Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Try These 3 Brand Personas To Benefit Your Customer

Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Try These 3 Brand Personas To Benefit Your Customer

http://socialmediatoday.com/mark-cooper/1718571/3-brand-personas-social

Your entrepreneurial mindset inspires you to make something better for your customer

Much of what we read in the new world of social media is about how to relate to our customers. We are encouraged to find the persona that represents our customer to be able to better communicate with them. However, there is an equally interesting issue that I have just discovered.

You visualize the persona of your customer so that you can address them as a person. But when a customer is listening, they are usually looking back at the person who is speaking to them. So what persona do they see in looking back at you? 

Your goal as an entrepreneur is to make something better for your customer. One way to address how you will do that is to consider the social media persona from which you want to address your customer. If you can have consistency in the way that you project to your customer, your customer may better understand you.

I discovered this principle in a post by Mark Cooper of Offerpop. He provides insights that may help you clarify the brand persona that allows you to do the best job of supporting your customer.

1) The Helper

The helper helps the customer solve problems and inspires positive change. Here at Smarter Small Business Blog, it is primarily our purpose to be your helper by making your life easier through being a baby boomer entrepreneur as the solution to the challenges of traditional retirement. As the encore entrepreneur, it is similarly your task, from a helping perspective, to make the life of your customer easier.

2) The Insider

The insider is more about inspiring the customer. As an entrepreneur, you might want to be inspired by the lifestyle of encore entrepreneurs that have tamed the fears of retirement. Similarly, you want to help your customer be inspired by seeing the lives of  people who have become successful by accepting your solution to the problem.

3) The Confidante

The confidante is the best friend of your customer. You put your customer at the center of all that is going on. You might be posting about your customer in public. Or perhaps, you might be at the opposite end of the spectrum. You might be the quiet place that your customer comes to share their most intimate thoughts and concerns. You might be their mentor or coach.

So, what's next?

Mark Cooper asks "Which persona suits your brand?" See his post for more details and more examples of each persona.

If you would like more thoughts on developing your entrepreneurial mindset, join our mailing list. My Baby Boomer Business Dream.

Brought to you by Shallie Bey, Founder- Smarter Small Business Blog.
 ~ The Business Dream Weaver

Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Modify Your Dream Or Magnify Your Skills

Photo courtesy of Brett Jordan

Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Modify Your Dream Or Magnify Your Skills

Sometimes as baby boomer entrepreneurs, you and I need messages that are uniquely for us. At other times, the message we need may fit entrepreneurs of all ages. Such is the message that I want to share with you today.

Recently, Jim Connolly, of Jim's Marketing Blog shared one such message that is universal. Jim is a favorite of mine. I read his blog almost every day. Yet this particular post stood out because it speaks to the core of the entrepreneurial mindset, an important topic here on Smarter Small Business Blog.

Jim asks:

How do you feel about continuously improving your knowledge and skills?

It turns out that your attitude to learning is a key factor, in what you achieve as a business owner. One of the biggest causes of frustration for small business owners, is that they want better results, yet they refuse to increase their skills accordingly.

They want more, without becoming more.

Jim Connolly goes on to quote the legendary  Jim Rohn: “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.”

I've decided to work daily to build my skills. I refuse to diminish my dreams. So Jim Connolly, I pledge what you asked; "to never miss an opportunity to learn what I need to learn in order to achieve what I want to achieve." I hope my dear reader will also agree with you that it is far too important to settle for anything less.

What To Do Next

1. First read the original post from Jim at the link to his blog provided above. 

2. Then think about what commitment you are willing to make to yourself and your dream.

3. If you would like more tips on developing your entrepreneurial mindset, join our mailing list at My Baby Boomer Business Dream.

Shallie

Brought to you by Shallie Bey, Founder - Smarter Small Business Blog

 ~ The Business Dream Weaver

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur- Are You Frozen In Time?

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur- Are You Frozen In Time?

Aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur, from where you stand it may seem that you are frozen in time, unable to see a bright future. But that is merely an illusion. You can build a future by having a business as the foundation for your encore career. The key is in developing your entrepreneurial mindset.

Your entrepreneurial mindset lets you see the world with a different set of eyes.

• It lets you spot needs in a special way.
• It lets you see opportunities in solving those needs.
• It lets you plan solutions to realize those opportunities.
• It helps you to execute your plan.

In this video, magician David Blane freezes himself in time, within a block of ice. He exposes himself to great risk and manages to survive. He saw a need for people to be entertained. He saw an opportunity to create a special way to address that need for entertainment. He developed a genius plan to deliver upon that need. He executed his plan. Not only did he survive, he added to his fame and fortune.

What will your entrepreneurial mindset do for you? Can it keep you from being frozen in time? 

What you should do next.

Please play the video and see how the magician got unfrozen. Then work on your own entrepreneurial mindset to create your own magic.

For more tips on developing your entrepreneurial mindset, join our free mailing list. Go to My Baby Boomer Business Dream.

