News and the media can be a force for good or ill. Media can –

• give voice to the voiceless,

• be an instrument of deception,

• be used for evil or oppression,

• be used to promote the good, including freedom and prosperity,

• have an agenda that transcends business, politics or any other topic.

Shaking things up

Manufactured housing has for decades fallen victim to false narratives about our product and businesses. But how you break through all that noise in a practical way?

Answers – solutions – for profitably unlocking the closed doors are forthcoming.

Recognizing Reality

For those in the trap of a false narrative, how do you open their mind?

How do you show people the reality that is, vs. the false impression that may be commonly held, but isn’t real? This is a critical topic for MH, one that leaders must deal with. Here is a hint, it goes beyond image, as important as that subject is.

Incidents like U.S Bank pulling the plug on MH direct lending should sends a signal to all, but don’t misread that and don’t try reading that event in a vacuum.

But it’s a cautionary tale, and some connected with Arlington and DC are exploring how they think they can use that with the CFPB. More on that one another time.

Our Stories Told Our Way

Anyone that says that media is free of bias or agenda is…well…to be polite, mistaken.

MSNBC has an editorial slant, so too –

• Fox,

• CNN,

• ABC,

• CBS,

• NBC,

• the New York Times,

• the New York Post, etc..

Part of the genius of the Drudge Report is that it spans the gamut of media, yet headlines its way into news nuggets that with other insights can paint a picture.

But the point is where are Manufactured and Modular Housing’s story tellers?

They are here, but out there too. Most of the story telling today comes from the lame-stream, err, mainstream media.

The local and national news is influencing your staff, your co-workers, your investors and you. They can spin a story on politics, religion or housing.

The media spins a story on MH, costing us tens of billions of dollars a year. How much of that could have gone into your bank account?

Revolutionary Advantages

Because our parent company – LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC – and through sister operations, we –

• help recruit,

• hire and

• do training for manufactured and modular home operations.

So we routinely hear from people in and out of MH. We hear from customers and home shoppers. We get the sense of the pulse that many may not have.

Because our sister and synergistic allies do

• marketing,

• websites,

• videos,

• finance,

• copywriting and more,

we get feedback and can gauge responses to messages.

Because we ask questions and listen to customers and professionals like you, we see and hear things others might not. Such facts don’t mean we’re perfect, but listening, actively questioning narratives and the bullets shown are amazing advantages.

• We communicate with, ask questions, challenge and listen to those in the media.

• We talk to and engage the non-profits that some (mistakenly) think are our enemy.

• We talk with housing professionals NOT in MH, and those who are more savvy about the realities of MH.

As one industry executive said, “you” (meaning, us – MHProNews et al…) “are the voice and face of manufactured housing” to ever greater numbers in and outside of MH.

These and other factors gives us advantages beyond our apparent size. David slew Goliath, because he knew how to wield that rock in his slingshot.

So having the largest audience in manufactured housing matters.

More on why and what that means to you and organizations or careers like yours in the near term.

Test Market Marketing

Focus groups are just one way of doing test marketing. Put a product or message out there, and see how people respond to it. Promote a perspective, and see if readership goes up, down or stays the same. Information – knowledge – is potential power.

Patience and persistence pays.

In our video interview with Jim Clayton, there is a gold mine of insights. Certainly, there are tons of insights in each of the videos we’ve done. You can google those Inside Manufactured Housing Videos, or wait until we link up all those videos for you another day…

…and share them in a powerful, revolutionary way.

What is a Revolution?

Words have meanings, and sadly, many are distorted or misunderstood. “Radical” – for example – doesn’t mean what millions think. A radical goes to the root of an issue, the heart of the matter.

Googling “revolution,” you’ll find the following:

rev·o·lu·tion

/revəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/

noun

1. a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.

2. an instance of revolving.

But must a revolution be “forceable?”

I say, it need not be so! The Berlin Wall tumbled with nary a shot fired. Apple created revolutions with products like iPod, iPhone and iPad. Take out the word “force” – and use this definition:

Revolution:

A dramatic change in the social, political, economic or religious order

in favor of a new system.

Testing Revolutions – large or small…

Since last summer, we’ve taken a more robust approach to the Daily Business News (DBN). Investors, media, professionals in-and-out of MH, international readers, public officials (elected and appointed) are responding.

We know, because we have the statistics.

The year-over-year jump is serious. If your business was growing the way ours is, well, you’d be smiling all the way to the bank and back.

That is the point. We want operations like yours, not surviving or sinking, but thriving.

That’s a key part of the Manufactured Housing Revolution.

Sunday Morning Weekly Recap

Individuals professionals, businesses and associations of all kinds will be key players. So too parties seen as “outside” MH, but that have the power and capital to change MH for good…

…and they will, forever.

Goliath thought himself invincible. Jim Collins wrote an amazing series of books on business, including How the Mighty Fall. Arrogance, complacency, believing in the status quo are among the factors Collins – and his team of university researchers – said caused those in one time positions of economic power to tumble.

Where will the Revolution Occur?

Online is where the Revolution for freedom from false narratives begins, but it continues in offices, plants, fields and in homes.

Operations and pros like yours can be – or are – a part of that liberating movement.

Combine the factors noted above with our one-of-a-kind public-focused sister site – MHLivingNews.com – and you have platforms and insights unlike anyone else in MH has. And, Oh! That is NOT meant to disrespect anyone else! It-is-what-it-is, nothing more, but nothing less.

Reality Is

Reality is. Insanity isn’t just doing the same things the same way, and hoping for a different result. Insanity is a break with reality.

Opening the door to reality for ourselves and others is how the MH Industry advances.

When Apple first rolled out their iPods and iPhones, they began revolutions. Good ones. They blazed a trail.

We – you, us and other forward thinkers – can too.

Thanksgiving and then December

The many new Featured Articles for our December 2014 issue are almost upon us.

• We will roll out another A Cup of Coffee with… an industry leader you will be keen to hear from, because they have success and insights they freely share.

• We will have updates on Louisville – and what will happen at the rapidly approaching 2015 L’ville MH Show could rock Manufactured Housing ahead…

• …for those who are there and will “get it.”

• For those trapped in false narratives, we will reveal how those doors are opened.

• We will showcase how a business, organization or career like yours can grow and prosper.

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. We are all more like those starving pilgrims than some realize. The pilgrims needed those native Americans to show them how to survive and then thrive. They needed each other. We do too.

Working together with like minded and forward thinking pros, we can thrive too.

In December and early January – here and in Louisville– you will see what the future can hold for operations and careers like yours.

In the mean time, please check out our other blogs on MHProNews – including the quite revolution on the Daily Business News. Because others are by the thousands. That may be a clue that you should check in for 15 minutes a day there too.

Please see the Inspirations Blogand scroll through a series of Thanksgiving and other thought provoking or inspirational items. Happy Thanksgiving to all, see you back here for Sunday coffee and more? ##

(Image credits: Shutterstock and MHProNews)

See updated links, bottom right of LATonyKovach.com, and happy thanksgiving to you and your loves ones.

by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach