Online marketing is different for boat/RV- and mobile-storage businesses than it is for traditional self-storage. In most cases, customers of these services are looking for different things than traditional storage tenants. For instance, boat/RV owners know the exact size of their prized possessions and exactly how much storage they’ll need. In the case of mobile storage, many customers are moving, which makes them a special audience.

These are just a few examples of why you should market your RV/boat-storage facility or mobile-storage operation differently than self-storage. This article offers some tips and tricks to help you get more out of your online marketing dollars and generate more leads.

Build a Good Website

Most people who own a boat or RV spent a large sum of money on the item and really care about it. These owners are attached to their toys. Because of this, you need to make them feel their property will be safe with you. On the Internet, this translates to investing in a quality website. The look, feel and design of your online storefront has a higher likelihood of influencing the buying decision for boat/RV owners than the average storage customer due to the nature of the items being stored.

If someone spent $20,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 on his boat, do you think he wants to store it at a facility where the owner can't be bothered to build a nice website? Unlikely. People will correlate the quality of your website with the quality of your operation. Investing in your website will definitely be worth it in the long run.

The decision-making process is not the same for mobile-storage customers, however. These potential renters are looking for convenience. You should still build a quality website, but the emphasis should be on why your solution is the simplest and most convenient option for their move or warehouse storage needs.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

Once you have a high-quality website, the next step is to bring people to it. Unfortunately, the Internet is not like good real estate—just having a website doesn’t ensure Internet users will find it. The easiest way to get started is to buy pay-per-click ads from Google or Bing. This means you pay for the lead only when someone actually visits your website. However, this can be expensive and hard to manage.

Another way to get users to your website is to get your website ranked in the organic (free) listings of search engines. The first step is to set up a Google Local listing (also free), and then work to optimize your website so it ranks high in Google searches. Search-engine optimization can be complicated, so consider hiring a third-party marketing agency that specializes in helping self-storage operators drive traffic to their websites.

To drive traffic to your website, you can also work with local boat and RV dealers. Many of their customers will need storage as soon as they make a purchase. This is a good time to market your facility to them. Ask local dealers to add a link to your website on their home page. You can even offer a special Internet promotion such as a free month of storage to anyone who purchases from your dealer partners. Even better, some might be willing to give you a link if you simply give them a link on your website.

You’ll also need to offer the dealers an incentive for referrals, such as cash or a gift certificate. Some may even be looking for storage for their own personal vehicles. Mobile-storage operators can propose the same partnership with local moving companies.

Consider a Third-Party Partner

The last major channel for acquiring new customers online is through aggregator websites. These comparison-shopping websites are for consumers who prefer to look at all their options in one place. Examples of aggregators for the self-storage industry include SpareFoot.com, USstoragesearch.com and the U-Store-It Network.

The companies behind these websites spend a significant amount of money driving traffic to their sites and then refer tenants to you. In some cases, the sites are strictly pay-for-performance, meaning you don't pay anything unless a tenant actually moves in. Aggregator sites are a great way to complement your other marketing initiatives with little or no risk.

Every boat/RV- and mobile-storage operator can market online relatively easily by investing some time and money. There are millions of prospective tenants online looking for storage every month, and it’s in your best interest to be found. Try these simple strategies to find out which online marketing approaches bring in the most new tenants for your business.

Chuck Gordon is the CEO and co-founder of SpareFoot.com, an online self-storage marketplace. SpareFoot is 100 percent performance-based with no setup or monthly fees. For more information, call 202.257.2111; visit www.sparefoot.com.

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The manager of Sure Save USA Self Storage in Houston is doing his best to beef up security after his and other storage facilities in the Copperfield residential area have been burgled.
 
Chris Lane said 13 units at his facility were broken into one night last month. Though the culprits were caught by video surveillance, the tape shows only a vehicle going from unit to unit and does not reveal evidence of lock-cutting. The following night, additional units were broken into; this time, the offenders cut the camera wires. Six more units were broken into on July 20, bringing the total number of compromised units to 52.
 
