The time-tested phrase ‘you have to learn to crawl before you can walk’ is merely a metaphor for setting micro and macro goals for yourself. If your ultimate goal is to be able to walk, then yes it is important that you should learn to crawl first. Regardless, when creating goals for yourself, remember to set intermediate ones also, so that you create checkpoints for yourself; this helps you keep on track to achieve your ultimate goals.
If your goal is to purchase your first self storage facility this year, you must first identify all of the components of a sale. Finding a motivated seller with a mismanaged property that still has an upside is the ideal situation. Believe me, it takes a lot of time and effort to find a person who is willing to sell their property. That’s just the first step! If buying your first property is your goal, then your first micro-goal should be finding a motivated seller. Set about a plan for finding a motivated seller. If it takes cold-calling self storage facilities from a large owner’s database, then set a goal for the number of places you will call in a week, a month, etc. Within each one accomplished, continue to set others. This allows you to set them realistically for yourself. If you just have a goal of buying a property, but you have no structure on how to achieve it, you will almost certainly fail.
I believe in setting high standards and goals. If you don’t achieve your ultimate goal, you will most likely achieve the secondary and improve yourself or your situation. So in closing, remember to aim high with your ultimate goals, yet set your intermediate goals realistically because they are the ones that you will be chasing in the immediate future. I challenge you to set one for yourself tomorrow. After you completed this goal, set intermediate goals that will help you achieve along the way. After you complete your tasks, reflect on your experience and see if you feel that setting the small goals to achieve the big one can help you or not. I’m confident it will.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Being Friendly
Owning properties in 3 different states requires me to travel a great deal. On a recent trip to Atlanta my mind began to wander while I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. I was watching how everyone around me was just kind of minding their own business, listening to their I-pod, watching TV or reading the newspaper. As I boarded my flight, I again took note of how little people were interacting with each other. It seemed the only friendly and outgoing people I encountered on my trip were those that were working. It then occurred to me, are people only friendly when they are required to be?
After boarding the plane and being sandwiched in between two people, I decided to continue my social experiment. I waited half an hour to see if either person on my left or right would introduce themselves to me or say anything at all. Sure enough, the guy on my right fell asleep almost immediately and the gentleman to my left put on his headphones and began watching a movie on his laptop. I was wide awake so I caught up on some blog writing myself.
After de-boarding my plane and walking through the airport to baggage claim I again noticed how everyone just sort of goes about their lives and seemingly only interact with others when it is necessary. After leaving the airport I thought about myself and how I interact with other people. Am I only friendly with other people only when it’s necessary? As I drove to my girlfriend’s place in Chicago I decided to start a social experiment of my own. I would conduct a weeklong experiment. For every person I made eye contact with I would smile and say hello, good morning, good afternoon, etc. For every person I would spend more than 10 seconds around, I would introduce myself and initiate a conversation.
It was easy to start my experiment because I spent the next afternoon attending a Chicago Cubs baseball game. It was surprising to me how many people would not reply to me when I would say ‘hello’ or ‘how you doin’?” as I walked to the ballpark. Most people would politely return my greeting and then go about their business. Regardless, I decided to continue my experiment.
Throughout my time at the ballpark I encountered several people and struck up many conversations. It was pretty easy to talk to people because I would just mention something that was going on throughout the game. “Man that Soriano was money well spent, right?” or “Lou just doesn’t have it anymore, can’t wait for Sandberg to manage this team next year” were great conversation openers. Most people would continue the dialog with me and after I introduced myself would have a 30 second to 1 minute conversation with me.
During the 3rd inning while standing in line at a concession stand I started a conversation with a guy and his girlfriend about the Cubs and how awful they are playing this year. We both shared the same opinions on this season, the Cubs roster, and many other things about the Cubs. During the conversation the gentleman told me that they had a friend who lived behind Wrigley and had access to the rooftop seats. He invited my girlfriend and I to watch the following day’s game from the rooftops. For anyone who has never followed the Cubs, the rooftop seats on Waveland Avenue are essentially the luxury boxes for Wrigley Field. After exchanging contact info my girlfriend and I, we returned to our seats to watch the Cubs bullpen blow another game.
While watching the next day’s game on the rooftops I was able to describe myself and my business in further detail to several people and felt like I had a couple possible investors.
Not everyone I started a conversation with during my week long experiment led me to a great experience like the rooftop seats, nor did any of the people I started conversations with lead me to an investor or a motivated property seller. However, I felt like I was making a step in the right direction by being friendly. I plan on continuing this approach and not just making it an experiment anymore, but rather to make it a part of my life. It never hurts to be friendly because you never know who you may run into and how they could change your life for the better.
Thanks for stopping by caseycavell.com. Have a great day and good luck to you in all your endeavors.
-Casey Cavell.
After boarding the plane and being sandwiched in between two people, I decided to continue my social experiment. I waited half an hour to see if either person on my left or right would introduce themselves to me or say anything at all. Sure enough, the guy on my right fell asleep almost immediately and the gentleman to my left put on his headphones and began watching a movie on his laptop. I was wide awake so I caught up on some blog writing myself.
