A guest installment by Tony Jones, Manager, Inside Self-Storage Store

If you have a sweet tooth like me, you wait until the last minute to buy the Halloween candy youre going to hand out to trick-or-treaters because if you dont, youll eat through all of your favorites before Oct. 31. Fact of the matter is, I typically buy only Halloween candy I like because if we happen to have a slow year giving away the stuff, I can reap the sweet rewards.

In an attempt to exhibit some sort of willpower, I used to deploy a candy-giving strategy of buying treats I wasnt particularly fond of. Of course, those attempts coincided with low turnout at the door. My old neighborhood went through a period where trick-or-treaters became scarce, but I also became suspicious that I got labeled as one of the lame houses on the block.

Im a Halloween guy, so this possibility really bothered me. When I was a kid, I always admired the houses that didnt hold back on the goodies. My friends and I used to switch costumes so we could hit the best houses multiple times. We also learned which houses to avoid, although we were always compelled to visit the old lady who would thump a penny or pencil eraser into your bag, just to see what nonsense she was giving away each year.

The point is, I learned my lesson and now only offer the good stuff. We approach our offerings in the Inside Self-Storage Store in much the same manner, striving to bring quality educational products and industry insight to facility owners, managers, developers and investors. The beauty of the ISS Store is you dont have to wait until the kids have stopped ringing the doorbell on Oct. 31 to indulge yourself. The store is always open, and theres a little something for every industry professional to enjoy.

Were currently taking DVD pre-orders for the ISS Digital Summit video content that was presented on Oct. 16 and 17. The live summit was an interactive, online workshop for self-storage owners, presented by industry expert Bob Copper. The DVDs are ideal for those who couldnt attend the live event and cover approximately five hours of material, broken into six sessionsthree from each day.

Day One focused on administering and evaluating your self-storage asset, while Day Two explored generating and managing facility income. Separate DVDs are available for each day, as well as a two-day package with all the content. Access to corresponding digital workbooks with related education materials are included with summit DVD purchases. We anticipate fulfilling pre-orders during the week of Nov. 4.

Another item that draws intense interest each year is the ISS Top-Operators List, which ranks the 100 largest self-storage operators by net rentable square feet. Although we continue to publish a free version of the listing on the primary ISS website, with links for each operators information and expansion plans, the ISS Store package is ideal for industry investors, developers, owners and suppliers who prefer to have all of the data we collect in a convenient, malleable Excel spreadsheet. As a free bonus this year, weve also included a two-page PDF report that provides an overview of the growth, decline and general movement among this year's final list participants.

The store also has a veritable cornucopia of manager-training materials from several industry experts, including a book/workbook combo on facility management from Copper; a DVD/workbook combo designed to assist managers maximize sales from Brad North; and 12 individual Web-based courses covering everything from preparing for a lien sale to facility maintenance.

Its our goal to provide the best materials possible to satisfy your self-storage sweet tooth. If youve got a hankering for a particular product on a specific topic and cannot find it in the store, please be sure to let us know what you would like to see offered by providing suggestions in the comments section below.