Looking back on an exciting year of MHMSM.com

by Bob Stovall

Bob Stovall photo A little over a year ago, Editor Tony Kovach approached me with the idea of starting an online e-zine for the Manufactured Housing Industry. We had worked on some smaller projects before and they had gone exceptionally well, and I had positive day-to-day experience with the Industry for several years, so I said yes.

Thus began the adventure that is MHMarketingSalesManagement.com, or MHMSM.com.

We started humbly. Tony making contacts and getting some of the top names in Manufactured Housing to write articles for us. I took care of the tech end of things, setting up and running every aspect of our website. Tony did all the editing at that time, and his own share of writing on marketing, sales and manufactured housing issues, too. Then Tony sent them on to me and we'd put them up and 'go live' on the www.MHMSM.com website.

We added the blogs you are so familiar with today. Tony's The Masthead, my Cutting Edge of Online Marketing, Tim Connor's Words of Wisdom, the Industry Voices blog that has given many important voices in our Industry a platform (among them, Greg O'Berry from Hometown America, Dick Ernst on financing, MHI's Thayer Long and MHARR's Danny Ghorbani, U.S. Congressmen and many others) and the INspiration blog that highlights everything from quotes to videos of a positive nature.

Bob Stovall's Cutting Edge of Online Marketing blog

Click here for Bob's Cutting Edge of Online Marketing Blog

As our professional and pro-Industry presentation of Innovation – Information – Inspiration for Industry Professionals became more widely read and discussed nationwide and internationally, it was soon necessary to add internal www.MHMSM.com team members. Their talents and dedication have allowed us to widen our horizons and add more features to the ever-growing and popular mix.

Erin Patla photo First on board was Erin Patla in June 2010. Erin has delivered the Factory Built Housing Industry's first daily News at Noon Podcast, downloading content with a simple and free sign up.

Imagine being able to listen and learn on your iPod, iPhone or MP3 player, from the most top writers in the Industry! What a great way to keep up with Industry news and views, training and coaching tips, all during your drive time!

Eric Miller photo Next came Industry in Focus Reporter Eric Miller. Eric has since covered some important stories for us. Among them are:

Experts Say Full Power of Federal Preemption Unrealized
Eric Miller Interview with Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-NC)
As seasonal Hurricane risks rise, Studies prove Modern Manufactured Homes are a safer bet
Tornado Caused More Destruction to Conventional Construction than to Mobile or Manufactured Homes
Experts Say While Important, Title 1 Only Part of Financing Puzzle

Catherine Frenzel photo Associate Editor Catherine Frenzel has taken on most of the job of editing author contributions and converting them to podcasts, Industry in Focus Reports, the daily News at Noon and just about every other item that you see published at MHMSM.com.

Eric Miller took over from Tony composing the News at Noon presented by Erin Patla with several news stories and the Industry's exclusive business daily Market Reports. Available for listening or for download to listen to in your car, the gym or anyplace you happen to be. Every Friday's News at Noon podcast is now available on iTunes. Just login to your iTunes account, click on the iTunes store link, then search for "MHMSM" for access to all of our Friday podcasts.

As we moved forward, Erin also has turned each month's feature articles into podcast, a popular option that allows readers to become listeners. Just click the "Podcasts" link in the main menu on the left to listen or download for listening later.

In July, we published MHMSM's first book, the Manufactured Housing REVOLUTION! The book was well-received at MHI's Congress and Expo in DC and again at George Allen's International Networking Roundtable in Phoenix and MHI's Annual Meeting in Denver. If you don't have your copy yet, you can get it at ManufacturedHousingRevolution.com.

As we begin the second year here at MHMSM.com, we have some great plans to add more value to your experience here. Just a few are:

The MH Speaker/Trainer Resource – Thanks to the hard work of Tim Connor, you'll soon be able to hire the top names in the Industry as speakers for your company events and trainers to get the most out of your sales and marketing efforts directly from MHMSM.com.

Webinars – There are a lot of quality webinars out there. We will soon be adding to the information available in webinar format. I've always found that when I hear information from different sources, I tend to retain more and discover different ways of applying it.

And more… We'll be asking you for suggestions on what we can do to help you sell more houses, fill your vacancies, move those REOs and repos, and generally move the Industry forward.

Speaking of which, we've just gotten the great news that the Louisville Manufactured Housing Show is being re-born January 13 & 14, 2011. Contact Dennis Hill at 770-587-3350 for more info.

Wrapping up, in the spirit of living in the present, while looking to the future and remembering the past, I'd like to thank the following for their contribution to the ongoing success of MHMSM.com. If I missed you, please forgive me and know you are included - a LOT of people contributed to our first year. Thank you all.

Joe Adams
George Allen
Faith Barr
Linda Beem
Jerry Bennett
Rachael Biermann
Beth Monicatti Blank
Amy Bliss
Paul Bradley
Chad Carr
Douglas D. Chasick, CPM
Tim Connor
Maria Cucchiara
Mike DuPure
Suzanne S. Felber
Sherrie Franklin
Catherine Frenzel
Susan Frost
Nadeen Green
Danny Ghorbani - MHARR
Ken Giljack
Doug Gorman
Jamie Hammons
Eddie Hicks
Mike Hourigan
Chrissy Jackson
Scott Jones
Greg Katanick
Susan Knowles
L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
Soheyla Kovach
Marilyn Kuntemeyer
Steven Lefler
Thayer Long - MHI
Greg McClanahan
Eric Miller
Mike Moore
Ricardo Morganti
Shawn Mullins
Michelle Nichols
Chris Olvera
Dennis Peters
George Porter
Dave Reynolds
Dan Rinzema
Ken Rishel
Michael Sater
Tim Saville
Kent Stichter
Ray Schmitt
Dave Shanklin
Joe Summers
James J. Talerico, Jr.
John Underwood
Heather Vela
Donald Westphal
Stephen Wheeler
Tom Zagorski
Zig Ziglar

And lastly, thanks to all of our loyal readers and listeners from all over the world, especially those who take the time to comment on our articles and blog posts and participate in the future success of manufactured housing. Thank you all and here's to another banner year ahead! ##

Bob Stovall is the IT Manager/Web Consultant for the MHMarketingSalesManagement.com trade journal and does contract online marketing, web development and social networking including full services and training for MH Industry professionals and companies. You can learn more about Bob in a Cup of Coffee with… Bob Stovall interview featured in the February issue. Are you ready to put all the pieces of your Online Marketing strategy together so they complement each other rather than fight each other? Websites, blogs, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, online directories and email all work together to build a synergistic online marketing package to produce leads. For more information on building an effective Online Marketing strategy, visit Bob Stovall's Blog on this website. Bob has been marketing online since 1991. He has investments in manufactured housing, owning homes in communities and buying and selling land/home packages. He also holds a Manufactured Housing Installer Manager Certification in Kentucky and is a member of the KMHA. He is involved in the online marketing for several Real Estate companies and MH Communities and businesses from all over the U.S. and the world.

Connect with Bob at LinkedIn or Orange Cat Productions, Facebook, Fan Page or follow him on Twitter.