BusinessEntrepreneurshipEducation

Creating Wealth Through Self Storage

Mark Helm

Self-storage investor, CCIM and bestselling author Mark Helm shares what he has learned since 2000 about buying, building, converting and operating self-storage facilities. Each episode gives small and first-time investors practical, no-fluff guidance on deals, financing, feasibility and operations. New to self storage? Start with Mark's free 3-part video series: https://thequickstartacademy.com/p/free-3-part-video-series

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25 episodes
Avg 14 min
English

Episodes 25

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Friday · 10 min
Three Ways a Smaller Operator Can Win the Customer Game Against REITs
I will admit that a few years ago I was scared of competing in a market against REITs. Well, yes, they have a lot more money than I do, and yes, I had my doubts about whether I could compete for the same customers and win. Those days are over. I am clear
September 25 · 8 min
What the 2026 StorageCafe Survey Is Telling Us
One of the advantages of being a smaller self-storage operator is that — unlike the REITs and larger players who focus on their investors and stockholders — we can focus on the real source of our success: our customers. I found the StorageCafe (an online
September 11 · 14 min
The Storage Business I Knew Is Gone – Here’s What’s Coming Next
As I look to the future, as I regularly do as a business owner, I realize that the self-storage business of the past will most likely not be the industry of the future. Let’s jump into the time machine and take a look at self-storage in the years ahead.
September 4 · 12 min
Why I am Not A Fan Of Storage Funds
Let me tell you why I am not a big fan of large storage funds. I was recently reminded of this when I read an article in the ISS Newsfeed. We have got to do something to restore the image of our industry and I think the time to start is now. Let me expla
August 21 · 12 min
Put a Bullseye on Your Customer: Why Landing Pages Still Win in Self-Storage
I don’t see owners utilizing landing pages that much anymore in online self-storage marketing, and I am not sure why. I suspect it is because it has been beat into our heads that reduced clicks for consumers is the holy grail for online marketing success
August 14 · 10 min
What the Jobs Report, CPI, and Bond Market May Be Telling Us About Interest Rates
It has been a while since I used an SBA loan to develop some storage, but I am in a deal where we are using it now for a boat and RV development. We are racing to get it closed by Sept. 14 because the deal was underwritten at today’s interest rates, and
August 7 · 10 min
The One Habit I Wish I Had Started Early In My Career
I have made a lot of mistakes over my business career and done a few things right. Fortunately, it only takes a few good decisions, and some grace from the universe, to be successful. But if there is one lesson I wish I had learned early in my career, it
July 31 · 11 min
Why the Smaller Investor Can Win in Today’s Self-Storage Market
As I move through some of the various deals I am involved with today, the markets and the deals themselves are changing at a very rapid pace. Let’s look at what is behind these changes and the big advantage this current environment can offer the smaller
July 24 · 17 min
The First-Call Offer: A Different Approach to Finding Off-Market Self-Storage Deals
I think trying to find off-market listings is hard as well today. As a storage owner, I get, on average, 10 texts a week, lots of letters a month, and perhaps one to two calls every week or so about selling my facility. Some inquiries even come for prope
July 10 · 14 min
AI in Action: How I’m Using It Right Now to Move Through Self-Storage Due Diligence
We all know how AI is changing the self-storage landscape. Others smarter than me have talked about using chatbots for storage answering services, AI in revenue management and tenant data analysis (determining which tenants can pay what rate based on beh
June 26 · 18 min
Five Lessons About Business I’ve Learned After 40 Years
After over forty years in real estate and the self-storage business, I have learned a few things about business that I am sharing as I hover around this 500-episode mark. I guess we could call these episodes “What I’ve Learned About Wealth, Busines
June 19 · 18 min
Five Things I Have Learned About Creating Wealth
As I hover around the 500-episode mark, I am apparently becoming more philosophical and want to share some insights I have gained over the last ten years or so in the storage business. I’ve talked about the five biggest mistakes I have made in my career
June 12 · 26 min
Five Decisions I Made That Created My First Million Dollars of Wealth
Here I am at Episode 500. On one level, it means nothing, really, but on another, it shows I can stick to something for a long time and/or you can hang in there with me no matter how bad or off I can be at times. I hope you have received some value from
June 5 · 19 min
The Five Biggest Mistakes I’ve Made Over My 31 Years In The Self-Storage Industry
As I approach Episode 500, I have been thinking a lot about the self-storage business and my thirty-one years in and around the industry. I was thinking about what I could share that would be helpful. I had two startling insights. The first was that what
May 22 · 16 min
Vendors Can Make or Break You Today
There has never been a moment in self-storage history where the gap between well-chosen vendors and poorly chosen ones mattered more than it does today. We are currently choosing our vendors for a new brand and have discovered one thing… Vendors today ca
May 8 · 11 min
The New World of GSO and How It Applies To Your Self Storage Business
You have heard of SEO, pay-per-click, Google algorithms and the gambit of online marketing terms. There is a new but vitally critical term you have got to understand today…the new world of GSO. Although you may be tired of hearing about AI and how it app
April 24 · 11 min
Rethinking the Millennial Customer – A Force of Nature for Self-Storage
In the most recent ISS Expo I attended, once again I saw that Millennials have become 20% plus of self-storage customers, up from about 16% a year ago. I remember some of the stereotypes many had a few years ago about the millennial generation: • Avocado
April 17 · 13 min
Self-Storage Myth Number 2: REITs Outperform Small Self-Storage Owners
I hear partners, people I coach, and investors ask the question, “How can a smaller independent owner compete today with REITs or a big institutional player today? They have a lot more money and people, and their cost of capital is so low.” Valid questio
April 3 · 11 min
The Square Foot per Capita Myth
It’s time to talk about square foot per capita again. I have run into more and more issues with that metric and think it is time to permanently interrupt the myth that still pervades our industry. That myth is: ….. {explained in video} New to self storag
March 20 · 14 min
Insurance Shock: How Self-Storage Owners Can Fight Back in 2026
Let’s look at ways to reduce our insurance cost in 2026 and beyond. This expense line item is doing nothing but going up. Last week we had Terry Campbell of Johnson Insurance visit us in the Inner Circle. Here are some of the tips he gave us last Friday.

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