Secrets. Media reports tell us Chinese Communist hackers get them from business and government. Edward Snowden revealed secrets. Some secrets are meant to be kept, others ought to be outed.

The secret seeping out – albeit slowly – into the mainstream media is that manufactured homes aren't mobile homes. That building homes in a factory makes sense. In fact, more investors, educators, not-for-profits and officials are waking up to the valuable role manufactured homes can play in alleviating the growing affordable housing crisis in the U.S..

Speaking of China, according to information we see at MHProNews, we could wake up one morning and find ourselves in a foot race to control our own affordable housing market. We've sounded off before on the potential threat to U.S. factory builders if China or Japan enter our market.

Sadly, while readers have taken note of the risk of overseas competitors, we keep getting messages complaining that those in a position to act have not yet done so. China has shipped MODs to 80 nations! How long before we see them here in the U.S.?

Paraphrasing a fairly common thread we get:

"Tony, don't they (leadership) realize MH could grow faster? Don't they realize the same thing could happen to U.S. factory home builders that happened to U.S. automakers?"

Let me say, I'm happy to get comments – including often helpful – off-the-record ones.

There are times, though, when some industry pros seem to believe we can snap a finger or instruct this or that professional to do X. We can raise an issue, we can send a link to a published article, but we don't claim the ability to force anyone to do X.

That's not to say there's no "power for the digital press" to influence thought, words or deeds. Of course there is, but it's safe to say that any positive result is best done through collaboration, via team work.

Don't Let a Crisis…

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," said Rahm Emanuel, then President Obama's chief of staff. Please don't misunderstand, the quote doesn't mean I'm a closet Rahm Emanuel fan. But his quote is insightful in many ways!

• 1) It revealed what the Administration's thinking is in the face of a crisis. Use it. They routinely do.
• 2) The crisis quote also suggests that we MHPros, investors and aficionados ought to take a page from their crisis play book and use this current affordable housing crunch to advance Our MH Agenda on behalf of potentially millions of consumers, business owners, executives, associations, employees, managers and professionals.

Partners in Progress!

In conjunction with a growing number of sponsors and MHPros – what we ought to call "Partners in Progress" – are working with us to build the manufactured home industry's de facto image and education campaign.

Rather than moan or complain, we're saying,

we know the way,
we're going and showing the way.

That's Partners in Progress.

Mirror Mirror…

While some are looking or shouting about 'who to blame,' let each of us start with the long, honest look in the mirror. Ask, "Am I part of the solution?" Then remember, griping or finger pointing isn't solving.

Whose first on first? Does that matter?

In baseball, someone might be the "first on base" during a big inning. Okay, fine. But when three singles lead to loaded bases, and then the batter homers, everyone scores.

Drip, drip, drip…

Digital publishing isn't for the faint of heart. It's not for those who lack a long term commitment. Anyone who thinks that a single article or showing an ad one time will change the world is dreaming! Look at McDonald's, they advertise daily across the media spectrum, and that's how they stay in their market's leadership spot.

But in our world, every drip, drip, drip of good content, every back-link and RSS Feed is a way to get more love from Google, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing or others.

Many would say it's BORING to watch water drip, drip, drip from a faucet. Who wants to stand around to watch the glass, pot or bucket fill? But with those drips over time, a once empty vessel DOES fill up! Patience and persistence pays off.

(Image credit, Flickr Creative Commons)

The growing proof for the revelation to the

• public at-large,
• non-profits,
• educators,
• media, and
• public officials

is found at ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com. Analog stats report tells us that since the launch on Fri, May 17 2013 at 2:37 PM until
Fri, Jul 11 2014 at 8:10 AM (419.73 days)

there has been:

General Summary

Figures in parentheses refer to the 7-day period ending Jul 11 2014 at 8:19 AM.

Successful requests: 4,257,900 (117,906) 
Average successful requests per day: 10,144 (16,843) 

A “request” can be a page, image, ad, video or whatever. Since we – the Partners in Progress – are promoting the MHIndustry in a positive way via the ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com digital media platform, almost any request is a good one.

Stating the Obvious

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We've started that journey to change our image and educate others 419 days ago with MHLivingNews.com. The same principles that make a:

• trade show such as the Louisville Manufactured Housing Show, or
• an association or
• MHProNews.com – the industry's runaway #1 industry trade media platform – a success can work to make our long overdue industry image and education campaign a success.

A growing number of companies or organizations are providing RSS feeds to the image/education site. The most recent – and an extensive one! – we've been told about is:

CommunityLivingIndiana.com

The Ohio Association's site does it a bit differently, see their bottom right-of-center column. UMH has their RSS on the bottom left, and on this date at 10:57 AM ET, it looked like this:

Another robust example is the Louisville Manufactured Home Show Site. See the bottom left module for their extensive feed!

The point is this, RSS – short for Really Simple Syndication – allows ANY site to get 'free content' which is good for the site, but also good for the site providing the feed. RSS can be installed in minutes.

Studies show people surfing a site who are considering if they want to return look to see if content is being added. Sadly, way too many MH sites look or are 'static.'

An easy way to improve traffic to YOUR site is to add an RSS feed, and the fringe benefit is that it boost the industry's image.

A Rising Tide…

…lifts all boats. Please. Let's stop the fretting over petty details that historically has kept too many pros from acting at all.

Partners in Progress. That's the ticket. It can be as simple as a win-win RSS feed, or more robust as a sponsor. You could be a writer who is a contributor. You can send us news tips at this link. One or more ways to do something.

The work has already begun. CBS News, The Boston Globe and others are picking up and paying attention. The more we work together, the more the tide will rise.

Some secrets need to be outed. If you are tired of manufactured housing being America's best kept housing secret, do your part to change that in a positive way.

Closing thought for today, MHProNews is having yet another banner month! We had 2,013,332 page views on our site in June, even with a long holiday weekend, we're on pace to do similarly in July! Readers like you keep us #1, thank you.

It seems that MHPros are heading the call to have owners, managers AND their team members spend a minimum of 15 minutes daily reading and learning more to earn more, plus 7 minutes daily on MHLivingNews.com.

Together, we advance. That's no secret! ##

(Editor's Note: In case you missed it or need a refresher, there are statistics, facts and charts on the page linked here that underscore why the manufactured home industry can grow far beyond the current levels.)

(Image credits as noted on the file, most are courtesy of WikiCommons)

L. A. 'Tony' Kovach ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com | MHProNews.com | Business and Public Marketing & Ads: B2B | B2C Websites, Contract Marketing & Sales Training, Consulting, Speaking: MHC-MD.com | LATonyKovach.com | Office 863-213-4090 Connect on LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach