I’m one lucky guy…

I live a great life with my beautiful wife and our two healthy children.  Yesterday (Mothers Day) reminded me of how lucky I am to have a wife that pours every ounce of passion and love she has into influencing our children for happy and healthy lives.

But, I’m lucky for more reasons than that.  I also have some very intelligent subscribers to my e-newsletter and blog.  The dialogue that I have with my subscribers is invaluable and fulfilling.  Some of my readers are undoubtedly lazy and – how do I put this gently – dumb intellectually challenged.  But they’re few and far between so I won’t focus on them…

Last week I asked you to look at pages 24-25 of your May 2007 Mini Storage Messenger for what could be the worst press release ever.

Sure enough, within 2 minutes of that e-mail being sent, the answers started to pour in.  Almost every release on those 2 pages was guessed, but most of the answers pointed right at the release that I was referring to.

Now, before I dive in to the press release, I feel an obligation to let you know that this is probably not the worst press release ever written. But it’s just bad enough that it deserves some constructive criticism.

I should also say that the company that released it is probably a great organization.  I don’t know a lot about them, but I know they’ve been around for a long time and many people are absolutely thrilled with their products and services.  My opinion is of their press release, NOT their products.

Alright, enough of the disclosure…

The press release I was referring to is on page 25 and has the headline of “”ABC” Releases StorLogix 2.0 and Falcon Xt 4.2″ 

Did you get it right?  If so, congratulations.

The press release goes on to say:

“”ABC” Integrated Systems has released  StorLogix 2.0 and Falcon XT 4.2.  The new version of Falcon XT adds an embedded TCP/IP stack to the firmware allowing network connectivity to any Ethernet local area network.  Additional features in the new StorLogix version include embedded badge printing, a PTI 2000 classic interface, and enhanced reporting capabilities”

Now, how many of you have any clue what that means?  To the average person, that press release might as well have been written in Mandarin Chinese.

I’m sure that, in plain english, these updates that ”ABC” is announcing are significant to the product users.  But, in what way?

I have no earthly clue.  And neither did most of you…

So, that brings us to lesson #1 about press releases.  Make sure you speak your readers language and clearly communicate the benefit of your announcement/story to them.

Press realeases are a great way to market your self storage business.  They are non-invasive and best of all, FREE!  But, since newspapers, radio stations and television broadcasters are in the business of selling advertising space, the last thing they want to do is give away your sales pitch to the public.  So they won’t. 

However, most press outlets are always looking for good, reader focused, stories to keep their audience happy.

This is where you come in…

By regularly submitting press worthy stories to your local press, chances are high that you’ll get some good coverage.  The key is creating press worthy stories and events.

You see, there are two types of events:

1. Events that happen.  And,
2. Events that you create

If nothing is happening at your facility, make something happen!  Mothers Day is a perfect example.  Earlier this month, you should’ve put out a release similar to this:

XYZ Self Storage Makes Mother’s Day Even Better For <City> Mothers

XYZ Self Storage will be making Mother’s Day even better for 5 local mothers.  They announced on <date> that they will be sending 5 women to XYZ Day Spa for 3 beauty treatments of their choice.  While they are at the spa getting the rest and relaxation they deserve, XYZ Self Storage will be sending a crew to their home to help their husbands eliminate clutter from their garage and closets and place it in their secure self storage facility.

“I know how emotionally wearing and hard being a mother is” said Jane Smith, Owner of XYZ Self Storage.  “This year we decided that it would be great to help these deserving mothers get the break they need and come home to a clutter free home” she added.

The drawing will take place on <date>. To enter your wife or Mother, stop by XYZ Self Storage at 123 anywhere street to get details and enter the contest.  Also, all existing XYZ Self Storage customers will be entered into the drawing.

XYZ Self Storage has been a part of <city> for X years and provides secure and affordable storage for local residents.

You can contact them by calling 555.123.4567 or by sending an e-mail to storage@xyzstorage.com

By submitting something like that (in the right format) to the local press, you might have received valuable press time.  The newspaper, radio/TV station might have put a spin on it to fit their needs, but either way, you get great exposure for FREE!

On top of that, you’ve just positioned your facility as a great member of the community and people will look much more favorably on you. Not only have you provided a nice, valuable service to the community, but you’ve built in the benefits of storage at the same time.

What about the expensive spa treatments?  Well, if you’re smart (which most of you are) you’ll contact local spas and let them in on the action.  If you position it properly, you can probably get the spa to give the treatments to you for FREE or for a deep discount in exchange for the publicity and signage in your office.

Are you starting to see how this works?

As part of your overall self storage marketing plan I recommend submitting press releases as often as you can.  Just make sure they’re well written, in the right format and that the stories you send are not “sales pitches”.  Reporters will learn quickly if you’re any good or not.

One more tip…

Keep your releases as topical as possible.  If you can tie it into a major holiday or local event, your chances of getting it published go way up.

That’s all on press releases for now.  Since they’re vital to self storage marketing, I’ll probably talk about them more in a later post.

I challenge you to write a press release for the next holiday this week.  Create an event, get the details lined up and start making media contacts.

I promise the time spent is well worth it!

To higher profits!
Derek Naylor

Do you like to be sold?  Do you enjoy walking onto a car lot and watching the creepy salesmen “casually” cross paths with you and ask you something like: “what’s it gonna take to get you into this car?”.

I didn’t think so.  As Jeffery Gitomer puts it, people love to buy but hate to be sold.

So, when marketing or advertising self storage, how do you make people want to buy without sounding like an over-hyped salesperson?

In short, you position your facility as an attractive option that solves their need or want.  Key words: attractive, their, need and want.

Think about that one.

When you’re attracted to something because it solves a real need or want, there’s not a whole lot of selling needed on the other end.  It’s more a job of facilitating the sale. Right?

There are many ways to do this.  One is by delivering your message in a medium that people don’t relate to being sold by.  One of the most popular ways savvy businesses do this is through a Press Release to relevant media.

People love the news.  Frankly, I don’t know why because it’s not really even news these days and it’s more depressing than ever, but that’s not the point.  When people read the news, their “sales shield” is down and they’re open to hearing your story.

Press Releases are an unbelievable way to get 100% FREE advertising that is worth tens of thousands of dollars if you paid for the space.  And, a great way to promote your self storage business.

So, I want to teach you how to do this to effectively (and for FREE) market your self storage facility.  But, I’m going to do it kind of backwards…

I’m assuming that most of you reading this subscribe to the Mini Storage Messenger.  If you don’t, you should, it’s a great source for owner/operators.

Open up your May 2007 issue (Driving Innovation) to pages 24-25.  There you’ll find a bunch of press releases.  I want you to read over them and look for one of the WORST press releases ever.

E-mail me at info@storagemarketingsolutions.com and tell me which press release you think it is.  Don’t type the entire release, just the title is fine.

In a few days, after the responses stop coming in, I’ll announce, what I consider to be, one of the worst press releases ever.  Then, I’ll constructively tell you what’s wrong with it and how to use the power of press releases to cheaply and effectively market your self storage business.

I look forward to your responses!

To higher occupancy…

 Derek Naylor

P.S. I know a guy that sold pieces of the Brooklyn Bridge through FREE press releases and made millions.  Why didn’t you or I think of that?