Card-'O-Matic 5000

Acronym of the Month

Greetings, %%Facility name%%. Welcome to our June issue, jammed full of goodies - including your last chance to win a Self Storage Association of Australasia convention pass valued at over $1,200. We've only had a few entries so far, so the odds of winning are definitely in your favour!

As usual, if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions, just get in touch with me via andy@storman.com. Until next time, happy surfing! :-)

Regards,
Andy & the StorMan Software Team

As you'd probably know by now, StorMan is giving away six "SSAA Convention 2-Day Passes" worth over $1,200 each. We only have 1 more up for grabs (for StorMan clients) and entries close in just a few weeks!

How to enter:
Create something (anything) that you think says 'StorMan'. It could be a cake, a drawing, a figurine, a macaroni-painting, a collage of newspaper clippings, a decorated storage-unit door, a little Stor-Man (or Stor-Lady) out of craft supplies... anything that you thinks says "StorMan" in some way. Be creative!

You don't need to send us your creation (unless you want to) - just a photo of it emailed to sales@storman.com is fine. Although you are more than welcome to send us cake. We like cake. The best entry as judged by our company directors wins!

Competition dates & important info:
The competition is open as of right now & closes on Friday 24th June 2011. The winner will be selected & notified by email the following week (we will also announce the winner in our July eNews). This competition is open to any StorMan user around the world. Prize does not include flights or accommodation; SSAA convention 2-day pass only. Prize valued at $1,200 (AUD).

The Ride to Conquer Cancer, benefiting the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, is a cycling journey through South East Queensland's scenic countryside to Somerset Dam.

Thousands of cyclists - including David Hardie and a team from Fort Knox Storage - will embark on the 20th of August; camping overnight at Somerset Dam & riding back the next morning; a return cycling journey of almost 200km (much of which is mountainous terrain)!

The Fort Knox team, consisting of ten friends from the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane - one of them a cancer survivor - consider the ride to be the easy part as they will have several carloads of supporters along with their riding group. More important, however, is the ongoing financial support for this disease which we seem to come face to face with all to often in our own communities and families.

You can contribute to this history-making event with a donation. Funds raised in The Ride to Conquer Cancer will support breakthrough research, exemplary teaching & compassionate care at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (a worldwide leader in cancer research & discovery and one of the largest research institutes in the southern hemisphere).

StorMan's Brisbane office has sponsored David's team with a $1,000 donation and we ask others to help out by contributing what they can. If you or your Storage Facility or Marina makes a donation, please let us know so we can advertise it on our website and in our next newsletter. David, the Fort Knox team & StorMan thank you for your support.

The Taxing Issues of Subdivision - by guest blogger Eddie (BDO)

It is not uncommon for property investors to dabble in property development every now and then and one of the most logical places to start is land they already own. As vacant land in growth areas is becoming increasingly scarce and block sizes available for sale are progressively decreasing due to population growth, subdividing larger blocks into smaller ones is a natural progression for many.

Like most property transactions, the income tax implications associated with land subdivision are anything but straightforward. At the outset, you need to work out if the subdivision is on revenue or capital account. This differentiation is critical because any profit arising from the sale of subdivided land on revenue account is generally subject to full income tax. In contrast, if the subdivision is taxed on capital account, any capital gain derived will be taxed under the capital gains tax (CGT) regime, which generally provides a 50% discount if the land has been held by an individual or trust for at least 12 months...

Continue reading Eddie's blog on our website.

Banks want to lend again - by guest blogger Malcolm (Westlink Consulting)

In quite a few conversations I've had with clients and individual bankers around the country recently it is apparent that the major banks are again confirming self storage’s risk profile and ongoing business prospects as something they would like to finance, in stark contrast to their opinions of the industry 6 to 12 months ago...

Continue reading Malcolm's blog on our website.

Keep forgetting your myStorMan login details? No biggie - you can now generate your own printable desktop card via our Card-'O-Matic 5000.

If you'd prefer us to post you a cardboard one with your details pre-filled, please get in touch with us.

Please be advised that StorMan's Brisbane office will be closed on Monday 13th June 2011 for the Queen's Birthday public holiday.

Should you require Technical Support at this time, please email support@storman.com or call the usual telephone number for options. Thank you.

Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

We recently had the opportunity to attend, and be principal sponsor of, the Massachusetts Self Storage Association annual trade show and convention (also known as "MASSA"). The venue was the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Massachusetts - with a large contingent of both vendors & attendees from the North East of the USA.

