The conference registration site opened last week, and session spots are filling up quickly, so register today to get into the sessions that interest you most. This year's conference will be held April 24 through 26, 2014 in Denver, Colorado and will include an exciting array of third-party subject matter experts who will present topics on marketing, recruitment and retention, organizational development, and sales, giving you action plans you can implement immediately. The sessions are organized according to professional roles:

• Franchisee-only sessions will be strategic in focus and designed to help franchisees achieve business growth objectives. Join these sessions to learn from colleagues and subject matter experts on topics of interest for the business owner.

• Sessions focused on general managers, marketing, sales, human resources, and client care roles are appropriate for anyone interested in sharpening their professional skills. Learn from the experts and talk with your peers on topics that will help build your local business.

Click here to watch an exciting video on what is new and different at this year's conference and to register. 

When: April 24-26, 2014

Where:

Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel

1550 Court Place. Denver, CO 80202

Special room rate for conference attendees: $169 per night

To book your room at the negotiated rate of $169 per night, click here, or call (303) 893-3333 and ask for the Comfort Keepers^®' rate.  

Prompted by franchisee feedback that not all content was being transferred to the new local websites, CKFI and The Shipyard have placed the franchisee site reviews on hold to conduct an audit of all content on these sites. As a result, you will not be receiving calls from The Shipyard at this time to review your sites.

Based on some of the comments franchisees are sharing, we want to re-communicate the strategy behind the new websites. This information was shared during the webinars, but it is worthy of a revisit. Duplicate web content i.e., the same content on the main website as appears on the franchisees' individual sites, has always been problematic from a search engine perspective. Last year, Google began a campaign to identify and penalize websites containing duplicated content. Our goal with the redesign is to provide an exceptional user experience, project our brand image, and comply with Google's new search algorithm so the Comfort Keepers^®'site is prominent in national search rankings, and your sites are prominent in local search rankings. By doing so, we are better able to drive traffic to your sites and create the opportunity to convert users to clients.

How does this work? The strategy to maximize opportunities for the corporate website and franchisee sub-sites to perform well in rankings includes the following:

• design the corporate site to be the informational hub: By eliminating corporate content from franchisee sites, we allow the corporate site to appear at the top of Google rankings for the most important, information-related searches in our industry. Potential clients go to this site first to gather information and have their questions answered.
• design the franchisee sites for conversion: Once potential clients have the information they need to make a decision, they are directed to the franchisee sites to take action (i.e. pick up the phone and call or submit a contact me form).
• remove the majority of redundant material from franchisees' sites: Content  that appears on the corporate site should not appear verbatim on the franchisee sites because it negatively impacts the Comfort Keepers' network search rankings. Franchisee sites should contain largely local, unique content.

This is a different structure from the past, where content that appeared on the corporate site was often repeated on the franchisees' sites. To reiterate, through this strategy, the franchisee sites will now be better optimized for local search marketing tactics, such as developing specific geo-targeted content pages.

The Shipyard will be finalizing their audit analysis, as well as the analysis of inclusion of recruiting applications into the local sites, and will present findings and recommendations late next week. At that time, we will determine our next steps in the redesign process and present an update in an upcoming Friday Flash.

If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to contact Kimberly Epple, Senior Director Marketing and Advertising, at KimberlyEpple@Comfortkeepers.com. 

Comfort Keeper^® of the Year is the event where we recognize and honor six outstanding ComfortKeepers^® caregivers. This is your chance to vote for the U.S. Comfort Keeper you believe has gone above and beyond the call of duty and provides extraordinary quality care and quality of life for his or her clients.

This year we had 82 nominations, which were presented anonymously to the committee for finalist selection. Now we are asking you to choose the winners based on

1. how they engage in Interactive Caregiving™ with their client(s).
2. how they symbolize what a Comfort Keeper is, and why they should be considered for this honor.  

Voting runs now through midnight on Sunday, March 16. Only one vote per territory owned is allowed, and multiple votes from one territory will eliminate the territory's entire vote. Franchisees owning multiple territories will need to return to the voting website to enter each vote they are eligible to submit. The six 2014 Comfort Keepers of the Year will be announced the week of March 17.

