The more one reflects on the elements of success, the more one may come to the conclusion that all success is team success. While there certainly are 'one man bands' – and solo success stories – typically, success is the result of so many factors that involve so many people, it is difficult to differentiate the one, from all the positive impact of those who shaped the one. And no, that wasn't a political comment! You'll see what I mean below.
First, my sincere thanks to all those who day by day, week by week and month by month, make the content of MHProNews.com possible. Matthew Silver is a stalwart of steady performance in our Daily Business News blog. For every typo or glitch, he has about 900 error-free items. If your local baseball team had a batting average like that, we'd all be proud!
Soheyla does a ton of work behind the scenes, including our new issue work, setting up our twice weekly elbasts, the Industry Voices OpEd/letters to the editor blog, the MHI, MHARR and Corporate PR news modules and ever so much more. I occasionally have to sing her a few bars from the Disney musical, Mary Poppins, “practically perfect in every way.” By the way, if your team is not on our twice weekly emailed news updates list, they can sign up free here.
Our featured writers are further examples of steady performance. We have those featured writers for June listed below. From general industry topics, to inspiration, to sales, marketing, management, legal, community and more, you won't find a stronger line up anywhere in our industry! To those this month, and to those who routinely shared in May, April, March or other prior months, a huge thank you!
These professionals continue to add to the body of knowledge that is found here on MHProNews.com.
Because knowledge is potential power, they are the power cells for your associates (and my!) gray matter.
Along side the many fine articles by our writers, we have a number of additional, exciting, new exclusives.
Because my mama taught me, lady's first, Marguerite Nader, CEO of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), joins us this month with one of our A Cup of Coffee with interviews. You will find Mrs. Nader's article linked below.
Joe Stegmayer, Cavco's Chairman and prior MHI Chairman too – being a gentleman – would have insisted on lady's first! Joe graced us with A Cup of Coffee interview, which is also linked below.
Both of these C-Suite leaders have shared exclusive personal, professional and heady insights in their respective vision for their respected firms and the industry at large. These are among our must reads.
The Honorable Congressman Paul Kanjorski also joins us this month, in what I hope won't be a one time occurrence! Congressman Kanjorski had terrific insights for attendees of MHI's Winter meeting and Legislative session in February, and was very thoughtful in providing us with insights and tips that can help our cause in DC and beyond. We need all the grass roots level efforts we can get, so his will be a compelling read for thousands.
Stacey Epperson, the CEO of NextStep, has also joined us this month. She tells a personal story of her 'conversion' from being a site builder opposed to manufactured housing to be a gung-ho advocate for our Industry! We will likely cross-post a version of Stacey's fine article onto MHLivingNews.com, and once we do, please share that with the public, because it is stories like hers that will help convince more and more in the public to see the value of our industry.
I'd like to mention Eric Miller, who while he hasn't been 'active' on our team officially for quite some time, was the gent who started much of our format for the Daily Business News (DBNs). Like a true trooper, Eric still sends us 'leads' and tips on stories from time to time. We thank him for his service and wish Eric well in all his endeavors.
The same tip of the hat goes to Jeff Templeton, who provided thoughtful contributions on how to position the DBNs and ever so much more. A broad thanks to all who, over the past 3 and a half years, spent time in our ranks to advance the cause of professional trade media for manufactured housing here on MHProNews.com.
There are numerous association leaders and experts of many kind who many not always give us an article, but they often provide us with news tips, insider insights and the occasional word of advice that your's truly needs to stay on course. My thanks to you all.
You, our readers, are responding at levels that are off the charts to all of this information! May is not yet completed, as this is being written, and we have blown some of our prior readership and pageview records clean out of the water! The results shown below are through part of May 31st, 2013.
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Let me highlight just two of those stats. 167,679 visits and 1,433,960 page views. I tell people in our training programs that the smart way to use numbers is to make a comparison to something else people can relate to. MHI's media kit tells us that they average 250,000 page views a month. So there are over 5 times as many page views here as on the national association's website. Wow!
We noticed recently that part of the reason for all of these pageviews is that more and more people are diving deeply into our past monthly featured articles, Cup of Coffee interviews, Industry in Focus Reports, the Cutting Edge, Inspiration and Words of Wisdom blogs and more. If it has been a while since you've just gone to the home page and 'looked around,' you might be amazed at how deep our drop down menu is, how many 'past' articles are just as relevant today as when those featured writers or bloggers first shared them.
Finally, my sincere thanks to our sponsors. Folks, they make it happen for us, so we can make it happen for you. In the real world that means you need to support those in our classifieds and all of our banner advertisers, who are linked here. For those who are not yet advertisers – but ought to be! – please click here.
