Vertical Consultants, which represents landowners in negotiations regarding cell-tower lease transactions, has made rent data for different cell-tower markets available on its website through free reports. The Rent Data Reports, available at www.vertical-consultants.com, provide property owners, such as self-storage owners, with current cell-tower rents being paid by telecom companies and tower developers. The companies involved include but are not limited to AT&T, American Tower, SBA, Sprint and Verizon.

The reports provide detailed information, such as the number of cell towers and telecommunications equipment, within a five-mile radius of a property. Information includes the locations of the cell towers and equipment, and the telecom company associated with each tower site. The reports also contain a professional assessment of cell-tower values and the rents paid in the property area on which the report is based.

Founded in 2010 by Hugh Odom, Vertical Consultants is comprised of a group of wireless-industry veterans with more than 40 years of combined experience. The company specializes in issues surrounding the wireless-telecom industry, providing property owners with the information they need to make decisions regarding their cell-tower lease agreements.

The company also helps self-storage owners recoup unpaid and underpaid rent from wireless providers. Areas of expertise include telecom-site acquisition and development, lease negotiation, and the legal issues surrounding such transactions.

Self-storage developer Haverford Mr. Storage LLC and owner Eagle Lawrence Associates LP have applied for three zoning variances from the Haverford, Pa., Zoning Hearing Board to allow them to divide a land parcel into two lots, one of which would house a self-storage facility. Representatives for both entities gave testimony to the board last week, and a follow-up hearing is scheduled for June 7.

The petitioning parties want to avoid a provision for a maximum of 60 percent "impervious surface ratio" to permit 77.6 percent impervious surface on Lot 1 and 89.8 percent on Lot 2. An impervious surface area includes any  hard-surface, man-made area that does not absorb or retain water, such as roofs, parking lots and driveway areas, sidewalks, and paved recreational areas.

The parties also seek a variance from a requirement for 71 parking spaces and an off-street loading space. Their plans call for 11 full-size parking spaces and one oversized space, and they do not consider the loading area to be necessary.

Finally, the owner and developer want a variance or special exception to regulations specifying storm-water facilities, access drives, and parking and grading in "steep" and "very steep" areas. The steep slope they are hoping to work with has a 69.2 percent disturbance, where 15 percent is permitted. Similarly, the very steep slope has a 21.7 percent disturbance, but only 5 percent is permitted.

The parcel of land also sits in an area that has additional Environmental Protection Agency requirements, but Joseph Damico, attorney for Haverford Mr. Storage LLC, presented a letter from EPA to the board conveying preliminary approval, pending review of final plans. Damico also told the board the facility will meet a need of the community and not be a detriment, citing little extra vehicle traffic but property-tax generation.

Haverford Mr. Storage principal Lou Gilmore has developed 25 real estate projects over the past 30 years, including 15 self-storage facilities.

Haverford is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, about 9 miles northwest of downtown Philadelphia.

By Tim Patrick

To provide more relevant results for its users, Google has included local business listings within the main section of the search-engine results page. Not only does this benefit users looking for services in geographic areas, its huge for businesses who dont know a whole lot about search engine optimization (SEO). By following the basic guidelines below, any self-storage owner with a listing on Google Places can rank his company high in Google searches for his location.

Location. The first important element to ranking your company high in Googles local results is the physical location of the business. Storage companies are a great business to have listed because the address will almost never change. Once a storage building, always a storage building.

Google Places Listing. When searching for your business, if Google has already listed it in Google Places or Google Maps, then the first thing you want to do is verify youre the owner of the business. When verifying the listing, Google will send out a postcard with a PIN number to the actual address to verify the location does in fact exist there.

Make sure you have the address correct the first time because every time you try to change it, youll need to verify with the PIN. This usually takes around 10 days. If your business isnt listed, you can easily create a listing within your Google account and then verify it.