After de-boarding my plane and walking through the airport to baggage claim I again noticed how everyone just sort of goes about their lives and seemingly only interact with others when it is necessary. After leaving the airport I thought about myself and how I interact with other people. Am I only friendly with other people only when it’s necessary? As I drove to my girlfriend’s place in Chicago I decided to start a social experiment of my own. I would conduct a weeklong experiment. For every person I made eye contact with I would smile and say hello, good morning, good afternoon, etc. For every person I would spend more than 10 seconds around, I would introduce myself and initiate a conversation.
It was easy to start my experiment because I spent the next afternoon attending a Chicago Cubs baseball game. It was surprising to me how many people would not reply to me when I would say ‘hello’ or ‘how you doin’?” as I walked to the ballpark. Most people would politely return my greeting and then go about their business. Regardless, I decided to continue my experiment.
Throughout my time at the ballpark I encountered several people and struck up many conversations. It was pretty easy to talk to people because I would just mention something that was going on throughout the game. “Man that Soriano was money well spent, right?” or “Lou just doesn’t have it anymore, can’t wait for Sandberg to manage this team next year” were great conversation openers. Most people would continue the dialog with me and after I introduced myself would have a 30 second to 1 minute conversation with me.
During the 3rd inning while standing in line at a concession stand I started a conversation with a guy and his girlfriend about the Cubs and how awful they are playing this year. We both shared the same opinions on this season, the Cubs roster, and many other things about the Cubs. During the conversation the gentleman told me that they had a friend who lived behind Wrigley and had access to the rooftop seats. He invited my girlfriend and I to watch the following day’s game from the rooftops. For anyone who has never followed the Cubs, the rooftop seats on Waveland Avenue are essentially the luxury boxes for Wrigley Field. After exchanging contact info my girlfriend and I, we returned to our seats to watch the Cubs bullpen blow another game.
While watching the next day’s game on the rooftops I was able to describe myself and my business in further detail to several people and felt like I had a couple possible investors.
Not everyone I started a conversation with during my week long experiment led me to a great experience like the rooftop seats, nor did any of the people I started conversations with lead me to an investor or a motivated property seller. However, I felt like I was making a step in the right direction by being friendly. I plan on continuing this approach and not just making it an experiment anymore, but rather to make it a part of my life. It never hurts to be friendly because you never know who you may run into and how they could change your life for the better.
Thanks for stopping by caseycavell.com. Have a great day and good luck to you in all your endeavors.
-Casey Cavell.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Giving Back
Since I became a self storage owner, I made a commitment to giving back to the communities where my storage facilities are located. If it wasn’t for the people in those communities using my facility, I would not be able to enjoy the life I lead.
When I first purchased my property in Danville, Illinois I immediately went to the chamber of commerce and introduced myself. I went around town and introduced myself to business owners and tried my best to be friendly and converse with anyone I would meet. I wanted the people of that town to know that I wasn’t just purchasing a property in their town for my own financial gains. It was important to me to establish myself as a business owner who cares about the community my property belongs to. It’s possible that this is a reason that my occupancy rates drastically rose shortly after my acquisition. Regardless, since then I have made a point to be visible at my property several times a year and donate my time and money to good causes within the town when it is feasible. I offered to help coach kids at a baseball clinic at the local YMCA and I ran in a 5k run during the summer to help raise money for breast cancer. That was excruciating for me because I am the furthest thing from a distance runner! Neither of those two actions turned a direct profit for me, but it had the intrinsic benefit of making me feel good knowing that I was giving back to the community that is helping me secure my financial future.
There are many ways you can give back to the communities in which you own properties or businesses. If it’s the holidays you can donate clothes or your time to the Salvation Army. There are so many charitable foundations throughout our great country. I recommend finding one and spending a little time giving back to the community. No one wants to live in a place where the business owners just fleece them of their money. I guarantee you if you expose yourself to the community in a good light through charity, you not only will feel great for doing a great thing, but your profits just might rise as well.
Take care until next time.
-Casey Cavell.
When I first purchased my property in Danville, Illinois I immediately went to the chamber of commerce and introduced myself. I went around town and introduced myself to business owners and tried my best to be friendly and converse with anyone I would meet. I wanted the people of that town to know that I wasn’t just purchasing a property in their town for my own financial gains. It was important to me to establish myself as a business owner who cares about the community my property belongs to. It’s possible that this is a reason that my occupancy rates drastically rose shortly after my acquisition. Regardless, since then I have made a point to be visible at my property several times a year and donate my time and money to good causes within the town when it is feasible. I offered to help coach kids at a baseball clinic at the local YMCA and I ran in a 5k run during the summer to help raise money for breast cancer. That was excruciating for me because I am the furthest thing from a distance runner! Neither of those two actions turned a direct profit for me, but it had the intrinsic benefit of making me feel good knowing that I was giving back to the community that is helping me secure my financial future.
There are many ways you can give back to the communities in which you own properties or businesses. If it’s the holidays you can donate clothes or your time to the Salvation Army. There are so many charitable foundations throughout our great country. I recommend finding one and spending a little time giving back to the community. No one wants to live in a place where the business owners just fleece them of their money. I guarantee you if you expose yourself to the community in a good light through charity, you not only will feel great for doing a great thing, but your profits just might rise as well.
Take care until next time.
-Casey Cavell.
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