The Masthead

In our Friday edition of the Factory Built Housing Industry News at Noon, we featured stories from Canada and the United States, including our daily Market Watch report on manufactured housing stocks. My focus for this post is the part of the News at Noon that recapped the Wall Street Journal’s recent article on the Manufactured Housing Industry’s “search for a rebound.”

Let’s analyze this Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article – pros and cons – for a few moments. Pans and Points from this article include:

• Starting with the headline, this may be read by manufactured housing industry aficionados as a classic example of either sloppy journalism or media bias. The headline reads: “Mobile-Home Makers Try to Stitch Together a Rebound.” The problem here, as any informed MH Industry Professional knows, is there have been no mobile homes built by the factory-built housing industry since June 14, 1976.
• A proper and legal name used by the federal government and others for this style of factory-built housing is “manufactured home” or “manufactured housing.” That has been the case since June 15, 1976, the date that the HUD code as passed by Congress in 1974 went into effect.

The WSJ article intermingled the use of the terms “mobile home”, “manufactured home” and “trailer”, as if each were a proper usage of synonyms. They are not. In our politically correct age, we should all know and be sensitive to proper use of names and terminology. This should be especially true for respected publishers, such as the WSJ.

Let’s use an analogy to make the point.

• Since when does the mainstream media use old, politically incorrect terms in any other form of reporting? When do we see blacks or African Americans referred to with the “N” word by the media? When do we see natives of Mexico referred to as “wetbacks,” as was once sadly the case with such ethnic groups? So, why does the WSJ use (or rather, misuse) the terms “trailer” and “mobile home” in their article?
• To help the WSJ out – and anyone else in the media that is paying attention – a “mobile home” was built on or before June 14, 1976. None have been built in 34 years.
• A “trailer” hauls cargo or cattle; a “travel trailer” is a non-motorized style of recreational vehicle (RV). (A motorized RV is a “motor coach” or “motor home”.) A trailer is also a name for a movie preview.
• Manufactured Housing Industry purists believe that only the ignorant, lazy, misguided or those with an anti-industry agenda misuse terms such as “mobile home” or “trailer” by applying them to modern manufactured homes.
• So, what is to be said when a respected main stream media outlet – such as the WSJ – deliberately blurs the proper terminology regarding this type of quality, affordable factory building, past and present?
• In their article, the WSJ doesn’t explain why Cavco Industries, Inc. CEO, Joe Stegmayer, is counting on a “gradual rise in demand from retiring baby boomers and empty nesters seeking smaller houses,
  
  This photo by Brandon Sullivan of the Wall Street Journal, was included in their story linked above. This was one of the positive highlights from their article – a Cavco Home in AZ – that demonstrates how residential today’s Manufactured Homes can be.

  as well as first-time home buyers.” One might wonder from their wording:

  • Is Stegmayer into wishful thinking?
  • Or is his reason because of studies like those done by Cornell University’s Dr. David Funk
  or that of Charles Shinn, a respected consultant once with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)?
  • These two studies point towards a looming demand that will roughly dovetail once this current wave of stick-built/conventional housing foreclosures has passed.
  • These studies also suggest the importance of manufactured and modular housing for addressing these looming booms in the not too distant future.
  • One quote in the WSJ piece seemed to allude to a popular conspiracy theory that runs in certain MH Industry and business circles:
  • “I see this as a temporary blip for Buffett,” says Paul Howard, an independent analyst in Glastonbury, Conn. “There’s value in being the last person standing and being able to survive the downturn.”
  • The theory that Buffett/Berkshire-Hathaway/Clayton Homes is allowing the MH Industry’s downward slide may sound interesting or bring more readers, but where is the hard evidence?
  • Where are the affidavits or secret documents to prove such a theory, leaked by a disgruntled whistle-blower?

  To be balanced, some facts and terminology used in the WSJ article are correct:

  • Indeed, some 19 million Americans live in manufactured homes, as the story reported.
  • A positive – and accurate – statement about the quality materials and advantages of manufactured homes should be noted as well.

  Other facts cited by the WSJ are clearly questionable:

  • To suggest that the Industry as a whole employs 75,000 individuals is unclear, misused or absurd. There are about 50,000 manufactured housing communities, some 3500 retail outlets, plus dozens of factories, not to mention, lenders, insurance companies, installers, suppliers and vendors to the Industry.
  • Most such locations and firms require multiple employees, which collectively dwarfs and dispels the figure cited by the WSJ story.

  Then there is the oblique reference in the article to the “Duty to Serve” provision passed by Congress in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, mandating that the GSEs serve the manufactured housing Industry and other “under-served markets.”

  • Where is the investigative work that was once the hallmark of mainstream journalism at work here? As we have mentioned in our pages at www.MHMSM.com before, if you or I violate a federal law, we become subject to fines, penalties, prison, etc.
  • What happens when the GSEs, now with the FHFA’s help, ignore federal law mandating financing for modern, appealing, quality manufactured homes? So far, apparently, nothing!
  • There have been hundreds of billions of dollars in bail-outs of lenders on conventional housing! In the light of that fact, isn’t it a bit disingenuous to call manufactured home loans “riskier,” as the article says?
  • Riskier how and to whom? Where is the clarity of reporting?
  • Certainly not riskier in total dollars to U.S. taxpayers! Wikipedia states that over 700 billion in federal dollars have been committed to various taxpayer-guaranteed efforts linked to the subprime mortgage crisis for conventional housing. Any manufactured home loan losses one might point to by comparison are a mere pimple on an elephant’s cheeks.

