Well it IS the 5th of July and the celebration is over for another year. Watching all those celebrants, the fireworks, and the enthusiasm made me think of marketing a business, and the difference between a hard launch of a product (like the 4th of July, don’t you wish?) and just getting the word out regularly about what you offer. Less flash, but definitely worth the effort.
Since we have loads of products and services that directly help those in the home care, home health care and hospice industries, you should know that we just upgraded our marketing site www.markethomecare.com so it is now easier to use, and better meets safety and compliance standards. Take a look see and let us know what you find there. We add in new products regularly, and the prices are right for those watching their budgets. And, in case you are not finished celebrating and want to see the largest fireworks display in North America, I am including a video from Thunder Over Louisville. Definitely NOT a flash in the pan, but the real fireworks deal.
I just love the term “Google juice”, and they have many things to say about how blogging links boost your Google juice. Again, this also now applies to social media, a phenomena that was not present in 2006 when they wrote the book. In fact, nothing boosts your search engine’s standing better, they said. Neither a press release or a full page ad in the NY Times will boost your search engine rankings as much as regularly updated blogs. The shortest, cheapest, fastest and easiest route to prominent Google rankings is to blog. Note that this is still a great way to get Google rankings, but we now recommend using WordPress as the tool in which to design your website so you have the benefits of search engine friendly text and format, plus a ready to go built in blog. And that technology is affordable. Take a short web questionnaire to see costs.Interested? Read more now. »
The message was that the core marketing revolution is about the way businesses communicate – not just with customers but with entire constituencies – partners, vendors, employees, prospects, investors and the media. Author/philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once observed: “All truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third it is accepted as being self evident.” This new interactive marketing (revolutionary at the time in 2006) was being called “conversational marketing, open source marketing, two-way marketing, even corner grocery store marketing”. Now we just use it and it has become self evident!
Basically, Scoble and Israel state that blogging is not for anyone, but it works for a company that is a good company, has a good product, and has some interesting stories or referral possibilities in a particular knowledge base. The blogger-writer must be authentic, passionate and an expert with knowledge to impart with the time to blog regularly. It is this transparent, authentic communication between business and customer that draws the attention of users who are interested in the product or service. Then the interactive communication becomes a customer generator, as trust is built.
Thus the crux of a good blog, and also now the use of social media, should build trust, interest, awareness and enthusiasm, just like they teach in Marketing 101. Is this working for you?
“A window of opportunity won’t open itself. ” Now that is a thought for the day. A product or service, no matter how good, also must be placed in front of those who need it or who could benefit from it.
Understanding who needs to know and how best to get to them are key to spreading the word effectively about a product or service. Right now, in today’s world, one of the best, most universal ways to reach targets is through the Internet. Whether by a website or social networking, the key is first getting attention and then keeping it. And lastly it is in converting those who are interested into buying.
There are many distracters and much noise out there vying for attention. There are also many opportunities, but, alas, that window of opportunity simply will not open itself.
What are you going to do today to see just how you can open that window? For some deeper thoughts on a global opportunity, think on the video below.
This statement, which is has inherent in it an acronym for CARDS is one of the messages that Coach Charlie Strong, U of L’s new football coach brought to a luncheon speech at the downtown Louisville Rotary Club yesterday. He uses lots of ways to motivate and inspire his new team. Character and Responsibility Determine Success is just one of those.
Ranked last in the conference, Coach Strong is undaunted about his new team’s capabilities. He has put together a great coaching staff, covering all the bases, and he has put effort into recruitment snaring 4 out of the top 5 graduating high school football players in Louisville. So, for a man who is used to being ranked first, he just sees this as one hurdle that he can easily get over, and over which he has some control.
And he is focusing on education. 39 of the team’s players made over a 3.0 this last semester after some strict rules went into place about class attendance and grades equating to playing on this soon to be memorable team.
Enthusiasm, focus, dedication and drive seem to be components that Coach Strong brings with him. What a pleasure it is to experience positive and uplifting moments and to hear good news about predictions for the future. Coach Strong got two standing ovations from the mostly business crowd, and if he is as successful on the field as he is in front of an audience, then watch out Big East as those CARDS are coming back.
Are you seeking ways to increase your revenue without having to hire more people? Would you make a small investment if it meant you could tap into tens of thousands of dollars in revenue? In 24 hours, you can find out how!
