March, 2016

Budget?? I’m a Startup!

Bill: Ted, while I agree that, in time, our band will be most triumphant. The truth is, Wyld Stallyns will never be a super band until we have Eddie Van Halen on guitar.

Ted: Yes, Bill. But I do not believe we will get Eddie Van Halen until we have a triumphant video.

Bill: Ted, it’s pointless to have a triumphant video before we even have decent instruments.

Ted: Well, how can we have decent instruments when we don’t really even know how to play?

Bill: That is why we NEED Eddie Van Halen!

Sound familiar? Or maybe this is more applicable to my fellow entrepreneurs:

Bill: The truth is, we cannot raise money until we can prove we have revenue.

Ted: Yes, Bill. But I do not believe we will get revenue until we’ve got a great marketing plan and the supporting collateral to pitch investors.

Bill: Ted, it’s pointless to try and pitch investors if we do not yet have enough money to build the product.

Ted: Well, how do we build a product when we don’t have the engineers to do it?

Bill: That is why we NEED funding!

Many entrepreneurs struggle with raising capital, finding themselves with limited resources to keep up with over-funded competitors, while trying to maintain a positive public image. Some of these startups come to me for marketing help, and it’s no wonder. Marketing is often the least funded department in the organization. Sometimes there’s no marketing effort at all. I totally get it. These are the kind of people who will occasionally forgo their own paychecks and fund their organizations from their credit cards. But the good news is that marketing doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive.

Here are a few tips on how to better use your limited resources to organically grow your brand awareness.

Stay away from “simply too many notes” (Amadeus)
Don’t try to be the master of everything. Choose what you want to be known for and do it well. You have limited resources, so keep your eye on the ball. Remember, you can always expand the product offerings and services later. You should be able to explain your brand in just a few words.
Pick a target audience
It’s good to know that your product is versatile and expandable. Resist the urge to be everything to everyone. If you seem to lack focus, it will be difficult to acquire investment and hard to keep the company team members and message on target. Remember, you can always expand to other demographics later. Stick to one, and do it well.
You can’t buy me love
It’s difficult to even buy attention these days. Don’t waste your money on paid advertising campaigns. Most likely, a paid TV campaign won’t answer all of your revenue needs. And throwing dollars into paid advertisements won’t be helpful at all if you haven’t first honed your message and positioning. Instead, I recommend spending money on a good, hard-working person willing to get his/her hands dirty and do the grunt work of evangelizing, social media and guerilla marketing.
Your team is everything!
A startup means that everyone needs to be good at a variety of things, as everyone must wear several hats. “That’s not my job” is rarely heard at a successful startup. Avoid hiring too many specialists. Instead hire hardworking and smart generalists who can do whatever needs to be done. You will be glad when your customer service person can also do some social media, answer tech support calls or do training. Once you start to grow, that’s when departments get honed in.
One for all, all for one
In a startup environment, everyone must work equally hard. Avoid becoming a top heavy organization, or risk an unhealthy work environment. Everyone needs to operate as a cohesive team, all employees working toward the same, defined goals.
Know your weaknesses and OUTSOURCE
If you do find yourself in need of specialized work, outsource. If you don’t have someone who is good at graphic design, hire an outside party to create your brochure or website. Make sure to shop around. You shouldn’t be spending all of your dollars on fancy marketing pieces. Get something that is good enough for your needs and know you can improve later with increased funding. Most importantly, stick to what you can do well and ask for help when you need it.

Laura Mitchell is the founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting, a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. To find out more, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

Meet the Innovators: Michele Ahlman, CEO of ClearSounds Communications

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

We’ve been talking with innovators in the Technology and Aging industry. Today, we spoke with Michele Ahlman, CEO of ClearSounds Communications. Here are some highlights from our conversation. MicheleAhlman Head shot

Q: Hi Michele, thanks for talking with us today. Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?

A: My name is Michele Ahlman. I’m CEO of ClearSounds Communications, CEO of Clear Digital Media, and Vice President of HITEC Group. I’ve been in the hearing health business for 35 years.

Q: That’s a long time. How did you first get started in this industry?

A: It’s a family business. Early in the 80s, long before there was much technology, my mom founded our first company, HITEC Group. That firm is a distributor of telecommunications products for the hearing-impaired. My dad blew out his hearing as a tank commander in the military, so her entrée to the industry came through my dad’s own personal experience with hearing loss.

My mom was a school teacher in Chicago for many years. She didn’t have an MBA. No plan to take over the world. She liked the idea of giving back, helping people, creating opportunities, doing good, and creating a legacy for her kids. That was her mission. She lived by the golden rule, built strong relationships, and HITEC flourished over the years.

Q: Where did they get the idea for ClearSounds?

A: My dad came on board in the mid 80s. He went to the phone company, Illinois Bell at the time, and he said, “You guys are doing a half-assed job taking care of people with disabilities.” So we took over the special needs center for the phone company, which later became AT&T. We were their special needs center for 17 years, and the incubator for telephone accessibility ideas for folks with hearing loss.

When AT&T got out of consumer products, we realized the industry was left with outdated technology. So at that stage we incorporated ClearSounds, and entered the world of engineering, manufacturing and design. We created a lot of new products for people with hearing loss, and it became very successful.

Q: What do you find to be the biggest challenge in this industry?

