Right or wrong – left, center or right – we are all influenced by the media. We may like or dislike someone in part because of how the media portrayal of that person has ‘shaped’ them in our minds.
The same thing happens with housing. The public may like or dislike something or someone based on the media portrayal that has taken place. In politics, we may find ourselves siding for or against a person, not because we like or dislike their political views, but rather because “the media” says this or that person is ‘unelectable.’ Thus sometimes better qualified candidates get tarnished, and poorer ones get advanced, because of how the media relentlessly shapes a candidates image in the public’s mind.
In a similar manner, the media portrayal of manufactured housing has doubtlessly influenced your employees. It may even influence you, in fact, it is a given. You act or react to the media and how they shape (or misshape) the perception of what we do for a living.
Let me tell you straight up, the relentless negative stream that tends to come from the media on our homes costs our homeowners and your company money. If your company is publicly traded, this costs your stockholders a fortune. How, why?
- This is a deep topic, worthy of a white paper, but let me simply share a few quick examples before moving on to the rest of this column’s post.
- When your employees are using the wrong terminology, calling a manufactured home a ‘mobile home’ or the ‘T’ word (tr- -l-r), your firm is going down the wrong path.
- When your employees are thinking of a HUD Code home as being inferior to conventional housing, your firm is going down the wrong path.
- If your staff are not true believers, how can they be effective with prospects who are discerning, have interest but also have concerns?
Employees, managers or owners who think ill of manufactured housing, or who think of our Industry’s products as second class houses are arguably not able to do a good job selling or communicating to anyone who isn’t already ‘sold.’ People on the fence – those who often have cash or good credit and friends with good credit and cash – will look elsewhere, and you may never know it or know why.
Infinity
Infinity is the name of an eclectic publisher I wrote for back in the 90s. The columns I did were generally political or economic in nature, and had a unique spin. The publisher liked them and they said their readers did too. But not unlike the Manufactured Home Merchandiser Magazine and so many other publications, they are now but a vapor in the mist. What I liked about Infinity was that while they were primarily a left-of-center type publication, they were willing to share my own eclectic mix of some traditional and yet modern thoughts on topics from the money system to politics, the Constitution, etc.
This is a round about way of saying, it is good to know multiple sides of a serious topic or issue.
When the new format for MHMSM.com – MHProNews.com – comes out later this month, you will see both CNN and FoxNews feeds on it. Those of you who follow our Daily Business News know that we source topics from ‘all sides’ of the political spectrum. Part of the reason is that we are sent tips from people who share an interest in factory built housing, but whose politics or views run the gamut from ‘left to center to right.’
Barbara Boxer
I’m not particularly a Barbara Boxer fan, but she is an example of a story that we did recently based on an OpEd piece that was emailed into us (you can too at our iReportMHNewsTips@MHMSM.com or one of our staff email addresses). Here is the link to the Boxer story, in case you missed it.
You may agree or disagree that Boxer’s bill could help (or harm) manufactured housing or the public in general, but we are news media and this was a legitimate news item of interest to our Industry.
Pat Buchanan
I confess I find Pat Buchanan to be interesting. He is painted as ultra conservative by the left of center media. But some conservatives often don’t quite know quite what to do with Pat either, because he is not an ‘amen’ kind of man. As a friend of mine pointed out, Buchanan is as willing to go after George W. Bush as he is Barack Obama. As another Buchanan follower (and reportedly a friend of Buchanan’s) said, he has a set of operating principles he adheres to, and those help guide his thoughts for or against a person’s position, policy or politics.
Here is a sample below of pure Buchanan. Try not to jump to conclusions until you’ve read it all, he has a surprise in here for you. The topic deals with U. S. manufacturing, jobs, our economy – in short: factors that influence our day to day businesses and lives:
“Why don’t we make things here anymore?” is the wail.
Answer: We don’t make things here anymore because it is cheaper to make them abroad and ship them back.
With an economy of $14 trillion, we may still be the best market in the world to sell into. But we are also among the most expensive markets in the world in which to produce.
Why is that? Again, the answer is simple.
U.S. wages are higher than they are almost anywhere else. Our health, safety and environmental laws are among the most stringent. Our affirmative action demands are the most exacting, except possibly for those of Malaysia and South Africa.
Does the cost of production here in America alone explain the decline in manufacturing and stagnation of workers’ wages?
No. For since the Revolution, America has had a standard of living that has been the envy of the world. From the Civil War through the 1920s, as we became the greatest manufacturing power the world had ever seen, our workers enjoyed pay and benefits that were unmatched anywhere.
Yet our exports in those decades were double our imports, and our trade surpluses annually added 4 percent to the gross national product. How did we do it?
We taxed the products of foreign factories and workers and used the revenue to finance the government. We imposed tariffs of up to 40 percent on foreign goods entering our market and used the tariff money to keep taxes low in the United States.
We made foreigners pay a price to get their products into our market and made them pay to help finance our government. We put our own country and people first… (Pat Buchanan, Human Events magazine)
This thinking so cuts against the grain of the ‘free trade’ crowd. Most Democrats and Republicans alike have made Free Trade almost a mantra, but has it accomplished what it promised? Think about it, or sound off if you already have.
Doug Gorman and an example worth sharing
Doug is an adviser, a colleague and a friend. We can agree to disagree and still be friends. More often than not, I find Doug’s views as a manufactured and modular home retailer, association member and super involved-in-industry issues gent interesting and helpful. He shared an fine experience on how he is personally dealing with the Dodd-Frank issue:
If I were someone at MHI or a state association, I’d certainly want this article held up as an example of what we’d want owners/members doing to advance the good name of factory built homes and how we can impact our elected officials in a positive fashion.
Your own views and experiences are welcome on Industry Voices. Remember, these are Guest Columns (letters to the editor, OpEd) on issues that relate to the systems built (factory built) housing industry. Your name appears at the end of an Industry Voices column.
Be a part of the Industry turn around and conversation. # #