As always, the MASSA executive team did a fantastic job of bringing a great show to market at a time when people are really looking for value for their dollar. Speakers were focused on predominantly legal issues, given the new push to legislate changes to the Lien laws and the costs of compliance. This effort is backed by a supportive member group and the national SSA body.

Also covered, was the online component of the Self Storage industry with topics from websites, search engine optimisation and integration to all facets of the business. This was something that we are very enthusiastic about and look forward to the upcoming emergence of new technologies.

I am pleased to report that we had some fantastic success both in terms of new customer opportunities and also getting public praise from our existing customers that were in attendance. I thank you very much for your on-going, and very vocal, support of our organisation and the product that we deliver. See you all again soon!

15 - 16 June 2011: FEDESSA (Federation of European Self Storage Associations) & SSAUK (Self Storage Association United Kingdom) Tradeshow & Conference in Vilamoura, Portugal. StorMan will be exhibiting at this event. Register at the SSAUK website.

20 - 22 June 2011: MIAA (Marina Industries Association of Australia) Tradeshow & Conference in Melbourne. StorMan will be exhibiting at this event. Register at the MIAA website.

29th June 2011: SSAA (Self Storage Association of Australasia) Regional Meeting (Melbourne). A StorMan staff member will be attending & our 5th SSAA Convention prize will be drawn at this event! Register at the SSAA website.

13th July 2011: SSAA (Self Storage Association of Australasia) Regional Meeting (Queensland). A StorMan staff member will be attending & our 6th SSAA Convention prize will be drawn at this event! Register at the SSAA website.

27th July 2011: SSAA (Self Storage Association of Australasia) Regional Meeting (Auckland). A StorMan staff member will be attending this event. Register at the SSAA website.

16 - 18 August 2011: SSAA (Self Storage Association of Australasia) Tradeshow & Conference in Melbourne. As major event sponsors, StorMan will be exhibiting at this event. Register at the SSAA website.

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said "twelve." The member replied "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said "six." The member replied "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said "ten" and the man replied "five." but he was not let in. What should have he said?

Answer to last month's brainteaser: No one understands (as in, No '1' under 'stands').

Let's just hope he doesn't get into a fight...

Have you got a joke or funny pic to send us?
Please let us know!

It seems that many RentPlus 2.0 users have found the benefits of swapping to StorMan rather moving to Centershift or a web-based system. In this post, I'll take a look at why I think this is the case.

I have spoken to many people in our varying global market spaces recently; certainly between 50 and 100 since Christmas and I have noticed that many users of RentPlus 2.0 seem to have found that they like having an application on their own local computer as opposed to running in "the cloud" (a term used to describe applications that run from a server on the internet; generally hosted & managed by a third-party)...

Continue reading Ben's blog on our website.

Hi there - I'm Darran, one of StorMan's Technical Support Agents. Each issue, I'll trawl through the deep depths of the internet to find you a funky piece of software, hardware or other interesting technological trinkets.

Star Wars Cookbook: If you like food (who doesn't) & you like Star Wars (again - who doesn't), then you're in luck - because if you ever get a craving for Greedo's Burritos, Cantina Chow, Boba Fett-Uccine or some Wookie Cookies, then this book has you covered. Speaking of covers, each page is easy to wipe-over... perfect for messy cooks! Buy one here.

Nb. All 'Latest Gadget' information & imagery is sourced from online entities & supplier websites. StorMan generally doesn't endorse, own or test any of these products; we merely link to them as you might find them interesting or fun for your own use...

This month's acronym is CDR - a StorMan acronym for our "Custom Designed Reports" function.

Our website of the month is Lifehacker - full of useful tips, tricks, apps & tools to "hack your life" and make it better!

We flashback this month to early 2008 when Ben discussed the importance of Team Building. Read Ben's blog here.

Become our next Facility of the Month!
Our Monthly eNews is read by thousands of StorMan customers & general readers around the world each month. Past Facility of the Month participants have found that these articles have not only helped to boost their Google ranking (as our electronic newsletters are indexed), but have also provided them with a perfect opportunity to analyse their business and develop some great facts and reasons as to "why their facility is great". This, in turn, has helped many past Facility of the Month facilities utilise these facts in their sales spiels and processes for potential storage customers & within their marketing material or on their website.

If you'd like your facility to be featured as a Facility of the Month, please get in touch with us. It's easy and it's free!

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