Details. When adding information to your listing, its critical to add as many details as possible. A more robust listing with correct information about your self-storage facility is key to having it rank well. Somewhere in your Google Places account it will tell you the percentage of completion. Aim to get this up to 100 percent. Be sure to add a few pictures as well.

NAP Consistency. NAP, which stands for name, place and address, should be consistent for better rankings. Having the same address on your own website is the most important place to have this consistency. You also want to have the exact information everywhere your business is listed.

Citations. A citation is a reference to your business on another website. The more citations you have, the more Google trusts that your business is located there and people are listing it. The best websites to be listed on are ones in similar categories as your own. You should also have a listing on sites such as:

• Yellow Pages
• Yahoo Local
• Bing
• Yelp
• City Search
• Kudzu
• InsiderPages
• MerchantCircle
• YellowBot
• SuperPages

Its important to get listed on all of these sites, and there are tons more like these. You can easily search for sites like these on Google. Most will ask you to upgrade for a premium listing, but this is not necessary.
Reviews. These are not as important as they used to be, but adding a few to your Google listing can only be a good thing. It used to be the more reviews you had the better the rank. Now its more about quality, relevant citations. To get reviews, its best to provide some incentives for your tenants to review your facility, such as coupons.

Backlinks. Although its not the most important part of becoming listed, you do want a few quality backlinks to your website and Google Places or Google Maps page.

Since many business owners do not know a whole lot about SEO, Google has provided a great tool for them to rank well on their site. With no knowledge of SEO or how Google works, you can become more noticed across the Web. By following these simple steps and treating each one of these with importance, your self-storage business should start to move to the top in your customers Google searches.

Timothy Patrick is the owner of Movers-Moving.NET, an online moving-quotes provider. By completing a simple form, consumers looking to move can receive moving quotes from local, long-distance and international movers, and auto-transport companies. For more information, visit www.movers-moving.net, or follow the company at Facebook.com/MoversMovingNET.

Self-storage operator Extra Space Asia plans to open another Extra Space Self Storage facility in Malaysia before the end of the year and two to three additional facilities over the next few years, according to an interview CEO Michael Hagbeck gave to the Business Times this week.

"We are looking at several locations (within the country)," Hagbeck told the source. "Most likely, the second facility will be located in Petaling Jaya. Penang and Johor Baru are also another options we are considering."

The current facility at Jalan Chan Sow Lin in Kuala Lumpur opened earlier this year. The company invested 22 million Malaysian ringgits (about $7 million) to acquire the land and spent another 5 million Malaysian ringgits (about $1.6 million) in renovation. This facility is in the process of adding wine storage.

Extra Space Asia also has presence in Korea and Singapore.

Canadian self-storage operator StorageVault Canada Inc. recently shared financial results for the first quarter of 2012, which ended March 31. Company revenue increased 19.5 percent from the first quarter last year to $787,263. Net operating income from properties increased 28.2 percent to about $404,653. Cash flow as measured by funds from operations increased 131.1 percent to $97,801.

In April, StorageVault acquired 2.2 acres of undeveloped land in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, for approximately $480,000. The company intends to develop the land for an expanded PUPS portable-storage operation as well as fixed self-storage using PUPS units. The company also closed on the acquisition of a 35,000-square-foot facility in Calgary, Alberta, with more than 400 units for $3 million. The facility will operate in conjunction with a new PUPS portable-storage site.

Last month the company also entered into a credit agreement with Bank of Montreal, with the bank establishing a line of credit up to $24 million.

StorageVault owns and operates Trans Can Mini-Stor in Regina, Saskatchewan; Kenaston Self Storage in Winnipeg, Manitoba; B&B Mini Storage in Cambridge, Ontario; Parksville Mini Storage in Nanaimo, British Columbia; and Space Place Storage in Calgary, Alberta. Each of these sites operates in conjunction with a PUPS portable-storage franchise.

StorageVault also owns and operates a PUPS facility in Saskatoon as a standalone portable-storage franchise, and manages five facilities and two PUPS franchises in South Ontario.