Lane is adding more security cameras to his site and requiring all customers to upgrade to disc locks. He believes the person behind the robberies is a tenant who has two units in default at the facility.
 
The Harris County Sheriff’s office encourages people to record the serial items of their goods before putting them into storage, as this information helps investigators recover stolen items.
 
Source: 39online.com, Self Storage Unit Break-Ins

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Police arrested a man in Stockton, Calif., after employees of StorQuest Self Storage on Davis Street reported finding materials that could be used to make explosives. While cleaning out an abandoned unit on July 14, the storage-facility staff found suspicious materials, including books on bomb-making, and called authorities.
 
During investigation, the Alameda County Sheriff's bomb squad removed approximately 100 pounds of material from the unit including aluminum powder, red phosphorous, potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate, detonation cords, tubes and caps. Authorities said the materials could be used to make bombs or fireworks, such as M-80s and M-100s.
 
The items, currently being analyzed by agents, were traced to 37-year-old Clayton Avery, who was arrested and is being held at the jail in San Leandro, Calif. He has no prior history of arrest.
 
Source: The Oakland Tribune, Man arrested after police find materials to make explosives in a San Leandro storage shed

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BuildMyMove, an online moving-services company, has created a Self Storage Rewards program to assist self-storage owners and managers nationwide. The program allows facility  operators to streamline the process of moving tenants into or out of storage in relation to a local or long-distance move.
 
The BuildMyMove network allows consumers to shop, compare and reserve moving services online. The company’s website also includes a self-storage finder, powered by SpareFoot search technology.
 
BuildMyMove is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia. Established in 2008 as a part-time project for its founder, the company now operates with more than 40 local agents and 3,000 movers nationwide. With 23 employees, it can handle more than 2,000 moves per month.
 
Self-storage operators interested in the rewards program should e-mail [email protected].

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Sovran Self Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust, will issue financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, after the market closes on Aug. 4. The company will also conduct a conference call to review the results and discuss operations on Aug. 5, 9 a.m. ET.
 
To access the conference call, dial 877.407.8033 (domestic), or 201.689.8033 (international), at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. Management will accept questions from registered financial analysts after prepared remarks; all others are encouraged to listen to the call via webcast at www.unclebobs.com/company/investment/events.
 
The webcast will be archived for 90 days; a telephone replay will be available for 72 hours by calling 877.660.6853 and entering pass codes 286/353927.
 
Sovran is in the business of acquiring and managing self-storage facilities. The company operates 371 facilities in 24 states under the name Uncle Bob’s Self Storage.

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As they say, two heads are better than one ... and so are two facilities it seems when it comes to Janus International.

Janus is headquartered in Temple, Ga., about 40 miles west of Atlanta. The company first opened operations in 2002 in an 87,000-square-foot building in the Temple Industrial Park. Janus started manufacturing its third-generation self-storage door, which features a dead-axle design, pre-lubricated springs and ratchet-tensioning device. Hallway partitions and components were also manufactured, making Temple a full-service self-storage manufacturing facility.

As business swiftly grew, Janus introduced the production of a full line of commercial roll-up doors. With a diverse product line and the addition of a private-label client, the company quickly outgrew its current space. In 2006, it maximized its surroundings by expanding the facility to 117,250 square feet, offering better service to its clients and adding more jobs for the local community.

However, with business still booming and an increased need for an industrial slat-type door, known as a rolling-steel door, Janus quickly outgrew even its expanded plant. The company had maximized all contiguous space, which meant a separate facility would have to be erected.  Who knew it would take an act of Congress, or at least that of a Congressman from the Department of Natural Resources, to see this project through to fruition?  

The area slated for Janus’ Rolling Steel Division was classified as an open-water pond with fringe wetlands, which were protected from construction. However, with permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and some extensive requirements, Janus was allowed to build its new manufacturing plant.

The company agreed to pipe approximately 991 feet of intermittent stream on the western side of the Industrial Park, and an offsite mitigation site was identified to offset the net loss of stream at the impact site. The proposed mitigation site has been reserved for future conservation by the local chamber of commerce.

