The Business of Aging

Hard-of-Hearers: An exploding Market.

In 2000, the number of Americans with hearing loss reached almost 30 million, more than double what it had been in the 1970's.

That's one in ten Americans!

There is an excellent chapter in the New York Times (and WSJ) bestselling book microtrends: the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes.

The chapter is titled Hard-of-Hearers.

The entire book is worth a read and includes a lot of great idea-generating content for anyone in marketing or PR. And some good information for on   the "Working Retired" and the huge implications for recruiters, employers and society.

New eBook Helps Senior Care Suppliers Stand Out in Fast-Growing Marketplace

SeniorCareMarketer.com has released a new eBook designed to help companies who market to the senior market reach buyers and stand apart from the competition.

The complimentary eBook titled “How to Reach and Engage Buyers of Senior Care Products and Convert Them to Leads”  —is authored by Mark Willaman, founder of Fisher Vista, LLC, and SeniorCareMarketer.com. 

Willaman draws from nearly 20 years of expertise to help readers achieve increased publicity, web site traffic, improved SEO and greater sales leads.

The heart of the eBook is Willaman’s “Marketing PR Lead-Gen Process(sm),” a three-step process based on traditional and Web 2.0 principles focusing on infrastructure, content and promotion.
“Increasing numbers of companies are entering the senior care market, ranging from medical supply firms to home care services,” said Willaman. “Yet many senior care suppliers are unprepared for the competition they will soon face.  The challenge is to deliver a targeted message to each potential purchasing influencer without breaking the bank.”

Chapters focus on the following topics:

“Strategy, Messaging and the Search-Optimized Marketing Website,” “Promotion,” “Integration with Other Marketing Activities” and “Content. Content. Content.” Webinars, blogs, advertising, social networking and events are also covered, and the eBook concludes with a sample six-month marketing plan.

Two key challenges are identified:

-    The need to reach purchasing influencers such as family caregivers, medical doctors, nurses, homecare agencies, hospitals, geriatric care managers, pharmacists, assisted living facilities, social service agencies, physical therapists, financial planners and even seniors themselves.

-    Standing out in an increasingly-crowded marketplace. Willaman noted that many vendors view marketing as a luxury, and pay for sporadic marketing campaigns only when they have a few extra dollars in their budget.

“Many locally-owned companies who once enjoyed a near monopoly in their area are waking up to find competition, often from companies or franchises based out of state with significant marketing budgets,” he added. “Suddenly, what worked yesterday no longer works as effectively and the little things like a quality web site begin to make a big difference.”

The complimentary eBook is available for download at  http://www.seniorcaremarketer.com/downloads.htm
 

How to Manage, Operate and Market a Senior Housing Facility

Benjamin Pearce from Potomac Homes emailed me about his new book,  Senior Living Communities. It is a guide book on Operations Management for Assisted Living, Congregate, and Continuing Care retirement communities. It was just released in its second edition by Johns Hopkins University Press. 

Contemporary Gerontology describes the book as an " in-the-trenches approach to the administration and marketing of assisted living, congregate and continuing care facilities".

As the demand for senior residential communities continues to rise with the aging U.S. population, this is a great idea for a book and one that will prove useful to the many administrators and staff members who often are forced to learn by trial and error the complicated task of delivering high-quality and consistent services to elderly persons. It's also a must-read for the many facilities who have been plagued by a variety of administrative and financial difficulties.

Mr. Pearce offers a wealth of sound advice and practical solutions, discussing resident relations, operating methods, staffing ratios, department management, cost containment, sales and marketing strategies, techniques of financial analysis, budgeting, and human resources. New chapters address issues particular to dementia care and architecture, and the appendix contains a department-by-department audit of senior living operations.