The Masthead

Happy Thanksgiving from:

Joe – Matthew – Jeff

Soheyla – Tony

Before you break for all the joys and feasting with family and friends, let us thank you for coming faithfully to our web-pages. You've made us #1.

We also want to thank our feature writers and sponsors who make all of this possible:

 

Gather Round the Table and Feast!

 

The following are places and firms who know:

How
Manufactured Housing Industry Business Gets Done ©.

 

Resident Owned Communities – ROC USA – Paul Bradley – learn how easy and profitable it can be to sell to the people you already know.

Green Courte Partners – We Buy Manufactured Home Communities.  Work with a top growing Industry Leader you can trust.

Great Southwest Home Show 2012- Tulsa OK, March 1-2 Trade Days, March 3-4 Public Days. "The World's Largest Indoor Manufactured Housing Show!"  Get the facts and watch the video at the link above. This is the biggest event of its kind west of the Mississippi, and this year is the only one with trade and public days – we will be there, we hope to see you here too – so don't miss it!

Connexion Technologies – Manufactured Home Community Owners – earn more without investing your money!

American Insurance Alliance – The Largest Insurer of Parks, Retailers, Installers and more!  Discover professional protection and service here.

Manufactured Housing Institute – MHI – The National Voice of the Manufactured and Modular Home Industries.

The Louisville Manufactured Housing Show - January 11-13, 2012 – Dennis Hill, Show Coordinator.  Start off your new year with a bang!  Come to the grand-daddy of all the Industry's shows, and see dozens of new homes, some 80 exhibitors, the best networking, plus business building seminars.  Over 1400 attendees and exhibitors made this their first major event in 2011 year, come see why and stop by and say hi at our booth.

And check out more of our sponsors here.

From all of us to all of you…Gobble-Gobble! # #

post by
L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach

The Business Insider headline “Don’t Show this to Warren Buffett…” was just one of many private or public messages that came into my email in the days following the IBISWorld Report that forecast the manufactured housing dealer as a ‘dying industry.’  Many calls came in on this and related topics in recent days as well.  Is this report and our latest drop in shipments on manufactured housing industry professionals’ minds?

You bet.

Last week, Thayer Long sent a message to manufactured housing state execs and the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) Board of Directors with a copy of Paul Bradley’s insightful IBIS Report analysis.

Retailer Doug Gorman and manufacturer Otis Orsburn have also sounded off on this manufactured home news topic on our Industry Voices Guest Blog.

Off our site, George Allen and commentary on LinkedIn is ongoing regarding the causes of the Industry’s downturn and what manufactured housing Industry professionals plan to do about it.

We will bring you a story soon with exclusive quotes from Thayer Long at MHI and Danny Ghorbani from MHARR (Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform) on this topic of IBIS and the latest drops in Industry sales levels.

For the moment, let me echo a statement made by one leader who said that we believe in the future of our Industry.  MHMSM.com believes in the future of this industry, too!

We also believe ignoring the facts can be done only at our own peril.

It is at least as important to work for pro-growth efforts to

promote our Industry as it is to

defend the Industry from legislative issues such as the

SAFE Act or Dodd-Frank.

In fact, arguably, the pro-growth efforts can help fund efforts such as getting needed change with respect to SAFE or Dodd-Frank.  Our great nation repealed slavery and prohibition; surely we can pull together enough to get a regulatory climate that fosters business and job growth while protecting consumers.

The IBISWorld report puts the media’s role regarding our Industry on center stage.  IBISWorld has successfully used the media to cast more doubt over manufactured housing.  This poses two questions:

1.    How can we get more favorable media coverage for manufactured housing?

2.    How can we get the media to use proper terminology that doesn’t sound like a put down every time they report on our Industry?

These will be some of the topics covered in the Engaging the Media panel discussion in Las Vegas on April 28th.   For those going to MHI’s Congress in Vegas, we hope you will plan to attend this crucial topic of “Engaging the Media” – because it impacts every business in our Industry multiple times a year.  We may also present that topic in Tulsa the following day.

For you and your area, the lessons from Engaging the Media could be a nascent precursor to a national image and educational effort for the manufactured housing industry.  Private companies and associations can work together to engage the media to successfully advance the Industry’s image and thus manufactured home sales results.

