Improve Your Assisted Living Marketing Plan by Adding Integration

Don't Think Piecemeal

Even a growing market (like assisted living) is effected by the down economy. In this type of environment, those with a more effective marketing plan will attract a larger share of the available move-ins. Those with weak plans will suffer. So its critical to hone and strengthen your plan. One way to do this is to weave integration into the strategy.

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What do I mean by integration? The commonly designed marketing plan is designed to be piecemeal...elements of the plan are treated independently and executed separately. For example, a marketing director will visit professionals in the community and hand out their brochure to "earn?" referrals. When the visit is over, they may send a thank you card and set their calendar for the next visit. (After all, it is the visiting part of their plan.) But they will seldom think about interviewing the professional while they are there and including that professional's expertise in an advertisement for their facility or on their website.

If they would, they would acquire valuable content (along with its credibility) for their ad and/or website. At the same time, they would also be building a stronger relationship that can turn a professional into an ally, and even a key referral source. And the new information on their website would help them to serve their community. This one effort would inject continuity and synergy into their plan, making it more dynamic and effective. The end result, more people take notice, are attracted and are referred. That leads to move-ins.

Flow From One Element To Another

There are seven key elements to any assisted living marketing plan are:

Referral Source Development Advertising Community Outreach & Inreach Public Relations Visits & Tours Inquiry and Family Member "Keep In Touch" Website & Internet

When executed well, each element can lead to move-ins. However, when organized as a team, each one can become more powerful and increase their results. For example, what is shown on a tour of the facility will be remembered and trusted more if it has already been seen on the company website. When a variation is also seen on a community bulletin board or in a follow-up mailing, the trust level increases even more. (FYI - Trust is critical to the assisted living selling process.)

Place The Website In The Center Of The Plan

The website is commonly thought of as an extended brochure and an independent element. Big mistake! It should be the hub of all marketing. Most (if not all) strategies should either start on the website or lead back to the website. Some should do both. The dynamics of the added continuity and synergy, as well as the use of technology the market has come to expect, result in a more effective plan. In addition, the staff can save a lot of time on the creative process and may even lower the expenses of execution. Here is an example of what I mean.

Visit and interview a local professional who serves seniors and/or caregivers... That leads to adding their information and a sample of their expertise to the "Support Services" page on your website... That leads to including that sample of their expertise in an advertisement in the local newspaper for your community outreach event... That leads to the community outreach event that involves the same referral source... That leads to a news story released to the local media outlets... The event is also added as an "Activity Scrapbook" entry on your website... The Scrapbook entry is easily converted into a new, quick, printed in-house handout... That leads to follow-up mailings and e-mails to event attendees, family members and referral sources... And the new handout is also added to community bulletin boards you have set up.

This one strategy blends together six of the seven key marketing plan elements - referral source development, advertising, community outreach or inreach, public relations, inquiry "keep in touch" and the website. It can also share copy, design elements and photos which saves time and money. Note: Of course, to do this effectively and efficiently, their must be systems in place that take advantage of technology.

Put Me In Coach

Adding integration is similar to managing a team sport. You have to recognize and understand the individual players at your disposal (marketing elements and people), then blend them into a cohesive unit that performs better as a team than as individuals. When designing a plan, you should look at your list of key elements, then weave (at least) some of them into each campaign. They could work together or they lead to one another. The goals of this integrated team include:

Creating added credibility. Building trust faster with the help of continuity and synergy. Providing tools to those would like to promote you. Saving time and/or saving money. Attracting more inquiries. Providing more incentive to offer referrals to your facility. Improving inquiry/tour/move-in ratios.

This concept of integration is not new, but it is underutilized. A big reason why is that it demands an organized leader who sees things differently, has the ability to blend the positive attributes of people and marketing elements, and works within a company culture that allows change to what has been done in the past. Is it worth the effort and the change? I believe it provides a marketing advantage that should not be overlooked or underestimated. An assisted living company that utilizes integration properly will come out of this down economy with added market share and will be well positioned for growth in better times.

Improve Your Assisted Living Marketing Plan by Adding Integration

Grow Calendar 2011

Adding Captions to your Photo Calendar

Many photo editing or publishing programs have a calendar feature that enables you to add comments in the form of text or drawings to your photo calendar. Although captions add humor or inspiration to your calendars, it's often hard to come up with clever comments to give your creation just the right flavor. Here are some ideas to help you on your way.