Day by day, we are building the future of manufactured housing trade media here. But we are also building what we plan to be the future of our industry's much needed and long overdue image campaign. Please read my column on that, which is linked below. Associations, trade media and an image campaign are all keys to industry advancement.
For all of my personal missteps along the way, my thanks to those who correct, suggest, support, forgive, uplift and encourage.
I'd like to thank the over 900 who have connected with me on LinkedIn. Literally hundreds of 'endorsements' and dozens of 'recommendations' have come in via LinkedIn for our work here on MHProNew.com and for our marketing and sales consulting work too. Let me in turn thank all of those noted above, who makes this work possible. Those kudos are hereby shared with our team. It truly is all about our team work.
With no further adieu, let's dive into the strong line up for the month of June!
Don't forget that June 15 is the 'birthday' of HUD Code Manufactured Homes! I'll have some thoughts, likely on the Cutting Edge blog, on how we can celebrate that birthday in a way that pays.
Featured Articles and Reports for Vol. 4, No. 9, 2013
Alphabetically by Category
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT & FAIR HOUSING (LEGAL)
• How Not to Apply for a Job
by C. William Dahlin, JD
Manufactured home communities, sometimes simply called “mobile home parks,” or even in some areas “trailer parks,” have a variety of employment needs.
• That Bites!
by Nadeen Green, JD
Those of us who teach (and yes, preach) about fair housing are regularly and routinely asked “Do we have to take restricted breeds as service animals?”
• Mildred!? Is that a Dog Parade?
by Kurt D. Kelley, JD
New Court rulings and Federal laws are opening the door to allow a parade of dogs and other animals onto your manufactured home community property(ies).
GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS
• Get to Know Your Member of Congress
by The Honorable Paul E. Kanjorski
Your Member of Congress wants to hear from you. He or she understands that to represent approximately 800,000 constituents it is essential to hear from a broad spectrum of the population about the effect that federal legislation and regulations have on you and your business.
• A Cup of Coffee with…Marguerite Nader
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1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS)).
Marguerite Nader, President and Chief Executive Officer.
• Next Step: Our Story
by Stacey Epperson
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My name is Stacey Epperson and I am from rural Kentucky, where manufactured housing has always been part of my landscape. Ever since I left college, having served as a HUD intern through graduate school, I have devoted my entire career to affordable housing.
• DC Politics and Manufactured Housing
by L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
Your industry issues scribe is not going to pontificate (much) on the topic of DC politics as it relates to manufactured housing, HR 1779 and the 'soon to be filed' companion bill in the U.S. Senate. This is pretty cut and dried at this point, but there are news items in the works.
• Call for Nominations to the RV/MH Hall of Fame
by RV/MH Hall of Fame
ELKHART, Ind., — The RV/MH Hall of Fame Selection Committee has issued a call for nominations for the Class of 2014.
Darryl Searer, Hall president, said, "The Hall welcomes nominations from all RV and manufactured housing sectors — manufacturers, dealers, campgrounds, housing communities, suppliers, user groups, trade media, associations, etc — for the class of 2014 and beyond.
• A Cup of Coffee with…Joe Stegmayer
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1) Who, What and Where: (Your name and your formal title at Cavco).
MANAGEMENT
• Do you Manage by Example?
by Tim Connor, CSP
Are you a manager or supervisor that needs to update your people skills, management style or your approach to your roles and responsibilities? Why do I ask?
• When was the last time you SWOT’d?
by Lisa Tyler
A SWOT analysis provides information for the development of business strategies. It is a useful tool for identifying and understanding internal and external influences.
MARKETING
• Flying Cars and Manufactured Housing
by L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
The number of prototype flying cars has been increasing. Reuters recently reported on a car that will have a 500 mile range, will essentially fly itself in conjunction with a network that will help the car avoid aircraft, weather and restricted air space.
• Too Much Information!
by Scott Stroud
On the trip back from the MHI conference in Las Vegas last month I shared a flight with a young woman who was studying for her masters degree in Library Sciences.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, MOTIVATION and INSPIRATION
• Who Packed Your Parachute?
by Greg McClanahan
My daughter is graduating from high school next week. She is our youngest and that means our nest is nearly empty. With this going on in my life, I have been reflecting on the teachers, friends, her friend’s parents, church leaders and others that have influenced the young woman my daughter has become. I am so grateful for those who have made a positive difference in her life.
• ZigOn Improving Your Quality of Life
by Zig Ziglar
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A Gallup Poll revealed that by a count of ten to one Americans prefer a good relationship with their loved ones above financial gain or corporate position. The reality is, most time is spent earning money and building careers.
SALES
• A Few Negotiation Concession Strategies
by Tim Connor, CSP
In big ticket or repeat business settings as often occurs in an industry such as manufactured housing at the retail or wholesale level, requests for discounts or other concessions often occur.
