Monthly Funny

Acronym of the Month

Greetings, %%Facility name%%. Welcome to our March issue, where we take a look at Storageland's recent expansion on the Gold Coast (in Queensland, Australia). We'll also touch on our new sponsorship arrangement with the Self Storage Association of Australasia, with some great prizes to be won over the coming months - including free convention & show passes!

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

Regards,
Andy & the StorMan Software Team

The Self Storage Association of Australasia is proud to announce that StorMan Software has become the new major sponsor for the SSAA Convention and Trade Show, this year being held in Melbourne from August 16 – 18. "StorMan Software have long been strong supporters of the SSAA", says Rennie Schafer the CEO of the SSAA. "It is fantastic to have them on board as the major sponsors of the Convention and Trade show, particularly this year with Melbourne shaping up to be one of our biggest ever events."

"We are proud to be major sponsors of the SSAA Convention and Trade Show", says Ben Williams, the Australian General Manager of StorMan. "The Association has helped us to market our business to the majority of the Self Storage Industry and we see the Convention as a key part of our marketing strategy to access both new entrants to the industry and existing operators. We believe that our product is the best in the marketplace, whether you run a small single site or a large multi-location operation and the SSAA Convention is an ideal medium for us to demonstrate this to the whole industry."

StorMan take over the sponsorship from Steel Storage who have been major sponsors for the last 5 years. "I would like to thank Steel Storage for their support, particularly during the time when we were redesigning the Convention", says Rennie Schafer. "I look forward to continuing the great relationship that the Association has with Steel Storage and all its service members in the coming years."

Following our announcement of Major Sponsorship with the Self Storage Association of Australasia (SSAA) for their 2011 and 2012 Conventions, StorMan has 6x "Convention 2-day passes" to give away - worth over $1200 each!

Three passes will be given away at upcoming SSAA functions while the other three will be given away during competitions and prize draws during the year - the first of which we're launching right here in this eNewsletter.

How to enter:
Tell us, in 40 words or less, why you use StorMan. The best submission wins a Convention 2-day pass. Email your entries to sales@storman.com with the subject "SSAA Competition".

Important notes:
Flights & accommodation not included. Entries close COB on Friday 8th April 2011. Prize drawn Monday 11th April 2011, winner notified by email/phone. Enter with different submissions as many times as you like. Open to any StorMan user around the world.

StorMan is pleased to announce a new web module which lets your website enquiries appear in StorMan as a sales lead - automatically!

This module is currently in testing stages with StorMan Beta Testers and will be available to regular StorMan clients in the coming months. Stay tuned!

If you logged onto any of our websites during the middle of February, you may have noticed a few party items sitting on & next to our logo. These were used to signify our birthday, as StorMan turned 18 last month!

Andy's put together a small package of our history on the website - including screenshots from StorMan version 2.6! We've also added images of our early websites, thanks to the internet's Wayback Machine.

Go on - have a giggle & see just how far we've progressed over the years. Oh, and leave us a comment at the bottom of the post if you have any memories of older versions to share with us!

This month's offer for StorMan eNews readers: Upgrade your Technical Support plan from Standard to Advantage and get $100 (in local currency for customers in AU/NZ/USA) or £100 (in local currency for customers in the UK) off the usual upgrade cost!

This offer valid for uptake between 1st March & 31st March 2011 only. Must mention offer to receive discount. For existing clients only. For more details, please contact StorMan Sales via http://go.storman.com/contact/

How to benefit from your recorded calls - by Kenny Pratt (Selling Storage)

Do you record some or all of your incoming calls? Here is a step-by-step guide for getting the maximum sales training benefit from the calls you already record without spending a lot of your time.

The first step is to pick something very specific that you would like your store managers to work on. The key is to focus on the behaviour. Focus on something that can be observed and described in concrete detail. Perhaps you would like them to talk about the benefits and not just the features of your property, or perhaps you would like them to specifically invite the caller to come to your property to fill out the rental paperwork.  Check out this article for more on how focusing on behaviour creates a self storage sales culture.