  One might easily lose perspective on how large the federal bailout of the subprime mortgage mess truly is. To put that vast sum of $700 billion in perspective, that would pay outright for 9,333,333 manufactured homes at an average price of $75,000. If 9.333,333 million residential-style manufactured homes were built and placed end to end, that would circle the world at the equator about 5 times. So when Congress passed HERA in 2008 and gave the GSEs, who hold over 5 trillion dollars in mortgage-backed securities, the mandate to serve the manufactured housing industry, it is laughable to think we are a higher risk than the subprime loan crisis of conventionally built homes has proven to be.

  The manufactured home industry does suffer, as Triad Financial’s Don Glisson and Champion’s Phyllis Knight indicated in the WSJ piece, from an image issue.

  • Unquestionably, that image can be helped or harmed by proper – or improper – reporting by the mainstream media. The comments posted by some on the WSJ story underscore that point.
  • Most certainly, a level playing field in financing would be a massive boost to the MH Industry, creating jobs, and would prepare manufactured housing builders for the next wave of affordable housing demand that Dr. Funk’s and Mr. Shinn’s studies tell us is coming.
  • So, where are the investigative reports by the mainstream media that document the lost American jobs, due to failure to implement HERA?
  • Where are the reports on studies published by the mainstream media that documents the quality, durability and value of modern manufactured homes?
  • Why do so many in the media seem to relish reports on old pre-HUD Code “mobile home parks”?
  • Why tag old mobile homes, when there are even older, more outdated, unappealing, energy-hog conventionally-built houses than old pre-HUD Code mobile homes?

  There are plenty of theories, conspiratorial or otherwise, as to why the media or regulators drive stakes into the heart of a uniquely American Industry. Where are the reports that show how the GSEs/FHFA ignoring of the congressionally mandated duty to serve in HERA hurt millions of American manufactured home owners when refinancing or resale time comes?

  Would the Japanese media be so un-nationalistic and short-sighted as to attack Toyota for its often bustling factory built housing industry? Would Japanese regulators try to choke off their own nation’s industry?

  In the post-Conseco era, manufactured housing community operators have created an estimated 3.5 to 5 billion in chattel loans for residents of their communities. Lenders like Triad have proven manufactured housing loans can be safely and profitably underwritten. The WSJ could have noted these and other facts as to why the manufactured housing industry is working wisely on a sustainable come back.

  We will move this to a close with this from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/journalism

  Definition of JOURNALISM

  1
  a: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media
  b: the public press
  c: an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium
  2
  a: writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine
  b: writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation
  c: writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest

  One must question if the WSJ article fits the definition of 2b above. So, what do we call this form of news reporting? Does the following perhaps fit?

  From http://www.answers.com/topic/yellow-journalism -

  yellow journalism n. Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

  We are not mind readers here at www.MHMarketingSalesManagement.com, or www.MHMSM.com for short. Perhaps the WSJ can explain why they misused terminology in the story linked above. Maybe they will do a correction, or are working as you read this on REAL investigative journalism that would benefit our Industry, millions of potential home buyers and the nearly 20 million current manufactured home owners?

  We will be among the first to stand in line and to toot their horn if the WSJ does so! # #

Three broad topics today, as suggested in the title, so let’s get started.

1 Unintended Consequences

We hear and read a lot these days about “unintended consequences.” Unintended consequences may occur in business, government, politics or in our personal lives. An example of unintended consequences may be the Conseco-Greentree et al. lending meltdown a dozen years ago. Some put shaky deals on the books; in time, lenders took a bath (not unlike the huge, recent sub-prime mortgage meltdown), so private money lending dries up, government officials get concerned and our Industry (or now, housing as whole) has suffered as a result.

Because housing is THE Key Driver to our Economy and jobs, this is beyond important.

When elected officials hastily pass legislation, there are often unintended consequences. A case in point is the so-called SAFE Act. Maybe this was “well intended,” and many – including “friends” of our Industry – put this law on the books. But tens of thousands of businesses in our Industry are now unsafe – some are at risk for their very existence – because of the unintended consequences of the SAFE Act.

Whoever we are, whatever we do, we should plan ahead and try to avoid those unintended consequences. Before we cast a ballot, donate to a campaign, or do anything else, we should think the matter through, then act prudently. It is easier to do a thing right, than to explain why we did it wrong and then try to fix it.

2 Manufactured Housing Professional Dialogue

Between meetings like the recent International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix and the MHI meetings just finished in Denver, where do we as Industry pros turn for discussion, networking, inspiration and more? There are Industry publications – Allen Report, The Journal, Chattel Finance News or our own ‘Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management’ online trade journal (at www.MHMSM.com). Allen’s site has a blog that takes posts; we accept and encourage comments posted by readers here at MHMSM.com, too. But what I want to push for a few moments is:

LinkedIn Groups!

