V2 is optimized to work on mobile devices as well as desktop computers.

SiteLink Web Edition is a product of Raleigh, N.C.-based SMD Software Inc. SiteLink software is used by more than 9,500 users worldwide.

Centreforce has provided sales and support for SiteLink in Australia and Southeast Asia since 2007 and offers RapidStor to users in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The company also provides Access Ezy access-control and digital-alarm systems, builds websites for self-storage operators, and provides mobile technology services.

Powdersville Self Storage in Greenville, S.C., is launching a campaign to help feed orphaned children. The self-storage company will sell the Sweet Grace special-edition candle manufactured by Bridgewater Candle Co. during November and December. For every candle purchased, Bridgewater, partnering with the nonprofit organization, Rice Bowls, will make a donation to feed an orphaned child for one week through its project, Light a Candle Feed a Child.

The candles will be available for $15 at the Powdersville facility at 11411 Anderson Road.

Last fall, several Bridgewater Candle employees, alongside some of their dealers, traveled to an orphanage in Haiti and experienced firsthand this poverty-stricken area. They learned that 15 percent of the children in Haiti are orphaned, with some 300,000 being enslaved and abused. It is the hope of Bridgewater to share sweet grace to all of these children in whatever circumstance they find themselves in, therein, the name for their special-edition candle Sweet Grace.

More than 2 million meals have been provided by Bridgewater to orphaned children in India, Haiti and Nicaragua through the Light a Candle Feed a Child program since its inception in June 2010.

Powdersville Self Storage is a locally owned and operated storage facility serving Easley, Greenville and Powdersville. The facility was voted Best of The Upstate by readers of the Greenville News for five years in a row.

The North Carolina Self Storage Association (NCSSA) elected new officers and directors during its annual membership meeting on Oct. 29. The elections took place as part of the 2012 Southeastern Self Storage Convention & Tradeshow in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. The new officers are:

• President: March Chase, Southeast Management Co., Rocky Mount, N.C.
• Vice President: Jay Fulcher, Development-Management Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
• Secretary: Eric Gilbert, Moore and Johnson Agency, Raleigh, N.C.
• Treasurer: Robert High, Robert High Properties, Wilmington, N.C.

In addition to High, the following members were elected as new directors: Richard Lillie of Janus International in Temple, Ga.; Deborah Williams of Ultimate Storage Co. in Fayetteville, N.C.; and Tammy Wyatt of A Town and Country Storage in Troutman, N.C.

Chase and Fulcher will continue to serve as directors in addition to Rachel Dyer of Morningstar Properties LLC in Matthews, N.C.; Phyllis Koehler of NU Enterprises Inc. in Mooresville, N.C., Kevin Neal of Storage Structures Inc. in Colfax, N.C.; Randy Reed of Raleigh Road Storage in Wilson, N.C.; and Eddie Stallings of Stallings Storage Inc. in Greenville, N.C.

I'm eager to get working on our 2013 agenda. We have a strong and committed team of directors whose efforts and ideas will continue to enhance our association," said Chase. "Our goals for the upcoming year will be to encourage increased participation among members, build on the current educational platforms we offer to ensure our members receive the best content possible, and continue to fight the sales-tax issue on our industry. As always, our success as an association depends on our membership communication. We expect and look forward to member feedback to help guide us in the right direction.

The NCSSA is comprised of North Carolina self-storage owner/operators of all sizes as well as industry vendors and individuals interested in getting involved in the business. The association aims to provide members with quality standards, proper guidance, networking opportunities and credibility. It's primary goal is to provide leadership and open lines of communication on issues that affect the industry in the state.

NCSSA is managed by IMI Association Executives Inc., a Morrisville, N.C.-based association-management company. More information can be found at NCSSAonline.org.

Strategic Storage Trust Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust investing in self-storage, completed a three-phase acquisition of a 16-property portfolio in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The purchase represents more than 1.1 million square feet of storage space and 8,560 self-storage units for a total purchase price of $75 million. 

The portfolio includes six properties in South Carolina consisting of 3,740 self-storage units for $38.7 million. These sites, which add approximately 459,000 square feet to the companys inventory of rental storage space, will be rebranded as SmartStop Self Storage, the Strategic Storage Trust operating trade name. The details of these properties are:

Charleston, S.C.

