A consortium of more than 20 private self-storage owners has joined forces to launch an online directory listing more than 2,000 storage locations. Called Find Local Storage (FLS), the website was started as a way for facility owners to generate leads and obtain rentals directly without paying royalties to third-party aggregators, officials said in a press release. The site is designed to improve marketing efforts for operators, and the consortium is hopeful the website will help reduce costs for participants over time as the platform evolves.

Scheduled to launch on Nov. 15, findlocalstorage.com is owned and controlled by self-storage owners and will be open to additional owner-operator participants, officials said. The site will be managed by Go Local Interactive LLC (GLI), an online marketing agency that currently drives leads to more than 700 self-storage locations through its custom marketing programs. FLS will provide leads from organic, paid-media partnerships and pay for lead sources, officials said.

We are proud to announce a great service for the members of the self-storage industry, said John Jordan, CEO of GLI and a founding partner of FLS. Find Local Storage will enhance lead volume at the participating facilities and allow the storage owners to control their own destiny.

In addition to the more than 2,000 facilities represented in the consortium, FLS will market itself in partnership with the Storage Business Owners Alliance, a buying group for the U.S. self-storage industry. Participating facilities using management software from Centershift Inc. and SMD Software Inc. will also be able to integrate with the website. Our partnership with FLS offers exciting revenue-generating and tracking options for our users, said Markus Hecker, chief operations officer of SMD. We look forward to continuing this innovation in the future.

We are thrilled to be partnering with FLS in this important initiative for the self-storage industry, added David Cramer, chief operations officer for SecurCare Self Storage, a privately owned company that operates more than 140 storage facilities in 11 states. Owners clearly desire to regain control over their marketing and lead-acquisition efforts, and FLS will put control back in their hands.