A: People with hearing loss don’t form a distinct, easily identifiable group. But what’s intriguing is that, over the years, the profile of the hearing aid user hasn’t changed much: someone in their mid to late 70s who has struggled for over seven years before pulling the trigger to get help. But hearing loss is nondiscriminatory in age, and in fact, it’s increasingly affecting the younger generation. And still, the people who take action hasn’t changed over time. The psychology around it is mind boggling. It’s not like there’s a group of people who raise their hands and say, “I have hearing loss, and I can’t wait for technology to help me out with that.” Even though it could. It’s fascinating.

Q: So what is it? What’s stopping people from taking action?

A: There are a variety of factors at play: cost, convenience and mindset. Cost and convenience is addressed with the emergence of over-the-counter hearing aids. Finally, people have the option of reduced cost and more convenience, but it hasn’t moved the needle significantly. Sure, these new products are moving, but they’re not reaching new consumers. They’re reaching people who were already taking action through hearing care centers and audiologists. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”Michele Ahlman, CEO ClearSounds Communications” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”It’s not like there’s a group of people who raise their hands and say, “I have hearing loss, and I can’t wait for technology to help me out with that.“[/pullquote]
In 2012, we formed Clear Digital Media, our third business, to deliver real-time content on the issue of hearing loss to patients in waiting rooms of audiologists’ and doctors’ offices, and we’re even expanding into dentistry. Our mission is simple. It’s to educate, entertain, and engage people who could be getting help, trying to address this challenge of hearing loss.

Q: Is there anything you would change about this industry if you could?

A: As we think through the process of distribution, and how people adopt technology, we have to address the question of whether we’re a technology industry or a healthcare industry. How do we address the psychological barrier of people taking action to treat their hearing loss?

Hearing aids are expensive. Getting one is usually an expensive process, and not always a convenient one. Often hearing aids aren’t covered by insurance, and I think that changes people’s mindset. The senior demographic typically looks at the doctor as the expert. Insurance covers the visit, and those two things are associated, part of the medical world, getting treatment. Hearing care is often out-of-pocket, and expensive, so our mindset isn’t the same. It changes how people take action.

Plus, it’s typically not a crisis, not like when you break a leg, and need to get treatment immediately. When we start to lose hearing, it’s gradual. People can raise their voice when talking to you. You can adjust volume control. If there are seniors or grandparents in your life, you’ve probably heard them tell you they’re fine. It’s just that you mumble. People tend to wait until they’re so frustrated, until the process of communication is so exhausting, that they don’t do it anymore. Hearing impacts how we see ourselves, based on how people react to us. It’s ironic that it’s so important, but we don’t take action because we don’t want to admit it’s a problem.

Hearing loss progresses. It doesn’t get better. The younger you are when the hearing problem starts, the worse it’s going to get. But people don’t want to talk about it. It’s all very intriguing, and we need to figure out how to break through the psychological barrier, and let it affect the products themselves, and how they’re delivered.

Q: What is the industry getting right?

A: In the hearing healthcare area, what we’re doing right is realizing that the consumer rules. We can try to control distribution, but the consumer makes the final decision. The true path to growth, to more people adopting the technology, is when the consumer has an element of control over the process. When the distribution model controls the customer’s behavior, when there are limited options for accessing technology, and for finding choices that fit, then nothing’s going to change. And the industry is shifting to understand that better.

Q: What’s next for your companies?

A: We’re about breaking that psychological barrier that limits people from taking advantage of the technology advancements that are out there, that keeps them from picking and choosing, and blending them together into the best Frosty ever (laughs). This is a deep question, that no-one has figured out yet. It’s complicated, but an extremely exciting opportunity for us.

We need to figure this out. ClearSounds has a series of Bluetooth connected devices, so we’re trying to move to form factors that are cooler, and that make people feel better about owning technology. It brings music back to life for people, and that seems key to me, because it’s really important to a lot of people.

On the Clear Digital Media side, we’re engaging patients at the point of care, building loyalty, and providing a tool to educate, engage, and entertain people in the waiting room. All of this helps change the dynamic between the patient and the provider.

HITEC Group is rebranding, from hearing-impaired technology to health-inspired technology. We’re expanding into things that get people motivated. What gets you going? What motivates you to take action? We will be tying all of these things together.

Q: What advice would you give a new entrepreneur?

A: I think there are two types of entrepreneurs. Midwestern-model entrepreneurs have a great idea. They go to family and friends, and do everything they can to launch the business all by themselves, a self-funded, mortgage on the line, small family business. Then there are Big Idea entrepreneurs, who have a big idea, go to venture capitalists to get investment money, give up some control, but blow it out of the water, go public, become wildly successful. My parents are serial entrepreneurs in the model of the Midwestern entrepreneur, and that’s what I’ve always known, so my advice is in that mindset.

Give more than you expect in return, and the payoff is tremendous. There’s no substitute for working hard, no patch, no pill. You have to be ready to bust your ass and be scared as hell. If you can get through that, anything is possible. My own parents worked hard. There were times things were really tough, food stamps, Section 8 housing. I grew up in a world where there was no other option but working your butt off. I remember my parents having conversations where they told each other, “We will make it. We will be successful.” That way of thinking has resonated through my life. And honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

Blog

6 Easy and FREE Branding Tools You Should Already be Using

“Great is the enemy of good,” or so the old saying goes. This can be particularly applicable to a non-traditional marketing technique sometimes referred to as growth hacking, agile marketing, guerrilla marketing, or whatever it is you like to call it— the art of quickly using inexpensive online tools to promote your brand, organization, or message. The best part is that it’s really not expensive. The tools are free. You just need to know how to use them, when to post, and what content will drive engagement.