Not only do you want to describe the desired behaviour, but you want to be sure that your property manager understands what you’re looking for. Here are 5 ways to make sure your property manager understands what you want them to do: check it out here.

Once you are sure your property manager understands what he or she will be focusing on for the week, let them work their magic. Then at the end of the week you ask them to review their own phone calls and to e-mail you one, two, or three examples of them successfully implementing the behaviour you’re focused on practicing... continue reading.

Audible CAPS LOCK

Don't you hate it when you accidentally hit the CAPS LOCK key and then eVERYTHING YOU WRITE IS IN CAPITALS AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING? aND THEN THINGS LIKE THAT HAPPEN - WITH THE a BEING IN LOWERCASE INSTEAD OF UPPERCASE? aND THEN YOU HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN! After all, not all of us are touch-typers.

The good news is that there is a setting which will cause the computer to emit a 'beep' every time you hit CAPS LOCK, to act as a warning.

Here's how to set it up in Windows Vista & Windows 7...

1. Click on Start, then go to Control Panel.
2. Set the Control Panel view to show Large Icons, then click Ease of Access Center.
3. When the Make your computer easier to use screen appears, your computer will likely start speaking to you. If you want, you can turn that off by unchecking Always read this section aloud.
4. Under the Explore all settings list, click Make the keyboard easier to use.
5. In the next screen, scroll down and check Turn on Toggle Keys – hear a tone when you press CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, or SCROLL LOCK.
6. Click OK and close the Control Panel. Give it a test!

Is there something you love about StorMan? A report that you can't live without? A feature that makes your life easier? What about a time-saving tip that you love using?

Let us know about it - and if we use it on our website's "One-line wonders" section (like these ones), we'll send you and a friend to the movies - on us. Leave us your one-line wonders via email here.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

This month we flashback to March 2008, when Wayne successfully compared Self Storage to Gourmet Burgers. Read Wayne's blog here.

What is full of holes but still holds water?

Answer to last month's brainteaser: 'N' (for November).

Hard of hearing? Try one of these!

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

MP3 stands for MPEG-2 Audio Layer 3 and is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. MP3 is an audio-specific format that was designed by the Moving Picture Experts Group as part of its MPEG-1 standard and later extended in MPEG-2 standard. The first MPEG subgroup - Audio group was formed by several teams of engineers at Fraunhofer IIS, University of Hannover, AT&T-Bell Labs, Thomson-Brandt, CCETT, and others.

An MP3 file that is created using the setting of 128 kbit/s will result in a file that is about 11 times smaller than the CD file created from the original audio source. An MP3 file can also be constructed at higher or lower bit rates, with higher or lower resulting quality. The compression works by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are considered to be beyond the auditory resolution ability of most people.

The better your sound system, the worse a lower-encoded MP3 file will sound, due to MP3's not containing the extreme-low and extreme-high frequencies (which high quality sound systems can reproduce). Read more about the MP3 at Wikipedia.

Streamline & Enhance your Productivity - by Terry Stough (CHEQ Services International)

In working with Self Storage owners for the past several years, we have found that the constant need for companies to accommodate this ever growing environment has lagged behind from that of other parts of the world.

In teaming up with StorMan, we have found that their unique perspective in the market is head and shoulders above the rest. By being a giant in the self storage world in New Zealand and Australia as well as in Asia, they have the unique ability to take the suggestions and technology from these parts of the world and integrate them into their software to enhance the product for the US.

Today with CSI’s payment processing and text messaging integration, we believe this has elevated StorMan to the top of their game when it comes to utilizing the very best of today’s technology with the needs and wants of today’s storage demands... continue reading.

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.

Giant Gummi Bear: If you, like me, enjoy Gummi Bears - you're in luck! These giant gummi bears are 1400x the size of a regular gummi bear, coming in at 24cm in height.

Be sure to book a spot at the dentist in advance, because these edible 6000+ calorie bears are bound to cause a few issues. They're available in four flavours (cola, orange, cherry and blue raspberry) and weigh in at a hefty 2KG. 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...

Have you ever wondered where operating systems get their name? What does the 'ME' or 'XP' in Windows ME / Windows XP mean?

Find out, with this colourful history of computer operating systems.