Motivational/Inspirational

Grow Calendar 2011

Motivational comments can add inspiration to your calendars. Sometimes if you're feeling down, all you need is a little push to help you reach your goals. A beautiful picture along side a motivational comment can make a calendar that's both attractive and inspiring. Online there are millions of quotes available for use, here are a few to consider for your next calendar:

"Whatever you are, be a good one." --Abraham Lincoln

"I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them." --Pablo Picasso

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles, which he has overcome while trying to succeed." --Booker T. Washington

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that is your own self."--Aldous Leonard Huxley

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." --George Bernard Shaw

"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions." --Benjamin Franklin

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." --Albert Einstein

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." --Ray Bradbury

"Joy is not in things! It is in us!"--Benjamin Franklin

"Definition of courage: 'Grace under pressure.'"--Ernest Hemingway

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important." --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them"--A. A. Milne Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Many people like to take digital picture of their children or grandchildren to share with loved ones. Humor comes naturally to children, so through the year keep record of the cute things they say to use on your next calendar. For example, my son once asked me for a piece of candy, and I told him he could have "one", than he said, "Can I have two ones?" So, a picture of him with this comment along with some candy images would have made an adorable calendar page.

You could even use fonts that resemble child handwriting with their comments, or captions that look like they are crayon drawings.

You might even ask them what they want to put with their picture, what they want to tell the person that is receiving the calendar, or what they were thinking when the picture was taken.

If you still cannot think of what to add to your calendar look for famous quotes online or from books that relate to children such as:

"Children have more need of models, than of critics."--Joseph Joubert

"Children need your presence more than your presents." --Jesse Jackson

"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." --Harry S. Truman

"You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they're going."--P. J. O'Rourke

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."--Franklin P. Adams American journalist

"Children have never been very good at listening to adults but they have never failed to imitate them."--James Baldwyn

Holidays

There is a holiday for every month of the year. In December, you could include a line from your favorite Christmas carol, or a phrase or saying that fits your families holiday season. In the fall, you could find a phrase from a favorite poem that reflects on the change of the color of the leaves or on the harvest. If you are not a poet yourself, you can find a poem or a song phrase that mirrors the way you feel about a season or a photograph.

Humor

Humor can brighten any day. If you have funny pictures that you want to incorporate into you photo calendar, you could include jokes that you have heard, or most people are open to you poking a little fun at their silly picture.

Some calendar creation programs will even let you draw over the pictures, so you could add fangs to your friends for a funny Halloween picture, or a bikini to someone for an August month.

If you are the type that cannot remember the jokes you hear, an example of some humorous phrases that can be found online:

I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it."--Jack Handey

"If it's free, it's advice; if you pay for it, it's counseling; if you can use either one, it's a miracle."--Jack Adams

"Income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf."--Will Rogers

"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens."--Abraham Lincoln

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."--Erma Bombeck

"I love deadlines. I especially love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."--Douglas Adams, Author, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake."--Bob Hope

Birthdays--On Getting Older

Some people like to make birthday calendars to share with their family, so that everyone can remember birthdays and stay in touch on those special days.

In Birthday calendars you could include a little family history, such as where people were born, or a favorite birthday memory. You could add history, such as, in 1963 when Uncle Steve was born, John F. Kennedy was the president of the United States.

You could add birthday cakes or party hat images, or draw the birthday party hats over the photographs. Calendar creations software will also allow you to insert pictures into the calendar grid, so you can include multiple birthday pictures in one month.

Some famous quotes, on getting older, you could add are:

"Youth has no age."--Pablo Picasso

"To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am."--Bernard M. Baruch

"Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live."
--Unknown

"Middle age is when you've met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else."--Ogden Nash

"Adults are obsolete children."--Dr. Seuss [Theodor Seuss Geisel] (03/02/1904-1991)

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age."
--French proverb

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity."
--Thomas Henry Huxley

"The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom."
--H. L. Mencken

"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better."
--Unknown

"When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old."--Bill Clinton

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age."--Robert Frost

There really are endless possibilities to the type of captions you could add to your photo calendars. Just keep some notes on the funny things you hear, or do some online research for a famous quote or poem. For history, there are websites that you could look up a month and year a person was born to add historic facts to their images. You could add favorite songs or sayings, comedic drawings, or change fonts to match the images.

The most important thing - let your imagination and humor run wild.