Essential to this type of marketing is the ability to move quickly, fail quickly and pivot quickly. Often this requires trying out different methods to see what sticks and then going with it. This can be in direct conflict with a traditional marketing approach of controlling the message, achieving perfection, and the notion of “approval by committee,” which unfortunately strips out a lot of the creativity.

Here are 6 things you can do right now to be get your message out there, without breaking the bank.

Post on some type of a Blog and Use It

They’re free, and it’s one of the number one ways for you to share your brand and message. You can also use native applications like LinkedIn and Facebook for longer blog posts, or you can post on both (best of all worlds). Use it to interview your team members for staff highlights, tell your own story, announce a new product line, discuss outcomes and testimonials, or simply write a thought leadership piece that establishes you as an expert in your space. This is your company soapbox. This is your company’s daily newspaper. Use it.

Forget the Rules and Establish Goals

Stick to the point and don’t get wrapped up in marketing rules. It’s not rocket science. You are using methods of communication (online, word of mouth, emails, brochures, presentations, etc.) to spread the word on what you do, why readers should care, and how they can buy. Appeal to their interests and their emotions. Educate them. Make them consider you a one-stop shop for everything they would want to know surrounding your product or service. For example, if you have a hearing aid company, talk about how hearing loss affects people and their families. Educate them on why addressing the problem sooner can save them in the long run. Sell why your solution is better than the others.

Release Release Release

The greatest things about press releases is that you can do them yourself. Don’t wait for someone to release a story on you. Write it yourself and distribute it on an online PR platform. Laura Mitchell Consulting uses iReach to distribute press releases for ourselves and for our clients. IReach has a package that distributes your news to over 1600 websites for just $299. This is great for awareness, credibility and the fact that YOU can write your own message. Stay away from boring, monotonous and dry releases. Make it fun, emotional, engaging, and obviously positive. Sell yourself.

Communicate with Your Contacts

You have a zillion contacts from social media platforms and email lists from trade shows. Make sure you are communicating and sharing information. Broadcast information on your LinkedIn personal page and company page, share articles, and communicate in relevant groups. Use an inexpensive splash email service (MailChimp or Constant Contact) to send updates, specials, news, events and more.

For example:

Send a seasonal/holiday email greeting that creatively incorporates your brand.
Send information on an upcoming trade show to interested parties. (Include your booth number, events they should attend, expo trade show hours, and even link to the show app, so they don’t have to look all of it up.) See? You have done their work for them, and maybe they’ll just use your splash email as a guide at the tradeshow.

Create Value for Your Listeners

Balance out your promotional posts with educational, emotional, and engagement posts on your social channels. Stay consistent to your industry and clientele values, but provide nostalgic photos, videos, trivia, surveys, health and wellness tips, links to interesting and related articles, etc. You can and should always promote your brand, but don’t be spammy about it. The more value you provide, the better your entire brand will be received.

Make a Video

No, really. It’s a great way to share the story of your brand, and it can be cheap to get fairly professional results if you know a little bit about editing. Start by visiting sites like moovly.com or goanimate.com, check out their tutorials and have at it, Spielberg. Tell your story or interview a satisfied customer. Then create a YouTube channel and upload your work. It should be noted that even if you’ve posted your video to your YouTube channel, that posting your video natively to Facebook has proven to be far more effective, letting listeners stay within the Facebook platform and not forcing them to go to YouTube to watch. Take a look at a great guerrilla video here made using only an iphone, microphone, and a Mac (iMovie).

Bonus Tip! Tie them all Together.

This is often where I see a disconnect. Let’s say you publish a press release. Instead of just letting the release sit there, you should immediately post a blog entry about the fact that a press release was just written about you and link to the release. Then, instead of posting the newswire release link all over social media platforms, you’ll post your blog about the press release to all of your social media platforms. (This gets traffic to your domain vs. the PR site.) Consider putting it as a news feature on your website and perhaps even including the link in future upcoming splash emails. Effective social media and digital marketing strategies play together harmoniously without missing a beat.

The hard part? It’s uncomfortable. It defies so many rules we have learned about marketing. It allows for mistakes. But it also allows for great change. With this new age of marketing, you have to learn not to take yourself too seriously, because the greatest reward comes from risking, or better yet embracing, the loss of ultimate control.

And the good news is you don’t have to pick one or the other. You can have it all. With two different marketing strategies (perhaps digital vs. print) you can cater to different demographics. This is the new age of marketing and my advice to you is embrace it. Stop taking yourself so seriously. It’s all about brand awareness. Now get out there and tell your story.

Ready to get started? The LMC team can help you create effective, seamless and cohesive digital campaigns. Contact us. We’d love to help.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. To find out more, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Mary Furlong, Expert on Entrepreneurship and the Longevity Market

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

We recently spoke with Mary Furlong, of Mary Furlong and Associates (MFA), a long time leader in helping entrepreneurs find opportunities and succeed in the longevity market.

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 10.36.03 AM

Q: Mary, we’ve known you for quite some time as an educator and leader in this space. Can you tell our readers a bit more about yourself?

A: My name is Mary Furlong. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve built three companies focused on the 50+ market. My work is to improve the lives of older adults, using technology to support their needs, and reinstantiating their leadership in our society. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”Mary Furlong, Mary Furlong & Associates” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity.“[/pullquote]

Q: So how did you get your start?