Thayer Long is correct in saying that attendance and factory orders from shows at Louisville, Tunica and sign-ups for the Congress, PMHA’s HOMExpo 2011 in York PA and the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa OK are all positive signs.

Information I’ve seen indicates that the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show registration is running well ahead of last year.  Attendance was good at Louisville and Tunica, and is expected to be good for HOMExpo 2011 in York PA as well.

After a long night, any sign of dawn’s first light is anxiously awaited.  That is human nature.  We want to see positive signs where we can find them.

But unlike dawn or the seasons, business results can be influenced!

Sales results can be measured – but also increased – through sound analysis, planning and follow through.  Shows and educational efforts are tools to boost business that we believe in.

What is critical is that we not get bogged down in politics or bickering that fails to advance our personal, professional, business or broader Industry advancement and growth.

Every manager or executive is held accountable for RESULTS.  Should we not hold ourselves and others accountable as well for getting results?

George Allen and Doug Gorman come from different parts of the MH Industry world.  Each has won their share of awards, and each has professionals who cheer for their positive efforts.  Entirely unbeknownst to each other, Doug and George decided this weekend to include in their writings musing about ‘conspiracy theories’ regarding the Industry’s downturn.  Each has a different take, George on his Community-Investor Blog and Doug on our Industry Voices Guest Blog.

Quoting in part from George’s Blog post earlier today:

“It’s the well known but embarrassing phenomenon of self – immolation (Webster: as in ‘killing oneself – or industry – as a sacrificial victim’). In the case of manufactured housing, this self – defeating state of affairs is characterized by ‘resistance to change’ (e.g. Like automobile plants, we count our ‘shipments’, not homes ‘sold’, & cling to vestigial trade lingo like it’s Biblical writ); greed (e.g. Think, ‘Bigger boxes = bigger bucks!’); and, frequent lack of product (installation) responsibility (warranty) once the house leaves the factory (e.g. Remember ‘DAR’? It’s the industry’s continuing mantra, in some circles, as in ‘Drop (that house) And Run!’).

“And there’s more. How ‘bout cyclic short term abuses of chattel and realty finance sources, followed by reaping self – sacrificial long term consequences of going without (e.g. Only 50,000+/- new HUD Code homes ‘shipped’ during years 2008, 2009 & 2010)?

“Of course, there’s also the perennial, not – so – private, lobbying – defeating, internecine squabbling between our national advocacy trade bodies inside the Washington, DC beltway. Will it ever end?

“Plus, landlease (nee manufactured home) communities are not without blame! Too many still deserve to be viewed as nothing more than ‘trailer parks’, awash with negative societal mores and perpetuating a very poor public image of an otherwise desirable, affordable lifestyle.  And in the same breath, do we dare mention the nefarious (in some eyes) or business risk – mitigating (in other eyes) practice of ‘churning’ our (property owner) self – financed homeowner/rental homesite lessees? And the list goes on….

“Is there a solution? I believe there is. But we need a charismatic, respected, well known, successful businessman or woman leader, to step forth and publicly announce, ‘The HUD Code manufactured housing industry is at an impasse! And if we’re to move forward together, and profitably, during the next decade, we’ve simply got to Get Our Act Together, the sooner the better!’”

(Editor’s Note: The wording quoted above is copied verbatim from GFA’s blog,  but paragraph spacing and bold emphasis are ours).

Let’s sum up.

Here are our links to the IBIS related stories and blog posts on our site:

• Paul Bradley
• Doug Gorman
• Otis Orsburn
• Daily Industry Business News
• our download on the IBIS report

Industries are made up of thousands of businesses and professionals.  The presence of big players in our Industry is a good reason for us to continue to believe in our Industry.  The presence of far more ‘mom and pop’ independents who are hanging in and working hard to effect their own turn around are good reasons to believe that we can individually respond to local trends and opportunities. But we do have to be willing to change and adapt to the times.  Failure to change and adapt in positive ways will mean that more retailers, communities, manufacturers and others fall by the wayside.

Business Insider’s “Don’t Show this to Warren Buffett…”? Come on.  IBISWorld Report? Come on.  They may get some attention and headlines.  But do not let those self-serving naysayers get you down.

If we don’t get stuck in a rut, we can move ahead.  Ideas like Randy Rowe’s 5 Point Program for the Industry’s turn around are important concepts for us to consider.

Let’s sum up:

• Educational efforts (inside and outside) our industry are of value.  Association and other events and shows can be a very useful part of this process.
• MHAO‘s and PMHA‘s promotional efforts such as their public days in their respective home shows are useful tools to show the public at large that today’s manufactured homes are a quality, safe, durable energy saving home value, with the ability to attract both ‘entry level’ and ‘upscale’ home customers.
• There is a need to boost business and our public perception.  Some of this can come through Engaging the Media.  if you are planning to be in Las Vegas for MHI’s Congress,  please plan on attending this workshop and panel discussion.
• There should be accountability for results.

The bottom line?

We need to be willing to change where and as needed, or risk becoming the dinosaurs that the IBISWorld Report predicts we will become. Let’s make the IBISWorld Report and dropping industry shipment numbers the wake up call to change what and as needed. # #

March Madness is history and UConn fans revel in their team’s win over favored Butler. Now the NBA playoffs begin April 16.

A more brilliant history has been made in Louisville… Tunica… and is coming up in York… Tulsa… the venues of this year’s great manufactured home shows. Irving Berlin said it first about the Greatest Show on Earth, but there’s no reason why it can’t apply to these Industry Shows as well: the HOMExpo 2011, billed as the Only Factory Built Housing Show in the Northeast Region, and the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show, the Biggest Indoor Home Show:

There’s no business like [MH] show business
Like no business I know
Everything about it is appealing
Everything the traffic will allow…
Let’s go on with the show
Let’s go on with the show!
The show!
The show!

Scheduling these Industry shows in the first four months invigorates and motivates, inspires and propels the vendors and attendees – professionals and public alike – to fresh enthusiasm for the remaining eight months of the year. Fresh enthusiasm for the excellent product we call factory-built homes: HUD code manufactured, modular, panelized… Fresh appreciation for the Industry pros you can meet in person, for the seminars and workshops, the products and services that surround and support these homes and the variety of locations in which they can be sited. Fresh enthusiasm for buyer-affordability and vendor-profitability in what can be an Industry Turn-around Year!

Which shows did you attend and/or will you be attending? What features were most helpful for you and your business? What didn’t happen that you would like to see included in next year’s shows? MHMSM.com would like to hear from you on these subjects. Use our Discus system to leave a public comment at the bottom of this article, or email Tony@MHMSM.com or Catherine@MHMSM.com for a private one. We respect your privacy, and share names/contact information when you give permission to do so.

Speaking of winners and Industry pros who always make their shots, let’s get to our new line-up of Featured Articles and Reports! This month we introduce our Featured Articles according to Subject Category, listed alphabetically. We hope by doing so to optimize your time with us by allowing you to more quickly identify a topic that interests you. We also welcome four new contributors this month: Mark Hunter, Tracey C. Jones, Donna Rishel and Kirk Chittick. So here are “All the Best” Top-Talent professionals!

Featured Articles and Reports

for Vol. 2, No. 7, 2011

Alphabetically by Category

COMMUNITIES

Edward ‘Eddie’ Hicks – Manufactured Home Communities
• Who the H*ll Wants to Live in a Trailer Park?

Chrissy Jackson – Land Lease Community Management
• Guidelines for Living: What Should this Guideline Achieve?

Joanne Stevens – Manufactured Home Community Value
• Top 10 List: What Community and Park Owners Think Makes Their Property Worth More

Don Westphal – Manufactured Home Community Planning
• Extreme Makeover, Community Edition – aka Ryder Park, Milford, CT – Introduction

FINANCE

Paul Bradley – Manufactured Housing Industry Financing
• IBIS Report on “Dying Industry” Misses the Mark

Dave Shanklin – Manufactured Housing Industry Financing
• Record-Low Loan Rates Attracting Buyers of Manufactured Homes in Leased Land Communities

Donna Rishel – Manufactured Housing Industry Finance Commentary
• Are Outside Investors Doomed to Fail?

