“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Most of us will be familiar with this quite American maxim quoted above. Yet this insightful statement is all too often ignored. There is the surface level of the quote, literally about the cover of a book. I know I’ve read books that had covers that caught my eye, but the contents disappointed me. Likewise, most of us have had the reverse experience of a book cover that was perhaps okay, but inside was a gem of a read!
This same phenomenon occurs with people, businesses and organizations, too.
It is human nature to size people or companies up. Sometimes we do so in a matter of seconds. This is true online as well. Web experts say that many people decide in 7-8 seconds if they will continue to look at the contents of a website. We often do similarly with books, people or organizations.
I say this as a set-up to the following subject.
From time to time, the question comes up: “Who is behind the Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management (www.MHMSM.com) online trade journal?” “Who funds your work at MHMSM.com?” and similar queries. This wasn’t the planned topic for this weekend, but as it does keep coming up, let me share the answer, to hopefully clear the question up.
Let me address some of the common misconceptions and then dig a bit deeper.
1. There is no community owner/operator who owns us or has a financial stake in MHMSM.com. Nor has this been the case at any time in the past.
2. Some have asked, “Is George Allen or Ken Rishel an owner, part owner or a backer?” No, they are not. They are among my Industry friends and advisors. They do write feature articles that we are pleased to publish. They have no financial stake in MHMSM.com, nor have they in the past.
3. Nor does any other Industry person, association or corporate entity you may wish to guess have a past or present financial stake or ownership interest in MHMSM.com.
We are owned by/are part of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC. There is your ‘owner.’ Before you ask who owns that entity, the answer is: none of those mentioned above. The answer above still stands. Who you see here is what you get.
So why share this now? Simple answer: it is the truth. And as the rumors to the contrary continue and are from time to time brought to my attention, it is just good to address it.
We all know that there is no free lunch, someone always pays. So where does the money come from to fund our work? Because everyone knows something like MHMSM.com costs real money to do.
The answer is that:
> Consulting work,
> Marketing services to the MH Industry, along with
> Advertisers and
> Sponsors
are what fund our operations.
Advertisers and clients are just that; they are not our owners. Naturally we want to see our advertisers and clients do well, but anyone who reads something more into it than the facts shared is simply mistaken. Reason and positive comments suggest that we have those clients because we deliver results.
But I am equally sure those clients value supporting the MHMSM.com effort by sharing their marketing and/or consulting dollars with us. When an advertiser or consulting client invests in us, they get a manifold return, including results AND benefiting the Industry at large by supporting this media platform.
At the current rate of readership, some 35,000 professionals a month are visiting MHMSM.com, which makes our audience about twice as large as the next closest similar entity.
Our registrations are growing for our twice-weekly emailed newsletter and updates and also for our podcasts and free premium content. To give you a sense of this, the email sign ups and also our Podcast/Premium content are now among the top 1% of all our main pages that are accessed. Since Google Analytics tell us over 800 pages a month are accessed on our main site, that gives you an idea of how much content we have and how many of you are using it!
A number of associations and companies forward or recommend our site as an Industry resource. Our reporter, Eric Miller, advised me of some research he did that indicates there are over 16,000 outside links to our site. Over 16,000 outside links – wow!
We value every reader. We naturally value every contributing writer. I’m proud and humbled to be working with such a talented group of professionals that are all here to serve YOU and tens of thousands of others in the manufactured/factory built housing Industry like you. We naturally hope to continue to grow so we can keep serving you and others all the better!
We believe deeply in this Industry. We also believe that this Industry’s best days are ahead of us. We are here because we have seen the studies that tell us that there will be a housing boom in the not too distant future. Read all about the coming boom and why it will be good for our Industry —> FOR THOSE WHO PREPARE <— on our pages or in the Manufactured Housing Revolution.
With the support of Industry pros like yourself, together we can do what so many long for today: make the Industry turn around a reality. A dozen-year nose dive is way too long. We have been bumping bottom now for two years. If a handful of committed professionals can bring you all that you see on these pages, if we can grow so rapidly by bringing you Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals, just imagine what even 10% of Industry Pros can do by working together to promote and advance our great Industry!
We welcome your advertising, consulting and other support at every level. When you think about the facts above, you will understand why we deliver results for our clients and typically give more for less.
We welcome posted, emailed and other comments. We welcome your news tips. We protect our sources when confidentiality is needed.
To borrow a George Allen phrase, the 35,000 coming here monthly can’t be wrong! Some of the biggest names in the Industry are reading our news, blogs and feature articles, and the flip side is tons of independent operators are reading here, too. Executives, middle managers, rank and file looking to advance their company or career are readers or podcast listeners. Association leaders and their board members may be listening or reading at the same time as you are.
We appreciate your being here and we appreciate the work and support of all those who make this endeavor possible. My Holiday and Christmas best wishes to you and yours. May we all work better together to make 2011 a much brighter New Year!
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