Welcome back to post-holidays reality and the world of self-storage. We hope you had the chance to catch a breath during your time off. As we look to the coming year, we’re facilitating your new year’s resolutions with a few suggestions of our own:
1. Set marketing goals. With the advancement of mobile web and new networking platforms like Google+, you have more opportunities than ever to make your facility visible and accessible to potential customers. While there are many tried-and-true methods for marketing your facility, a successful self-storage manager must remain versatile across all the mediums. Cloud computing, mobile web customers, online billing, video marketing and quality email blasts should all be items on your marketing agenda for 2012.
2. Be more transparent. In this age of economic uncertainty, consumers are seeking out businesses that can be held readily accountable for its goods and policies. The self-storage industry is no exception. Go over lien laws with all of your employees, and review your insurance policies to clean up any confusing language. Your goal should be to make your rules and policies simple and clear to employees and tenants alike.
3. Stay motivated and get involved. Self-storage is no longer a self-contained or isolated industry. Communities like the Self-Storage Talk Forum have made the industry more connected than ever. Explore networking channels like Twitter and Facebook and seek out peers in the industry. The #StorChat weekly Twitter chat is an excellent informal resource for sharing marketing ideas and discussing topics relevant to the modernized field of self-storage. Make a habit of checking in regularly to your favorite self-storage blogs for inspiration, utilizing free tools like Google Reader to streamline your blog exploration. And don’t be afraid to comment on articles that interest you! An important first step to participating in an online community is being active in discussions.
2012 promises to be an exciting year in the industry. We are excited to follow the latest developments, and it’s our goal to keep our self-storage industry readers current with all the rapid and exciting changes. If you have any resolutions for your self-storage facility, share them in the comments below. Keep checking in, and we wish you a busy and rewarding 2012.
