The Masthead

A very successful retail center, one of the top 100 in the country, has the following practice that I though was brilliant. Every day, people in their office read stories from sources like ours.  Then they discuss them!  I’m told the ideas that come from that discussion are part of what makes and keeps these pros as some of the top performers in the U.S..  In fact, they are so good at sales, that any one of their sales team members averages more sales a month solo than the typical licensed manufactured home retailer does with their entire team combined.

Every business day, we publish the Factory Built Housing Daily Business News.  We typically have 5-6 stories a day, including market reports on manufactured housing and related stocks. These stories may include modular, prefab and HUD Code manufactured home as well as ‘general housing’ news that could be important to Industry professionals.

Many times a week, sometimes many times daily, you will find articles that can – when properly used – either save you and your operation money or help you earn more money.

Examples include news accounts about federal or state programs that companies or associations may be able to tap their members into for the Industry’s benefit.  Other recent examples may include stories about distressed properties that community operators and investors seeking new opportunities may find useful.

Screen Capture of part of today’s Daily Business News

Other examples of how you can earn more money by using modular, prefab and manufactured housing news may be more subtle.

Speaking as someone involved off and on since 1981 in manufactured home retailing, I know the types of questions and concerns that may arise from retail buyers. We know the types of questions or concerns bankers, investors or public officials may have too.  These are individuals who are likely to come from a ‘general media’ perspective or our Industry.  Which is to say, these and others may well be opposed or cautious about us, until they see new information which may help them ‘see the light.’

The recent Daily Business News article that mentioned Goldie Hawn and Tom Cruise owning factory built homes in CO was more than just “interesting.”  If I were in sales, I would download the article, save the link and show it as coming from MHProNews.com (or MHMSM.com).  I’d put it on the wall in a decent frame or make sure it is in a nice binder (or both) so that prospective retail customers, bankers, media or other guests can see it.

Millions read People Magazine. Some of those ‘gee, the rich and famous’ do this or that INFLUENCES others.  The fact that actors, politicians and savvy investors are in the modular or manufactured home world can influence people, but ONLY if you use it.

Daily Business News on MHProNews.com

Our monthly Feature Articles and blog postings can also make you money or save you money.  Articles on sales training, marketing, personal ‘soft skills’ or management development, financing, legal articles and much more are a part of our monthly offering. As an example, I can picture how some communities violate ‘fair housing law’ principles taught by attorney Nadeen Green on our pages.  Others who want to improve their community will want to read Don Westphal and Chrissy Jackson.

Investors, regulators, association leaders and Industry pros are coming daily by the thousands.  Traffic continues to rise, so August 2011 is poised for yet another record month.  In fact, we should again have more page views than self reported totals from MHI, the National Communities Council, the National Modular Building Council, the Journal and George F. Allen’s blogs combined.

When leaders, investors, movers and shakers are here daily by the thousands, this suggests that at least one savvy, forward looking person in your office or company needs to invest a good 10-15 minutes a day on our site.  Read a feature article a day.  Read the news and the latest blog posts.  Read the Daily Business News.

So if you are someone who wants to advance your business or career, volunteer to make that reader You.

“Knowledge is power,” Sir Francis Bacon said.  Or as the Chinese proverb says: “Those who do not read are no better off than those who cannot.”

You are here, reading.  Good for you! Now take it to the next level. Are you making the news pay?

Are you an manufactured housing executive?  A manager?  Owner?  If so, make sure your people are reading.  Brainstorm the news with a trusted associate.  Make the news pay for you and your organization.

When our new MHProNews.com website format comes out, do encourage your associates to watch the ‘headlines news’ that will be available business daily here on MHProNews.com.   To earn more, learn more, right here.  Minutes a day can save you boatloads of time and make your more money too. # #

“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Most of us will be familiar with this quite American maxim quoted above. Yet this insightful statement is all too often ignored. There is the surface level of the quote, literally about the cover of a book. I know I’ve read books that had covers that caught my eye, but the contents disappointed me. Likewise, most of us have had the reverse experience of a book cover that was perhaps okay, but inside was a gem of a read!