A: I started my first company, SeniorNet, in 1986. It was the first “social network” for older adults. My second company was called ThirdAge Media, a portal for baby boomers. Mary Furlong and Associates is my third company. It’s a consulting practice that helps companies navigate business strategy, development, financing, and so on, for the boomer market. In 2007, I published a book called Turning Silver Into Gold, on how to operate a profitable business in the aging market. I also produce the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit and the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit.

Q: What do you think is going well in the aging and technology industry?

A: I think the momentum is going well in this industry. Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson talks about technology innovation, that it improves every day, and so does general enthusiasm for it. I think that’s very true. The demographics are there. What could change is the regulatory environment, for example, reimbursement for technology that helps keep people at home. Fewer trips to the emergency room is a good thing, because the cost of those visits is high.

Every dissonance of aging is a market opportunity. Smart people figure out those dissonances, and how to leverage the opportunities. So that’s exciting, because these opportunities are limitless, when you’re figuring out how to transform the quality of life for older people.

Q: If you could change something about this industry, what would it be?

A: It’s very fragmented right now, and that’s a challenge. And it’s a problem that there’s not enough attention given to low income. We need to get in touch with the reality of how much money is needed for people to finance their longevity, and solve the real problem of how do we get the costs down. I would also say that we’re not doing enough to facilitate the notion of older people as creators and producers, and not merely as consumers. How do we help them become part of the entrepreneurial force that transforms things?

Q: What advice would you offer to a new entrepreneur?

A: Write a business plan first. A short one. We have a couple of sessions at the What’s Next conference about this. Really figure out what is your niche, and what you can uniquely do in the market that will serve a need. What is your go-to-market strategy for the next six months? What is it for the next 18 months? Understand how you will distinguish yourself, and make the business work. Think about whether you should keep your day job while you build the business. This is the biggest challenge, because, as you know, not all new ventures are a success.

Q: How have you helped change the way we provide aging services?

A: We host two conferences every year. What’s Next Boomer Business Summit focuses on marketing and business development. Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit brings together entrepreneurs, with leaders in the field of aging, and the venture community, and is designed to teach entrepreneurs how to think through a business. This next one is our 26th conference. Doing this for so long, and bringing together so many people from different facets of the market, we’ve developed a business ecosystem focused on the longevity market. Now there are many other conferences that cater to this marketplace, but ours was the first.

We bring people together to help facilitate the conversation, to get more innovation in the marketplace. People needed a guide for how to bring products and services to the market, and to accelerate their traction. So what we try to do is calibrate how to help them refine their business model so it scales, and gets the right support and financing. We help them identify potential partnerships. We’ve helped companies raise money and get pilots done. Going to our conferences is like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.

I’m out in Silicon Valley, where we look at aging as an opportunity, as opposed to Washington, where they look at aging as a liability. I like rephrasing the question, asking how will we improve the role of older people, helping them be creative, engaged, contributing in our culture, and enhanced by technology, as opposed to people who are draining the system. I’m a natural entrepreneur, and I’ve recently started calling myself a cartographer, helping people understand the landscape of this market, and helping them develop a roadmap for going to market.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. Know someone that we should feature in our “Meet the Innovators” blog series? Contact us at info@lmcllc.us and let us know!

Blog, Event

What’s Next for What’s Next?

An Afternoon with Mary Furlong: Behind the Scenes of the Renowned What’s next Boomer Summit

Laura Mitchell Consulting has been selected to bring our special blend of social media magic to this year’s What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, held this year in Washington, D.C. We’re delighted and honored to be part of this conference, the premier event of the aging and technology industry.

Today we’re talking with the brilliant mind behind the What’s Next summit. Mary Furlong is a serial entrepreneur, and a leading expert in entrepreneurship and the aging and technology market. She is the owner of Mary Furlong and Associates, a consulting company that advises firms in the longevity market, and that puts on this important annual conference. boomerlogo

Q: Hi Mary. Thanks for talking with us today. Can you tell us a little about the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit?

A: This summit was the first of its kind, and it’s the nation’s leading event for companies, experts, and thought leaders in the aging market. It brings together groups from every part of the industry to network and learn. We’ll have market overviews, industry analysts talking about trends in technology, in senior housing, in caregiving, in financing. We’ll have a pitch competition. It’s like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.

Q: Who is it for? Who would benefit from attending?

A: It’s an intentional mix of entrepreneurs, investors, business development people for major organizations, top executives from non-profits, regulators, thought leaders, and industry analysts. We bring together people from tiny startups and from Fortune 100 companies, all

the players who are successfully targeting the largest and most lucrative consumer demographic in the world. And we also examine the perspectives of the millennials and their role in shaping boomer priorities.

Q: This conference is now in its 13th year. How did it come about originally?

A: Before I started my consulting company I’d already been in this business for 17 years. So I had a lot of relationships. The longevity market is growing. It’s sized at over $260 billion in the next four years, so just look at the enormous opportunity. I’d written a book on how to make a profit in this industry (Turning Silver Into Gold). I could see that people needed a guide for how to bring products and services to market, and to accelerate their traction. I could bring groups together, to help facilitate the conversation, and to get more innovation in the marketplace.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Mary Furlong, CEO Mary Furlong & Associates” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”It’s like getting a mini MBA in the longevity market.”[/pullquote]

Q: How has it changed over the years?

A: In the first year, we did print marketing, a brochure. We don’t do that anymore. Now we launched a video. Our email list has grown to 15,000. I keep saying that the longevity market today is where the Internet was in 1994. So if you’re getting out of school now, you’re coming into a market that is solely a growth market. It’s not like other markets that have hiccups, like Venezuelan oil, for instance. It’s immutable that there’s a large and growing group of older people for the foreseeable future.

