The other day, Michael C. from Dallas sent me an email saying:
“Derek, I enjoy reading your blog and e-mails. However, I have to say that I already know most of the marketing ideas you share and find them pretty basic. I know you are a very sharp marketer from our phone conversation and you are capable of going much deeper. Are you ever planning on giving more advanced lessons on your blog?”
I know this person from a previous telephone conversation we had, so I called him and shared this response…
You see, there’s much more advanced marketing knowledge bouncing around in between my ears. I could talk for days about stuff like: 3PPI, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Frequency Measurement, RFM, advanced Psychology, Search Engine Optimization, print and mail intricacies and so on.
But, sharing it with you is *not* what you need. I think you’re all smart enough to understand it, but part of being smart is knowing what information and actions you need to succeed at any given point in time.
In other words, you don’t need a NFL Pro Bowl quality team to win a game against a community college. Wasting the time and money to assemble such an effort is pointless.
Selling self-storage to a consumer is not like selling an investment, rocket fuel tanks, IT infrastructure or anything complex like that.
But that’s not the only reason I like to keep it simple.
The reason I keep sharing pathetically obvious information with you is actually quite strategic.
See, I realize that you probably already *know* a lot of the things I share with you…
But, far too often, what we KNOW and what we DO are two separate things!
We know that diet and exercise equals weight loss, but many of us are still overweight and getting fatter by the day.
We’ve known for decades that smoking is a recipe for a miserable death. Yet millions upon millions of people still light up.
You know that you need to be promoting a referral program, doing press releases, focusing on differentiation, improving your Internet presence and so on.
But, very few facilities actually DO IT!!
If they would…their occupancy worries would likely be gone forever. They could charge higher prices. They could drop their Yellow Pages ad. And reduce stress at the same time.
And I believe part of why they don’t is because they don’t have the time and/or don’t have the confidence they need to create and deploy marketing campaigns…even the simplest of them all!
If you’re guilty of this, I challenge you to start small. Take baby steps to getting the most obvious of things taken care of.
Forget about making it perfect for now. Just do it. I promise you that, as simple as they seem, the strategies and tactics I share with you work and work extremely well.
On the subject of confidence, I found this beautiful piece of writing I wanted to share with all of you. It’s a bit sappy, but I haven’t read a more empowering piece of writing in a long time.
If you’re politically correct and/or think the word “God” is offensive…stop reading here.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
That is an excerpt from Marianne Williamson’s book called: “A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.” I hope you enjoyed that and take the time to think about it.
And, I hope that the relatively simple and obvious insights I share inspire you to take action and to what you know needs to be done to increase your occupancy and profits!
All the best,
Derek M. Naylor
President
Storage Marketing Solutions
800.941.4805
P.S. If you haven’t requested your FREE CD recording of the insightful Tele-seminar I did with Bob Vamvas, send an e-mail to info@storagemarketingsolutions.com with your name and mailing address and we’ll get a copy in the mail to you ASAP.