This same phenomenon occurs with people, businesses and organizations, too.

It is human nature to size people or companies up. Sometimes we do so in a matter of seconds. This is true online as well. Web experts say that many people decide in 7-8 seconds if they will continue to look at the contents of a website. We often do similarly with books, people or organizations.

I say this as a set-up to the following subject.

From time to time, the question comes up: “Who is behind the Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (www.MHMSM.com) online trade journal?” “Who funds your work at MHMSM.com?” and similar queries. This wasn’t the planned topic for this weekend, but as it does keep coming up, let me share the answer, to hopefully clear the question up.

Let me address some of the common misconceptions and then dig a bit deeper.

1. There is no community owner/operator who owns us or has a financial stake in MHMSM.com. Nor has this been the case at any time in the past.

2. Some have asked, “Is George Allen or Ken Rishel an owner, part owner or a backer?” No, they are not. They are among my Industry friends and advisors. They do write feature articles that we are pleased to publish. They have no financial stake in MHMSM.com, nor have they in the past.

3. Nor does any other Industry person, association or corporate entity you may wish to guess have a past or present financial stake or ownership interest in MHMSM.com.

We are owned by/are part of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC. There is your ‘owner.’ Before you ask who owns that entity, the answer is: none of those mentioned above. The answer above still stands. Who you see here is what you get.

So why share this now?  Simple answer: it is the truth. And as the rumors to the contrary continue and are from time to time brought to my attention, it is just good to address it.

We all know that there is no free lunch, someone always pays. So where does the money come from to fund our work? Because everyone knows something like MHMSM.com costs real money to do.

The answer is that:

> Consulting work,

> Marketing services to the MH Industry, along with

> Advertisers and

> Sponsors

are what fund our operations.

Advertisers and clients are just that; they are not our owners.  Naturally we want to see our advertisers and clients do well, but anyone who reads something more into it than the facts shared is simply mistaken. Reason and positive comments suggest that we have those clients because we deliver results.

But I am equally sure those clients value supporting the MHMSM.com effort by sharing their marketing and/or consulting dollars with us. When an advertiser or consulting client invests in us, they get a manifold return, including results AND benefiting the Industry at large by supporting this media platform.

At the current rate of readership, some 35,000 professionals a month are visiting MHMSM.com, which makes our audience about twice as large as the next closest similar entity.

Our registrations are growing for our twice-weekly emailed newsletter and updates and also for our podcasts and free premium content. To give you a sense of this, the email sign ups and also our Podcast/Premium content are now among the top 1% of all our main pages that are accessed. Since Google Analytics tell us over 800 pages a month are accessed on our main site, that gives you an idea of how much content we have and how many of you are using it!

A number of associations and companies forward or recommend our site as an Industry resource. Our reporter, Eric Miller, advised me of some research he did that indicates there are over 16,000 outside links to our site. Over 16,000 outside links – wow!

We value every reader. We naturally value every contributing writer. I’m proud and humbled to be working with such a talented group of professionals that are all here to serve YOU and tens of thousands of others in the manufactured/factory built housing Industry like you. We naturally hope to continue to grow so we can keep serving you and others all the better!

We believe deeply in this Industry. We also believe that this Industry’s best days are ahead of us. We are here because we have seen the studies that tell us that there will be a housing boom in the not too distant future. Read all about the coming boom and why it will be good for our Industry —> FOR THOSE WHO PREPARE <— on our pages or in the Manufactured Housing Revolution.

With the support of Industry pros like yourself, together we can do what so many long for today: make the Industry turn around a reality. A dozen-year nose dive is way too long. We have been bumping bottom now for two years. If a handful of committed professionals can bring you all that you see on these pages, if we can grow so rapidly by bringing you Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals, just imagine what even 10% of Industry Pros can do by working together to promote and advance our great Industry!

We welcome your advertising, consulting and other support at every level. When you think about the facts above, you will understand why we deliver results for our clients and typically give more for less.

We welcome posted, emailed and other comments. We welcome your news tips. We protect our sources when confidentiality is needed.