There’s a phrase, “riches in the niches.” We point to people who find their niches to make money. Think of Lori Bitter, who is a marketing and development consultant, or Laurie Orlov, an industry analyst. Where are the places to make money serving this market? You can be a large technology firm, a non-profit, or a new entrepreneur, but it makes sense to pivot into the market and to really understand your customer. David Inns, the CEO of GreatCall, is someone who really knows his customer. So if you can have a conversation between experts like that, they all are drawing a detailed portrait of the consumer. It helps people understand who the customer is, how to reach them, and what are the riches in the niches. We’ve had people who used to be volunteers at the summit, who have gone on to launch businesses and have come back to the conference as attendees or speakers.

Q: This summit is such an important force in the industry. Why is it still the event to go to?

We work really hard to curate content, to select the leaders. We also have great facilitators. The conference is embedded with reporters who are covering age beat and know the issues. We have analysts to point you in the direction of the issues.

We have met so many people through the years, and they recommend new talent. So talent gets crowdsourced by people in the What’s Next community. We have a private client practice, and those clients point us to the more innovative things. We take each slot seriously in the program. Plus, there’s a legacy to this conference. People know to look for us if they want to meet an expert in an area, or find a technology they can take home with them. This year, for example, we have a group of people coming from a major senior housing operation in China.

We leverage by location, so this year, we’re holding the summit in Washington, DC, where we have many deep relationships. I’m out in Silicon Valley, where we look at aging as an opportunity, as opposed to Washington, where they look at aging as a liability. I like rephrasing the question, asking how we will improve the role of older people, helping them be creative, engaged, and contributing in our culture, enhanced by technology, as opposed to seeing them as people who are draining the system. And I’ve always felt that to really lead in aging, you need a DC strategy. There are many organizations in Washington that can help a technology company to pilot, or go to market.

Q: Is there a benefit for a newbie to the market?

A: For a new entrepreneur, we have sessions about creating a business plan, figuring out what is your niche, what you can uniquely do in market that will serve a need, and what is your go to market strategy. We help them refine their business model so it scales, help them find the right support and financing, and to identify useful partnerships. We’ve helped companies raise money and get pilots done.

I’m a natural entrepreneur, but I’ve recently started calling myself a cartographer. We help people understand the landscape, and provide a roadmap for going to market. They need to know what doesn’t work as well as what does. We help them sharpen the business model around what they want to do.
Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of marketing and growth strategy experts in the aging and technology industry. To find out more, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Laura Mitchell, Marketing and Growth Hacking Expert, and Founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC)

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

Laura Mitchell is a veteran of the aging and technology industry and the founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting, cofounder of industry pioneer GrandCare Systems, cofounder of the 2011 AgeTek Alliance, creator of the renowned industry-wide Aging/Technology Webinar serie and the,host of the LMC “Meet the Innovators” blog series. Long ago, Laura adopted the philosophy that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and that in a developing industry, we need to work together. This mentality was the inspiration behind this series. And today we’re talking with her.

Q: Who are you and what do you do?

A: I’m Laura Mitchell. I’m a marketing consultant, growth hacker, social media specialist and general aging/tech industry advisor. I started up my consulting business, Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC), a year ago and I help small to mid-size organizations with online digital strategies, go-to-market plans, branding, websites, PR, writing, and really anything that helps businesses grow and increase awareness.

Q: How did you get your start in this industry?

A: It’s funny. In high school, I always assumed I would become a doctor, but I already knew I wanted to have my medical focus on the aging population. I never had a desire to be a pediatrician. I had been a primary caregiver for my great-great-aunt in high school, and I just really loved our times together. I went to UW-Madison fully intending to do pre-med and eventually become a geriatric physician. Well, life got in the way, as did organic chemistry, and I opted not to go the pre med route and instead study abroad in Germany (but that story is for another blog). Man, am I glad I didn’t pursue medicine and instead get to do what I do today. I was a founding member of GrandCare Systems in 2005, a pioneer and lead innovator in this space, and the rest is history. My life is exactly what I would have wanted it to be. I get to combine my passions for healthcare, technology, taking care of the aging population, and of course marketing.

Q: How are you helping to change the way we provide aging services? [pullquote align=”right” cite=”Laura Mitchell, Laura Mitchell Consulting” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”Everyone can learn by listening to others, listening to caregivers and listening to the seniors.“[/pullquote]

A: I spent a lot of the last decade as a public educator, because (unfortunately) it was a necessary step in order for technology to be taken seriously. Now, I’m taking all of these passionate innovative companies to the next level by providing a strategic, seamless, integrated marketing solution to get them out there, through stories, testimonials, proven statistics and educational platforms.

But the question still often is, how do we get the messaging out? How do we gain trust? How do we gain credibility? I think in some ways what I’m doing is taking a look at the final goal and working back, developing a map for companies to get there.

Q: What do you think is going well in the aging and technology industry?

A: I think there are a whole lot of passionate folks who are in it for exactly the right reasons. They want to see the industry succeed. They want to see our aging population receive the care they need, faster, better, more efficient care, and at home if possible. They want to improve lives. You can tell, because they have been in this industry for years with so little recognition and pay back. The goal is to improve the lives of seniors and those who care for them. I still consider many of the folks I have met over the past decade to be some of the kindest, most passionate, most selfless, and most innovative people I have ever met. This industry will always be special to me, because there is so much heart and soul in it.

Q: What would change about this industry if you could?

