Posts Tagged ‘Self storage’

Upcoming Legal Seminar for Texas Self Storage Industry

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

On March 24, the Texas Self Storage Association will host a legal seminar in Houston as the final part of their Storage Education Series. Created in 1986, this non-profit trade association offers many educational opportunities for its members in the state of Texas.

The legal seminar will help those in the self-storage industry learn how changes made in the recent legislative session affects their business. It is also a prime opportunity become more familiar with the procedures and forms pertinent to the industry. Those encouraged to attend this seminar include self-storage owners, managers, and developers.

More specifically, according to a press release, “This is an opportunity for self-storage professionals in Texas to acquaint themselves with the critical changes made to vehicle and boat lien sale procedures.” The TSSA’s executive director, Ginny Sutton, says that the association has seen a recent increase in calls from members about lien sales procedures. They hope this seminar will answer lingering questions about these important changes. Other topics covered will include collections, sales taxes, towing laws, court orders, meth labs, bankrupt tenants, and more.

In the last half hour of the seminar, there will be 30 minutes of an open Q&A with TSSA Legal Counsel Connie Heyer, so come equipped with your questions.

Registration is still open for the legal seminar. To sign up, call 888-259-4902 or register online. Those who attend will receive a free copy of an auction handbook that explains how to handle self-storage foreclosures step-by-step.

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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.

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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!

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