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Success Naturally Follows Strategy
Short Takes on Business Performance 3.0 | |
Strategy is an instrumental part of life. Whether you are picking stocks, trying to figure out how to beat the Chicago Bears, or give your business a competitive edge, strategy can make all the difference. In the first two issues of this series on business performance we discussed your company's mission and vision, and business goals. In this article, we talk about strategy, and they're all tied together. "When you are looking at strategies, the main question is 'how will we build this business?'," says Larry Sveda, owner of Full Spectrum Solutions, LLC, a Wisconsin company that specializes in helping business owners plan their business strategy, set their direction and build high performance teams. When we discussed your businesses' vision, we defined what you were building; mission focused on why the business exists while goal setting seeks to measure how you're doing. With strategies we're getting to the "how" it's going to happen. In this article, we won't begin to tell you what strategies are best for your senior care business. Strategies will be somewhat industry and business specific. For example, in the insurance industry, direct mail or education marketing with financial workshops are proven and effective strategies. For senior care businesses, your strategies might revolve around initiatives such as caregiver workshops, Alzheimer's or dementia updates, or frequent contacts with potential referrers such as physicians, social workers, discharge planners, and the clergy. In any case, one of your first steps will be to decide which strategies are appropriate for your business. You can consult with professional associations (WALA, ALFA, etc.), trade journals and other types of publications or web sites that provide ideas of trends, successful strategic approaches and so forth. You can rely on your own storehouse of experiences, too. When it comes to considering which strategies to employ, begin by asking yourself a few critical questions such as: - What are the opportunities that currently exist in your market? - How can you capitalize on these opportunities? - What are some of the threats that currently exist? - How can you minimize these threats or turn them into opportunities? - What differentiates you and makes you better than your competitors? - What alliances could you form that could be helpful? Honest answers to these questions will help formulate your particular strategy. "The big thing to focus on is this: will these strategies allow us to accomplish the objectives we set within our mission, and help us fulfill our vision," Sveda explains. In the next and final part of this series on business performance, we'll address the action plan: what you need to do daily to make your strategies work. For more information on establishing your business plan, contact Larry Sveda at lsveda@charter.net or call 608-469-5095.
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| Featured Listings | |
Deerfield, Wisconsin - Vacant CBRF in Dane County with eight private rooms and wheel-in showers. Fire protection includes sprinkler system. The seller is motivated and will consider lease-option.
Milwaukee area - The former Glenfield Healthcare Center is now vacant and ready for a new life as an assisted living facility or other use. Priced at $15,000/bed and $57/SF. The 260 bed facility is located in Glendale, Wisconsin and priced has been reduced to $2,499,000.
Green Lake County, Wisconsin - This 26 bed facility has low-rate, non-recourse WHEDA financing in place. Offered at a price of $1,950,000 - that's just $82/SF and a 13.4% cap rate. In other words, this one makes money.
Western Wisconsin - Senior Care Realty is offering two profitable portfolios of two buildings each in Western Wisconsin, featuring cap rates of 12+%.
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| Five Tips to Acheive Better Search Engine Rankings | Nearly every senior care business has its own web site these days. In recent years, having a web site has become as instrumental to your businesses' success as a business card and letterhead. The question, however, is this: how effective is your web site in generating tours of your facility and new residents?
Much of the answer to this question is based on how you show up in search engine rankings when someone searches for assisted living, independent senior apartments, or dementia care. Every senior care owner wants his or her business to appear at the top of the list when someone conducts such a search. That's difficult to guarantee without a price tag through services such as Google AdWords. But, there are strategies you can employ to improve your search engine rankings at no cost. Here are a few pointers:
- Write for web site visitors who are scanning first, and reading second. Most web readers scan pages for relevant content rather than reading through paragraphs word by word. Guide the reader by highlighting the salient points in your document using headings, lists, and typographical emphasis.
- Think of your web site visitor as a hummingbird who flitters about in a garden from flower to flower. Most of your guests will stay about 8 seconds before deciding to leave or stay. In those 8 seconds, most readers will read about 20 words, though those words may not be in any type of order. What are the most important copy elements when thinking about the 8-second visitor? Here they are: page title, heads and subheads, bolded keyword phrases, introductory sentences, and lists.
- Remember "above the scroll." Above the scroll refers to content at the top of a web page that visitors can see without scrolling down. Be sure to put your summaries and keywords in this part of the page. Readers will scan this content before scrolling down or going deeper into your site. This is prime real estate in your site, so use it well.
- Research the keywords. Do some research to find out what types of words people use in searching for senior care. Tools are available from Google and others that can help. As an example, go to www.googlekeywordtool.com and click on the top left link for the Google Keyword Tool. The tool provides search statistics with the keywords you entered. This information can help you pick keywords most likely to match what customers are seeking.
- State the facts and avoid exaggeration. I searched a number of senior care web sites and found the following useless headlines on their respective home pages:
"Where everybody knows your name"
"Welcome to the simple life"
"Life. Celebrated daily."
"World-class assisted living"
While these may be fine branding or advertising statements, they do nothing to help search engine rankings. Think about it like this: no one will search for "world-class assisted living." Rather, a consumer will search for senior care services that meet their immediate need such as assisted living, dementia care, senior living and the like. In developing your web page copy, assume an objective voice instead of an overly promotional voice. Focus on using keywords that consumers would use in searching for the services you offer.
Optimizing your site for improved search engine rankings is an ongoing process. This article covered just a few points to get you started. We'll cover additional topics in the future.
Mark L. Hendrickson is President of The Wingra Group, a Madison-based marketing and business development company. He can be reached at wingra1@gmail.com. |
Follow seniorcaremike on Twitter!  |
Mike Collins tweets ALF sales and development. Here's some of the latest.
Buffalo, NY retirement community sells for $17 million as part of Sunwest deal. http://ht.ly/2tztp
Grubb & Ellis Acquires Health Care Facility in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. http://ht.ly/2rVQ3
New Jersey CCRC purchased a decade ago for $16.8M, sells recently for $3.8M . http://ht.ly/2qJrJ
Emeritus and partners pick up four #ALFs in Wisconsin as part of its acquisition of facilities from Sunwest. http://ht.ly/2oEJ5 |
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More Senior Care In The News | News and Details on senior care sales and developments
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| Need a Facility Yesterday? |
Some assisted living providers need a facility immediately to meet demand from new clients. Senior Care Realty's facility lease program can help you fill a need for a facility fast. Vacant facilities are currently available in the following Wisconsin locations:
Appleton, Belleville, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Marinette, Marshfield, Mayville, Monroe, Westfield, and Wisconsin Rapids.
If your community isn't on the list, contact us to learn about new opportunities, including our Quick Turnaround Construction for brand new facilities.
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