All Star Directories made a bundle of money passing student leads on to universities and colleges. Now, two of the former marketing executives behind that company have started AllSeniorHomes.com, which is bringing the same directory concept to the senior care industry.
Jay Goldstein and Chris Rodde -- who left All Star last year -- today are officially launching an online directory of about 40,000 nursing homes, assisted living centers, retirement centers and other elder care facilities. It also is announcing about 40 customers, facility operators such as Brookdale Living, Leisure Care and Aegis Living which are paying anywhere from $10 to $60 for qualified leads.
That will put AllSeniorHomes in direct competition with another big, local player: A Place for Mom. Founded in 2000 and backed by Battery Ventures, Rodde admits that A Place for Mom is a formidable rival.
But the 39-year-old entrepreneur thinks there is a more effective way to deliver new residents to senior care facilities. Whereas A Place for Mom collects payment if a new resident moves into a facility, AllSeniorHomes plans to charge facilities by passing on potential prospects.
"A Place for Mom is clearly the leader, but there is no one really on the pay-per-lead side that has really dominated," said Rodde, whose other competitors include Seattle-based SNAPforSeniors and New York-based SeniorsforLiving.com.
The pay-for-lead system works this way. A retirement community would pay a set fee -- say $50 -- if a potential prospect filled out a form on AllSeniorHomes.com to receive more information about the facility.
A retirement community, for example, could buy 100 leads on the site at $50 a pop for a total of $5,000. If five percent of the people who fill out a form actually follow through and move into the community it equates to $1,000 per resident.
Rodde compares that to A Place for Mom, which typically takes the first month's rental payment for generating the lead. That can be anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000, Rodde said.
"They are getting a higher price, but they are further down the funnel," he said.
Based on his experience at All Star Directories, Rodde thinks the pay-for-lead system also will resonate in the senior care business.
Of course, it won't work if AllSeniorHomes can't attract an audience of people seeking senior care facilities. Asked about that challenge, Rodde said they cut their teeth developing powerful search engine optimization and other online marketing tactics at All Star Directories.
At All Star, Rodde said the model was so successful in driving student prospects to educational institutions such as the University of Phoenix that they would have to cap the number of leads.
In order to make sure people discover the service, AllSeniorHomes plans to add rich information to its site about each facility as well as editorial content that relates to senior housing.
The startup has raised a small angel round of about $200,000, with Rodde saying the company will likely go out for a larger financing round later this year.
Interestingly, this is the second new Internet business I've covered today that is trying to develop an online directory. (Check out coverage on HelpHive.com, which is creating an online marketplace to connect home owners with local service providers.)
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