AIM BIG-Business Plan Development Meeting for OT Home Mod Business Part 1

We are beginning work on our business plans, we are in the incubation phase right now.  Here is our last meeting recording.

My Dilemma. Can it be a Marketing Device?

I was called in to provide a bid for an addition for a man with a LE amputation that is wheelchair bound.  The case manager and insurance company want our company to provide a bid for modifying a house for accessibility and a bid for building an addition.  We are competing against other construction companies for this project.   Putting together a good design for this project will take several hours of our design team.  If the client chooses our design and a different builder to do the work than that is several 'donated' hours by us.

I have done designs and construction for this case manager/insurance adjustor team before with very good results.  In fact the case manager was showcasing an addition we built to many of his other clients.

We typically get paid for our designs and provide a bid for free based on the construction specifications and the designs, that is how it has worked in the past with this case manager/insurance adjustor (on several jobs) until we had a job that went bad.

Job that went bad:  

Notes from Monetizing Home Mods Meeting June 15, 2015

MONETIZING HOME MODIFICATION BUSINESS

JUNE 15, 2015 VIRTUAL MEETING

MEETING NOTES

GUEST SPEAKER - SCOTT ANDERLE

Scott is a physical therapist who owned 13 PT clinics, then founded a business called Specialized Home Design, focused on universal accessible design.  In his journey to modify homes, he became a coordinator and consultant for home modifications.  In his role as a consultant, Scott evaluated homes and made recommendations for home modifications.  In his role as a coordinator, Scott worked with case managers and brought in contractors and architects. 

Scott then invented Comprehensive Home Evaluation Report (CHER) - an online tool for home evaluations.  This is a powerful home evaluation tool that supports information fill-in and embedded pictures and compiles a finished report from the data.  The CHER can be found at: http://www.shdesigns.net/cherreg

(Note from Karen:  Scott’s tool is more comprehensive than Carolyn Sithong’s tool.  Scott’s tool is appropriate for complex home evaluations that need to be very detailed for other professionals and even litigation purposes.  Carolyn’s tool is more appropriate for aging-in-place evaluations where your recommendations are more for lay people and you don’t have large amounts of time to spend.  Both are great tools for their applications.)

Apps for Organization

 

1Password

Raise your hand if you’re sick of trying to remember all of the logins and passwords that have been forced on you over the years. Keep those hands raised if you’d welcome a solution to this problem with open arms. Everyone has their hands raised, right? The founders of AgileBits apparently had their hands raised at one point, too, as their company’s team of developers produced an app (for Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows) that generates unique passwords for all the sites you visit and then remembers them so you can log in with a single tap. Oh, and it keeps them synced across all of your various devices, too.

 

Living Lab Possible Floor Plans

 Goal:  To convert 18.5’x 23.2’ space into a ‘Living Lab’ to teach occupational therapy students how to modify tasks and spaces to promote independence and to overcome disabilities to increase functional activities of daily living.  Ideally the Living Lab would be a flexible space that would allow for many different scenarios and set up so students would learn to utilize critical thinking and problem solving skills to overcome obstacles in many forms similar to the variety of situations they will encounter in the real world.

Concept:  In order for occupational therapy students to learn critical thinking skills to overcome the obstacles to function they will encounter in the real world they would benefit not from a perfectly wheelchair accessible space.  But instead a space that can be configured to be completely wheelchair accessible and reconfigured to present challenges to the students such as they will find when they begin practicing in the real world.  The living lab will be a place in which to learn transfers, how to modify tasks for independence with cooking, bathing, dressing etc.  Ideally the living lab will also have different types of adaptive equipment (low tech) and assistive technology (high tech) for the students to configure and utilize.

To create a 'Living Lab' for occupational therapy students to learn ADL's, and to learn home modifications via reconfiguring the space and having options for adaptive equipment etc.  No roll-in shower was planned for the bathroom originally because we were going more for problem-solving and critical thinking.

Current space:

 

 

Design 1:
This was the original Living Lab floor plan we submitted but the contractor did not want to have to move the water supply, which is to the left of the door and did not want to move the wall between the kitchen and bedroom.  The other issue is there is floorboard electric heat on the walls so this configuration was not going to work.

Kitchen:  Kitchen being difficult to reconfigure we are going for good universal, accessible design.

• Roll-under sink.
• Roll-under cooktop with above-the-stove mirror.
• Wall oven.
• Varying height countertops.
• Island on wheels.
• Touch faucet.
• Full extension drawers in base cabinets.
• Pull down shelving.
• Variety of adaptive devices for cooking in cabinets.
• Set-up for low vision with a variety of lighting options.

Bathroom:  Originally we were going for no walk-in shower and only a tub to trouble shoot mobility issues.