Storage Post Self Storage has hired Bill Marsh as vice president of real estate. Marsh will focus on repositioning existing locations as well as developing new sites for the company. He will concentrate on improving store visibility and the customer experience, company officials said. Headquartered in Atlanta, Storage Post currently operates self-storage locations in Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York.

Marsh joins Storage Post with experience in asset branding and repositioning, as well as adaptive reuses for out-of-service buildings. He previously worked with commercial real estate companies, including Mequity LLC, Miller-Valentine Group and Winter Properties LLC.

"Bill is a respected and successful real estate professional, and we're excited to use his extraordinary insights to advance our asset branding and Storage Post's reputation within the storage industry," said Jack Chaney, Storage Post chief operating officer. "Adding Bill to our team will assist us in achieving complete brand cohesion at all of our locations."

As a company actively pursuing self-storage acquisitions, Storage Post wants to integrate its branding across all channels, according to a company press release. Storage Post has emphasized an online presence through websites and advertising, and focused its graphics and messaging to increase brand awareness and consumer recognition.

Amherst, N.Y.-based real estate investment trust (REIT) Sovran Self Storage Inc., which operates under the brand Uncle Bob's Self Storage, has acquired 75 facilities since the last week of 2010 and plans to acquire more. Fifty-six of those acquisitions occurred in 2011. CEO David L. Rogers discussed company strategy last week at the annual shareholders meetings.

According to a report in the Buffalo News, Sovran's acquisitions engine is being driven by a franchising strategy: single-store "mom-and-pop" operators sign up with Sovran, and Sovran manages their facility for a fee, meanwhile attaching the Uncle Bob's branding to the small operator. The company is looking to expand so it can spread its fixed costs over a wider base of facilities.

Last year was a boom year for acquisitions, Rogers told the source. Were not forecasting another year like that, by any means, but were in the market heavily, he said. Were concentrating on markets where we already have a presence. Robert J. Attea, the companys chairman, added company executives are warming to the idea of acquiring stores in the West, which they were reluctant to do in the past.

Sovran has 445 stores branded as Uncle Bob's Self Storage across 26 states, most of which are in the eastern part of the U.S., The company did, however, recently acquire 26 Texas facilities as part of an increased effort to expand westward.

On June 21, the Texas and Georgia Self Storage Associations will co-sponsor a live webinar, "Motivating Managers for Monster Performance," which will help to improve the performance of self-storage facility operators. Taught by industry expert Anne Ballard, the online seminar will take place from 10 a.m. to 11: 15 a.m. CDT, including 15 minutes for Q&A. The cost is $25 per connection for association members and $50 for non-members.

"Monster performance" refers to a manager's ability to meet and exceed sales and marketing goals, hit facility budgeting target, and provide great customer service. During this webinar, Ballard will explain how to guide self-storage managers toward greater performance and profit. She'll discuss:

• The fundamental traits displayed by "monster" performers
• How to establish goals for staff
• Methods to get commitment from employees on controlling expenses
• Three important performance measurements: traffic generation, closing ratios and box sales
• How to create bonus and commission programs that motivate managers
• Employee awards and recognition
• Red flags of under performance and burnout, and what to do about them

More information and a link to online registration can be found at www.txssa.org/events-education.

Ballard is founder and president of Universal Management Co., which provides full-service management, marketing and accounting services to the self-storage industry. She is also a former president and current board member of the Georgia Self Storage Association. She is a regular contributor to industry publications such as Inside Self-Storage and events like the Inside Self-Storage World Expo.

Articles written by Ballard can be read for free at www.insideselfstorage.com/topics/anne-ballard.aspx. A video of Ballard's recent seminar at the ISS Expo can be purchased through the Inside Self-Storage Store at www.insideselfstoragestore.com.

Established in 1986, the Texas Self Storage Association is a non-profit trade association dedicated to enhancing the quality of the self-storage industry in Texas.