• 2343 Savannah Highway: 390 units, 46,700 square feet
• 1533 Ashley River Road: 430 units, 46,400 square feet
• 1951 Maybank Highway: 570 units, 66,300 square feet

Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

• 1117 Bowman Road: 390 units, 41,000 square feet
• 1904 Highway 17 N.: 590 units, 63,600 square feet
• 1108 Stockade Lane: 1,370 units, 195,100 square feet

Due to this last acquisition of six core properties, we are now one of the larger self-storage owner/operators in the Charleston/Mt. Pleasant markets, said H. Michael Schwartz, company chairman and CEO. 

In August, Strategic Storage Trust purchased the first phase in this portfolio, which consisted of eight properties in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, encompassing 3,770 self-storage units and 508,200 square feet.  In early October, the second phase was completed, consisting of two properties in Georgia and South Carolina, totaling 1,050 self-storage units and 142,700 square feet.

We look forward to putting our marketing and management efforts to work to drive income and occupancy well past current levels, said Wayne Johnson, senior vice president of acquisitions. The Charleston market has very high barriers to entry.

Charleston is the second largest city in South Carolina, and economists have placed it as the fastest-growing municipality in the state. Its just south of the midpoint of South Carolina's coastline, at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, which flow together into the Atlantic Ocean. In 2011, Charleston was named the No. 1 U.S. city by Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards. Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, S.C., and is the third largest municipality in this metro area behind Charleston and North Charleston.

Strategic Storage Trusts portfolio of wholly-owned properties now include 108 properties in 17 states and Canada. The portfolio includes approximately 70,000 self-storage units and 78.7 million rentable square feet of storage space.

StorQuest, a self-storage operator with facilities throughout Arizona, California, Colorado and Hawaii, has launched a rebranding campaign called Your Stuff Matters, which emphasizes the customer experience rather than price and location. The company has implemented a new logo and marketing materials and refreshed its website as part of the rollout.

Many times, the need for storage can be part of a life transition, and StorQuest understands how an individuals stuff is an extension of the person, company officials said.

The new logo represents four core brand values: caring, pride of ownership, helping and fun. Each is depicted by a square with an arrow pointing toward a singular red box. Marketing materials feature the faces of StorQuest customers with testimonials explaining why they chose the company for their storage solutions.

As StorQuest continues to expand, we understand the importance of building strong brand awareness that will resonate with our current and prospective customers, said Bill Hobin, president and CEO of The William Warren Group Inc. (WWG), StorQuests parent company. We are encouraged by the fact that more than 95 percent of [our] customers feel their expectations have been exceeded on move-in day.

The customer-centric campaign in an extension of the companys ongoing efforts through social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, company officials said.

In the past few years, we have been part of a growing online community with our friends and supporters, Hobin said. It is a perfect addition to our new branding and marketing strategy, which reinforces the human side of StorQuest and our committed focus on the customer experience.

StorQuest is the operating trade name of self-storage properties owned and operated by WWG, a privately held real estate company that develops, acquires and operates income-producing real estate assets.

Over the last few years, the real estate investment trusts (REITs)CubeSmart, Extra Space Storage Inc., Public Storage Inc. and Sovran Self-Storage Inc.have gone on an impressive acquisition streak. With a perfect storm of low interest rates, a solid inventory of properties available for purchase, and the inability of the financial sector to provide acceptable construction loans for self-storage, the market has been ripe for consolidation.

According to an infographic recently released by Sparefoot, an online self-storage marketplace and provider of Web-marketing tools, the top five self-storage companies now control 4,850 facilities. If you compete in a populated metropolitan statistical area (MSA) such as Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando or Salt Lake City, it may seem as though all 4,850 of those are in your individual market. I know self-storage owners who have upward from eight REIT-owned facilities located within a three-mile radius of their facility.

Although the numbers may seem overwhelming, are they really? As independent operators, do you look at the REITs differently because you know how large their operations have become? Do your customers really know the difference, or care that one facility is part of a national chain and the other is a locally owned with a single location on Main Street?

Even with 4,850 facilities, the REITs only control about 1 percent of the entire self-storage market. As former Speaker of the House Tip ONeill once said, All politics is local. On the same note, all self-storage is local as well. Here are three ways to compete, not only against REITs, but all of the competitors in your market.

