Archive for June, 2009

The Ultimate Need for Self Storage: Migration to Mars

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

There will be a time when people start moving to the moon and even mars.  That time won’t be for another 20, 30, or 40 more years.  But when extraterrestrial relocation does become a reality, these space pioneers will almost certainly need somewhere to store their earthly belongings.

Mars colonialists will be the ultimate self storage customer: they will need storage for a very long time.  The trip to Mars takes about 9 months each way, so even with a short 6 month stay on the red planet, they would need storage for about two years.   Long term and reliable tenants are a boon for self storage owners (SpareFoot recommends that the renter’s credit card be kept on file since collections from Mars could prove quite difficult).

At the same time, these 21st century frontiersmen/women might desire some extra amenities for their storage units that are not currently offered.  There might be someone like Jonathan Merriweather from Nantucket who can’t sleep at night without looking at his dearest wooden boat.  Jonathan would need a camera installed in his storage unit with a live video feed to space.

The take away from this blog post is that there may be a big market for storage amongst space pioneers in the future and forward thinking self storage operators should keep this in the back of their minds.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Making the most of your space

Friday, June 26th, 2009

The great thing about an open marketplace for self storage like ours is that it allows individuals, alongside facilities, to rent out their space as storage, parking, or workspace. This is similar to the idea behind sites that help users rent out their house for vacation use, or even swap their house with another house.

The Internet has allowed people to use their extra space in ways never thought possible before. Eric Leech at Treehugger.com wrote a great article about the myriad of ways people are using their unused and even other people’s space. Some people fill the extra space in their home by taking on an extra tenant, while others prefer to rent that room as storage. So many people need space in one form or another and I’m excited to see all the new ways people will be using their excess space in the future.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

How are consumers talking about self-storage?

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Self Storage is not the most exciting topic to discuss (other than here at the SpareFoot headquarters!). Recently, I ran a quick analysis to see how consumers are talking about self storage on the web (i.e. what is the overall sentiment). And furthermore, what if any insights could be gained into how self storage companies market themselves.
According to my analysis, reviewers discussing self storage have a 2:1 “sentiment ratio” (calculation of the positive to negative mentions about a topic). SocialMention.com shows that blogs demonstrate a 6:1 sentiment ratio and News sites a 4:1 ratio. WHAT?! Even as an industry insider myself, I was surprised.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

First off, self storage is overall a topic that consumers and journalists talk about in a positive light. However, it’s interesting that there is more positivity in news and blogs articles than in reviews. This begs the question, are the bloggers out there primarily industry insiders? Maybe. But in my opinion, the more relevant and insightful piece of data here is that in the end, consumers are not overwhelmingly positive about their self storage experiences. This seems odd given the the vast number of facilities and the great amenities offered (a 2:1 ratio would be considered very poor in a retail setting). There is clear opportunity here for good storage facilities to attract customers through the differentiation of their amenities and good customer service and this is exactly what SpareFoot helps them do!

Through a robust platform, SpareFoot helps surface those storage units which best meet your needs by allowing consumers to compare facilities according to their amenities and prices, easing the shopping experience for the customer.

Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of the new SpareFoot platform!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: ,
Posted in discussion | 1 Comment »

New Blog and Austin Update

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Alright, we’ve just installed our new blog, and you’re reading it.  We’ll do a better job of keeping you updated.  For starters, we’ve been working on a number of really big changes to the site, and will start rolling out the first of them in the next few days.  So hold on!

Russel Hinds and Capital Factory companies

Capital Factory companies and mentors.

We’ve now been a full month in Austin.  Texas is hot in ways that California wasn’t.  I now understand why climate control is such an important amenity for storage.  You don’t want your belongings to fry! The Capital Factory program has been amazing so far and keeps getting better.  We worked with Clutch Creative on our rebranding.  The new name fits well and the logo looks great!  Josh Baer of OtherInbox, John Price of Vast.com, Jeremy Bencken of BuzzStream, Michael Trafton of Blue Fish, the list goes on! are just a few among the mentors who have been inspiring us, tearing us apart, and showing us the light.  It’s great to have them on our team.  Though we’ve been spending most of our waking hours in the office working on taking Sparefoot to the next level, we’ve also had a chance to go tubing, eat Tex-Mex, check out the bats, and see 6th St on a weekend.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »