http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/ Facility promotions and advertising including special events, Yellow Pages, Internet, working with media, etc. en Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:54:59 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/images/styles/Skylight/misc/rss.jpg http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/ http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3676-unusual-discounts-offered.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:54:58 GMT What is the weirdest or most unusual discount you have ever offered? Did it work? Would you do it again? What was the downfall and how did you advertise it? What is the weirdest or most unusual discount you have ever offered? Did it work? Would you do it again? What was the downfall and how did you advertise it? ]]> Marketing Tall Terri http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3676-unusual-discounts-offered.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3674-banner-sign-hang-my-fence.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:59:13 GMT I want to put a banner made of scrim vinyl on my fence with the business name and phone number on it, plain white background. What size should I be getting? I need it readable from 20' away. Is 8 foot by 4 foot too big? First time being one of these signs, any comments would be appreciated.

Thank you ]]> Marketing malakhi http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3674-banner-sign-hang-my-fence.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3672-referrals-best-way-increase-occupancy-quickly.html Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:04:32 GMT Jeffrey Turnbull writes in an ISS magazine article that "Asking current or past tenants for referrals is probably the best way to increase occupancy and cash flow. It may generate as much as a 5 percent bump over the course of a year, even in these difficult times."

Do you agree with this assessment? Are referrals your most effective way of increasing occupancy quickly, or do you have a better strategy? ]]> Marketing jcarlisle http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3672-referrals-best-way-increase-occupancy-quickly.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3655-fake-reviewers-beware.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:25:42 GMT The folks with the temptation to post some “internally generated” positive reviews for your facility on internet sites like Google and Bing and on other industry specific websites may have just gotten a wake-up call. The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that they had reached a... The folks with the temptation to post some “internally generated” positive reviews for your facility on internet sites like Google and Bing and on other industry specific websites may have just gotten a wake-up call.

The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that they had reached a settlement with a California company, Reverb Communications, over the issue of fake reviews that they had posted on the iTunes Store site. Many internet analysis claim the issue of fake reviews is “pervasive” on across the internet.

This is the first action by the Federal Trade Commission in this area. Last year New York's Attorney General reached a $300,000 out of court settlement with Lifestyle Lift, a cosmetic surgery outfit, over faked reviews of its products on the Internet.

It will probably be a long time before the FTC or a State Attorney General’s office in your state discovers that the post - “They are the best managers with the widest 10 x 10's in the region at the best store in our community without question” was really written one morning over coffee in your office because your owner was bugging you to beef up your marketing efforts on the internet. Wouldn’t it be great if all of our reviews were generated by happy customers because you asked them? We all have customers who would gladly help if you made it easy like having the sites where you want posts saved as favorites and you could offer to let them take a minute right on your computer in the office to post their reviews.

I think you would be surprised at just how many of our customers are pleased with their storage experience, appreciate you as the manager and would be willing to help.

MisterJim444 ]]> Marketing MisterJim444 http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3655-fake-reviewers-beware.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3643-marketing.html Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:45:14 GMT I need some idea's on how to market my business and be successful. Any suggestions? :) ]]> Marketing 09manager http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3643-marketing.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3631-back-school-specials.html Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:39:38 GMT Have any of you found a way to incorporate back-to-school season into your marketing? If so, please share some ideas. Have any of you found a way to incorporate back-to-school season into your marketing? If so, please share some ideas. ]]> Marketing jcarlisle http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3631-back-school-specials.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3606-discounts-police-fire-emts-teachers.html Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:46:16 GMT I know that many or most of you offer discounts to military members, at least active ones, and I think this is excellent.

I was wondering if you offer any discounts to those in other noble but often thankless professions, such as police, fire, EMTs, teachers, nurses (especially if you're near a big hospital).

