The Business of Aging tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1249980 2009-11-14T08:10:36-08:00 Do you market products or services relating to the aging population? Visit SeniorCareMarketer.com today and begin generating publicity, web site traffic and leads. TypePad http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/fb_pwrd.gifSeniorcaremarketercomBloghttp://feedburner.google.com Caring.com Raises $10 million In 2nd Round. Total $16 million Raised Since 07. tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341ee07753ef012875a0e041970c 2009-11-14T08:10:36-08:00 2009-11-14T08:10:36-08:00 In September 2007, Caring.com raised $6 million led by DCM and Split Rock Partners. This week Caring.com announced a 2nd round funding of $10 million led by a new investor, Shasta Ventures, with participation from previous backers DCM and Split... Mark Willaman
In September 2007, Caring.com raised $6 million led by DCM and Split Rock Partners.

This week Caring.com announced a 2nd round funding of $10 million led by a new investor, Shasta Ventures, with participation from previous backers DCM and Split Rock Partners.

The company has raised $16 million in total.

Caring.com says it will use the money for new hires, as well as an expansion of the core Caring.com site, and Gilbert Guide, the eldercare services directory it acquired in October.

Caring.com runs display ads and sponsorships; co-founder and CEO Andy Cohen said about half of the site’s advertisers are pharmaceutical brands. As for the recent scrutiny by the FDA around pharma ads, Cohen said Caring.com was insulated because the Agency was focused on search ads and user-generated content—not display ads or curated editorial.

I know Andy Cohen and respect the work he is doing at Caring.com. Raising $16 million in three years is a LOT of money in any economy. But to raise $16 million in this economy is quite an accomplishment - almost unheard of. What this tells me is the investors -- who have had access to all the financials and web analytic data of Caring.com -- like what they see. Tod Francis, managing partner at Shasta Ventures, said the company’s traffic growth and ad performance were what attracted the investment (Caring.com says web site traffic has grown to over a million monthly uniques).

Laurie Orlov, a former Forrester analyst, wrote a post on her Aging In Place Technology Watch blog about Caring.com and their business model. It's quite good.   

She says……(I paraphrase - read the whole post here):

"Caring
"

Like WebMD, Caring.com faces a lot of competition. Time will tell if they achieve the same level of success. 
 Our Responsibilities When Marketing to Seniors tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341ee07753ef012875972d30970c 2009-11-13T09:42:17-08:00 2009-11-13T09:42:17-08:00 Boomer Immersion the corporate blog of boomer marketing firm Immersion Active, posted a blog "Marketing to Older Adults: More Than a Cheap Laugh and a Fast Buck" which I thought was a well thought out post. I particularly liked this:... Mark Willaman
Boomer Immersion the corporate blog of boomer marketing firm Immersion Active, posted a blog "Marketing to Older Adults: More Than a Cheap Laugh and a Fast Buck"  which I thought was a well thought out post. 

I particularly liked this: 

"For the first time in history, adults over the age of 40 are the consumer majority. What countries like Singapore, Sweden, and Denmark, (ranked among the top five for Global Competitiveness and also countries with an aging population) know is that (to steal the words of Auguste Comte, the founder of sociology) “demography is destiny.

We have a responsibility as marketers. As targeting boomers and seniors becomes increasing popular, it is imperative that we don’t screw it up. There are all kinds of stereotypes that surround the elderly. Frankly, some of them are funny (and I’ll be the first to acknowledge the value of being able to laugh at ourselves). However, adults in the second half of life are more than a cheap laugh or a fast buck. There are many layers of wealth (beyond financial) that our country’s mature population possesses – something we need to keep this in mind as we increasingly focus our marketing dollars on them."

Well said Immersion Active.
 Aging Population Faces Caregiver Shortage. tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341ee07753ef0128758c7059970c 2009-11-12T11:36:53-08:00 2009-11-12T11:36:53-08:00 Lisa Gibbs from MONEY Magazine wrote a great blog post titled Aging boomers face caregiver shortage. She begins her blog post with a mention of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, a provision in the health care... Mark Willaman
Lisa Gibbs from MONEY Magazine wrote a great blog post titled Aging boomers face caregiver shortage.

She begins her blog post with a mention of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, a provision in the health care debates to create a national long-term care insurance program that would allow people to pay an average $65 a month and, after five years, be eligible for between $50 to $100 a day in benefits.

In Lisa's words:

"While $100 is better than nothing, I can tell you from experience that it doesn’t cover very much. It would pay for about six hours of daily care from the home aides I hired recently to help my mother recover from surgery. It certainly wouldn't cover assisted living or nursing homes, which run into the tens of thousands of dollars per year.

Whether through private long-term care insurance or a public plan, it’s clear this country needs to do a better job thinking about how we’re going to care for ourselves (and our parents) as we get older and frailer. Few of us have saved enough money or bought insurance to cover whatever care we need in our later years. But there's another aspect of the long-term care problem that people have overlooked: A looming "caregiver crunch," in the words of Ken Dychtwald, a gerontologist and president of the consultancy Age Wave.".

Lisa nails it. She is absolutely right.

Census Bureau Provides First Profile of Baby Boomers in 13 Years tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341ee07753ef0120a6795777970b 2009-11-11T09:34:42-08:00 2009-11-11T09:34:42-08:00 The U.S. Census Bureau has releases an outstanding PowerPoint presentation that provides a look at a variety of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the baby boom generation (the population born between 1946 and 1964 ), such as geographic distribution, marital... Mark Willaman

The U.S. Census Bureau has releases an outstanding PowerPoint presentation that provides a look at a variety of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the baby boom generation (the population born between 1946 and 1964 ), such as geographic distribution, marital status, educational attainment and income, and compares them with adults in younger and older age groups.

To access the PowerPoint presentation visit this page (http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/age/general-age.html#bb) and near the top of the page under the Baby Boomer header you'll see a line "Selected Characteristics of Baby Boomers 42 to 60 Years Old in 2006 [PPT] | [PDF 2.3M]". Just select PPT.

The USA Today does a nice job summarizing the findings but I highly recommend you download the PPT. 

Enjoy.Boomers


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