The last time I saw a live Rolling Stones concert was probably at least a dozen years ago, during the second-to-last (or was it the third?) final tour for the band. Shea Stadiums bleachers were flooded with fans, some of whom were dripping off the higher tiers to the levels below, working their way closer to the stagethe No. 1 goal of any real groupie at a concert.

When Tina Turner dropped miraculously onto the scene from a cherry picker, onlookers surged even closer to the action. Then, Eric Clapton strutted from the dark shadows of backstage and began plucking away on his guitar. As soon as he stood alongside Mick Jagger, the fans merged into one big tidal wave to crash at their feet.

Though we swayed nearer to the stage, the security bouncers loomed larger than life, and it was clear none of us stood a chance of going farther. The song You Cant Always Get What You Want still resonates through my head. It was sweet nirvana: If you try some time, you just might find you get what you need. So true.

When thinking about this months issue of Inside Self-Storage, the lyrics echoed again in my head. What self-storage owners in their right mind wouldnt love to own a business that operates itself, bringing in the money, no sweat. Impossible, right? Not completely!

You have options, and theyre called professional management companies. Maybe you enjoy owning facilities but not completing day-to-day chores. Or maybe youve realized your site has the potential to reach optimal occupancy rates, but you just cant seem to cut the mustard. Owners/operators of multiple facilities who crave free time to develop new sites and businesses are ideal candidates in particular.

One more option is enriching the self-storage scene: full-service kiosks. These systems can rent a unit to prospects onsite when you or your manager is elsewhere. Of course, theyre not robotsthey cant do everything, but youll get what you need to amplify occupancies round the clock. Read about a daring pair of owners who went the kiosk route last year with their maiden site in our Facility Spotlight.

And we at ISS have news to report: We set out to host the biggest and best Inside Self-Storage Expo ever, and this February at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas we did just that. We were very pleased to reach our goals at the same time thousands of attendees were gifted with what they needed as wellan opportunity to learn all about the business of self-storage, putting them another step closer to what we all want sweet success!

Heres to yours!

Drew Whitney 
Managing editor 
[email protected]