• Bathtub.
• Adaptive equipment (bath transfer bench, bathlift) for bathtub to overcome mobility issues.
• A variety of suction-cup grab bars to allow students to figure out best grab bar solution, although suction-cup grab bars should not be used in real-life situations for stability since they are unreliable.
• Standard height toilet or possibly an adjustable height toilet depending on budget constraints.
• Adaptive equipment for toilet (drop-arm commode, versa frame, elevated toilet seat.)
• Possibly a drop down grab bar or superpole next toilet, to demonstrate how drop down grab bars work.
• Roll-under sink with flipper-style doors or adjustable height sink.

 



Design 2:  Redesign after learning constraints with bedroom wall and researching other ADL Labs.  Decided to add a roll-in shower with flip-down shower seat to demonstrate roll-in shower design.  Would also like to have a functional bedroom for bed transfers and a ceiling lift installed between the bedroom and bathroom for lift transfers. 

Don't like the position of the tub in this design, only allows 3' between tub and toilet.  This design would work for side transfers onto toilet and for standing pivot transfers but prefer more space in front of toilet.

This design limits bedroom and storage space, will need to rethink adaptive equipment, may need to stick with fold-up and have photos of options.  Kitchen not addressed.

Design 3:  Bathtub position changed but limits space to enter roll-in shower to 36", which would work for most wheelchairs if user were independent with transfers will not work with standing pivot transfers.  

This design limits bedroom and storage space, will need to rethink adaptive equipment, may need to stick with fold-up and have photos of options.  Kitchen not addressed, flip down table not included.

 

Discussion with building contractor in progress to figure out limitations with water supply and moving walls.  Need to figure out best designs as well as adaptive equipment.

Living Lab Concept and Design

Living Lab Concept

May 16, 2015

Goal:  To convert 18.5’x 23.2’ space into a ‘Living Lab’ to teach occupational therapy students how to modify tasks and spaces to promote independence and to overcome disabilities to increase functional activities of daily living.  Ideally the Living Lab would be a flexible space that would allow for many different scenarios and set up so students would learn to utilize critical thinking and problem solving skills to overcome obstacles in many forms similar to the variety of situations they will encounter in the real world.

Concept:  In order for occupational therapy students to learn critical thinking skills to overcome the obstacles to function they will encounter in the real world they would benefit not from a perfectly wheelchair accessible space.  But instead a space that can be configured to be completely wheelchair accessible and reconfigured to present challenges to the students such as they will find when they begin practicing in the real world.  The living lab will be a place in which to learn transfers, how to modify tasks for independence with cooking, bathing, dressing etc.  Ideally the living lab will also have different types of adaptive equipment (low tech) and assistive technology (high tech) for the students to configure and utilize.

The Living Lab will be design based on principles of universal design and as much as possible many of the important elements will be able to be reconfigured to accommodate many uses of this space and to set up a variety of learning situations.

Current space:  The current space consists of a main room (18.5’x 10.9’) with a small cooking space in the corner, another room (12.5’x 12.25’), and a bathroom (5.1’x 7.8’) with a sink, toilet, and bathtub.  The current bathroom is not wheelchair accessible.

Living Lab proposed space:  The Living Lab would need to target the main areas of activities of daily living and home spaces that most often present obstacles to independence.  The areas of the home that occupational therapists are most often utilized for home modifications are the kitchen and the bathroom where much of the basic and higher level activities of daily living are performed.  Dressing is also a complex task and organizing the environment as well as utilizing various dressing equipment is an important aspect of occupational therapy.  The Living Lab should be composed of a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, storage, and meeting area with a table if space allows.

Kitchen:  The kitchen should have a roll under cook top, a wall mount oven, a microwave at counter top level and plenty of storage.  The kitchen sink should be configured for a wheelchair to roll under. It could be set at standard sink height (36” above the finished floor) or it could be height adjustable depending on budget.  There should be information regarding what is required for space design of cabinets for handicap accessibility in regards to roll under spaces, clear spaces, reach ranges, heights etc. 

The kitchen should demonstrate design elements necessary for wheelchair accessibility such as high toe-kicks, pull out shelving, counter tops and lighting for visual disabilities, and pull down shelves.  The kitchen should also have a variety of kitchen equipment for people with a variety of disabilities, such as one-handed mixing bowls, cutting boards, storage containers, rocker knives, etc. 

The main cabinetry and appliances would be permanently placed but there should be a section of cabinets or possibly a long island on wheels that can be moved to reconfigure the space.   The ability for the space to be reconfigured will allow learning opportunities to present space limitations encountered in real world situations as well as to allow the space to be used for other purposes such as a meeting area or perhaps a hand therapy classroom.

Bathroom:  To be accessible (roll under sink, turn radius for wheelchair, clearance for wheelchair in front of toilet) with adaptive equipment as options to configure bathroom for different accessibility options.  Bathtub to be standard bathtub/shower configuration to allow for practice with adaptive equipment for accessibility.

