Are you always asking yourself how you can continue to get better?

A couple of weeks ago I was having breakfast with Pam McDonald, a Senior Housing Forum writer, and we were batting around a bunch of ideas for Senior Housing Forum for 2015 and this idea emerged. 

From Great to Greater

Last fall we did a complete redesign of the Senior Housing Forum website. While, as would be expected, there have been some transition glitches, I am really delighted with the results. Yet, for all of that, I always want things to be better. 

Shortly after the launch, I attended the SMASH Senior Living Marketing Summit. One of the breakout sessions was presented by a woman who is an expert in website user experiences. After the session was over, I spent some time visiting with her and then asked if she would take a look at my site and make some suggestions. She took a look and suggested some minor tweaks that would make the user experience even better.

I assume, if you are a reader of Senior Housing Forum, you are always looking to improve what you are doing in big and little ways. You are always willing to ask the question:

What can I do better?

You are also glad to hear other people’s ideas about growing your business, knowing not all will work for you. For instance, I have some readers who love my coffee cup logo and others who think it is really holding me back. I appreciate all of the feedback on both sides, and listen and consider with great respect. But, at the end of the day, I have found it works well and will stay the course.

Yet even for that . . . a time could come when it will need to go, or evolve, or something else. So suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

A Risky and Fruitful Proposition

Senior living communities most often reach out to the marketplace using these 7 platforms:

  1. The local community website.
  2. Facebook
  3. Email
  4. Print advertising
  5. Radio advertising
  6. Brochures
  7. TV (a few companies and in a few markets)

We are going to ask a group of experts to evaluate a real life example of one of these mediums and offer their suggestions for making it better. The first one with be the web page for Chelsea Place, an Anthem memory care community in the Denver area. I have asked several experts to give me a short assessment of the Chelsea Place page. We will, in the next couple of days, share the results with you, the reader community.

Why It’s Safe for Chelsea and Anthem

It is safe because this evaluation process comes with the following conditions:

  1. I have asked my experts to provide positive suggestions to make the website better. This will not become an exercise in figuring out everything wrong.
  2. The goal of Senior Housing Forum is to always make our industry look good. We do not exist to undermine the sector.
  3. This is only done with the approval of the senior living community’s leadership.
  4. After the critiques are written, they will be sent to the senior living community leadership for approval. The community has absolute veto power if they feel the article will do them a disservice. We won’t run the story and we won’t be mad about it.

I expect to run this series once or twice a month. If you would like to have us take a look at something of yours, send me an email.

I hope this works.

Steve