After these lengthy environment setbacks, the new plant opened its doors in February 2008. The façade of the building mirrors the original structure but encompasses an impressive 252,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space. Janus President David Curtis even designed the office cubes out of corrugated Galvalume, which resembles a self-storage unit interior.

All manufacturing equipment in the new building is state-of-the-art. From custom powder-coating equipment to windload-testing chambers, Janus has fine-tuned the art of door manufacturing to deliver the highest in quality and durability products on the market today.

A full line of service doors and fire doors are manufactured in the newer plant. In addition to its two Temple facilities, Janus International has manufacturing plants in Arizona and Texas, as well as a distribution center in California. Janus also has representation worldwide through joint ventures in Mexico and England.

The experienced team of professionals at Janus International has a big hand in its success. All executive staff have years of training in the door industry, and bring a level of ingenuity that has made the Janus name synonymous with quality.

For more information, visit www.janusintl.com.

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Pogoda Cos., a Farmington Hills, Mich., self-storage operator and broker, hired John K. George as vice president of operations.

George has more than 15 years of self-storage experience working with many of the top self-storage real estate investment trusts. His self-storage career began in 1994 at Storage USA. For eight years, George was instrumental in the company’s expansion as it grew to more than 650 facilities nationwide. In 2006, he became divisional vice president for U-Store-It, overseeing nine district managers, a regional office staff and 132 facilities.

George has expertise in all facets of operations from revenue management to controlling expenses while producing growth in occupancy and profit.

As the new leader of Pogoda Management Co., George will focus on building a cohesive management team with shared company goals. Additionally, he intends to establish a three-tier certification training program for all staff to further maximize profit through revenue management and streamlined processes.

“When I saw the opportunity to hire John I jumped at it. Finding someone with his knowledge and many years of experience is rare. Adding John will allow me to focus on the acquisition and development of new properties in Michigan and other major markets across the country,” said Maurice Pogoda, president.

Founded in 1987, Pogoda Cos. provides brokerage, management, investment and consulting services to the self-storage and manufactured housing industries through its Pogoda Group Inc. and Pogoda Management Co. divisions.

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To celebrate its grand opening, everyone who tours Wagon Self Storage in Santa Fe, N.M., between July 24 and Sept. 30 will be entered into a drawing to win $1,000, which will be matched with a donation to the Special Olympics of Santa Fe.

The facility will host a grand opening Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to kick off the contest. There will be food and drinks, and other events.

The $1,000 donation to the Special Olympics of Santa Fe will help cover common local program costs such as sports equipment and state competition travel expenses, according to Oscar Solis, Special Olympics New Mexico state director of public relations.

"Any time a local business donates to a Special Olympics program, that business has made an investment in Special Olympics' effort to provide sports, improve health, promote leadership and build community amongst to our Special Olympics athletes and family members," Solis said. "We can't thank Wagon Self Storage enough for being a partner in their community and for being a fan of our Special Olympics Santa Fe athletes."

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Self-storage investment specialists Carl Touhey and Jason “Jay” Allen have launched a new industry consultancy firm called Performance Self Storage Group Inc., which will assist self-storage owners nationwide with facility operation, third-party management, marketing and finding sources of capital. The company also seeks to buy and invest in self-storage properties using its own capital sources and through joint ventures. 

Touhey began his commercial real estate career in Arizona in the mid-‘80s with a large real estate brokerage firm. In the early ‘90s, he moved to Texas and purchased several self-storage properties from Resolution Trust Corp. He later moved to California, and joined Bancap Self Storage Group Inc. in 1997. There he specialized in self-storage investment sales throughout Northern California. 

Allen began his real estate career in 1998 and has worked with some of the nation's top real estate firms, selling residences, land and self-storage properties throughout California. Though he has worked in self-storage for more than a decade, he became heavily involved in the industry in 2005. In addition to investing, he has assisted facility owners with marketing- and management-related issues.
 
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