 Current space:

 

 

 

Lessons from Blogging-Great Post

100 Lessons Learned from 10 Years of Blogging

by Neil Patel on December 17, 2014

I can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for over 10 years now. Boy, has it been a fun journey!
Overall, I love blogging because I enjoy helping others. In addition to that, it’s helped generate a lot of traffic and revenue for my companies. It’s actually our main marketing channel for each of my software companies.
But if I had to start my blogging journey all over again, I would have done things differently. Why? Because I’ve learned a lot over the years.
Sadly, I don’t have a time machine, so I can’t go back in time and avoid the major mistakes I’ve made… but I can share my lessons with you so you can learn from them. Here are 100 lessons learned from blogging for 10 years…

Headlines

Here are some lessons learned from creating over 1,000 headlines:

1. Headlines with facts and data tend to get shared well within the B2B community.
2. Keep them short and sweet, or else your click-through rate will decrease.
3. The headline is the most important part of a blog post.
4. If your headlines are too long, they will get cut off within Google’s search results. Try to keep them to fewer than 65 characters.
5. Don’t assume you know what your readers want. Make sure you A/B test your blogging headlines.
6. Try to think what people would search for to find your blog post on Google. If possible, incorporate those words and phrases within your headlines.
7. Using negative words within headlines is a great way to increase your click-through rates.
8. If you use numbers within your headlines, use odd numbers — they tend to get more clicks.
9. People scan headlines and tend to look only at the first 3 and last 3 words within the headline.
10. Try to address the readers within the headline.
11. Make sure your headline is clear. If people don’t know what they are reading, they will bounce off.
12. If you aren’t sure how to write great headlines, start by using these formulas.
13. Don’t try to click-bait your readers. If you deceive them, you will lose their trust.
14. Evoke curiosity when possible. This also tends to help with Facebook shares.
15. Leveraging emotions within headlines is a great way to get more people to read your blog post.
16. Use magazines for inspiration. Their writers tend to know how to write popular headlines.
17. When you’re stuck, you can always use a headline generator. It’s not the be-all and end-all tool, but it will help you get started.
18. Make sure your headline is short enough to fit within a tweet.

Writing

Here are some writing lessons I’ve learned:

19. Be sure to check all posts for grammar and spelling errors. This affects your readers and your search engine rankings.
20. Try to start off your introduction with a question. It’s a quick way to hook your readers.
21. Use the words “you” and “I” within your post as it will help create a conversation.
22. Wrap up your post with a conclusion. It’s a great way to summarize your message and provide key takeaways.
23. Use subheadings within your body. They make your posts easier to read.
24. Stylize your posts by bolding and italicizing words and phrases.
25. Using bullets and numbers is a simple way to make your content more digestible.
26. Always outline before you start writing. It helps speed up the process.
27. Telling a story is a great way to make your content stand out from the crowd.
28. Opening up to your readers is a great way to build an emotional connection with them. You can easily do this with your words.
29. Only write about things you are passionate about. Those are the posts that will do well. Your readers can tell when you blog on stuff you love.
30. Experiment with different writing styles. It’s the best way for you to figure out your voice.
31. The best time to write is when an idea hits you. If you can drop everything and focus on writing, you’ll be able to blog efficiently.
32. Don’t rush your writing. Creating high quality content takes time and practice.
33. Don’t publish everything you write. Some of your posts will suck, and you shouldn’t release them. It’s okay… it happens to all of us.
34. Make sure you get to the point as quickly as possible. Fluff doesn’t help.
35. If you are struggling with writing, you can always hire an editor to help you out.

Idea generation

Here is what I learned about coming up with blog topic ideas:

36. Your best ideas typically aren’t generated from sitting in front of a computer. Experience the world, interact with others, and let your creative juices flow.
37. Use tools like Buzzsumo to come up with ideas. What’s worked before still works now in most cases.
38. Follow your competition. Knowing what works for them will help you come up with topic ideas.
39. Use Google Analytics to analyze your posts. Stop writing about topics that receive very little traffic.
40. Pick up a magazine or a book to spur ideas.
41. Don’t force ideas — let them come to you naturally. Forced ideas tend to turn into crappy blog posts.
42. If you are stuck, ask others for help. From peers to people within your industry, others can give you ideas.
43. You can use tools like Qualaroo to generate ideas from your website visitors.
44. Start subscribing to the popular forums within your community. The most asked questions tend to be great blog post ideas.
45. Google Trends is a great place to find up-and-coming topics to blog about.

