Among the dozens of messages in today’s email, came this thought provoking message, which will be part of a featured article in our rapidly approaching April issue of MHProNews. The message read in part:
“We all have wonderful stories to tell about our industry. We all have glowing letters from satisfied customers…Then, out of nowhere, some newspaper guy or some TV gal slams us and drags our industry through the mud.
The Eagles had a song about the Evening News called Dirty Laundry, about all the media negativity. Surely, the songwriter was thinking about manufactured housing when writing the lyrics for that song.”
The nation indeed has plenty of real or imagined Dirty Laundry, and MH indeed seems to be one of those featured topics by publications like the Seattle Times, media such as PBS NewsHour or that local news or weather person who acts like manufactured housing is some kind of plague that the masses of people have to be rescued from.
Implicit in the thinking of that kind of media coverage is that those who have a manufactured home must be mislead, desperate or otherwise unable to think for themselves in a healthy and acceptable fashion.
Needless to say, all of that impacts MH home owners, prospects as well as pros in our profession.
Choices, Choices…
Naturally, that means that we have a choice to make. We as industry pros either:
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take it on the chin,
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or we respond, hopefully in some intelligent and effective fashion.
To rephrase, we either:
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keep allowing others to define manufactured housing, often to our detriment…
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Or we must step up to the plate and define the manufactured home value proposition ourselves.
There are efforts at the state and corporate levels that will be unveiled soon which aim to redefine MH. That itself is a good thing.
As some readers have observed, the periodic call for action on this topic and others from the Masthead are gaining traction.
That said, Consider this…
Why not influence media, as media?
Why not win over the media? Win over the politicos? Why not use jijitsu?
Why not use the same levers and methods that the media uses:
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to promote MH,
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rather than allow other to unfairly define and undermine our great and much needed industry?
We will explore this and more in our rapidly approaching April 2016 issue.
Programming notes
The new issue is scheduled to go live Saturday evening, April 2nd.
For those who haven’t already done so,
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take a good look at the home page, or the current new articles for March linked here,
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as well as the latest new article on MHLivingNews.com – Realtors and Builders Warm Up to the Wonders of Manufactured Housing.
We need to take the proverbial lemons and turn them into lemonade. When enough forward thinkers get on board with that simple concept, manufactured housing will climb to new heights, because the affordable housing crisis is here and growing.
Are you on board? Are you ready to wash that laundry and present it to the public as it truly is, as good news – not bad…?
If so…Onward! Upward! Tallyho! ##
by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, 863-213-4090 or latonyk@gmail.com.