A: I have to say, one of my constant struggles is listening to people talk about technology as “nice to have” and not as a necessity. It’s almost as though it’s a theater system or something. It is not taken seriously and it needs to be. I know technology is a huge change, a huge disruption, and that can be uncomfortable. But, we cannot simply ignore the fact that our aging population is going to outnumber caregivers and there won’t be enough brick and mortar to satisfy their needs. We need to stop having a few loud naysayers dictate how this happens. No more focus groups on whether technology is a good idea, or on whether folks are actually aging. These are decoys to deny that there truly is a substantial problem and that technology is obviously the answer to enabling our caregiving and aging population.

Q: What advice would you offer a new entrepreneur?

A: I would say that you need to listen to your heart when some of the financial guys tell you, “Nobody wants that,” or question ROI on something that is clearly valuable to an aging senior or an exhausted caregiver. I would also remind them to listen to others in the industry. I have seen very bright, intelligent and creative folks take a whole lot of money and eventually go out of business because they didn’t ever take the time to listen to what some of us have learned along the way. Everyone can learn by listening to others, listening to caregivers and listening to the seniors. Most importantly, there is a huge market. We can all work together. Don’t let hubris get in the way of making some strategic partnerships with other organizations or listening to your competitors.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I am very excited to be attending the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in D.C. I am on the social media team this year, and producing the “Mingle in a Minute” power networking event. I’m proud of my team, the expertise, passion, and creativity, and we’re continuing to grow. I look forward to working with more and more innovative companies in this space and really seeing all of us make a difference for the aging population. After all, the rising tide lifts all boats. Let’s do this together!

Blog, Conference, Event

Networking Gets Personal at Boomer Summit’s ‘Mingle in a Minute’

We all know the power of networking and building relationships. We attend conferences not only to be educated, but to meet business contacts who can help our own brand grow. But, how do we quickly determine who we want to speak with at an open networking event? We have just made that much, much easier for participants at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is excited to announce that Mingle in a Minute is coming back to the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit. In this unique networking session, you’ll have 60 seconds to stand up and introduce yourself to a room full of high-quality individuals, prospects, and leads, and identify exactly whom you would like to meet.

Entrepreneurs looking for investors. Investors looking for deal flow. Startups looking for distribution. Like speed dating for business networking, come ready to speak efficiently and speedily about yourself, your company, and the deals you want to make. Join us for the ultimate speed networking session, and shine the spotlight on the most important brand in the room: yours!

This is one session you cannot miss. Only at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.

Mingle in a Minute is produced and moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) and Brooks Kenny of High Lantern Group.

For more information about Laura Mitchell Consulting, please visit lmcllc.us.

Blog, Meet the Innovators

Meet the Innovators: Laurie Orlov, Industry Analyst and Founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch

Q&A With Leaders in Technology and Aging

In this, the latest in our ongoing series on innovators in the Technology and Aging industry, we spoke with market analyst and industry ground breaker Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch.

Q: Laurie, you have been such a pivotal fixture in this industry. Could you tell us what your role is and how long you’ve been in this role?

A: I’m a technology industry analyst – describing and offering insights about the market of technology for older adults. I’ve been working as an analyst and writer in the aging and technology space since 2009.

Q: How did you get your start in this industry?

A: It was personal for me. I became interested in elder care because of my own experience. That led me to volunteer as an ombudsman for nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida. As I spent more time doing that, I became even more interested, and I decided to get certified in Geriatric Care Management through the University of Florida. While in school, I prepared a bibliography project about technology and older adults. It was fascinating and I really starting thinking this industry needs an analyst. I’d had many years of experience as an analyst in the IT industry, and I knew how it was done.

So I began blogging, wrote a market overview, gave my first speech, and started offering advice to clients. The not-so-secret to building that business is that I’ve been blogging a couple of times a week since 2008, and after a while in the same topic space, the content rises in the search rankings. Plus, I was talking about technology for older adults to businesses, and nobody else was really looking at this market and providing advice as to what it could and should be.

Q: So, what do you think it should be? What would you change about this industry, if you could?

A: One of the biggest issues is that both standards and integration between devices are lacking. That means that every one of the devices must be marketed separately. It’s not like firms are plugging their products into a standard network. If you think about an electrical outlet in the wall, the fact that you can plug an appliance or device into a wall is because the standards for plugs exists. You don’t have to buy a different end for each appliance, because these standards were determined a long time ago. But we don’t have those kinds of standards in technology for older adults.

With standardization, and more effective marketing to generate awareness, engineering costs would be reduced by volume. Once you have volume, you can develop more products. It could be that this is the year when we’ll finally see this happen. The healthcare industry has realized that there are financial benefits to keep people in their homes, because the penalties for readmissions are growing.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch” link=”” color=”#69AE22″]”You need to evaluate whether there’s a demand other than you and your own grandma.”[/pullquote]

Q: What do you see that the industry is getting right?

A: There are now products out there that serve the needs of older adults, and they are generally coming down in price, which is not only good but required. Some of the products are being integrated with healthcare services. The penalties for readmissions have been going up with the Affordable Care Act, so it’s apparent that providers are interested in avoiding admissions or having their patients readmitted to hospitals. The industry is really focused on that space now, and that’s a positive sign.

Q: As a market analyst, what is your role in the aging and technology industry?