To borrow a George Allen phrase, the 35,000 coming here monthly can’t be wrong! Some of the biggest names in the Industry are reading our news, blogs and feature articles, and the flip side is tons of independent operators are reading here, too. Executives, middle managers, rank and file looking to advance their company or career are readers or podcast listeners. Association leaders and their board members may be listening or reading at the same time as you are.

We appreciate your being here and we appreciate the work and support of all those who make this endeavor possible. My Holiday and Christmas best wishes to you and yours. May we all work better together to make 2011 a much brighter New Year!

##

There are reasons why 125 million people attend trade shows and marketing events annually, and why over 100 billion dollars are invested by those who market using such shows.* Many business-to-business marketers believe that trade shows are one of the most cost effective ways of reaching their audience. The Small Business Administration (SBA) states that closing a sale or lead generated at an event can be about 50% less expensive than using other marketing or advertising methods.

44% of all companies who do event or trade show marketing have under 50 employees. According to the SBA, among the advantages to event marketing is the fact that large, medium and small companies have a more level playing field. So don’t think that trade shows are only for ‘the big boys.’ Smaller firms with a good strategy and execution can grab market share via event marketing.

But these pluses and advantage statements also come with caveats.

Proper preparation pays! Poor or no planning for a trade show can cost you. So part of the secret is having a good pre-show, at-show and post-show strategy. Some studies indicate that some 75% of attendees you attract will have planned to see you before the show. This means you have to be well organized and reach out to the maximum number of your target audience, as cost effectively as possible. 

The SBA further suggests that mailers, emails and telephone contact strategies are among the proven ways to generate pre-show contacts who become your clients or who continue to be your clients. Besides your own personal contacts and your firm’s lists, using others to contact for you can be a dynamic way to grow your outreach and success. An analogy can be the seasonal help a retailer hires to handle heavier crowds, or the added advertising a retailer uses to boost traffic to their mall location on Black Friday.

Having personally done successful trade show and event marketing for myself and/or for others going back to the 1980s, I would add many thoughts to these tips from the SBA and Answers.com sources noted. Among those tips and bullet points:

1) While 75% of clients who visit your booth, seminar or display at a trade show come from pre-show outreaches, don’t ignore the value of the 25% who you can attract at the show.

2) You have 7-10 seconds to attract the attention of someone walking past at a trade show. Think about a billboard on an Interstate Highway. You have to grab the passers’ by attention in seconds, or you will miss out on prospective clients.

3) Have a booth strategy, promotions, layout and staffing levels that make sense. It is as bad to have too many people in your booth as it is too few.

4) Get qualified leads, not just names.

5) Learn to ID the serious and more immediate prospect, while not ignoring the client you can develop long term.

6) You have two big reasons to do business-to-business outreach via a trade show. There is an offensive show strategy and a defensive strategy, too. On the one hand, you want to grow your own customer or client base via show attendance. But you also want to defend the clients you already have now! To rephrase the point, NOT going as an exhibitor to an event like the 2011 Louisville Manufactured Housing Show is an invitation for someone else to lure away YOUR customers!

For a manufacturer, going to a show and displaying one or more model homes is a sizable investment. But when you think about the cost of not going, the possible lost business or the possible loss of a client to other firms, the best strategy would be to a) go and b) ensure the maximum turn-out at your show home(s).

We will be providing a webinar on trade show marketing tips and strategies on Thursday 12/16/2010. You can sign up in seconds, and in about 45 minutes of “lunch and learn” time at your desk or smart phone, find out how to make YOUR event marketing experience a very profitable one!

##

* Source: answers.com

We have a lot of topics to cover, but please let me start with something positive and fun:

1.
“OMG your site is unbelievably informative! Just listened to your pod cast while sitting in the doctors office! Loved it! I’ll be sure to spread the news to our members to get on board if they are not already! Appreciate all you do!” Deanna Fields, Executive Director, MHAO 

It is always, always a pleasure to hear from industry leaders, business owners and executives, middle managers and the rank and file. Comments like this make our work load seem lighter, and I always share these with our team here at MHMSM.com that makes this work on the Industry’s behalf possible! By the way, we get other comments, but we use ones like the above only with permission. Thank you, Deanna, for spreading the word, and to all like you who are working for the advancement of our great industry!