LinkedIn.com is free. I call it “Facebook for professionals on steroids.” There are half-a-dozen groups that are specifically for manufactured or factory built housing. While a certain amount of self-promotion takes place, there are also often ROBUST and candid discussions on vital topics.

There is YOUR chance to engage and sound off! Many leaders and thinkers do! But more involvement there would be better.

You or anyone else who cares enough to invest some time and brain power in thoughtful discussions can do so on LinkedIn.com in one or more groups. Here the small, medium or large all have a voice. This voice is semi-public and moderated.

While I will ask our own IT manager, Bob Stovall, to take a look at how we might provide a similar tool here for you at MHMSM.com, in the meantime, please let me encourage you to join an MH group and be a part of the discussion. Why gripe alone, when you can share your ideas with others, and test your ideas and solutions by using that wonderful – free! – tool!

3 The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Annual Meeting in Denver

• Great speakers on key topics (at least one of whom has already offered to join us at MHMSM.com as a featured writer!)
• Election of New Officers, as well as recognition and thanks to outgoing officers
• 26 Industry issues being tracked and addressed by MHI
• Political reports and MHI PAC reports and discussions
• The SAFE Act, Dodd Franks bill
• Finance coalition discussion, how the entire Industry can unite behind this critical issue
• Awards presentations, meals, networking, other group meetings and presentations

All of this and more were bullets from the MHI meeting in Denver. Let me take a moment to commend all involved in the planning, presentations, awards and more for their efforts. There is real value and potential from such meetings.

I’d like to say hi to all whom I met, and to beg the forgiveness of those who I had hoped to meet and chat with in Denver… they are busy days, and there never seems to be enough time to talk to everyone that you’d like to chat with.

We plan to defer to MHI’s own meeting brief, likely to be in their email on Friday. Then, starting next week, we plan to do a series of focused looks at the bullets noted above; at the presentations, the often spirited discussions and more that took place. You can read about some of the biggest names in the manufactured housing Industry, see their photos, meeting pictures and get the details right here at www.MHMSM.com.

You won’t find more depth of coverage anywhere on a single site.

Thanks for tuning in. I look forward to your return, and of course, your private and public comments are welcomed. # #

The International Networking Roundtable (INR) is behind us, and we are only days away from MHI’s meeting in Denver. A few brief thoughts… and more to follow.

The Roundtable (INR) featured a number of important ‘reality check’ keynote topics:

• Randy Rowe, State of the Asset Class address, in which he outlined 5 points that need to be addressed.
• Joe Adams, who touted leaders by example in the Industry, but also candidly addressed gaps in marketing and sales skills that hold individuals, companies and thus the MHIndustry back.
• Dick Ernst, who spoke about the SAFE Act, and how that impacts our Industry, why it needs to be understood and how it must be positively addressed.
• Dr David Funk from Cornell University, who gave us compelling insights into the world of Manufactured Housing demographics, general housing trends, and what it can mean for the Industry.
• Panel discussions on financing, manufacturing and general Industry issues, along with numerous other topics and presentations.

We plan to cover all of these, photos of show homes on display, my own presentation and more in some depth in the days ahead.

The rally?

What I wanted to focus on for a few moments was George F. Allen, ably accompanied and supported with Susan McCarty, some comments he made and some take-aways and posers.

Most of the attendees I spoke with felt INR was meaty, compelling and very much worth the time and investment. Many first-time attendees were present, and about 175 total came. As many noted with/to me, that attendance is nearly double the number who came to MHI’s summer session this past July.

While others aided in the process, there is no doubt that George F. Allen (GFA) deserves major kudos for what this (and previous) INRs represent! MHC and other Industry pros from some 26 states, plus Canadians, came to Phoenix, AZ for this executive level meeting. Chairman, CEOs, execs, owners and association leaders were in attendance. This scope and depth takes significant organizational skill; it is a laudable and noteworthy accomplishment indeed!

George Allen promoted MHI and gave Thayer Long the floor to speak, proving an opportunity as well for MHI PAC to raise Funds for the upcoming election campaign season.

GFA, who has inexplicably been passed over by the national MH/RV Hall of Fame, handed out literature for that worthy cause. GFA encouraged support and a visit to their historic facility in Elkhart, IN.

George took the time to pull me aside and make suggestions, share tips and insights. This he did for many others as well.

In short, GFA was a team player and a true Industry leader, living up to the Man of the Year award he earned not so long ago.

All that said, I want to note what GFA himself said. “Only some 2% of the MHC Industry leadership was in attendance.”

GFA spoke of the tough love statements by Randy Rowe and others. Thayer mentioned that MHI now has some 331 members. While billions of dollars were represented in that room – or are represented by MHI – wouldn’t it make sense for more people to be involved in associations and functions that are geared to support our Industry at its time of great need?

More than one speaker made the point that the Industry can’t wait for the FEDs or any outside force to come in on a white horse to save our collective bacon. We as an Industry are modestly up in shipments year to date. Some companies are clearly showing signs of improvement. Those who are improving are the ones committed to success, regardless of what is coming at them! They are the ones adapting, profiting and benefiting while some avoidably may fall by the wayside.

Regular readers of the Masthead blog know I believe we need to engage the Federal and other regulators, call on Congress, rally industry members and our customers into a force to be reckoned with politically. But I agree, we can’t wait for outsiders. But neither should we abandon the lobbying efforts. We need multiple converging paths to success. As any investment counselor would say, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Too many are outside the ranks of associations. Too many don’t attend meetings like INR. Too many fail to invest in self-improvement, coaching and the like, even if they clearly need it.

Some say to me, “Why should I be in an association? I don’t agree with so and so. I don’t see how they have turned our industry around yet.” But isn’t that like watching your neighbors man the levees during a flood, and saying, “Until they have all the sand bags in place, I won’t join and help”?

Where someone sees it differently than MHI or MHARR or any other association, group or leader, he or she should say so respectfully and also explain why. Those with a different perspective should say what they propose instead, and not just criticize. They should be prepared to do what so many others do, volunteer time and talent!

The same applies to Industry publishers, including us.

I don’t mind the occasional critiques that come in from readers or their posts. I don’t mind a different point of view, especially if it is respectful and well-articulated. So long as there are no ad hominums, no profanity or slander, sound off! It makes for a better discussion!

What I do think is often lacking from nay-sayers in general is something beyond a gripe. We are not going back to the Conseco-GreenTree days. We should not want to return to worst practices, when best practices are the way to long-term sustainable success. We must care for our customers, as Randy Rowe, Dick Ernst, Joe Adams, Don Westphal and so many others at INR said.

But let’s move towards a close on the rally point. Hats off to George for pulling together such an impressive array of speakers and solid content! MH/RV Hall of Fame… are you listening?

If you aren’t already involved in positive change in association(s) and forums like INR that make it happen, please, get engaged! We need both – the new blood and new ideas, and also the wisdom that history and experience brings.

We must learn from the past, live in the present, and build for a bright future. We need more leaders willing to invest time, talent and treasure. We need more committed engagement. Working together is the path to success for any company, any team and – yes, for most industries, too.

That said, on to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) meeting in Denver, CO! # #

Bring on the magic! Not the smoke and mirrors of illusion, but the real results of proven “outside the box” thinking and innovation – applied to the way you perceive the economy – to opportunities for financing – to technology and online marketing strategies – to Industry-media relationships – to recreating our Industry image – to sales-customer relationships – i.e., to every aspect of the Manufactured Housing Industry.

Our Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is presenting at the 19th Annual International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix Sept 15-17! His subject: “How to Get 150 Inbound Sales Calls a Week at your Location!” This is all part of the Manufacturing Magic made possible through eye-opening, mind-expanding insights on how to grow YOUR business, and thereby grow THE INDUSTRY! Check out Tony’s Blogs for more information.

Celebrate our 12th MHMSM.com Issue – one whole year of passionate pro-Industry service designed for win-win outcomes – through Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals like YOU – presented through DAILY news (News at Noon podcasts), WEEKLY (or MULTIPLE TIMES WEEKLY) Blogs and Industry In Focus reports, plus MONTHLY Feature Articles in podcast and written form, and TIME-SENSITIVE Calls to Action to help YOU get the results you want!

NOTE: There is still one Call to Action on the table:

• By September 30: LET’S UTILIZE SOME AVAILABLE MONEY for Retailers! YOUR assistance is needed to contact members of Congress and ask them to support the Dealer Floor Plan Program Extension and Improvement Act of 2010. This can benefit retailers, communities and manufacturing.

As we gear up for our First Birthday with the October Issue (Vol. 2, No 1), we want to hear from YOU:

1. What topics, issues or challenges are important to YOU that you want us to address?
2. What viewpoints or comments do YOU WANT TO MAKE to encourage and contribute to the Manufactured Housing Revolution? Think of writing a Feature Article, an Industry Voices Guest Blog – or easiest of all, join the conversation by posting, tweeting, calling or emailing your responses to what’s posted on the website. Increase your SEO; get compliments and feedback! Be part of the Revolution!

Easy emails to remember: Publisher/Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach tony@MHMSM.com; IT Manager Bob Stovall bob@MHMSM.com; Industry In Focus Reporter Eric Miller eric@MHMSM.com; Associate Editor Catherine Frenzel catherine@MHMSM.com and News at Noon and Article Podcasts Erin Patla erin@MHMSM.com

Right now, Get More & Better Results! thanks to the galaxy of Feature Article contributors from A-Z – a spectacular selection of Industry Pros sharing vision, “possibility thinking” and answers to help YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS thrive and prosper. Check out the dozens of Feature Articles this month:

Featured Articles
and Reports for Vol. 1 No.12

Let’s shake things up for this 12th Issue and reverse the lineup of “All the Best” Top-Talent professionals from Z for Ziglar to A for Adams! Here’s your big September line up…

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• Zig On…Staying Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down, Down World – Part 1. You get back what you send out.

Don Westphal – MH Community Planning
• Land/lease Communities – Many Possibilities. Five scenarios for land/lease community layouts with terrain flexibility

Heather Vela – MH Business Practice
• Fostering a Positive Attitude in the MH Workplace. Multiple benefits include increased sales!

Bob Stovall – Online Marketing
• Online Marketing 1-2-3, Part 3 – Social Networking. Getting your company involved in Social Networking provides access to new customers and vital feedback about your products and services.

