Business Training Seminars

"Aging In Place" is a senior care industry term for helping elderly remain in their home rather than live with family or go into assisted living. I hate this term. It sounds like leftovers rotting in the refrigerator. Who wants to do that?

We are all living longer than anybody expected. When Social Security was created, people retired at 65 and the government expected them to die by age 72 and they did! Not so, now. It is not unusual for people to live well beyond eighty and indeed the population of those 100+ continues to grow. In fact, futurists predict that by the middle of this century, living beyond 100 years will be the norm.

So if seniors want to remain at home, what exactly do they need to accomplish that? I'm here to tell you that aging in place is more than grab bars in the tub and Meals on Wheels delivery. Remaining at home doesn't mean days filled with TV and solitaire either.

Let's discard the term "aging in pl
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March 12 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

The other day, while driving, I passed a very elderly woman being taken for a stroll in her wheelchair by her caregiver. It was obvious that the woman was well cared for physically - hair coiffed and warmly dressed and tucked in a blanket. In a residential neighborhood with no senior community within walking distance, it was clear that she either lived at home or with family. I was glad to see that she looked so well.

However, a part of me wondered what her elder years were really like? Was this really the best option for her and others like her? How was it impacting her family? I struggle with this all the time.

As we continue to live longer and medical science keeps us fairly ambulatory, it is not fair to expect families to assume the burden of elder care as did their predecessors. Yes, in the "olden days", you kept your parents at home. But they didn't live as long as they do now. Both partners didn't have to work full time. Grandkids didn'
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March 12 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

Knowing what type of business model works best for you is of the utmost importance. And yet, most small businesses and even some larger ones don't understand how to market and sell their products and services. Even more importantly, they don't know how to get beyond their first client and their first sale. Is that you?

There are basically two kinds of businesses -

1. Business to Consumer and

2. Business to Business

Business to Consumer is the one we all have the most experience with and the one that also gives small businesses the most trouble and confusion. Business to Consumer is the Retail model and is based soley on product, pricing and convenience. Quality is not as important as a quick fix for a short term problem. You need a new suit, you are hungry, you need a new dishwasher. Choices are usually easy and quick. That's great for large department and discount stores as well as fast food chains. Consumers want a quick in and out
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March 11 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

I am always amazed when even large companies and trade associations don't understand how to sell themselves in the 21st century. Do they really think that simply listing what they do is going to sell their goods and services? Apparently so as I quickly realized when visiting the site of a major trade association seeking more members. Their list of so called benefits in belonging to their organization included "enhancing the value of the profession", What does that mean? Unless it equates to something tangible, nobody cares about enhancing anything. What the buyer cares about is WIIFM aka What's In It For Me? They couldn't care less about what's in it for you. In business it's all about them - translation: it's all about ROI.

So here's the biggest tip for selling in the 21st Century: Features (what you DO) do not sell. Benefits (what they GET "after" you do what you do) sell.

Stop talking about what you do and start talking about what
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March 11 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

My new client, Sarah, opened the door and I immediately recognized the cluttered scene behind her. Sarah was a hoarder. Her kitchen counter as well as every available nook, cranny and flat surface was piled high with stuff - mostly papers but still included all the other artifacts hoarders are drawn to: recyclables, bags, books, junk sale goodies.

Sarah was a cheerful, senior lady, walker bound but eagerly awaiting scheduled hip surgery and looking forward to "doing things for herself" once again. The Director of her Senior Apartment complex was requiring her to clean up her act or be evicted for creating a fire hazard.

My initial interview with Sarah gave me the insight I needed to know how to coax her out of some of her precious junk. This is a tender business - hoarding clients are usually emotionally fragile and obsessed with their stuff. No so, Sarah- a decidedly atypical hoarder.

Sarah confessed that she had always been a
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March 11 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

Steven and Caroline had just moved in to their 900 square foot senior apartment having left their 2,000 square foot home they had lived in for 40 years. Their daughter telephoned me for help. Her parents had taken practically everything they owned with them and were now living among boxes and piles of clutter. She was worried for their safety and extremely frustrated that they refused her help. "Can you help them Feng Shui?" she asked.

I always have to sigh when I get these phone calls. It reminds me of a cartoon I saw once of a giant toy being stuffed in to a small cardboard box. I can stack it, shrink it, squish it, pile it and box it but I can't make 2,000 square feet of stuff fit in to a 900 square foot space! Nobody can - but I see people trying to do it all the time. That's why I like to teach my downsized senior clients the fine art of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is an ancient philosophy that considers all objects to contain energy, called Chi
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March 10 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

Each and every day thousands of people join network marketing companies, aka multi level marketing groups. For the most part they are individuals with daytime jobs that are looking to supplement their incomes, college students, stay at home moms and retired persons looking to add to their savings and social security. What do they all have in common? They have very little or no experience running or owning a business. Their mindset is that of an employee.

Don't get me wrong. I dabbled in Network Marketing some years ago and loved it. I was proud of the product, I received some great training, met a lot of really great people, and recouped my initial investment plus a great deal more. But what I also learned in the process was that I was working way too hard building someone else's business and in particular, someone else's list! In addition, I quickly learned that network marketing, however great their product is, it is really about building a downline - meaning getti
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March 10 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

After a subsistence of airplane peanut snacks and diet coke, my cross country journey ended in Philadelphia, having experienced a re-routing to Baltimore with a 5 hour delay. I collected my bags at the carousel and bleary eyed and stiff, walked to the ground transportation desk and checked in. Two hours later the shuttle dropped me off at the hotel my "host" had arranged for me. At that moment I knew my suffering was not yet over.

A year ago I awoke in the middle of the night with an idea for a new product. Then, by morning I was thinking about all the work involved, the obstacles I would face and put the idea in the back of my mind; but every once in awhile the idea would pop out and harass me.

Then one day, an amazing thing happened! I received a phone call from a very successful business woman in my field who was well known for product development. She was inviting me to an "Invitation Only One Day Mastermind Group" of select prof
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March 10 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

When I arrived at my very first hoarding client's home, the front door was slightly ajar. I tapped, called out and walked in. The stifling air and the bad smell hit me first. Thick dust covered everything. Papers were stacked everywhere. It appeared as though the floor was made of dirt. On closer inspection, the carpet had turned to dust. Suddenly from behind a cluttered pile on the kitchen table, a tiny, perfectly coiffed, elderly lady in a lavender sweater set and pearl necklace stepped out...

What is Hoarding? I am not a mental health professional so I can't make a clinical diagnosis. But I can tell you what I have seen and what it looks like to me. I can also share with you my considered opinion of what causes it from the perspective of a person who sees hoarding on a regular basis, not from a tidy therapist's office but from the real,down and very dirty places where hoarders live.

Hoarding is not the same as being a slob. Hoarding is not dirty dish
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March 09 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)

According to a recent United Nations Study, the older population is growing at a faster rate than the world's total population. It is predicted that by 2050, older persons will make up more that 50% of the populations in western, developed nations, including The United States. As our beloved seniors leave the work force, there are not enough younger replacements. In addition, our need for elder care and senior services is rising faster than we can come up with solutions. Older women outnumber older men by a landslide.

This is not meant to be a doom and gloom report. On the contrary, what I am saying is that where there is a tremendous need, there is also tremendous opportunity for creating new services. Not only are the seniors themselves going to need help; their families will need help and support too.

It's only going to get bigger.

Right now, a senior and/or their concerned family members have to navigate through a myriad of agencie
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March 09 , 2010    Posted by: Marilyn Ellis    |    Add Comment    |    Comments(0)