If you want to see what other leaders and readers say, please click on this link:

http://www.mhmarketingsalesmanagement.com/what-our-readers-say

I take a few moments to mention this because Deanna and others have it right! If you and your team are reading and listening daily to what we offer, you and your team will have an edge in business that those who don’t plug in won’t have. Sports teams train and they ‘watch tape,’ video and replays of what they and their competitors do. That makes them BETTER in the big game. You and your team WILL DO BETTER because if you learn more, you will earn more.

2.
It seems that the November elections are among the reasons why Chief Executives around the country are more confident than before.

CEO Confidence Index, chart courtesy of CEO Magazine

When executives see a reason to invest in the future, maybe it is wise for us to think the same, too.

3
Friday brought us a tip on a recent development that will do more than raise an eyebrow or two in the Industry. Our Industry in Focus Reporter Eric Miller is on the trail of that story and others that will get the water cooler, phone and email conversations humming. Check in to our Daily Business News blog and please watch for more in-depth reports to follow.

4.
The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show is – according to our research – THE single hottest topic in the Industry, period. Not only is this reflected in our Google Analytics report, but another key indicator is that the early sign-ups for attendance is strong. Joe Kelly, the Executive Director of Iowa’s fine state association has given us a thoughtful message on the subject for the Industry Voices Guest Blog. Please read it. Then book yourself and your key team members to go if you haven’t already. Why?

4a.
There are already more people signed up for attending than went to MHI’s annual meeting and the International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix combined!  Dozens are signing up daily; at this rate, the show will do VERY well. 

4b.
There is great info along with many seminars and services available at the show to help you grow your business, PLUS you can see dozens of new homes that would be great for your MH Community or Retail Center. Well-known Industry author, speaker and communities and development expert Eddie Hicks will be among those sharing insights in and near the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC). Where else can you go and rub shoulders and shake hands with some of the biggest names in the Industry? “Go, Louisville!”

4c.
Are you an exhibitor or planning to exhibit? Then please click on this link.

4d.
More on Louisville later, including the fact that more industry leaders have emailed me to say that they will share their reasons why YOU SHOULD BE THERE. “Those who KNOW will Go Louisville!” If some of the brightest lights in the Industry say you should go, then take a page from Nike’s ad, and just do it.

4e.
Our MHMSM.com team members will be in Louisville, including your wordy blogger, me. I hope to meet you in person. If you have one of our Manufactured Housing REVOLUTION books, bring it by for an autograph. If you don’t have a book, come by, pick one up and it will be autographed! Many of those who helped pen the Manufactured Housing REVOLUTION will be there – you should get their autographs, too!  

5.
We have word that a well-known Industry personality will be sharing their A Cup of Coffee with Interview with us, likely in time for the new issue that comes out next week. We all want to know more about this person, and YOU can ‘read all about it!’ right here, exclusively. Click here to see other personalities who have done A Cup of Coffee with… exclusive interviews.

6.
Manufactured and modular housing Industry growth won’t happen by magic. There are reasons why Cavco and Clayton still find it wise to buy up chunks of this industry. They see a bright future, or they wouldn’t be doing it. There are reasons why people are still investing in MH Communities, why people are making deals to acquire more. There are reasons why some are making a profit – yes, in this economy – why, as one leader told me a few days ago, they are making more money than they ever have. They are working SMARTER, and see ‘challenges’ as opportunities in disguise. We at MHMSM.com are realistic; we know there are problems, but we see the opportunities, too.  

7.
Circling back to Deanna’s comment, if you are not already signed up to access our FREE podcasts of feature articles and daily Factory Built Housing News at Noon and Manufactured Housing Marketing Reports, please click here. It is worth sharing that one of our top 1% of all our pages accessed is the registration page! If you aren’t registered, if you don’t get our twice weekly email updates, you are missing out on key information, much of which you will find ONLY here at MHMSM.com.