Dave Shanklin – MH Industry Financing
• Six Major Recent Changes in MH Chattel Finance Guidelines that You Need to Know. Stunning drops, disallowances, requirements and considerations are Good News-Bad News!

Kenneth Rishel – MH Industry Finance Commentary
• Lender’s Guide to Hispanic Marketing. How to tap into the $1 trillion+ purchasing power of this market by 2020 and $2.5-$3.6 trillion by 2050

Dan Rinzema – Online Marketing
• Turn Internet Leads into Sales! What if you used these 5 Tips to improve your closings?

George Porter – MH Evolution and Finance
• Why Do We Need Two Foundations? Lenders are making structural decisions that result in twice the work and many more problems!

Shawn Mullins – Energy-efficient Manufactured Housing
• Flaunt It If You’ve Got It! How might homebuyer’s priorities change if we were able to demonstrate the dollar-by-dollar payback of energy-efficient manufactured homes?

Mike Moore – Sales
• What Are You Waiting For? We have become so distracted by new sales that we forgot the best way to get more sales is to make customers.

Eric Miller – MH Industry Reporting
• A Cup of Coffee with…Joe Kelly. “A good plan (violently executed) today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

Eric Miller – MH Industry Reporting
• A Cup of Coffee with…JD Harper. Financing is the tide that raises all boats in this industry; a unified voice is needed.

Greg McClanahan – Soft Skills and Personal Development
• Stop Selling Houses – Start Helping People. Every genuinely successful professional embodies the point of this story.

L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach – MH Industry Reporting
• Reality Checks – Inspirational Dissatisfaction. What is the key to change what can be changed?

Susan Knowles – MH Community Case in Point
• Indian Creek-A Case Study of Companies Working Together. Who wins when investment and technology companies work together with community residents?

Chrissy Jackson – Land Lease Community Management
• Upgrading Your Community – Part V. How to keep your residents happy and personally engaged during the disruption caused by your community upgrade program

Mike Hourigan – MH Business Practice
• When you think about it: It Is the Best and Worst of Times. Find how attitude, tenacity and creativity can turn the worst into the best!

Nadeen Green – Legal, Fair Housing
• 10 Tips on Parking as Reasonable Accommodation. What you don’t know can hurt you!

Sue Frost – Green, Energy-efficient Manufactured Homes
• Greenwise legislation ushers in the “Green Revolution”. Why is the manufactured housing industry well-positioned to increase market share?

Suzanne Felber – Trend Tracking
• How Dramatic Are Your Manufactured Model Homes? Three Tips for making your model homes irresistible.

Tim Connor – Sales
• Effective Cold Calling in a Changing World. Do you know the do’s and don’ts of getting hot results from your cold calls?

Tim Connor – Management
• Why Successful Executives in the Manufactured Housing Industry use Personal Coaches to Grow their Business. “You can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.”

Chad Carr – Management
• E-mail marketing – What You Need to Know. A false start carries serious consequences, so learn from my mistakes.

George F. Allen – MH Industry Commentary
• Best Kept Affordable Housing Secret in the US! Why HUD Code Manufactured Housing & Landlease (nee manufactured home) Communities Continue to be ‘Best Kept Affordable Housing Secret’

Joe Adams – Marketing
• The Greatest Opportunity in Marketing Today! 6 Tips and more to make it your own

Only the patient folks with open minds and eyes to see – those committed to improve their results – will get the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) in this weekend’s blog post. I hope you’re one of them!

If you want to grow your business, if you want to see REAL Industry growth, please use the powerful resources known as passion and patience, then carefully clear your mind and then line by line, check this out…

Think road trip.

Think comfy and spacious SUV (environmentalists, what can I say…) with the leather and luxuries you’d like.

Think multi-night get-away stay in a resort area with your dear owner/friends in their avant-garde, magazine-stylish home and manicured acreage with all the goodies.

Think the all-natural high that family, friends, stunning sights and stunning company yields. Think shop talk mixed with delightful small talk. John Denver’s song, “Rocky Mountain High” came to life from a soul now long passed…

Then leave the life and love of the majestic mountains to travel through the dry deserts and sometimes lunar-like landscapes…

Think…Jersey Boys. Blue Man Group. Cirque de Soleil… Phantom of the Opera.

Think living legends like Willie Nelson or Cher.

Think World Class shopping and New York City style Fashion Night Out.

Think restaurants to delight the senses to be discovered in every resort and seemingly on every corner.

Think the energy of the Fremont Street Experience:

Think more Elvis wanna-be types than most any place on the planet. Imagine The Strip. The Lights. The Sounds. “Viva Las Vegas” is more than a tag line; it seems to be a statement of reality, for indeed this once hot and dusty spot in the desert has become a palm-tree-lined magnet for people all over the world!

This is what the past week has been for me and mine. From the Colorado Rockies to Vegas, what a grand time as we slowly work our way toward The 19th Annual International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix this week! But back to last night in Vegas…

As we walked, talked and gawked (isn’t that what we secretly do?) hand in hand watching performances and people from around the planet, my lovely lady and I bumped into a few Hungarians. It would have been a good night for a bet on 00 in roulette, because even in Vegas the odds are like a gazillion-to-one against that. So the son of immigrant parents (c’est moi) and the lady who studied at a noteworthy school there (my wife) are speaking with visiting Magyars in their own tongue. They were shocked and delighted, and of course we were, too.