A: I help technology vendors by positioning their products into categories and identifying the other entrants and where they fit. I speak about the importance of this market in webinars and at conferences, and I help to organize and categorize the market for those attendees as well. If there’s a new product being launched, my site provides a platform in which it can be announced, so people not only know it exists, but also know how to find it. I also give advice to new entrants, trying to help a company head off a potential marketing or positioning mistake, help them identify strategic partners, and help them see if the product they’re thinking about really is a valuable addition to the market place. Sometimes telling someone it’s not all that useful or that the category has failed can be the best advice they get. That’s what an analyst does: helps position products and services in the market.

Q: What advice do you have for new entrepreneurs?

A: I’d tell them to make sure they’ve adequately tested their product before broadly shipping it. I hate to see one company tell me they bought another company’s product, and when they tested it, it didn’t work. There’s no testing body for the technology in this space, so it’s incumbent on the company to test, and in multiple circumstances, which sometimes can be hard to do.

I’d also advise them to make sure they understand the competition. I have people come tell me, “We don’t have any competition.” That’s rarely true. Make sure you understand the ecosystem. Make sure your product can be part of a broader solution. Understand the trends in healthcare. A lot of people get started in this industry because of an experience in their own families, because of something that occurred with their parents or their grandparents. To me, that’s a good trigger, a really good motivation to get into this space, but that’s not the same as market research.

Over the years, the technology for older adults market has expanded. It’s doubtful that there’s much of a market for niche products that aren’t built around standards, or that aren’t already part of a consumer-ready product. There’s very little out there in the market for older adults that couldn’t be done on a standard platform, mobile device, tablet, computer, or existing home automation technology. There always a need for new software, and the need to integrate with other software, but this market doesn’t need a lot of new hardware devices. There are too many out there already. So I’d also advise that if you want to make an impact, use a platform that can be used for multiple purposes.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I publish a new market overview every year, and the new one was just published. The purpose is to examine trends that haven’t been well-articulated yet, ideas that haven’t been shared yet. This is not a boring space. I’ll be working on new research projects, and working with new innovative clients. So it’s all new for me.

Blog, Conference, Event, Press

Laura Mitchell Selected for Social Production at Annual Boomer Summit

Laura Mitchell Receives Award, 2011

Industry marketing and growth expert selected to enhance digital presence for premier Aging and Technology conference.

WEST BEND, WI – Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) announced today that they have been selected to bring their online marketing and social media magic to the 13th annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit in Washington, D.C. this March. LMC will be providing educational content through publishing a series of blog interviews and a producing stream of real-time conference highlights on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Nationally recognized as a digital health and growth strategy expert, Laura and her team will bring her veteran industry experience, technical expertise, and networking skills to maximize the conference’s success. Her live feeds will help local and long-distance attendees be in multiple places at once, enable more productive networking, and remind everyone why this show is such a critical industry event.

“I have been going to the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit for years, and it truly has paved the way for entrepreneurs navigating the aging space,” said LMC founder Laura Mitchell. “I’m excited that I get to attend this year from the production side. I love bringing people and ideas together to foster innovation that can improve the lives of seniors and their carers.”

Laura is a well-known fixture and pioneer in the technology aging-in-place market. She has been speaking and attending the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit for the past 6 years, and in 2011 was honored with the Flame Award for Innovation, making her a natural choice as a social marketing presence at the conference.

“Laura is a digital media expert with a clear understanding of the entire digital health ecosystem,” said Lori Bitter, marketing and development consultant with The Business of Aging, and this year’s conference co-producer. “Laura’s enthusiasm as a social maven in connecting people – both through networking and digital media – adds a palpable energy and expertise to our event.”

Previous attendees may know Laura Mitchell as a founding member of GrandCare Systems in 2005, a founder of the Aging Technology Alliance (AgeTek), a Louisville Innovation Summit board member, the 2011 Innovation Award winner, or as the creator and host of the first aging and technology webinar series from 2008-2011.

Laura owns a guerrilla marketing and digital health consulting firm called Laura Mitchell Consulting (LMC) and has been active in the digital health, aging, and technology space for over a decade. She has received accolades from many sources including Forbes, Dealerscope, AARP and the Consumer Electronics Association. Her awards include Top Women of M2M, Top 40 under 40 and Young Turks of CE. Laura keynotes all over the country on a variety of subjects including disruptive non-traditional marketing, technology in aging, and connected healthcare.

Blog, Conference, Event, Press

Your Backstage Pass to the Aging 2.0 PEAK Fireside Chat

In March, a high-powered group of innovators will put their heads together for a Digital Aging roundtable. Moderator and industry veteran Laura Mitchell will put four panelists, Pete Celano of MedStar, Charlie Hillman of GrandCare Systems, Myron Kowal of RCare, and John Rydzewski of Direct Supply, in the spotlight and find out everything they’ve learned through the years in the recently intersecting senior housing and technology industry.

The session will include shared stories, experiences, mistakes and advice for moving ahead in the aging industry.

Hosted by Aging 2.0 and sponsored by RCare, this reservation-only Fireside Chat is an event you won’t want to miss!

Here’s your chance to meet the forum:

Pete Celano is a 20-year healthcare industry veteran. He is the Director of Consumer Health Initiatives at the MedStar Institute for Innovation. Before this, Pete was the co-founder of two companies: BeClose.com and a software-as-a-service company in the x-ray space. As Director of Consumer Health Initiatives for MedStar, Pete is especially focused on making patient access more convenient and friction-free. A major area of interest is cloud platforms that can tie into the EMR, to drive new system revenue, reduce costs, improve outcomes and extend access. Another interest area is screening patients using evidence-based questionnaires, especially on the web and mobile. He has a BA and MBA from the University of Virginia, and has presented at a variety of meetings and conferences on Health Innovations, Digital Health, Mobile, Cloud Platforms and Access.

