We have all seen the statistics, “Every day 6000 Americans turn 65 years old and 3800 Americans turn 85.  By the year 2020, one in 4 Americans will be over the age of 65…” It’s more than the growing number of seniors, it’s the growing number of choices seniors have to accommodate their lifestyles that make “Aging In Place” a red-hot market for service providers of all types.

An estimated 70% of seniors spend the rest of their life in the same home they celebrated their 65th birthday ¹ .  Yet according to AARP, 87% of people who want to Age In Place have not begun to make the necessary modifications or arrangements to do so.  These statistics show the client base is out there and growing, yet finding and reaching new senior clients is often the most challenging part of business.

Geography, technology and security represent some of the biggest roadblocks to reaching seniors.  Developing both your local and internet presence are essential elements to breaking down those barriers.

Develop Your Local Presence

As service providers, most of us offer localized services, yet unless we work in retirement community settings our base of potential clients is geographically disbursed.  Senior that choose to age in place have living arrangements as diverse as the seniors themselves.  There’s no way you can find and reach them all by yourself.  Try diversifying your efforts.

Cultivate a Diverse Network of Business, Community and Personal Connections:

Start by calling on other businesses that have complimentary goods and services.  Make sure these businesses know your company exists and what services you provide. Remember you are building a relationship.  It will probably take more than one contact for this effort to pay off.  Reach out to community organizers.  Donate time, goods or services to senior oriented charities.  Get involved with your local governmental department on aging and make sure your services are known to local churches.  Going about your daily work and being involved in your community, local churches and charities are great ways to build your local presence.

Advertise Locally:

Many of the traditional marketing venues become outdated, too expensive or saturated.  Try reaching out to smaller community and neighborhood newspapers.  They prices have better advertising rates than the larger papers and are well read.

Be Someone Who Cares:

Seniors are often sheltered by friends, families and communities and rightfully so!  We’ve all read (and some of us know first hand) stories of seniors who been preyed upon by unscrupulous people.  You must position yourself as someone who wants to help.  Be empathetic, trustworthy and honest.  Be someone who really cares.

Promote Your Services / Ask For Referrals:

People can’t hire you if they don’t know what you do.  Make sure your clients know what services you offer and ask for referrals.

Become The “Go-To” Person:

Position yourself as a local senior resource expert.   Learn what goods and services are out there.  Get to know the other business owners in your area.   Do your research and make sure that when you do make a referral, make it a rule to only recommend businesses you would recommend to your own parents.

Develop Your Internet Presence

Senior service providers often overlook the internet as a marketing tool.  Marketing money is put elsewhere because you think your business is “too local for the internet” or perhaps the internet advertising is just “too complicated.”   Think again.  Everyday people and businesses search the internet for goods and services like yours.  If you don’t have a presence, you can’t be found.

Get listed And Get Noticed!

Getting noticed on the internet is easier than you might think.  Even without a website, you can and should have some web presence.  Start with any trade associations, networking groups, or chamber of commerce you belong to.  Make sure you have a listing in each and that your contact information is current and correct.  Make sure your business is listed with Google Local and other free local directories.  These local directories are quickly replacing the traditional phone book and yellow pages.

Advertise In Targeted Directories:

Marketing money spent on targeted directories is money well spent.  Think about it, anyone searching a website called, the “Retirement Living Resource Directory,” is looking for retirement related resources.   Directories like this spend time and money developing their own internet presence for the keywords and phrases that match your business model.  When you get a lead from a targeted directory, it is a qualified lead.

No Website?

If you do not have a website, consider purchasing a full web page on a targeted internet directory.  A basic company overview with contact information and possibly some photos makes for a very professional looking web presence without the hassle, financial and time commitments required for website development and maintenance.

Have A Website But No Visitors?

80% of all website traffic starts with an internet search.  You need to make your website appealing to the both “bots” (automated web crawlers) and people.  If technology is not your thing, consider hiring a professional.  A good technology consultant can review website content and structure.  You also need to consider how you how you advertise on the internet and develop your inbound links.  Again, a good technology consultant can work wonders and may actually save you money.

Like To Write?

If you like to write, get involved in social media.  Write your own blog.  Contribute to other blogs and group discussions that relate to your business.  Submit articles and press releases.  These are great ways to establish credibility as an expert in your field, develop your inbound links and provide your own website with fresh, keyword rich content.

As the senior market place becomes increasingly competitive, your internet presence is going to become more and more important and valuable.  Developing a good internet presence should be an essential piece of your marketing pie.  If you aren’t sure where to start, send your questions to Info@RLRDOnline.com.

If you need help finding and developing resources contact our consulting group through Info@RLRDOnline.com.

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As a business professional in the senior market, you have likely seen faded old photos in frames, yellowing albums, shelves of bulky VHS tapes and piles of reel-to-reel film.  Your clients’ memories are irreplaceable but photographic material can take up a lot of room, presenting a real problem when downsizing or preparing a home to safely age in place. ScanDigital offers some amazing services to preserve those important links to the past so you can make room for the future.

Some of the most important legacies we leave our children and grandchildren are the priceless memories of our family and its history.  There’s no better way to relive family history than to flip through an old photo album or watch old home movies.  Except those memories are likely sitting in boxes packed away in the basement or in some other hard-to-get-to place, deteriorating from the heat and humidity and running the risk of disaster.  Now there’s a solution to protect and more easily access a family’s history.

ScanDigital specializes in converting old photos, slides, negatives, videos and reel to reel film to digital format.  All photographic material is retouched and enhanced back to the original state, including color correction and the removal of red-eye, dust and minor scratches.  In about one week, originals will be returned along with a CD, DVD or hard drive containing the digital files.  Images are also posted to a personal online gallery for sharing.  For folks not not familiar with newer media, Scan Digital can preload a Digital Photo Frame.  With a press of the Power Button they can begin viewing the crisp clean images of their life.  Going down memory lane has never been this easy!

ScanDigital makes preserving precious photos and home movies effortless.  Simply place your order online at www.ScanDigital.com and ship them your material using the UPS shipping label generated for secure shipping to their Los Angeles headquarters.  All materials are processed in the U.S. to ensure that handling is fast and secure, quality remains high and your memorabilia is never lost in transit.  They provide the fastest turnaround time and highest security with superior professional technicians.

If you have any questions, feel free to call contact ScanDigital at (888) 333-2808 or by email at Info@ScanDigital.com.  We are thrilled to have them as part of the RLRD family and we know they would be happy to hear from you!

Consider This

When we saw that ScanDigital has a Gift Card program, we knew this would be a winner with savvy senior service professionals.  Small, thoughtful gestures really resonate with seniors.  They also help increase referral business.  Consider giving your clients a ScanDigital Gift Card and encourage them start preserving their family history today!

From Blogs to social media, forums to consumer review sites, the internet offers everyone a platform to sing praises and voice grievances. Do you know what’s being said about you?  Do you know what’s being said about your company, your products or your competitors? Tracking your online business interests is crucial.  I’ve found an easy and inexpensive way to do just that.

Taking a strategic approach to keyword monitoring can help you identify new sales opportunities, fine-tune your pay-per-click campaigns, track competitors, watch product lines, spot industry trends and monitor special interests. It can lead to incoming links, provide marketing materials, result in referrals, identify new business interests and help keep you apprised of who’s writing about you and your industry. Keyword monitoring can alert you to negative press, use of your trademarks and help track copyrighted materials. The sooner you know, the sooner you can take action.

Google’s GigaAlert scours the entire web for references to your personalized list of keywords. For instance, your personalized list should contain things like your name, company name, competitors, products, industry leaders and other special interests. GigaAlert is easy to set up but some care has to be taken with formatting the keywords.

Once set up, you will receive a daily emailed report, divided by keywords. Each entry has a short burst of text from and a link to the site containing to your keyword. GigaAlert allows you to mark each result as relevant or irrelevant, altering future site rankings.

I started using GigaAlert at the free level, monitoring up to 5 keywords. Since then, I’ve become addicted and upped our subscription level. I monitor all types of things like; our names, company name, products, blog and newsletter names. I keep an eye on various keywords and watch what’s happening with our competitors, partnering businesses and industry leaders.