The new, one-stop-shopping print materials ordering portal, SMARTworks from Standard Register goes live March 3, with all Comfort Keepers^®'orders receiving free shipping through May 1. The portal was tested by a number of our franchisees to ensure it is user friendly, and we would like to thank those franchisees for their time and feedback.

The first time you access SMARTworks, you will need to register. If you are a multi-unit owner, you will have the option to register each of your territories if you so choose, or you may register only one and order for all territories from that one account.

You can access SMARTworks, using the link below, and register your account beginning Monday, March 3. 

Access SMARTworks

Your initial user ID and password are as follows:

User ID:           [territory number]comfort (e.g. 555comfort)

Password:        password (all lower case); You will be prompted to change your password 

    the first time you log on.

If for some reason you are unable to log on, contact a Standard Register representative at 

(866) 680-6246 to set up your log-in information.

Beginning March 3 you will be ordering all print materials from Standard Register through SMARTworks. SMARTworks requires no special software installations and offers easy-to-read displays for order placement, backorder follow up, and document management. Ordering materials is simplified with product descriptions accompanied by digital images.

We will be offering three (3) 60-minute Live Meeting web training sessions on the following dates and times:

Tuesday, March 4 at  6  p.m. EST

Wednesday, March 5 at  1  p.m. EST

Thursday, March 6 at  10  a.m. EST

You can access the webinars using the following meeting information:

Meeting Number: 593 857 851

Meeting Password: smartworks

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Click here to join the online meeting  

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1. If requested, enter your name and email address.

2. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: smartworks

3. Click "Join."

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To join the teleconference only

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Call-in toll-free number: (866) 251-3046  (U.S.)

Conference Code: 120772

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Click here for assistance

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1. On the left navigation bar, click "Support."

CKFI is pleased to announce the pilot program with Medline Industries is underway. Medline Industries is the largest, privately owned medical supplier in the U.S. with over $5.2 billion in annual sales. This opportunity with Medline is a good example of the synergy occurring with CKFI and Sodexo.

Currently, 24 franchisees from locations across the country are participating in the pilot program. This represents a good cross-section of our population, with franchisees participating from offices of all sizes, including some offices that offer private duty nursing. To date, they are setting up meetings with their respective Medline sales representatives to familiarize themselves with the company, its products and services, and the benefits for franchisees and clients. These benefits include training on Medline products for Comfort Keepers^®' staff, including administrative staff; and special discounts for franchisees and their clients, with clients being able to order Medline products directly from the comfort of their homes.

At this time, CKFI is reviewing the first proof of the Comfort Keepers-branded catalogue and exploring branded garments (e.g. scrubs and lab coats) for nurses and caregivers as well as welcome kits that could potentially be presented to new clients.

We are also excited to announce that Medline will be an exhibitor and roundtable presenter at our Annual Leadership Conference in Denver, Colorado. This will be a great opportunity to learn about Medline and get some preliminary results from the pilot program. We will continue to give more information on this program in Friday Flash updates over the next few weeks, so watch for upcoming issues.

Understanding your finances is critical to your franchise's long-term health and vitality. Join us for the March 2014 MasterMind as Keith Jardine, Program Director of Performance Management and finance coach, walks us through some of the most important financial tools at your disposal. We will discuss how to use these tools to better manage, interpret, and predict your finances as well as how to manage your KPIs.

Today is your last chance to register for the Human Resources (HR) Road Show on March 18 in Philadelphia. Join us for the roadshow and get the most up-to-date information on the following HR topics:

• recruiting and retaining staff
• hiring the right people
• conducting background checks

CKFI will also be providing you with the latest learning and development updates and giving a preview of the new Relias Learning Management System. Do not miss out; sign up today!

Date: March 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location:

Comfort Keepers Office #132

101 Greenwood Ave, Ste 204

Jenkintown, PA 19046

Click here to register for the Human Resources workshop.

Nearby Hotels:

Burbridge Street Bed and Breakfast

6324 Burbridge Street

Philadelphia, PA, 19144

Phone: (215) 843-0886

Hampton Inn - Willow Grove

1500 Easton Rd

Willow Grove, PA, 19090

Phone: (215) 659-3535

Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia Northeast

9461 Roosevelt Blvd

Philadelphia, PA, 19114

Phone: (215) 671-9600

Towneplace Suites by Marriott Horsham

198 Precision Dr.

Horsham, PA, 19044

Phone: (215) 323-9900