Adding Captions to your Photo Calendar

Grow Calendar 2011

Adding a Shower Enclosure to Your Vintage Claw Foot Tub

One drawback to owning a vintage claw foot bathtub can be the lack of having a shower. If your claw foot tub doesn't currently have a shower feature, there are several options you can choose to add that modern, yet important feature. You could add a separate shower enclosure to the bathroom, but this is a much more costly option and some bathrooms may not be able to fit a full shower enclosure. Plus, this would add an additional chore to bathroom cleaning. The most ideal situation is to add a shower enclosure and curtain to your existing claw foot tub. Luckily, there are some available options to making this task fairly easy to achieve.

To add a shower to your existing claw foot tub, you can hire a contractor or plumber to do the work for you and they can recommend several options. One of those options is to add a shower to the claw foot tub and put in a surrounding shower rod and curtain. This allows the shower curtain to completely surround the tub, therefore minimizing water splashing and leaks. Another option for tubs near a wall is to tile the existing wall, add tiled water "detractors" around the wall sides of the tub and put an "L" shaped shower rod and curtain to cover the exposed sides of the tub. The drawback to this option, of course, is that it is more costly and takes away from the freestanding look of the claw foot tub.

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There are basically two options to installing the plumbing for the shower. One is to have the pipes hidden within the wall, which only works if the tub is close to an existing bathroom wall. The other option is to have the exposed pipes that are mounted directly on the tub. The latter is the most common choice and there are some various decorative styles that make the exposed pipes and knobs have a nice finished look.

There are several "do-it-yourself" options available for those who are willing to take on the task themselves. Home improvement stores such as Lowes and Home Depot carry various kits that are predesigned to fit most claw foot tubs. There are shower kits designed to work with existing pipes and others that add the exposed pipes to the freestanding tub. Both types of kits are affordable, easy to install and only require the use of a few basic tools. Both Lowes and Home Depot have staff in the plumbing department that can make some recommendations based on the set up that you currently have. Still, it might help to get someone who is familiar with plumbing to help out or the check the job once it is complete.

Regardless of the type of shower option you choose, you can easily add a shower to your claw foot tub to make it more convenient and useful. This will allow you to have the best of both worlds, a nice large tub to take a long, leisurely bath or a shower that you can use quickly and efficiently thus making your bathroom more functional and enjoyable.

Adding a Shower Enclosure to Your Vintage Claw Foot Tub

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Adding a Metal Storage Shed Will Keep Your Cottage Neat and Organized

Do you feel like your life is becoming cluttered and you need to do something about it quick? If you do, then there is certainly a solution for you. You can remove the clutter from your life and you don't have to wait weeks or months to do it. You can actually do it in a matter of days and you can do it all on your own.

If you're looking for a good do-it-yourself project that you can have done in just a matter of days and you feel like you're being overcome with clutter in your home, then a storage shed project is going to be the project that you need. But if you're thinking you're going to need saws, hammers, nails, and other tools, you don't need to think that at all. In fact, you can simply install a prefab metal storage shed that even the least carpentry inclined individual can install. All you need is the metal storage shed, a plan to put down some flooring if you like, and a few simple tools.

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Putting up the shed

Let's face it. If you were to have someone else do it, it would take a long time. There would be hammering, sawing, drilling, and all sorts of loud noises for who knows how long. You'd have to deal with the anxiety of having your building finished as soon as possible, but such frustrations as slow workers and inclement weather would be working against you. Before you would know it, you would have several weeks behind you and just half of a building.

Purchasing a prefab metal storage shed removes all of these frustrations. As a matter of fact, a metal storage shed will most likely last you longer than a wood storage shed or a shed made out of another type of material. They are also very easy to assemble and are more cost-effective. And believe it or not, you can do the entire project yourself. All you have to do is follow the assembly instructions and you are on your way to having yourself a storage shed in no time. It is a project that you can feel proud of yourself over and it is a project that is going to keep your life neat and organized.

However, you have to make sure that you choose a prefab metal shed that is the right size for the things you want to store. If you don't have enough room, you're still going to experience a certain degree of clutter that you do not want to have to deal with. The point of putting up the shed is to remove the clutter from your life, so making sure you have one of ample size is how you're going to do that.

Neatness and organization

The project isn't finished until you start organizing your home by placing items within your prefab storage shed. You'll notice that by storing items in your shed, you'll free up room in your home for those things that you regularly use. You can also free up room for new things that you need. One reason why some individuals do not buy new things is because they have no room for them. Now that problem is solved and you can enjoy a life that is free of clutter. If you need something, then you can simply go to your storage shed and get it. Once you start organizing one part of your life, you'll notice that the rest of your life will become organized as well. You can then kick back and enjoy it.

Adding a Metal Storage Shed Will Keep Your Cottage Neat and Organized

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