Not every entry in the report is informative but you will be surprised where your name shows up; directories, news sites, blogs, social media pages and so forth. The service is easy to use and inexpensive, depending on the options you choose.  It is a tool that is well worth the investment! Take a look: www.GigaAlert.com

The National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) is a 501(c)(6), not-for-profit, professional association of organizations dedicated to assisting older adults and families with the physical and emotional demands of downsizing, relocating, or modifying their homes. As the only professional association in the country devoted to helping the rapidly increasing 55+ population with middle and later life transition issues, NASMM members are committed to maximizing the dignity and autonomy of all older adults.

Founded in 2002, NASMM:

• promotes awareness of the senior move field to consumers and other aging services professionals

• advances the professional competence of its members through training and continuing education

• encourages the delivery of client-centered senior move services with compassion and integrity

• proudly hosts a national referral network of nearly 500 senior move management companies throughout the Unites States and Canada

IRIS: Interior Redesign Industry Specialists

Interior Redesign

Give your home a fresh and inviting new look without buying anything new! Whether your furnishings are old or new, you have a little or a lot, all one style, or an eclectic mix, redesigning is a unique process that will transform any room in your home. A certified redesigner will ’shop’ your home and find forgotten treasures that reflect your style. They may also re-hang artwork in a gallery style to provide a show home look.

Real Estate Staging

Real Estate staging makes homes feel more spacious and inviting by using proper furniture placement, strategically placed accessories and the elimination of clutter, and makes homes more marketable by emphasizing the best features. A well presented property is often perceived as being a well maintained property and buyers are less likely to discount their offer for repairs and improvements, thus staging helps obtain the best possible selling price. Make your home stand out from the competition and appeal to the largest number of buyers - hire a professional IRIS real estate stager before your home goes on the market. Staged home sell faster in a slow market and for more money in an active market.

IRIS redesigners/stagers may offer other services such as the following:

Sue and Melissa are passionate about helping people.  In addition to being senior service providers with years of experience in working with the over 55 population, we are in the midst of helping our own aging parents, family and friends.  We congratulate you for making the decision to help this incredible generation of people and we share your goal of building a successful senior service business.  From creating the RLRD, to speaking at industry conferences across the country, to our aggressive search engine marketing strategy, we take part in achieving that goal by helping you, the Senior Service Provider, be successful.

Wishing you every success,

Melissa & Sue

Sue Thomas Speaks At 10th Annual IRIS Conference

We’ve Been Out Promoting Senior Service Providers at the IRIS & MARCPO Conferences

Capturing Your Share of the Booming Senior Market

The theme of this year’s IRIS conference was “Soaring to New Heights in Your Business,” and this crowed was definitely in the spirit of things.  Sue Thomas gave her talk on “Capturing Your Share of the Booming Senior Market,” and got rave reviews.  Interest in the senior market is strong and growing within the Redesign & Real Estate Staging communities.  The questions from our Edu-Session attendees made it apparent these ladies see the value in the senior market and they are working hard to take the lead.

Hats off to Anna Jacoby and the whole IRIS team for organizing a great event!

Find out more at the IRIS 2009 Conference Highlights webpage.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers, hosted by NAPO-WDC

The RLRD Team attended MARCPO strictly as a vendor this time. Even as a regional event, MARCPO drew organizers from California, FL and the entire Mid-Atlantic region.

Professional Organizers are really tuning into the senior market.  Many are Senior Move Managers or have certifications for working with the chronically disorganized.  This was a busy conference with lots of people stopping by our booth to learn new ways to reach the senior market,  join the Retirement Living Resource Directory or rekindle connections from other conferences.

Julie Gray and the MARCPO conference team did an outstanding job putting this conference together.

You can find out more about MARCPO on Twitter.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

We are working feverishly to get the Business-2-Consumer side of our directory released released.  Our Social Media push is soon to follow.  Please sign up for our mailing list.  More to come soon!

Wishing you every success,

The RLRD Team.