This may sound for a few moments to be about me, but really the example that follows is more about your neighbor down the street, across town or across the country.  So please hang with me, as this is about our Industry and your role and future in this business.

If you read some of the LinkedIn recommendations on my profile, you might gain a different perspective than you would from the woman whom I won’t name, but will use as an example in this true story.

The woman I am thinking about was professionally gifted.  She worked with me some years back.  She was good at her job. She seemed to truly like it. She wanted more pay and some other things, but who doesn’t?  Now the professional challenge was that this woman, who reported to me at the time, hated my guts. She was sweet as pie with others; but with me, it was daggers and venom.

Why?

She told me early on, that I reminded her of an ex-husband who was abusive.  As I listened to her express the horrors of her abusive former mate, it was easy to feel and see her genuine pain.  The problem, for me at least, was that I wasn’t this other guy. I had no interest in anything more than a good working relationship with this woman on behalf of the firm we worked for then. But every time she was around me, she wanted to take out on me this hatred and fear she had for this other fellow, whom I never knew or met.

Now, translate this sort of scenario and think about manufactured housing.

How many people do you know or have met who don’t have a clue as to what our homes are like and the good that our Industry can do?  How many people have pigeonholed manufactured homes the same way that woman from years ago pigeonholed me?

How many people have wrongfully pigeonholed you or someone you know?

Some people pick up The Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, their local newspaper or favorite news outlet daily.  They think nothing of it, it is a habit. It may even be a good one if, for example, they are learning something of value from the news and are applying it.

Tens of thousands of very bright people – like you – are here reading MHMSM.com twice weekly, or even daily to learn what is going on in our manufactured housing Daily Business News and Market Report.  Others log on to our association news, or visit the events section, or are following the blogs by Bob Stovall, Tim Connor or Industry Voices, etc.  Some are in the modular or prefab business, and our Daily Business News and News at Noon Podcasts carry more of that news, or HUD Code manufactured housing news, than anyone else.

While a record of over 37,000 logged on in January 2011, others have not yet learned about us, or have pigeonholed MHMSM.com.  Maybe they came once, saw a name of a writer they didn’t care for, and that was it.  Hello?  They then tuned out the most robust news, tips and views source available today in the factory built housing media.  This is what our writer Tim Connor calls “filters” and “blind spots.” We all have filters, to include – or exclude – potentially useful Information.  If we don’t clean our filters, then we can filter out something useful.

Type cast.  Pigeonholed.  People do this all the time; we all do it, but should we?  We want people to want our home products and they should.  We all want a fair hearing for ourselves and for our homes!  Yet I’ve met employees of firms in our industry who can be as negative about our home product as that woman mentioned above was negative about me.

We have to learn to get past the filters, our own or that of others, in order for us to reach the 85% of the home buying market who tune us out!

We have to be willing to deal with others effectively.  We have good reasons to treat others the way we want to be treated.  Every month, our featured writer Greg McClanahan writes an often touching and inspired article on soft skills.  Why?  Because we all need them.  I know I do!  If our employees or co-workers have those soft skills, our Industry would be light years ahead of where we are today.  Every featured author is on our pages for a good reason.  They offer insights and value.

We have all been on both sides of this equation: we have been misjudged or misunderstood by others.  We have also been guilty of misunderstanding or misjudging others.  This means we have the perfect reason to understand why people misunderstand our homes, or our profession!  We have all been there, done that and have a t-shirt.

Part of the solution is so common sense, but it will strike some as self-serving.  We need to have our Industry members reading and listening to good Industry input DAILY.  State or national meetings can be informative; I go to them, like the upcoming MHI Congress. Events and shows, such as the 2011 Great Southwest Home Show are ever so important in order to know what is available, to network, to see the latest products and services, to have some fun with Industry peers. Speaking of that, check out their latest video, which we will post for you here below for your convenience.  My associates and I hope to see you there.

But the point is this.  We all need a daily dose of Industry news, tips and views you can use. We all need those soft skills, and those filter checks.  If you are an owner or supervisor, do you want some person ignorant of or biased against our homes to be influencing your staff?  Or do you want a pro-Industry resource like MHMSM.com to do better equip your staff for dealing with the public at large?

You don’t want to be pigeonholed.  You don’t want the Industry to be type cast as second class housing.  You don’t want your staff or associates to be thinking in some negative fashion about our Industry, either.

Some people rail when I mention Warren Buffett in some favorable light, and no, I am not on his payroll in any sense. (Warren, if you are reading, you could take out that famous napkin of yours… and change that fact).  But I have and will continue to say, Buffett and his billions are one of the best reasons you can think of for why manufactured housing is the future and not the past!

Buffett and company are financially committed; so, too, are some big REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust), or private equity funds, and people just like you, to the future of factory built housing in America.  We need to see the facts, which is why the Manufactured Housing Daily Business News and Market Report should be your daily stop, and it should be for your associates, too.  Our Industry In Focus Reports are timeless articles that give you and your associates the tools to answer many of those negative questions or comments the media or others use to stereotype our Industry.

Don’t pigeonhole others, and don’t let others pigeonhole you or our Industry. We need food daily.  We need air all the time.  We need to exercise our minds the same as we do our bodies.  Do it here at Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (MHMSM.com), get others to, as well.  37,000 readers is great; thanks for making us twice the size of the next closest factory built housing media outlet.  But that number 37,000 could double overnight if you and your associates got one more person to log on, to get and stay informed and motivated.

A lady wrote in and said, when more people read us, we all win.  An industry exec wrote to say, thanks for advancing the cause of professionalism in our industry. The more MH pros here daily, the better the Industry becomes – and yes, we all win. # #