In the US, us “over 50″ folks spend $2.3 trillion and
we controls 50% of all discretionary income.
In 2011:
Those of us over age 50 will respresent 25% of the population.
In that same year it is estimated that the US population will be
12.5% Non-Hispanic Black and
14.8% Hispanic origin
Marketing Implications:
If you’re starting a business, you should consider products and services that appeal to the over 50 population.
And if you’re already in business, we’re still a worthwhile target market.
I recently found out about Dotsie Bregel who has a couple of sites for baby boomer and over 50 woman. One of her articles is about the “Boomerang Generation”. Can you guess what the term means? I got it wrong.
The Boomerang Generation refers to those born in the 1970s and 1980s. So allegedly, these people are the children of baby boomers. But the term does not apply to all people in that age bracket. It more specifically refers to those who, due to economic conditions and challenges, are back at home with their parents, the senior citizen empty nesters. So the “boomerang” part of the phrase is quite clever.
However, the boomerang concept is not limited to the 70s and 80s groups. Everyone is at risk. With the business / corporate financial failures, mortgage crisis, layoffs, gas prices, etc, many who are trying to conserve their financial resources are forced to re-evaluate and revamp their living situations. I’ve thought about renting out a room in my house to tide me over until Noble & Associates Consulting and / or Noble Finances start bringing in some substantial revenues. And, sometimes it’s the senior citizens and retirees who are moving back with their children. So there are variations on the boomerang theme.
I’m not in touch with the economic situation in other countries. But. we in the United States need to pull together to help each other out. Just saw a video of the Donnie McClurkin story. Marvin Winans allowed McClurkin to stay in his house for months. But there comes a time, when helping becomes enabling. So McClurkin was kicked out. Each situation is different.
As Shakespeare says “The quality of mercy is not strained”. When it becomes strained, it’s up to you to take the appropriate action.
Cash and cash flow problems are big topics in the news these days. Large, global investment and financial institutions are in trouble. Banks are failing and being taken over. If you listen to some, without financial bailouts, the United States economy is in danger of financial ruin. Many who insisted that the country was not in a recession a couple of weeks ago, are now mentioning the dreaded “d” word: Depression.
It’s big news when the big guys are in trouble. Small, women owned and minority businesses have always had difficulty with finances. Lack of cash flow and working capital is a leading cause of business failure. Noble Finances has some solutions that can help cure financial woes for companies turned down by traditional banking institutions.
The Atlanta Tribune’s “Moving Your Business Forward” (MYBF) event will be held October 9, 2008 in Columbus, GA. The theme for this 3rd annual MYBF conference in Columbus, GA is “Strategies for Business Growth: Finding Money & Understanding of the Benefits of Certification”.
Sandra Noble, that’s me, is featured on the financial panel at the Columbus MYBF event. I get to share about Noble Finances and the alternatives to traditional bank financing that we provide.
Well the actual term is tweeter. When you make an entry into Twitter, you are tweeting. And what is Twitter? It’s called a micro-blog. Tweets are limited to 140 characters of data. The idea is to share what you’re doing at that moment. People who care about what you’re doing will sign up to follow you. They get entries in their Twitter account whenever people they are following make tweets.
So, now I’m confessing. My blog post titled “Business People Over 50 – Who are we?” ended with the statement “no twittering for me”. Well, I’ve learned to never say never. I admit that I am now twittering or more correctly tweeting.
The younger set primarily uses text messaging to do their tweets. I turned that feature off on my phone. Since I have no texting capability, I assumed I would never do tweets. However, I discovered ping.fm. It allows me to use the internet to enter my tweets. And the beauty of ping.fm is that it sends my postings to multiple social networks. So, my entries are simultateously sent Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse and now Delicious. Ping.fm makes it easy to actively participate in the Web 2.0 social networks.
There are those who allegedly use Twitter for business. I’ve attended teleseminars on the business use of Twitter as well as on the business use of Facebook. Business people under age 50 are using Twitter and other social networks. I have my doubts about the participation of the over 50, senior citizen group. I’m on Twitter and I’m over 50. I’m making a concerted effort to keep up with web 2.0, internet marketing and other new technologues and techniques. The purpose for this blog is to share my journey with other AARP qualifiers. Hopefully, I can help ease the process for my contemporaries.
Not convinced about the benefits. But for now, I’m trying Twitter.
Internet marketing success is about being found on the web. Alexa is one of those services which determines how well a website is organically positioned. Organic ranking means that the search engines have evaluated your site and determined how well it matches your search terms. There are billions of sites on the World Wide Web, so a good search ranking does not come by accident. There are consulting firms that specialize in what is called search engine optimization (SEO). Noble & Associates Consulting is now offering internet marketing consulting services also.
SEO is more than optimizing your website for your keywords in isolation. There are other tools and techniques to boost your ranking. It’s about volume – how many times you appear and are linked to on the web. And in the World Wide Web / Web 2.0 circles you hear the motto “Content is King”. The more content there is on the web associated with your name and your site, the better your SEO and organic ranking.
So what do I mean by: less is better? Winning sports teams say they are #1. In Alexa, the lower number / rank the better. A rank of 1 means that this is the most frequently searched for and accessed website out of all the websites in the world. Being in the top million is an impressive list. See the even more impressive Alexa top 100 list.
Get the *FREE* report,
“5 Internet Marketing Success Tips”
by visiting http://www.Internet-Marketing-SEO-Success.com
Baby Boomers Go Into Un-Retirement is an interesting blog post about how baby boomers are handling retirement or not. Don’t know if Atlanta is different, but I know a lot of over 55 people who are going the NOT route.
Why?
Telecommunications used to be big in Atlanta. Telecommunications has taken a deep dive. And lots of other major employers in metropolitan Atlanta are faltering. And of course, the problem is not unique to Atlanta.
The three main effects of the recession or the financial downturns:
1) people are prematurely forced into requirement,
2) people are laid off and
3) pension funds and retirement accounts have lost value.
We’re not even going to talk about real estate, which in years past have been a source of funds for the senior citizen group. Our homes were the investments that were supposed to allow us to sustain ourselves after our working days were over. The equity that has been lost in our housing has forced the AARP aged folks to continue working to get the extra or essential spending money.
In an ideal world, many more would choose to retire. But the economic climate, both national and personal, removes some of the options. So I, as a late stage entrepreneur, am not alone in working long days and in pursuit of the dollar. Sandra Noble NOBLE FINANCES NOBLE &ASSOCIATESCONSULTING, INC
An organizational change discussion was introduced with the following “How many process improvement consultants does it take to change a light bulb? One, but only if the light bulb really wants to change.” The topic’s title included the word “inertia” indicating that change is resisted. So how do you reduce resistance? Regardless of the type of change being implemented, a successful project always requires support from the top of the organization. Management support and directives motivate people.
Even when people are highly motivated, change can be stressful and scary. As we age and move into the over 50, senior citizen ranks, it is more difficult to change. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak or inflexible. People issues have crippled project of all kinds project – whether technology or process, or organizational structure or management. Stress and post implementation distress must be expected and accommodated.
Bottom line: To make an organizational change successful, it has to be well planned, with simple steps that are well communicated.
See the July Newsletter for details about Michael Nearman of AGSI who addressed the June 2008 Atlanta SPIN (Software & Systems Process Improvement Network) meeting.
Powell Goldstein’s e-Newsletter included the article titled “Businesses and Their Employees Should Reconsider Taking Laptops and PDAs Abroad”. The reason for concern is a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The ruling gives custom’s agents the right to search electronic files without reasonable suspicion.
Currently, there have been no abuses of this ruling. But, businesses should consider the impact of trade secrets and sensitive data being accessed and copied by customs agents and Homeland Security personnel. Should you leave home without your beloved electronic devices? Get POGO’s article.
I started this blog to explore issues of interest to business people age 50 or over. They could be run of the mill employees or decision makers in large corporations or business owners / entrepreneurs.
Found a kindred blog written by someone who appears to be from both Canada and the United States. She provides a definition of business baby boomers in the post What are Small Business Boomers?
Since I plan to live to age 120 or longer, I don’t personally think of myself as middle aged, let alone a senior citizen. Theoretically baby boomers can include some 40 something people.
But, I’m sticking with the AARP definition, because I think there is a technology and cultural divide that starts around age 50.
Do you know anyone over 50 who likes text messaging?
How many of the over 50s even utilize that tool?
An over 50 friend of mine told me that I could turn off the text messaging capability on my phone. Without delay, I got that done.
So no Twittering for me.
(And if you don’t know what that means, you’re one of us.)
