It was Easter morning. Like most people, I had plans for a great holiday. But upon waking, I saw that I’d missed a call after midnight from Hennepin County Medical Center. Somehow I managed to stay calm as I negotiated my identity with the world-weary worker who fielded my return call. After multiple questions, the identity pre-screening was complete and I was told news that no one wants: my mom was in the hospital after being struck in a crosswalk walking home from work the night before. She was alive, but had a shattered pelvis, was scheduled for surgery, and wanted desperately to talk with me.
The Easter I had planned certainly hadn’t included a breakneck drive to HCMC, a conversation with my confused, medicated mother, nor the news that in roughly twenty four hours, a Medicare-accepting facility had to be selected and connected with in order to transport mom from the HCMC ortho-recovery unit. A social worker gave me the names of two facilities that had a bed and could help. I did what anyone would do – I got busy on my phone searching and, within an hour, I’d ruled out one of the two because if they couldn’t be bothered to include an image of a resident room – much less information about physical therapy services – how could I possible entrust my mom to their care?
I have said it before and I will say it again and, this time, I really, really mean it…If you don’t invest in your website – the 2018 storefront of your business – you will lose business to someone who does.
As a consumer, I’ve found more information about hotel rooms in Miles City Montana than I found on any of the care facility websites that day! By the time I landed on the Minnesota Masonic Home website, words cannot express my relief or my gratitude. Mom is there now, as I write this blog post. She is starting her long recovery and OK, I am happy, and I am also even more committed – if that’s possible – to helping business owners understand the importance of having an updated, information-laden website. The Minnesota Masonic Home has earned more than $2,000 this past week by hosting my mom. How much business might be in store for you should you heed my advice and invest in your business website?!