upbuilding of the profession to which he belongs.”
– Theodore Roosevelt per AZquotes.
If memory serves, it was about 1988 when Colorado’s manufactured housing association used that quote in an article about this writer’s operation in Purcell, OK. The story that the Colorado writer spotlighted was published in one of the now defunct industry trade publications.
That snippet from Colorado may still be in a box somewhere, but the point is the quote, and how it applies to the story of Ryan Kirk, shown below. It is also how it applies to everyone else in our industry too, you, me, and all others.
We plan an upcoming special report in MHProNews on this community and its owner, Ryan Kirk.
But let’s make the case here and now for why this local news video reflects the enduring value of good business, that gives a great service to that area. That service is building good will for his business, and arguably for the industry in his market too.
It immediately made me consider what ROC USA has done that generates good PR for their operation. See that for later reading, its linked below.
Here’s how Kirk’s story makes a similar point that the one that award-winning ROC-USA president, Paul Bradley has shared with us on MHLivingNews or MHProNews numerous times over the years.
Provide a good value proposition, promote it, and the public will flock to it.
That’s the potential for the manufactured home community industry. Kirk’s taken a small, ‘run down’ community, and is giving it a facelift. Sam Landy led UMH Properties has done this in several markets. Others are too, so Kirk is far from alone.
From what we’ve already learned, at least one of the homes getting makeovers in Kirk’s community is a true mobile homes, one allegedly dating back to the 1950s.
Kirk’s upgrades of the homes and the community gives local workers a place of enhanced pride that they can call home.
Contrast this with the sad outcome from what was reported near GA, linked below. Which story would you rather have shared about your operation?
Candidly. Which story would you rather read about or watch on TV/video about the MH industry?
There is always a right and a wrong way to do something.
A reader wrote recently to say that he thought we were “too confrontation.” It’s not the first or last such message that we’ll get, and we respected the candid comment. Let me explain to him, and others who wonder why the switch?
First, we’ve long done stories on the Daily Business News like the Magar Magar tragic tale. We did that ages before NPR discovered it. Why spotlight both the negative and positive about the industry? Why not just shovel out an ongoing stream of feel-good stories?
“Jail Him!” NPR’s “Mobile Home Park Owners Can Spoil An Affordable American Dream” Refuted
The answer is found in our new report on ELS’ Vice-Chairman Howard Walker‘s advice.
We shifted how we’ve done reports in the last year, to drive home the points from each story more clearly. Each article is now “news, analysis and commentary.” That gives us more latitude in writing style to explain the ‘moral of the story,’ or the ‘takeaways’ as people more often say today.
A competitor recently wrote to say, “I truthfully much like your new format. It makes it easier to find articles pertinent to one’s interests.” Thanks.
We did a turn-around project with elements that are similar to Kirk’s for a community operator some years ago. It generated considerable free – and positive – local media. We got free national coverage in the now defunct MHMerchandiser Magazine for the work being done there.
Peers in and out of the industry praised the work. Was that a one off? Hardly, here’s another example from a different project in a different state.
The principles are very much like what ROC does routinely, and what Kirk did with this story, shown in the video posted above.
These are all shared as lived examples of the same principle – outside looking in – that Ryan Kirk’s business is putting to work in Montgomery.
There are plenty of success principles that one can point to, and that ought to be at the core of every professional’s being. They can be summed up with what winning coach Lou Holtz summarized in two words. “Do Right.”
Is there more to success than those two words? Of course. But the takeaway, the moral of the story that caused a favorable spotlight for Ryan, or ROC USA or for this writer in various projects are the same. Provide a good value proposition. Do right by your team, and your customers.
Learn, earn, return, and repeat daily. That’s today’s Monday Morning sales meeting “News, Tips, and Views That Pros Can Use.” © ## (Manufactured housing related marketing & sales news, analysis, and commentary.)
(Third-party images and content are provided under fair use guidelines.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – Masthead commentary, for MHProNews.com.
Tony is the multiple award-winning managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
Office 863-213-4090 |Connect on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
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