Two of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in business are listening to some people, and not listening to others. I’m sure we all understand not listening to good advice, but how many of you have chosen to listen to bad advice, simply because you didn’t know it was bad?
I have, and it affected my business mindset in a profoundly negative way.
When I first moved into the marketing side of the manufactured housing industry, I was full of lots of good ideas, as any 20 something year old should be. I was convinced that I had the solution to growing the company, and the industry.
During one of my many ideas conversations with my boss at the time, he said something that stuck with me. I was pitching different ideas for shows, promotions, etc., and he said to me, “David, you need to slow down. This is the mobile home business. It’s not every exciting and there’s really no room for that type of advertising.”
Unfortunately for me, I believed him. It took me YEARS to realize that was some of the worst business advice I would ever get. Most products on their own aren’t exciting. It’s the responsibility of the manufacturer/seller/advertiser to create the excitement.
History is full of products that have been promoted in such a way that created excitement. Take the phone, for example. If I would have told you in 1987 that people would camp out on the sidewalks to be the first to have a new phone, you would have told me that I was crazy. Then, in the early 2000s, Apple would have proved you wrong. For many of the iPhone releases (see below), customers would sleep out in the cold on the sidewalk just to be the first to have that new phone.
“But iPhones are a cool electronic device, they’re kind of interesting on their own…” I get that, so let’s look at another example. How about a food product that’s abundant all over the world, has no taste, no smell, and is free in just about every establishment in the country? Could something be more boring than that?
Can water be exciting?
Liquid Death believed it could. And it worked out pretty well for them.
For those unfamiliar, Liquid Death is a canned water company with a heavy metal/counter culture vibe. They took one of the most boring, bland, and abundant food products (water), and made it exciting.
How exciting? Enough to take it from $2 million dollars in sales in 2019 to over $250 million in 2023.
How did they do it? They created excitement. They were bold. They created a brand and community that buyers wanted to be a part of.
And most importantly…
They got Martha.
Do you need Martha Stewart to help you sell more homes? Of course not. It would be cool though… ; )
The mentality behind choosing Martha Stewart, however, needs to be a part of all of your marketing and advertising efforts. What can you do that’s different? What can you do that’s bold? How can you stand out amongst all the advertising noise, and get people excited about buying a new home from you?
As our industry moves into the new year and looks at opportunity to grow, I challenge us all to rid ourselves of the notion that a manufactured home is inherently boring, bland, or uninteresting. Instead, think of ways to create interest in your brand and product. Show the excitement on the faces of children as they take the first steps in their new home. Show the hard working men and women building, delivering, and installing new manufactured homes.
Tell the story of an industry that is providing high quality, high value housing to millions of Americans who have been priced out of traditional homes in their own community.
There has never been a better opportunity to be in this industry than now, and I look forward to seeing the industry grow in 2025 and beyond.