Commenting

Here is what I learned about commenting:

46. Always ask your readers a question at the end of your post. It helps increase the number of comments you receive.
47. Remove trackbacks from your blog. They just get in the way of people seeing and reading the comments.
48. Make sure you use threaded comments to help with responses.
49. Don’t use Facebook comments. The text within them isn’t crawlable, which hurts overall rankings.
50. Don’t expect people to comment if you aren’t willing to respond to each commenter.
51. When responding to comments, make sure you give thorough responses. It shows that you care.
52. Try to respond to comments right when they come in. Your prompt replies help increase responses.
53. Use email notifications to let previous commenters know when new comments have been left. You can use the Subscribe to Comments plugin for this.
54. Moderate your comments. You don’t want a lot of spammy comments, or they will kill the vibe.
55. Encourage people to use their names instead of their website names when leaving a comment. Commenting should be a personal thing.
56. Avoid self-promotion. Your goal should be to help readers and not convince them to pay you for anything. In the long run, this will help build goodwill and increase sales.
57. Personal stories and experiences tend to receive the highest number of comments.
58. People tend to prefer commenting at 9 a.m. versus other times.

Email marketing

Here is what I learned about email marketing:

59. Email marketing is the number one way to get people back to your blog.
60. Readers who come to your blog from email are more likely to share your content on the social web and to comment.
61. Pop-ups on the entry and exit are the best places to collect emails.
62. Even though you may hate pop-ups, very few of your visitors will complain about them.
63. Sidebar opt-ins and opt-ins beneath blog posts (above the comments) are also effective areas to collect emails.
64. The best way to collect email addresses is to offer each reader an incentive such as a free e-book.
65. When testing the call-to-action button for your e-book offer, start with the “get instant access” call to action as it tends to convert well.
66. Every time you publish a blog post, send out an email to all your subscribers, letting them know you published a post. Make sure you limit the email frequency to two or three times a week.
67. When emailing your readers, limit the number of links in your emails. Using more than three tends to cause more emails to go into the spam folder.
68. Don’t keep emailing those readers who don’t open your emails. It causes spam issues. Your email provider should help you filter out these emails.
69. If your email offer is related to a specific blog post, your opt-in rate will go up.
70. Make sure your offer is very valuable, or else it will ruin your reputation and cause a lot of unsubscribes.
71. Don’t sign up with an email provider that puts you on a shared IP. If you manage your list right, a dedicated IP will help with deliverability.
72. Getting Return Path certified will help you get more emails into people’s inboxes.
73. Keep your email subject lines short — it will help with open rates.
74. When possible, keep your subject lines casual as it also helps with open rates.
75. Do not put your whole blog post within the email. Make sure you put only the first paragraph or two to help drive more traffic back to your site.

Scheduling blog posts

Here is what I learned about blog post timing and frequency:

76. Publish blog posts on a consistent basis, or it will be hard to grow your traffic.
77. Come up with a regular posting schedule, and stick with it. Whether it is once a week or once a month… stick with the schedule.
78. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays tend to be the best days to blog.
79. You’ll get the least amount of traffic on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
80. Most people read blogs in the morning. Afternoon is the second popular time.
81. The best time to schedule a blog post is on Monday at 11 a.m.
82. People who blog twice a day generate more than twice as many inbound links as people who blog once a day.
83. Women are less likely to read blogs posts during the evening than men.

SEO

Here is what I learned about optimizing your blog for search engines:

84. If you are using a WordPress blog, use the Yoast SEO plugin.
85. Interlink your blog posts when it makes sense as this will help with crawling and indexing.
86. Avoid writing content for search engines. Write content for humans as eventually search algorithms will adapt.
87. Posts that are 2,000 words or longer are more likely to rank on page one of Google.
88. Creating infographics is a great way to gain new readers and backlinks. In the long run, these backlinks will help boost your rankings.
89. Avoid keyword stuffing in your blog posts — it will just hurt you.
90. Blogging is a long tail strategy, so don’t focus on optimizing your blog posts for any particular keyword. Just focus on writing high quality content.
91. Having subheadings and headings within your blog posts will help you rank for more keywords.

Social media

Here is what I learned about social media marketing:

92. Make sure you use scrolling social buttons like Flare as it will help generate more social shares.
93. Only place two or three social sharing options on each blog post. Fewer options will help you generate more social shares than five or six will.
94. Place social sharing buttons at the bottom of your post as well as on the side.
95. Most people are on Twitter during 5 p.m. EST. That is when you should share your content.
96. Share the same post on Twitter multiple times in order to get maximum visibility.
97. People prefer sharing content on Facebook at 12 p.m. EST during Saturday.
98. Asking people to share content at the end of each blog post is a great way to get more social shares.
99. If you want more social traffic, make sure you are using social meta tags.
100. If you have co-workers, ask them to share your posts. Every share helps.

Conclusion

I’ve learned a lot about blogging over the last 10 years. I’ve enjoyed my journey, and I will continue to learn more as I blog over the next 10 years.
I hope you can gain some insights from my experiences and grow your blog at a much quicker pace than I have been able to do.
Is there anything you have learned during your blogging journey that you would like to share?