So what does the rushing white water streams of the Rockies, the desert and the dazzle of Vegas have to do with factory built housing? With your future and that of the Industry? Potentially, plenty!

Visionaries took a look at a spot near the world famous Hoover Dam, a mere day trip (or quick copter ride) from the Grand Canyon, and said,

‘We can create a magnet here that will draw millions of people! We can create casinos, shows, shops, stores, churches (an amazing number of religious people in this city, especially by European standards) and eateries galore, all designed to serve and separate people from their plastic and paychecks.’

And so Las Vegas came to be! And so it has steadily grown for decades, in spite of the ups and downs of the economy!

We have that type of opportunity in our Industry, too! Not someday, but every day. Not in just a good economy, but in THIS economy!

Or think…

What does 9/11 mean to manufactured housing and you? How about how a single event can rock your world, can send shock waves of tremendous loss, fear and paralysis, until the Sleeping Giant is awakened and action is taken? 9/11 has tons of lessons for the Republic and our great Industry, if we will just stop and think clearly about it!

What do the Rocky Mountains, the Western Slopes, resorts, the desert and more mean to modular and manufactured housing? It is hard to travel through such areas without seeing old pre-HUD Code mobile homes and more modern manufactured housing. It is easy to see the many uses, applications and needs for modular, pre-fab, panelized and manufactured homes in resorts and remote areas alike.

There are many areas in America where conventional construction simply doesn’t make good sense, or is flatly not available without premium pricing. You don’t see this by flying overhead, but it is a fact that can’t be missed while you are traveling in your SUV with your iPhone and iPad close at hand. While the signal failed in parts of the Rockies, notes, photos and videos can still be made until the 3G signal returns and you can push Send!

The recent dip in stats from MHI, the recent report and analysis from MHARR, both remind us that we are still in the doldrums as an industry.

The exclusive we did with Congressman Joe Donnelley reminds us that we have tons of work to do collectively to move us to health as an Industry.

But in the past few days, I also spoke with and emailed with owners who are profitable! Right now. There are winners and losers in every economy! Which group are you in? Which group do you want to be in? What are you willing to do to achieve positive change? Wishing and wanting are meaningless, until we work with wisdom and will towards the wonderful world that can be! If developers and promoters can create a whole successful city in the desert, one step at a time, can’t we do the same with our wealth of opportunities from sea to shining sea?!!!

I spoke with and emailed with Execs this past week who are sick and tired of being sick and tired! Some of them are getting ready or are seriously exploring how to market/sell/manage their way back to good health with a little help from new friends (in some cases, that means us)!

Las Vegas is a Dream Come True because people saw not the dry desert that it was, but the oasis and modern man-made Paradise that it could be! Those visionaries didn’t focus on the obstacles and let those stop them. Rather they asked and answered,

‘How can we overcome this scenario and make this one of the all-time money makers?!’

We need such visionaries leading in our Industry today.

The Manufactured Housing Revolution spells out the ways and reasons why factory built homes can become the dominant or a main stream form of housing in America.

My presentation on “How to Get 150 Inbound Customer Sales Calls a Week at YOUR Location!” at The International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix in a few days will demonstrate real world scenarios that can drive business for YOU – TODAY. In YOUR market! I will share real world examples where we teamed up with Community Owners, MHC Operators and home retailers who had struggled with sales, and moved them from nearly dead to well-fed!

There are Industry writers and publishers like George Allen or Ken Rishel or myself who have real world seasoning in this Industry. We three are among many who have personally, in their own locations, managed the home sales and filled the sites and provided or created the financing for their incoming residents and buyers of manufactured homes. Their insights and experiences, plus those gained by consulting and working with many firms from coast to coast, has power that a publisher who has never had such powerful and useful experiences simply can’t match.

When writers like those whom we feature here every day speak from real world experiences that worked, versus mere theory, there is a power to that which can’t be matched.

When you have filled hundreds of vacant sites at a community, like Ken Rishel has; when you have driven thousands of calls that lead to hundreds of sales at properties and locations that previously struggled, like I have for clients and companies – this has potential value and importance for YOU! You will want to read Ken’s amazing white paper on Hispanic Marketing, which will be an exclusive right here at Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (aka MHMSM.com) trade journal ezine in a few days!

I think the Industry has plenty of fine publications and many useful resources. At the end of the day, leaders have to do their jobs and tap the resources needed to move the Industry from where it is to where it wants to be!

Your business, your market, may seem like a desert. But it can come to life again and flourish – with the right attitude, resources, people, plan and execution! From desert to money-making oasis, Vegas has ridden the waves and keeps coming up a winner! From the fruitful fields of Nebraska or Kansas into the Rockies of Colorado, we can climb from the valley of the shadow of death to new and exhilarating mountain top experiences!

This isn’t mere daydreaming or cheerleading. If you are a struggling pro, this is YOUR wake-up call!

From Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima seemed like a long way. But American drive and determination made that a reality!

From the post 9/11 days with skies without airplanes, to 9 years without a successful terrorist strike in the U.S., we can go from fear to facing reality with courage and will.

I could have made this short and sweet and just said with our friends at Nike,

Just do it.