When we talk about learning, I want you to know, that we invest in our own learning, we practice what we preach. For example, our fine IT and Production Manager, Bob Stovall, is attending a weekend seminar to keep up-to-date with the latest in his online world skills. To his credit, Bob is routinely researching, routinely going to meetings and seminars. This is why you or your marketing manager needs to be reading his “Cutting Edge” blog, or using his part of our MHMSM.com online services if you don’t want to mess with the work yourself. Be sure to attend the presentation we will do in Louisville, “How to Dominate Your Local Market!“

Last week, in our daily news, you read – or could have! – news stories on our Industry you didn’t find anywhere else but right here at www.MHMarketingSalesManagement.com (aka MHMSM.com). So, please check in tomorrow and every week day to the daily news blog or do what Deanna Fields and so many others are doing every day, downloading podcasts of industry news and great feature articles. I want to take a moment to say thank you for coming, and thank you to all the Featured Writers who make us the most-read trade journal and news resource in the Industry today.

Thank you for reading, and thanks for passing the word on to your friends and associates to listen to our podcasts and/or read the News and Views You Can Use right here at MHMSM.com.

##

I recently have had a number of email exchanges with some well-known industry personalities about the subject of training and other business related investments. There are certainly companies that have good training and personnel development programs in the manufactured housing community field. We have some managers and owners who have taken and passed ACM type classes or even more who have passed George Allen’s MHM classes (myself included). But for the most part, let’s be honest with each other and admit that compared to many companies outside of our industry, training and investing in information and education could be better.

To make the point, consider these facts that were sent to me as part of the discussion:

• At Holiday Inn, front desk clerks receive one full week of on-the-job training before they are permitted to register their first guest. 
• The telephone operators/booking agents at Disney Cruise Lines must complete three weeks of intense classroom training and testing before taking their first phone call. 
• PIE Trucking Company requires new drivers to complete an intensive driving school, tests, peer review and a comprehensive final exam before taking the wheel. 
• At Google, all employees at every level are encouraged – and paid – to attend seminars, workshops, trade fairs and conferences throughout the year.

As part of my reply to one industry veteran this week, I echoed the above and said, ’Think about McDonalds, Best Buy or many other companies we encounter routinely. People get more initial and ongoing staff and product training to do cell phones or serve hamburgers than many do to provide manufactured housing, one of the major investments in a person’s life time.’

I recall a message from a well-known industry sales trainer, one who writes very fine feature articles for us here at MHMSM.com. That pro expressed this thought: ‘Our industry would already be doing better if we simply had sales people doing a better job of qualifying and selling to the people who are already calling and coming for information.’ 

One of the most expensive parts of any business operation is personnel and related costs. So why don’t we invest more in people? Why don’t we invest in proven ways to solve the issues that our industry collectively faces? And then why don’t we spend more time in research and education that can grow a business like a manufactured housing community that has an occupancy challenge? A little education, a little leg work, and Voila! You’ve got financing that makes sense!

Let me make a case in point. People in the MHC world today WANT more chattel financing options so they can fill vacant home sites! Many smart operators have decided that the way to get homes sold is to have an in-house sales and financing operation. It makes sense, because properly done, it is profitable AND it generates more site fees.

What if you don’t know how to do your own in-house financing that is legally compliant? Well, educational resources are available, but you have to set aside a couple of days for a key staff member to get the ball rolling. Then, you need to learn how to fund your captive or in-house (sister or affiliated company) financing program. How do you start that process? Well, many state associations have teamed up with service suppliers to teach a class, or you can go straight to those who do the training. Those trainers will teach you how to raise the capital to fund an in-house (read sister or affiliated company) aka captive finance program.

Those managing captive finance operations can earn significant profits for their related finance company, and conversely can set that same company up for big losses through untrained and undisciplined underwriting and compliance efforts. So as with anything else in life, if you are going to do it, please do it correctly. 

