Senior Housing Forum, as good as it is, it is not good enough. You — the readers and leaders in the industry — have more knowledge, more expertise than I will ever be able to have. That wisdom must be shared.

By Steve Moran

A long long time ago . . . someone (not Al Gore) invented this thing called the internet and it was cool because it was new, but it was not really that useful.  But then came Compuserve, Prodigy and AOL (with only AOL still around these days). After that came Myspace, soon to be eclipsed by Facebook.

I fell in love with Facebook. It was revolutionary technology that — at every level — allowed me to be SOCIAL! I could keep track of what was going on in the lives of people I went to high school and college with, I could follow kids who quickly turned into young adults from my church youth group, and — as I moved from Southern California to Northern California — I could stay in touch with friends I was no longer living near.

The Second Track

As Facebook grew at an explosive rate and other social media platforms emerged, they become a powerful platform for selling products and services. This use of social media has evolved and is continuing to evolve.

It allows consumers to be better informed and — in it’s current evolution — delivers massive amount of useful information, allowing consumers to make more informed decisions. It allows consumers to shop for things at amazing prices without ever leaving home.  

The challenge with the second track is that has the potential of eclipsing the SOCIAL part of social media.  

The Big Win

What inspired this post was an article by Brian Basilico titled “A New Way to Think About Social Media.” The crux of his article is that the big win for social media is that it is SOCIAL. In other words, it is fundamentally about people helping people live better lives, have better relationships and be more effective in their jobs.  

Without these benefits . . . “What’s the point?”

Senior Living

There is this tendency to see social media mostly as a way to tell our story better to consumers and influencers; and, to a lesser degree, to connect with families and residents. Yet . . . at the end of the day, the huge benefit, the huge opportunity is to use social media to connect people, to build relationships.   

When your selling strategy becomes one of making friends with prospects and helping them make their lives better — helping them figure out what makes them happy — you have something incredibly powerful! At the end of the day, you will sell more and make new, deeper friendships.

My Pivot

I know there are some great leaders in the senior living industry and one of the weird things about being a great leader is that great leaders never think they are good enough. They are always thinking, reading, asking questions . . . learning.   

They know there is one more idea, one more question, one more challenge that will make them even better. They also know that hanging out with other great leaders is the very best way to grow. Great leaders love to share and brainstorm, to talk and even to confess failures. They know that talking, sharing and asking questions grows energy levels and produces great results.   

It is because of these aspects that we have launched Senior Living Leadership Hub. I consider myself a relatively smart guy and I spend lots of time talking senior living with people who are a lot smarter than me. The work product are the articles at Senior Housing Forum.  

But honestly Senior Housing Forum, as good as it is, is not good enough. You — the readers and leaders in the industry — have more knowledge, more expertise than I will ever be able to have. That wisdom must be shared. If you are willing to share it, you will be a better leader.

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