No excuses. This is America. You can do it, because where there is a will, there is a way.

Catch a Vision. Fire up and inspire yourself and your troops. If you try an excuse or some finger pointing at someone else, just remember you have three pointing back at you…

Learn or hire the skills you need from resources the Industry offers at MHMSM.com, or beyond. You have had successes in the past. With the will and resources, you can again.

So just do it. # #

Part 1. Technology delivers “Real-Results Testimonials!”

Most of us just love technology. I certainly enjoy its many benefits. One fun little item I am toying with for my INR presentation in Phoenix next week is letting some people speak – via technology – to those attending. These candid “in their own words” statements about our marketing process of generating more traffic than they ever dreamed possible could say more in 3 minutes than most of the rest of the hour! You can hear their surprise, feel and sense their excitement. Pros like you, happy about “Getting Results!”

Still not sure, but might do these techy testimonials as part of my “How to Get 150 Inbound Sales Calls a Week at your Location!” presentation in Phoenix! If you can, please come; there will be some eye-opening, mind-expanding insights on how to grow YOUR business, and thereby grow the Industry!

Plus tons of other super presentations; see my last weekend blog post for more details and also how to book your seat(s).

Part 2. An upcoming treat!

Can’t say more just yet, but thousands have already enjoyed it, and I think many of you will, too. Please stay tuned…

Part 3. Industry News you can use!

In sales, you or your best people already know the power of third party witnesses, especially with a doubting prospect. We pros know the sorts of negative things the media plants.

Well, we are continuing our “Influence the media as media, with the FACTS” campaign! More than a dozen newspapers from coast to coast have picked up on stories our INdustry in Focus Reporter Eric Miller has documented! From the truth about tornadoes, to hurricanes, to calls to action to passing pro-Industry legislation, we are writing and they are picking it up and sharing it with their readers! Dallas Morning News, Chicago SunTimes, Nashville’s The Tennessean and many more, coast to coast!

Yes, manufactured housing is good news! Over time, this could be big for the industry.

That said, a reader wrote in to say we need to deliver a great retail customer experience. I couldn’t agree more! If we again get ahead as an Industry, if we set new records, we must give customers a great experience! Not sometimes, but every time humanly possible. We must work with lenders, and not bleed them with repos and losses. Vendors, factories, customers, communities, retailers – it has to be about mutual victories, about Everyone-Wins scenarios!

If most of us do that, if enough pros use new marketing and image-building systems (that we know works) to attract customers, we will have many key elements to long-term sustained growth and success!

My family and I are excited about traveling west before we go southwest to Phoenix! We are looking forward to seeing friends and new faces alike. To Colorado for a mix of business and fun, then Vegas (nope, no gambling, my better half wants to see the sights). Then on to Phoenix for the International Networking Roundtable! 200 maximum attendance; see why this event is growing strong in 2010 for its 19th time!

Hope to see you there. I enjoy hearing your views of industry in your own words in person, by email or by your posted comments.

Odds are, you want more favorable media for manufactured housing. Chances are good you want to learn how to grow and expand your business through favorable marketing, selling more homes and/or positive change management or maybe you want access to financing. Perhaps you are looking for a new manufacturer or supplier.

These are some of the business-building elements found in this three-part blog post!

Part I.

Let’s start with the latest on the International Networking Roundtable (INR), which is coming up fast (September 15-17, 2010)…

Joe Adams, Dick Ernst, Dr David Funk, Thayer Long, Ken Rishel, Randy Rowe, INR+ 12… in short: Marketing Magic, Media and Manufactured Housing!

Paul Bradley, Evelyn Bryant, L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Susan McCarty, Jeff Mishkin, Fred Rice, Spencer Roane, Don Westphal. These are just some of the names who will inform, inspire and help guide you to better marketing, financing, deal making and more.

I’ve had the privilege of previewing Joe Adam’s upcoming presentation on Marketing for the International Networking Roundtable (INR) to be held in Phoenix Sept 15-17th at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort. Let me just say, you’ll want to BE THERE! If you love his feature articles here, you will enjoy hearing the great material delivered live by Joe Adams! I will be there and I hope to see you IN PERSON at this session and others.

In fact, there is plenty of star power bringing you great information at the 19th Annual INR. If you are interested in growing your business, all who are attending this seminal event say it is a great place to be for networking and learning what’s hot and what’s not; on-site deal making, financing opportunities, model homes on display and much more are all here. From the Gala Reception, show homes on display, to the prayer meeting for Our Nation and Leaders and more!

You can check with George Allen at 877-MFD-HSNG (877-633-4764) or 317-346-7156 for a brochure, actual order of appearance of the speakers and topics and related details. George tells me the list below is the latest update – in alphabetical order by last name, with their respective topics:

1. Keynote: ‘Effective Marketing in Tough Times!’ – Joe Adams, The Housing Market Place, Inc.

2. Panel: Open Forum Discussion of MHIndustry Issues & LLCommunity Concerns – George Allen, Moderator

3. Shared Equity, Reality or Fad? – Paul Bradley, ROC-USA

4. Keynote: ‘S.A.F.E. Act &You! UNSAFE or OK?’ – Dick Ernst, FINMARK

5. Keynote: ‘Loss Control in Era of Rentals & Contract Sales’ – Evelyn Bryant

6. Keynote: ‘MH Demographics & You!’ – Dr. David Funk, Cornell University Program in Real Estate

7. How to Get 150 Sales Calls a Week On-Site! – L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management, www.MHMarketingSalesManagement.com or www.MHMSM.com (Since I know the speaker, there is MORE on this topic below.)

