Hacking Self Storage

Stephen Folwell is the Co-founder and Chairman at LOVESPACE. He is the builder of digital brands with broad-based strategic, commercial and operational experience. He has a track record for launching and growing digital products and businesses across global platforms.

He launched LOVESPACE and growing it to £3.5m in revenue, £20m valuation. Raised £8m of capital from VC, strategic and crowd investors. As a Guardian Media Group Director of Strategy, he laid foundations for Guardian's digital-first, international strategy, taking Guardian from the ninth-largest UK newspaper to third-largest global news-site, and digital revenues from £20m to £40m.

On today's Podcast

02:08 – Getting to Know Stephen Folwell

02:44 - How did Stephen get into the Self Storage industry

04:45 – Stephen's #1 Superpower

05:40 - The Biggest lesson he has learnt in his career

06:23 – More about LOVESPACE

12:43 – What LOVESPACE Offers

16:14 – The reason for the success of LOVESPACE

19:17 – Prices displayed on LOVESPACE's website

20:11 – LOVESPACE Advertising

24:43 - The Key Performance Indicators Stephen look's at for LOVESPACE

32:38 – A piece of advice from Stephen for Self Storage Owners

34:04 - Where does Stephen see the Self Storage Industry in the next five years

39:40 – Quick Fire Round – Five Questions for Fun

Books Mentioned:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7144.Crime_and_Punishment

Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now by Alan Rusbridger - https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-News-Remaking-Journalism-Matters/dp/0374279624

The Sun King: Rupert Murdoch in His Own Words by Murdoch Rupert - https://www.amazon.com/Sun-King-Rupert-Murdoch-Words/dp/1742704425

Links Mentioned:

LOVESPACE Website - http://www.lovespace.co.uk/

Stephen Folwell on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/stephenfolwell

Stephen Folwell on Twitter - https://twitter.com/folwell

Wow this episode took longer than I expected but hopefully you get something out of it.

I go through my goals for 2020 ... I do go a bit personal but I kinda enjoyed it :-)

Let me know what you thought - [email protected]

Enjoy

Dean

Happy New Year Storage Nation!! I wish you all the very very best for 2020!!

You read it correct we are positive for the week just gone!! Finally!! But we had a loads of bounced Direct Debits

Enjoy

Dean

Hope you guys have an awesome Christmas!!

To be honest even though we have lost more square foot I dont think it was a bad week.

Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dean

I loved spending the morning drafting out what we do to stand out for our customers.

In this episode I go through my top 10 customer care tips that will make your facility stand out in your town or city.

Just keep asking the question ... How can I do more for my customers and you wont go far wrong

Enjoy :-)

Dean

Been a very interesting week, the quotes have been good, the revenue has been good but the move ins and conversions have been poor

I review a book called Double Double. The book is well worth a read and I also mention a self storage master mind that I have been invited to ... Exciting times ahead

Have a blooming awesome Christmas

Dean

Christel Friberg Land specialises in business coaching and consultancy in the areas of sales, marketing, and operations. She works primarily with small and medium-sized businesses in a variety of industries but has developed a specialism in self-storage over the years. On today's Podcast 02:34 – Getting to know Christel 05:27 - Christel's #1 Superpower 06:31 – What attracted Christel to enter the self-storage industry 09:15 - The Clover Four Consultancy 13:53 – Christel's top three advice 19:07 – The offers she recommends for self-storage businesses 21:32 – Price recommendation on the website 24:03 – Lack of Consistency - The most common mistake that she has seen that self-storage owners made 25:39 – A piece of advice to self-storage owners 29:46 - Advice to increase the revenue of a self-storage business 34:14 - QuickFire Round – Five Questions for Fun

Books Mentioned:

Oh, the Places You'll Go! By Dr. Seuss - https://www.amazon.com/Oh-Places-Youll-Dr-Seuss/dp/0679805273

Sales & Service: The Cutting Edge of Self-Storage - https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Service-Cutting-Edge-Self-Storage/dp/169099018X

The Superhero Brain: Explaining autism to empower kids (girl, light skin) - https://www.amazon.com/Superhero-Brain-Explaining-autism-empower/dp/1979870004

The Superhero Heart: Explaining autism to family and friends (girl, light skin) - https://www.amazon.com/Superhero-Heart-Explaining-autism-friends/dp/1544693753 Superhero Guts: an Everyday Poem for Special Needs Parents - https://www.amazon.com/Superhero-Guts-Everyday-Special-Parents/dp/1725783975

The Secret of the Strongest Kids in the World: mBraining explained to children - https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Strongest-Kids-World-mBraining/dp/1729027881 Links: Clover Four - https://www.cloverfour.eu/

Another week has past, how was your week in storage?

We had some great KPIs and some not so great KPIs ... Our quotes were fantastic, the revenue was excellent but the move ins were poor meaning we were in a negative position with the Sq Ft

Have a super duper week

Dean

Ok this is a long one ... I apologise now :-)

I dive deep in to some of the metrics that I believe really matter in storage and also rant about the importance of keeping your expenses lean and mean

Enjoy

Dean

Simon Webb is the Managing Director of Simon Webb Digital Marketing. He founded Blue Skies Photography and worked as a photographer and marketer. He also co-founded RedFest Bristol, the largest free arts festival in Bristol, bringing 20,000 people & families to high-quality music, performance, and dance.

On today's Podcast

02:13 – Getting to know Simon Webb 04:16 – Simon's ideal client 04:56 - How he came across into Self Storage industry 06:39 – What Simon considers his #1 superpower 07:55 - The biggest lesson he has learnt in his career 09:41 - Omni Targeting 13:20 - The difference between Retargeting and Omni Targeting 15:10 - The biggest mistake that he has seen in storage facilities on their marketing 17:48 - Advice from Simon Webb 26:15 – The RedFest Bristol 27:41 – Quick Fire Round – Five Questions for Fun

Book Mentioned:

The Irresistible Offer Book by Mark Joyner - https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Offer-Product-Service-Seconds/dp/0471738948

Links:

Simon Webb on LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/simon-webb-b2b-lead-generation-and-conversion-88648aa0

Simon Webb Website - http://www.simonwebb.org/