Kenneth Rishel – Manufactured Housing Industry Finance Commentary
• Is Lease to Own a Safe Harbor from the SAFE Act?

GENERAL INDUSTRY/COMMENTARY

George F. Allen – Manufactured Housing Industry Commentary
• Will Euphemisms Save the Manufactured Housing Industry?

Michael Barnabas – Manufactured Housing Industry Solutions
• A look at Randy Rowe’s 5 Point Plan for Manufactured Housing Industry Recovery

Tracey C. Jones – Resources for Manufactured Housing Business Success
• 23 Ways You Can Grow Your Manufactured Housing Community Business

L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach – Manufactured Housing Industry Perspective
• The Manufactured Housing Rut

George Porter – Manufactured Housing Retail and Media Education
• Adapt, Migrate or Die – Part I: Adapt

INSPIRATION/PEOPLE SKILLS

Greg McClanahan – Soft Skills and Personal Development
• Thanks, Joe!

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• ZigOn…Listening to the Coach

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• ZigOn… Employment Security

LEGAL

Nadeen Green – Legal, Fair Housing
• Top Dog – or, Man’s Best Friend Is Fair Housing’s, Too!

MANAGEMENT

Tim Connor – Management
• 8 Reasons Why Employee Development (Training) Is a Waste of Money!

MARKETING

Chad Carr – Internet Marketing and Sales
• By the Numbers – Part 2

Bob Stovall – Manufactured Housing Use of Internet & Social Media
• Is Cloud Computing Just Pie-in-the-sky?

SALES

Tim Connor – Sales
• Overcoming Sales Slumps

Mark Hunter – Sales
• Your Customer’s Price Investment Ratio (PIR)

Mike Moore & Kirk Chittick – Sales
• 12 Step Program to Recover from the Effects of Traditional Sales Training

Seven topics this week, one that is pure fun, others more serious, so let’s dive right in.

1. Manufactured Housing: Endangered Species or Phoenix Rising?

If you listen to the likes of consultant Chuck Shinn or academic Dr. David Funk, you would think Manufactured Housing is poised for a potentially bright future.  In fact, as one manufacturing source said in Tunica this past week, “The future is so bright, we need shades.”  On the other hand, there are those who see reports like the IBIS study we reported last week in our Daily Business News blog that puts the manufactured home ‘dealer’ (retailer) on the endangered species list.  Which is it?

We will have a compelling article next week by Paul Bradley, one of our Featured Writers, who will tackle part of this subject of the IBIS study.  Other new April Issue Featured Articles will deal with elements of this subject as well.

 

2. The early numbers are in from the 2011 Tunica Manufactured Housing Show.  Some 1083 attendees joined hundreds of exhibitors for the largest indoor/outdoor event of its kind.

The attendees came from Retailers, Builder/Developers, Community Owner/Managers, Installers and other vendors/suppliers representing 444 companies.  When you include exhibitors, the Industry total at Tunica Show would be 2001 manufactured housing professionals representing 638 companies!

 

 

 

Sources from factories gave us a range of results from so-so at the Show to very encouraged by the orders taken and expected.  The mood of attendees was often upbeat.  I personally met with individuals with 40-50+ years experience, such as retailer and manufactured home community owner Dick Moore – who just keeps on truckin’ – to newcomers to our Industry.  I spoke with individuals from both coasts, border states on the North and South and many states in between!  We will have more post-Tunica Show info in the days ahead, including photos and videos.

Hats off to Dennis Hill and the South Central Manufactured Housing Show Committee for a well attended event.

 

3. MHARR and MHI members and leaders were present in Tunica.  We will watch for news and views from them, and of course we will keep you posted.

 

 

4. The Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association (PMHA) will be having their HOMExpo 2011 at the York Center in York PA.  This promises to be the largest event of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic and North Eastern states.

5. Speaking of events during this busy Show season, The Super Symposium held in Albany, New York unofficially had 148 attended and 3 model homes with a number of exhibitors and well received speakers.  This was a land lease community oriented function, but other industry segments were represented as well.  Sources at the event touted Nancy Greer and her colleagues’ work in pulling off this well received meeting.  More on this event in the days ahead.