8. National Communities Council Update – Thayer Long, MHI

9. Registration & Special Gifts – Susan McCarty, Community-Investor.com

10. Landlease Community Investors’ Forum – Jeff Mishkin, Marcus & Millichap

11. Utility Sub-Metering in 2010 & Beyond – Fred Rice, Spectrum Utilities Solutions

12. Is ‘Captive Finance’ For You? – Ken Rishel, Precision Capital Funding

13. Symposiums, Spinoffs & More… – Spencer Roane, Pentagon Properties, Inc.

14. Keynote: ‘State of the Manufactured Housing Industry’ – Randy Rowe, Green Courte Partners

15. Community Series Homes, One Year Later – Don Westphal, Donald C. Westphal Assoc.

16. Panel: Home Manufacturers & Business Development Managers!

17. NSAC Update: Why You Should Support the RV/MH Heritage Foundation!

18. Panel: Real Estate Lenders!

19. Wells Fargo, Manage America & Origen LLC will be among the other firms represented.

20. Welcome Reception, Introductions, Informal Prayer Meeting for Nation and Leaders, Breakfasts, Lunches, Toasts, Visit Home Shows, the Gala Reception and more!

21. Wrap-up Session & Open Discussion Topics for Next Year?

I had planned to attend this event even prior to my being invited to speak on Marketing Magic, Industry Image Makeovers and share a reflection at the Informal Prayer Meeting.

Part II.

In my INR presentation, I am going to talk about how to generate 150 in-bound sales calls a week to your location.

Marketing. Every business, every Industry that wants to survive and grow needs good marketing. Marketing that doesn’t cost, marketing that pays.

Good, solid ROI (Return On Investment) Marketing.

A key part of what we do at MHMSM.com is marketing. Yes, we have become the premier news source in the Factory-built housing Industry. Part of that was achieved through marketing, as well as having great content and, of course, the most news and feature articles found on any single site online.

I was asked by George Allen to give a presentation in Phoenix on Marketing, Media and Manufactured Housing. The title GFA suggested for the talk is How to Get 150 Calls a Week on Site!

• Those 150 calls a week refer to inbound sales calls FROM CUSTOMERS LOOKING FOR YOU!
• Those 150 calls a week refer to prospects in the market LOOKING FOR WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER!
• Those 150 calls a week could TRANSFORM any Manufactured Housing Land Lease Community location struggling with vacancies INTO A FULL LOCATION with a waiting list!
• Those 150 calls inbound sales calls a week could be a modular or HUD Code Manufactured Housing RETAILER’S DREAM!
• Those 150 calls are not theory. THEY ARE TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW, TODAY for one of our clients. Not in boom time, but during this low ebb of the Industry.

It has long been my belief that Manufactured Housing – or most any aspect of factory home building – should never suffer due to the general ups and downs of the economy. We should be – and can be – the preeminent form of housing. The first choice instead of the last choice.

If you are looking for marketing solutions, sales solutions, a turn-around for one or more community or retail locations, business expansions or other Industry related business challenges, please give me a call. If you are looking for good PR for your company, please call.

Why should you? Please check out my LinkedIn Profile, for some of the currently 29 recommendations among my 469 connections: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach

Just two words.

GET RESULTS.

I should hasten to add, that all ‘results’ are a team effort. We are not alone. We work as a team, and that is how we would approach working with any firm or organization in the manufactured housing field. Team work that Gets Results. Specialists for many different needs. Solutions for your real world problems. Great ROI, good work doesn’t ‘cost;’ it pays.

Part III.

Getting Positive PR: Media Relations and Manufactured Housing

What do the Chicago Sun-Times, the Dallas Morning News, Nashville’s The Tennessean and about a dozen other publications from coast to coast have in common?

Answer: They have all featured news stories on their sites this year that have a favorable message for manufactured housing.

Answer: These favorable messages were all generated by MHMSM.com staff, notably our INdustry in Focus Reporter Eric Miller – or myself.

http://topics.dallasnews.com/article/0aaJfyqbtfgnQ

http://envirolib.org/news/support-urged-for-bill-aimed-at-replacing-of-older-manufactured-homes-24-7-pressrelease/

http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/blogs/industryvoices/study-suggests-cities-and-towns-should-accept-new-manufactured-housing-communities/

Research Finds Manufactured Home Community Residents Under No Greater Threat of Crime

As you know, Manufactured Housing has all too often taken it on the chin from the mainstream media publications. Part of our goal at MHMSM.com is to share favorable news about Manufactured Housing and related issues.

As a media outlet ourselves, we can influence media.

Over time, this can have a favorable benefit for you and your business.

Should you desire favorable PR or marketing for your organization, please give me a call:
847-730-3692 or cell 832-689-1729.

Should you want to see what others say, please go to my LinkedIn Profile

Where you can see 29 recommendations of my work.