Better Marketing

Just because you dont have a $200,000 marketing budget, doesnt mean you cant create successful marketing campaigns. Money for shiny toys can be nice, but creativity and tracking can be better. There are plenty of different ways to market your facility including:

• A referrals program. A solid referral program will help the customers who are already in love with your services to spread that love to their friends.
• A website. Its time to get on the Internet. If my father can learn to use the Web, all of your customers can as well. You can have a solid and effective website without spending your entire marketing budget. The costs will vary, but if you plan to spend $2,000 to $3,000 on the design of your website and $200 to $500 per month on the optimization, you should be fine.
• Social media. Use social media to your advantage. It costs nothing to create a Facebook, Twitter and Google+ account.
• Print. Consider newspapers, Yellow Pages and local papers only if youre completely committed to tracking these items. These types of advertising are hit and miss in different markets.
• Direct mail. According to Borrell Associates Inc., a research and consulting firm that tracks local advertising, spending on political direct mail in 2012 will top $288 million, an increase of 11.6 percent from 2008. If politicians are spending more on direct mail, you should be looking at it as well. The art of politics is getting and keeping a persons attention long enough to get a message to register. Create some direct-mail marketing thats fun and catchy and see what happens.

To compete within your market regardless of who owns competing facilities, you must have a well-planned and solid marketing plan. Notice I didnt write a random and sporadic advertising plan. To be effective, regardless of the medium used, your plan must include two things. The first is the ability to track campaign performance. How many rental inquires and actual rentals did the particular campaign produce?

The second is the ability to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of each campaign. For example, if the campaign provided three rentals at $100 per month, and the average stay at your facility is 10 months, then the assumed revenue generated is $3,000. If the marketing campaign only cost $1,000, then it was successful. This can be calculated in a simple spreadsheet. If you dont have Micosoft Excel, try Googles free spreadsheet application as a replacement.

Consider placing telephone-tracking numbers on all your campaigns to track the inquiries they generate. Phone-tracking numbers are a convenient and cost-effective way to measure your marketing efforts.

If you need help designing your print materials, consider using a service such as 99designs.com. Its actually fairly cost-effective to create solid and good-looking marketing collateral.

Customer Service and Curb Appeal

When the national Self Storage Association asked potential customers to identify the most important criterion for choosing a self-storage facility, the answer was a simple: close to my home or business. Your potential customers want a facility thats geographically close. Typically, your facility will pull customers from a three- to five-mile radius. The more urban the area, the more the radius may shrink; the more rural the area, the more it may expand.

Customers also want great customer service and amenities. Here are some of the simple things they desire:

• Cleanliness. Sweep out your hallways, keep trash off of the property, wash your doors and windows, keep your office clean and clutter-free, and make sure your units are always kept in a presentable fashion.
• Friendliness. I cant tell you how many times Ive visited a self-storage facility and thought the office manager was being held against his will. Potential customers will rent where they feel comfortable. I look for a manager whos great with people and has empathy and a great personality. You can train the rest.
• Services. Consider offering free bottles of water, WiFi or a conference room. If you have someone moving items from a 30-foot truck, order them a pizza. A pizza costs $10, but the goodwill is endless.

Revenue Management

The REITS are phenomenal at revenue management. They know how to increase revenue and NOI on an annual basis and dont apologize for it. Smaller operators typically have issues with rate management. As an owner, you must raise your rates on your existing tenants and monitor the rates of your competitors. Your expenses go up on a regular basis. Whether it's payroll, utilities or property taxes, it just happens.

Most REITS control unit rates from a central office, not at the facility level. As a smaller operator, this allows you the ability to adjust facility rates and specials at a faster pace. Consider using the revenue-management function built into your management software to help you with this process. Regularly conduct competition studies. In addition, most REITs have rates posted online, so use this information to your advantage. This must be a part of your operational strategy.

A number of the independent operations people in the self-storage industry, including myself, have worked for a REIT at one time or another. REITs are corporations and are managed as such. The manager at the facility level of a REIT will never be allowed to be as fast or creative with his location as a smaller operator.

When I review each of my stores, the REITs arent what scare me. I can compete with companies that are actually trying to maximize revenue and NOI. Its the small facility owner who decides to run a six-month half-off special, or another who promotes that he will never raise rates on existing tenants. These are the issues that create downward pressure on smaller facilities. Use the tools and speed thats available to your facility, and you can compete with anyone.

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