As a joint effort between Barth Holohan, MSW, MBA and Merrily Orsini, MSSW, two home care industry experts, you will be able to immediately begin earning revenue without having to invest much of your precious time. This turnkey manual of operations makes the service delivery easy to implement. Based on actual working partnerships between a private duty agency and retirement communities, this manual is a complete how-to with forms and materials developed.
On our free Webinar you will see how the manual easily guides you to:
select the right retirement facility to make the offer of services
make it work from an internal process
learn the nuances of how retirement communities market to clients and potential customers
You will hear feedback we have received from agencies who have already purchased the manual as well as from co-founder Barth Holohan on how he implemented this for his home care agency.
This could be the most valuable hour of time you have invested in a long time! You still have 24 hours to register!
It was May 18th 1980 when Mt. St. Helens blew its top. A friend of mine living in Portland on a houseboat at the time looked up to see a topless mountain where there once had been a pointed top. The power of nature, once again, proved to be beyond imagination.
There is a power in marketing that is really beyond imagination, but many do not understand it, nor take the time to really internalize what it means. Branding is the essence of blow your top off marketing. However, branding takes strategy, time, patience, measurement, and perseverance. It is not a quick fix to a dying business.
Introspection is the first step. Think about, study, and figure out exactly what your service differentiation (brand) really is. Do you pride yourself on being customer-friendly? If so, does everything you do—from the FAQ on your Web site to the length of time a caller spends on hold when inquiring on the phone—support this image? If not, revisit the essence of your service’s branding. As a reminder, here is what “branding” means. Branding is the perception of your business that is created at every point of contact with the public.
Our MOST program provides the opportunity for an agency to reinforce a brand image that is knowledgeable, helpful, resourceful and caring. Everything we do in that program is geared towards enhancing the home care agency brand, and, because we know the power of branding, we continue to help our home care clients succeed in this increasingly competitive world.
Have a good day today, and think about how much better it would be if you subscribed to the theory of using blow your top off marketing.
Revamping programs to meet customer demand is one reason businesses succeed. corecubedhas offered a home care specific industry program since October 2007, and in those 2 and a half years, the program has changed a lot. Even the strategy has changed, based on how the industry is changing. What started out as a regulated process for going to market, is now a Web-based library of marketing, sales, design, and recruitment resources available on a point system, based on the agency’s monthly payment.
What this means, is that we now have complete modules that are based on a 30+ home care themes (PPTs, press releases, brochures, resource tips and helpful information, Web links, Web banners) as well as many standalone items. What started out as targeting referrals within the industry has now become a robust resource for an agency allowing an independent agency (or a location of a franchise) to compete in this crowded home care market place with the very best marketing and sales material available anywhere. Communicating regularly is one key to staying in the mind of people who might need services, and the corecubed team implements the direct mail, the email eNewsletter (topical and VERY interesting and well read amongst the agencys’ email lists), so taking time to have regular communication with clients, families, referral sources and prospectives of each of those categories is not only done for the MOST program members, but also the communication adds value because of its helpful and informative nature.
Rising above the crowd is the theme of the next MOST Webinar that is sales oriented (disclosure) but also will take the attendee inside the Web-based resource library and showcase the content and material that has been developed. If you are a home care agency or if you have a friend who owns one, I suggest you either sign or direct them to sign up for the Tuesday, May 18th one hour free (3 PM Eastern time) Webinar now. The program is only offered to one agency in any geographic area because it is so good team corecubed does not want 2 people getting the same helpful information. The program maintains a 92% retention rate with our most successful home care companies using MOST and corecubed as their marketing partner. This is really a marketing program that is beyond belief in its depth and quality, and we are proud to say that we continue to listen to our clients and develop new ways for the MOST program members to compete and to rise above the crowd.
Calvin Borel is not called Calvin Bo-rail for nothing. If you watched the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby with a “seasoned” eye, you would have seen his strategy. He took the shortest route, right on the rail (bo- RAIL, get it?) and when he saw an opening in the stretch, he headed right through it and let his horse go. The rest, as we say here in the Bluegrass, is history.
Focus is what won that race. Alright, he is talented, skilled, experienced as well, but it is the focus that separated him from the others who did not win on Saturday. And it is focus along with persistence and determination that makes businesses succeed. Take a look at your agency’s or business’ marketing efforts, and ask yourself if you are approaching a) the right targets with b) the right message and c) the right way so they will respond as you are desiring. Interested? Read more now. »
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About Merrily Orsini
Industry veteran and Private Duty Business Manual author, Merrily Orsini, MSSW, is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Home Care and Hospice and serves as the Chairman of the Private Duty Homecare Association.
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