Thanks in advance for sharing! ]]> Marketing jcarlisle http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3606-discounts-police-fire-emts-teachers.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3583-picture-storage-campaign.html Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:20:23 GMT I made a suggestion in this month’s ISS in my Thoughts From The Road column. I decided to post an idea from my column on SSTalk to reach additional folks. I call it the “Picture Storage Campaign”. For years Google, through their Panoramio program, has allowed people to post pictures of locations... I made a suggestion in this month’s ISS in my Thoughts From The Road column. I decided to post an idea from my column on SSTalk to reach additional folks. I call it the “Picture Storage Campaign”. For years Google, through their Panoramio program, has allowed people to post pictures of locations around the world. Many people do it with vacation pictures or historic places in their communities or an occasional sunset. The best part of all is that it is FREE.

Take a look for yourself at the photos posted in your community. Just make sure when you go to Google Maps that you click on the “More” tab and then click photos. You will instantly see what I mean as the photos are added to the map of the US.

(http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl)

There are several ways to get to Panoramio to start posting your facility images. The easiest is to go directly to their separate website at:http://www.panoramio.com/. Now a few basics. You will need to set-up a Google gmail account if you don’t already have one – OK this step is free and very easy. If you haven’t taken some recent digital photos of your complex - out you go to fire off 10 or 15 shots. Download from your camera, review and pick the best couple of images; one from the entrance, maybe one of the office and one within the complex. Once you have the one or two pictures that you are proudest of, check to make sure that the images are in jgp format and are under 10 MB each. This is the max size that can be uploaded.

The Panoramio instructions are very straight forward. On their upload page, you simply browse your hard drive to locate the pictures and insert their file location. A couple of clicks and your images are now on one of Google’s servers. Now the real fun starts. You get to insert a caption for your photos -insert search tags for the photos and also post comments. “This is the place I work” or “We invested $2 million in this business.” Or something creative about your ease of vehicle access or great security. You then get to locate your actual location directly on Google’s master map. There is no spell checker so be careful.

When you upload your images, you are agreeing to be bound by Google’s Terms of Service and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. You can find details about the legalities on their site. It will take a few days, but it is fun to see it once it has been reviewed and posted by Google.

I don’t think that having photos of your site posted will increase your search ranking, but since the images can be seen by anyone using Google Maps who knows if this free posting might not just get you a rental or two.

I would sure appreciate feedback from anyone that has already done this or after you have posted your pictures.

MisterJim444 ]]> Marketing MisterJim444 http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3583-picture-storage-campaign.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3570-referral-websites.html Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:30:12 GMT I've been doing some market research looking at various forms of advertising and just wanted to know if anyone has input on the value of referral websites (sites that direct traffic to you) such as findstoragefast.com and usstoragesearch.com. Any information would be greatly appreciated. ]]> Marketing flyfisher http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3570-referral-websites.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3568-birthday-specials-deals.html Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:28:15 GMT Has anyone ever tried a birthday month/week special or deal, especially to existing customers?

I realize self-storage isn't like a restaurant, but I do like it when businesses wish me a happy birthday through e-mail or snail mail and offer to cut me a deal for that month.

So, if you've done this, share the details with us. :D ]]> Marketing jcarlisle http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3568-birthday-specials-deals.html http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3567-yellow-page-claim-liability.html Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:08:42 GMT I am curious as to what others see as potential liability in marketing statements made in the yellow-pages.

There are terms like:

"State of the Art Surveillance"; You probably would have to upgrade the security system every few months to stay up to the "State of the Art"

"Every Unit Alarmed"; really, always??? Mux boxes do not last forever, especially in lighting areas. Any type of down time at all makes that false advertising.

"Newest Facility in Town"; That might be good in a small town where things happen slow but in a city like Sacramento or Stockton, probably outdated before the books where even out.



I remember reading in the storage magazines about lawsuits over yellow-page claims. I remember one facility paying out over the claim "secure" and "video surveillance", (no video of an assult that took place on the property).

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What are some troubling claims you have seen or maybe even have made in yellow-page advertising?


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Ron ]]> Marketing ams http://www.selfstoragetalk.com/marketing/3567-yellow-page-claim-liability.html