I had an interesting exchange some weeks back with a company that ‘wants more financing.’ I asked, have you spoken to the people at Precision? The short answer was ‘no.’ Why not? The reply was something like this: ‘That takes training, it takes time to attend their seminar, etc.’ Hmm…interesting; they are not selling as many homes as they want to sell, but they won’t do what it takes to move from where they are, to where they want to be? Even a very modest community is a 6-figure investment, many are more in the 7-8-figure range. I look at reports on occupancy. So, why would a community operator not want to be at 100% occupancy, when he or she is currently at 70%-80% occupancy, and in many cases far less? 

Over the years, I invested significant sums in buying books, tapes, later CDs and going to seminars, so I could advance my skills and thus my career. Sure, it may be ‘easier’ if someone would simply just do it all for you, when it comes to financing. But that is not our reality today in the manufactured housing world. When someone has say, a 7-figure investment in a single property, why would they not invest a pair of days and do some leg work that can generate hundreds of thousands of additional revenue?

Manufacturers –if I were in your role, I would be nudging my clients into captive finance programs if they are not already doing it. If in-house (better known as captive finance) lending is good enough for Hometown America and other like firms, then surely it is good enough for other smart community operators! If I were in manufacturing, I’d be offering to sponsor programs that help my clients who are in the communities business get into the captive financing business. Why? Because it would create more orders for new homes!

I am a big believer in win-win relationships. Community operators need to be doing captive finance if they are not already doing so. I was looking at two different community operations, very similar in many respects; they were geographically about 15 miles apart. One was doing a captive finance program, and I was told they just closed 8 homes (read, filled 8 sites and made the profits on those home sales, too) the previous month. How? Captive finance. The other operation is stagnant. They have fairly tough lending that they can get, and no captive lending. The second community was considerably newer than the first. Yet the first community with its captive finance program is blowing the second one away in filling their vacant sites.

It would be wonderful if Washington, DC would ride in on a white horse and suddenly lay out for us a new financing program that would make our industry peaches-and-cream days again. But while we wait…

And wait…

And wait…

…for financing to return, doesn’t it make sense to investigate the relative ease of doing your own in-house – and legally compliant! – financing program?

There is a reason why some of the larger firms have already done this type of captive lending program for themselves. If your firm has not, isn’t it time to check into a captive or in-house finance program? Oh, yes, perhaps the last point is the important one to you. A compliant program can earn you more money. Think about the true story of community one and community two above. One is filling up, the other is not. Invest in a couple of days of training in a class and some leg work, you say? For a community owner, this is a no-brainer decision.

As a manufacturer, I’d be telling my MHC clients to take a page from the Nike handbook, and ‘Just Do It!’ As an association leader or other supplier to the industry, I would be talking about captive financing until everyone is just doing it.

Once that happens, factories will hum, suppliers will sell more, sales people will earn more, community operators will profit, and associations will not have the same struggles we are dealing with so often today. If we treat our customers the way we want to be treated, we will have happy residents and full communities again. Associations won’t be trying to figure out how to cover the next bill, because members will have more money to spend in what matters, education and the other benefits of association membership.

Before leaving this topic, I want to inject the fact that captive finance will be one of the free subjects in the upcoming Louisville Manufactured Housing Show. Ken Rishel will be providing that presentation on the first day of the show (Jan 12) at the Kentucky Exhibit Center (KEC). Also at the KEC will be George Allen presenting on his ‘Ah Ha! Oh No!’ formula for community sold home pricing success; Don Westphal presenting on Community Series Homes; Eddie Hicks presenting on how to get new financing or refinancing for your community, even if others have given you a hard time. Finally, there will be our own Bob Stovall and myself presenting on ‘How to Dominate Your Local Market!’ through web, email and social networking marketing. These intros at the KEC are one of literally dozens of good reasons why so many are already signing up to go to the Louisville Show in 2011. There is a reason why the Louisville Show is the #1 topic today, according to our online research – and there are lots of reasons for YOU to be THERE!

Returning to our theme…

Captive or in-house financing isn’t a panacea, but it is potentially such a huge step ahead that it should be top of mind as part of the Industry’s turn-around and growth strategy. As I am personally thinking about doing an MHC in the future, let me say, make the time to learn and apply legally compliant captive finance, so you can earn more.

##