 

 

 

6. The news from Oklahoma is that they expect the best attendance and record numbers of exhibitors for the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show at the QuikTrip Center in Tulsa.  This is billed as the world’s largest indoor manufactured home show in the United States.  Early registration and attendance patterns at Louisville and Tunica suggest this could be a very popular event.  Doug Gorman, Deanna Fields and Don Miner all call the Public Days of GSWHS ‘the home show with homes in it.’  The Public Days website is live and can be seen at:
www.greatsouthwesthomeshow.com or http://tulsahomeshow.net.

 

 

7. There will be some tweaks to our MHMSM.com format next week with our new April Featured Articles, too.  Your feedback, as always, is welcome and appreciated as we do this all for Factory Built Home Industry professionals like you.  Download or read our current articles now that you enjoyed, want to share or haven’t had the chance to benefit from yet.

What is clear so far from the Louisville and Tunica Manufactured Housing Shows is that attendance tends to attract much larger numbers than other association sponsored events.  The strong attendance at Louisville and even larger numbers at Tunica provide good reasons for optimism for similar results for the PMHA’s 2011 HOMExpo in York PA and the MHAO’s 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa OK.  We will have more Tunica Show wrap up information and photos soon, so stay tuned.

We started this blog post with the question, is manufactured housing a Phoenix rising out of the ashes?  Or is it an endangered species?  The answer, my friends and colleagues, is in your hands and mine.  Please see the INspirations Blog post today for additional insights.

We are scheduled to present in Tulsa and Vegas in the last week of April, we hope that you will pick the event that fits your needs the best, and attend.  These are great opportunities to not only see the latest in new homes, products and services, but also to network and learn how to grow your business in these challenging times.  Please feel free to stop in and say hello at our booth. # #

1.
March Madness

Have you seen our burgeoning Calendar of Events? ?  There are Industry Shows galore in March and April as state and national associations across the country sponsor Home Shows and Expos with Trade and Public Days.  In 2010, it would have seemed madness to think that some Shows, cancelled because of the economy, would return only a year later.  March will launch the Tunica Manufactured Housing Show and Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI)’s Winter Meeting and Legislative Conference, in Washington, DC. plus annual Association meetings and other events in at least four states (Maine, North Dakota, New York and California). Other state Association meetings and events occur in Maine, North Dakota, New York and California as well.  April will feature the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show in Tulsa, OK; HOMExpo 2011 in York, PA, and the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI)’s 2011 National Congress & Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

Suzanne Felber, LifeStylist® has been reporting on the various Shows, and continues with a Feature Article this month on how to apply what you learn at a Show to your own retail center or community.

This month is also the celebration of March Madness, the NCAA Tournament held at courts and sports arenas all over the country. Fans think nothing of traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to Be There and share the excitement and triumphs of their teams playing for the NCAA crystal trophy. Those who haven’t the time or means can watch wall-to-wall basketball from noon to midnight from their own TVs or phone apps. If thousands of fans can do this to support and enjoy their team, can we not do the same for our manufactured homes?

Hmmm, basketball fans… manufactured housing fans…

2.
To Associate, or Not to Associate, that is the Question… Or is it?

Doesn’t that divide the manufactured housing world of associations into the simplistic ‘black and white’ world of yesteryear, when the 21st-century world has gone from shades of gray to limitless hues of multi-spectrum color?

Maybe the real question is how to associate? Or why join an association? These MHMSM.com pages, especially The Masthead Blog and Industry Voices Blog, are customarily filled with answers to why and reasons for encouraging association membership.  In this issue, we are doing something a bit different, presenting multiple perspectives on associations for your consideration.  Are associations headstrong or member driven? Why join… or why not to? We have drawn two feature articles from the respective material of George F. Allen and Ken Rishel, who bring out both the pluses and minuses of association membership.  In addition, Michael Barnabas, Amy Bliss, Don Westphal and new voices Paul Bradley and Deanna Fields speak for association membership and address some of the concerns that Allen and Rishel have raised.

So it comes back to the fundamental question, how to associate. But the underlying principle that unifies all these perspectives is: YOU – we – (the members) are the ones to make the difference.  This isn’t about being for or against. It is about being FOR the good of the Industry. In these particularly difficult times, how can we afford not to be members of one or more associations? We’re association members. How about you?

L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach’s Feature Article is a call to recognize our need for others, and that the clasp of a helping hand up can mean all the difference in the world. This theme was preceded by his recent contribution to the Inspiration Blog, “Working Together – A Teamwork Puzzle.” He wrote, “If any piece gets minimized or isolated, the rest lose balance and suffer. If the integrity of the circle – if associations or trade media – suffers, all will pay the price. Each party – each piece of the puzzle – needs the others.”

Hmmmm, basketball teams and fans… manufactured housing associations, organizations and fans…

Let’s hear how the basketball greats put it:

“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” ~ Hall of Fame Player Kareem Adbul-Jabbar

“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” ~ Legendary basketball coach John Wooden

“Basketball doesn’t build character. It reveals it.” ~ Unknown

“Talent wins games, but team work and intelligence wins championships.” ~ Acclaimed player Michael Jordan

And what is our MHIndustry Trophy? How about classy, quality, affordable homes for millions of Americans. HUD Code homes. Modular homes. Pre-fab and panelized homes. All factory built with pride and precision right here in the U.S.A.

3.
Now the greats of the manufactured housing Industry get on the court to share their experience, insights, wisdom, creativity and challenges to help YOU “win the game,” make your sales rise, and succeed and prosper in your MH business. This month we welcome new contributors Paul Bradley, Deanna Fields and Tracy Saville. So here are “All the Best:” Top-Talent professionals from A for Allen to Z for Ziglar! Let’s get started with your big new line up…

Featured Articles and Reports
for Vol. 2, No. 6, 2011

George F. Allen – Manufactured Housing Commentary
• What MHAssociations LACK

Michael Barnabas – Manufactured Housing Industry Solutions
• To Be, or Not to Be: Die, Survive or Thrive & Manufactured Housing

Amy Bliss – Value of Association Membership
• Associations and the Value Proposition

Paul Bradley – Value of Association Membership
• Association Membership: A Member’s Perspective

Paul Bradley – Resident-owned Communities
• Defying conventional wisdom, and winning to write about it!

Chad Carr – Internet Marketing and Sales
• By the Numbers – Part 1

Tim Connor – Management
• Mixed Top-Down Messages

Tim Connor – Sales
• Getting to the Decision Makers

Suzanne Felber – Practical Application of Industry Shows
• Bringing It Home: Using What We Learn at Shows in Our Own Sales Centers

Deanna Fields – Value of Association Membership
• Why Belong to an Association?

Nadeen Green – Legal, Fair Housing
• Eeeewww, That Smells…

Edward ‘Eddie’ Hicks – Manufactured Housing Financing
• Who says there are no more profitable investments in land lease communities?

Chrissy Jackson – Land Lease Community Management
• Guidelines for Living: Will the Guidelines Be Accepted?

Susan Knowles – Manufactured Housing Community Service Options
• Make the Most of an Existing Asset

L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach – Manufactured Housing Industry Perspective
• Rodin, Art and Advancing Manufactured Housing

Greg McClanahan – Soft Skills and Personal Development
• An Amazing Person

George Porter – Manufactured Housing Retail and Media Education
• How Level Is Level?

Kenneth Rishel – Value of Association Membership
• Are Industry Associations Worthy of Active Support?

Kenneth Rishel – Manufactured Housing Industry Finance Commentary
• The Importance of a Written Loan Policy

Tracy Saville – Leader Strategy in the New Economy
• The New Economy Workforce Challenge

Joanne Stevens – Manufactured Housing Real Estate
• Top Ten Signs that You Have Stopped Thinking of Your Manufactured Home Community as an Investment

Bob Stovall – Manufactured Housing Community Resources
• What’s Around Your Community? People Want to Know

Don Westphal – Value of Association Membership
• Participation in State and National Organizations: Manufactured Housing Associations by the Number

Don Westphal – Manufactured Housing Community Planning
• Community Upgrades: Part IV: Level Four Renewal

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• ZigOn…Integrity Leadership

Zig Ziglar – Motivation & Inspiration
• ZigOn…Teamwork

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.