Charlie Hillman is the founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems, which designs computers for seniors. Charlie is a serial entrepreneur who has spent most of his career building companies based on disruptive technologies, including computer-aided design, and starting one of the first Internet-providers. A professional engineer with a degree from MIT, Charlie is a commissioner of CAST (Center for Aging Technology) and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Charlie and his company have received numerous awards for innovation, including the 2012 CEA Innovation Entrepreneur Award for Small Business of the Year, a double recipient of the SeniorHomes.com’s Most Innovative Senior Products Award, and AARP’s Sterling Award and Silver’s Choice Award for outstanding products to empower and improve the lives of seniors.

Myron Kowal is President and CEO of RCare, Inc. In his 30+ years of healthcare communications technology experience, he has been the President and Founder of Special Care Systems, a top-tier integrator of Health and Eldercare technology, and President and Advocacy Chair of Greater Rochester Partnership for the Elderly. Myron’s current focus is on new business development, new product development, and strategic relationships. He maintains a hands-on approach to business and maintaining a personal relationship with distributors, customers and the elders they serve. He is currently a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge CAST, ALFA, AHCA/NCAL, and Corporate affiliate with Eden Alternative. He is active in his local community, and has a passion for fishing.

Laura Mitchell is the founder of Laura Mitchell Consulting, a company specializing in growth hacking and agile marketing. She is a pioneer and thought leader in the aging/technology industry. Widely recognized for her growth hacking and social media expertise, Laura speaks all over the country about aging, technology, marketing and other topics. She is a founder of the Aging Technology Alliance (AgeTek), a Louisville Innovation Summit board member, and the 2011 Innovation Award winner, as well as the creator and host of the first aging and technology webinar series from 2008-2011. She has received accolades from many sources including Forbes, Dealerscope, AARP and the Consumer Electronics Association. Her awards include Top Women of M2M, Top 40 under 40 and Young Turks of CE.

John Rydzewski is the General Manager of Technology Solutions at Direct Supply, where he is responsible for helping Direct Supply bring new technologies into the Senior Living space, focusing on the Internet of things, technology systems, wireless, wearables, resident monitoring systems, and other cutting-edge technologies. Before this he led the creation and implementation of Operations & Supply Chain technology for Direct Supply, investigating emerging tools and their applications in managing care. His current focus is on creating profitable growth through innovation, operations and business development. He also supports the organization through short- and long-term strategic planning, and serves as a member of Direct Supply’s corporate Executive Leadership Team.

The roundtable event is being held in conjunction with the LeadingAge Peak Summit in Washington, DC, a unique conference that brings together the highest-level executives and business leaders in the aging and technology industry, and fosters education, strategic thinking, and networking. The Fireside Chat is scheduled on the Sunday evening leading up to the conference.

For Reservations:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aging20-washington-dc-digital-aging-successful-technology-implementation-in-senior-care-tickets-22199669810

Fireside Chat Schedule
Where: Stone’s Throw Restaurant, Marriott Wardmann Hotel
When: 7:00-8:30pm, Sunday March 13th
7-7:30pm Networking/Registration
7:30-7:35pm Welcome & Introduction to Aging 2.0
7:35-7:45pm Opening Remarks by Myron Kowal, CEO of RCare
7:45-8:15pm Roundtable Panel Discussion, moderated by Laura Mitchell of Laura Mitchell Consulting
Panelists: Pete Celano (MedStar), Myron (RCare), Charlie (GrandCare), John Rydzewski (Direct Supply)
8:15-8:30pm Networking Cocktail Reception

General Admission from Feb 26 at 5pm – March 9th at 5pm

Last Minutes tickets available after March 9th, until 6pm on March 13th

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Direct Supply is the nation’s leading provider of products, services and eCommerce solutions to Senior Living. Their mission is to enhance the lives of America’s seniors by helping build, equip and run better Senior Living communities. Since their inception in 1985, Direct Supply has had a strong focus on technology, helping drive innovations to the Senior Living marketplace. Headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, Direct Supply also operates an Innovation Center on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering to further foster a culture of technology and innovation. Direct Supply’s Technology Solutions division is the nation’s leading, trusted partner for Senior Living technology systems. A full-service solution provider, they focus on technology assessment, design, implementation and lifecycle management.

GrandCare Systems is a caregiving tool that is designed to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes by enabling designated family members, caregivers and healthcare professionals to remotely care for an individual in a residence, regardless of geographic location. It starts with a large touchscreen in the residence, which provides the individual with social communications, instructions, reminders and medication prompts. No computer skills are needed for the resident to fully engage in all of the touchscreen features.

The mission of MedStar Institute for Innovation is to catalyze innovation that advances health. It provides a broad innovation infrastructure to help MedStar’s 30,000 associates and 6,000 affiliated physicians invent the future by supporting inventors, fostering strategic alliances, innovation and creative thinking, and bringing together experts to help make patient care safer, more efficient, and higher quality.

RCare is a provider of UL 1069 tested wireless nurse call and personal emergency response systems for the entire spectrum of eldercare and senior living. RCare components integrate into a variety of healthcare communication systems to create efficient and verifiable responses to medical emergencies. RCare works together with distribution partners to build individualized, flexible and seamless systems to enhance professional caregiving teams and their residents.

Laura Mitchell Consulting is a strike team of experts providing agile marketing, growth hacking services and effective awareness strategies to businesses like yours. For more info, contact us at info@lmcllc.us.

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