Brought to you by Shallie Bey, Founder - Smarter Small Business Blog

 ~ The Business Dream Weaver

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurial Mindset _ When Was the Last Time You Thought Something For the First Time?

Baby boomer, do you have the entrepreneurial mindset? You think so? Well, let me ask you John Maxwell's question:

When was the last time you thought something for the first time?

Among other things, success as an entrepreneur requires us to be curious. And how do we become curious? John Maxwell says "we have to think new thoughts":

What are new thoughts?

• As opposed to old thoughts
• As opposed to no thoughts

How do you get new thoughts?

• By asking new questions
• By being asked new questions
• By having new experiences
• By meeting new people

What do I do next?

• Watch the featured video by John Maxwell at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nTTl-aS8N88
  
• Get more tips on the entrepreneurial mindset by joining our mailing list at My Baby Boomer Business Dream

Shallie

Brought to you by Shallie Bey - Founder, Smarter Small Business Blog

  ~ The Business Dream Weaver

Baby Boomer Are You Ready To Take The Leap To An Entrepreneurial Mindset? (Encore Career)

Are you a baby boomer considering making the switch to an encore career? Are you possibly considering becoming an entrepreneur to build your bridge into your future? Do you have a baby boomer business dream? Then it is time to take the leap...

The leap involves embracing the entrepreneurial mindset. This excellent video gives you a visual sense of what it means to change your way of thinking.

It all begins with freeing your mind to think like an entrepreneur. We call that "having the entrepreneurial mindset".

If you would like more free resources on developing your entrepreneurial mindset, subscribe to the Smarter Small Business Blog. Click this link :My Baby Boomer Business Dream

Brought to you by Shallie Bey, Founder of the Smarter Small Business Blog
 ~ The Business Dream Weaver

Link to featured video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-Dgu250Do Produced by RockThePost.com

Baby Boomer: What Does Being An Entrepreneur Mean To You?

As an aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, you probably know what you want to be. However, it is interesting that what you want to be may be very different from what I want to be as an entrepreneur. In fact the definition and the implications of "entrepreneurship" have changed radically over the years. We may be on the brink of yet more changes.

Entrepreneur Magazine editor-in-chief Amy Cosper talks with Mondelez International vice president of global media Bonin Bough about what the word "entrepreneur" means today. Once the term conjured images of snake-oil purveyors and out-of-work scamsters. In the popular lexicon, entrepreneurs have become known as people who create businesses in markets where there were none before.

You can see the video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UtZVrbsmPkg

My favorite definition of entrepreneurship comes from the writing of Harvard Business School professor Howard Stevenson. He wrote it nearly 40 years ago. Forbes has called it "The Best Answer Ever".

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.

Eric Schurenberg, editor-in-chief of INC. wrote a fascinating article about this definition. He makes several points:

• Entrepreneurship is a process.
• Entrepreneurs are used to making do without resources.
• Opportunity is the only real resource you have.

You can read more at: http://www.inc.com/eric-schurenberg/the-best-definition-of-entepreneurship.html

As we baby boomer entrepreneurs, face new life challenges, we have to find ways to do things without having control of resources. We have to make a way. We have to seize the OPPORTUNITY.

Cearmease Bey, my wife and an entrepreneur for many years, sums up the Entrepreneurial Mindset  in a word...GUTS.

What is The Next Step to YOUR Baby Boomer Business Dream?
Join our Smarter Small Business Blog for more insights: My Baby Boomer Business Dream

Get free resources to help build your Entrepreneurial Mindset.
Click this link: http://mybabyboomerbusinessdream.weebly.com/

Shallie

Brought to you by Shallie Bey - Founder of Smarter Small Business Blog
-- The Business Dream Weaver

Can Owning A Business Help Your End Of Life Experience? (Encore Career)

Can Owning A Business Help You Prepare For A Good End Of Life? (Encore Career)

Do you have a plan for how you would like to live to the end of your life?

Baby boomers have many concerns about their future as they approach retirement age. Most of those concerns can be summed up in three questions:

1. Will I run out of money?
2. Can I maintain my quality of living?
3. Can I maintain good health?

The challenge is that one unasked question must be answered to know the answers to the other three questions: How long will I live?

So the reality is that we can do things that increase the probability that our answer will be "yes" or "no" to the first three questions, but it is not a certainty.

Some people try to resolve the money and lifestyle questions by saving a lot of their earnings. Sometimes that works...if you have good capital markets and wise investment choices.

Some people delay their retirement by continuing to work as long as they can. Sometimes that works...if your employer is prosperous and does not force you to retire.

Some people take on new jobs...commonly called encore careers, to reduce the amount of time they have to depend upon savings to fund their retirements. Unfortunately, health seems to force many to retire sooner than they expected.

So, is there anything we can do to increase our odds of success? Yes, the indications are that a special form of encore career may well be the answer. You can become a business owner as an encore career.

How can becoming a business owner help you solve your retirement fears?

The answer is that owning a business gives you two things that are not always present in having a job.

First, the business gives you an asset that can earn and grow that does not have to depend upon you doing the work.

Secondly, the business gives you leverage. It can give you a bigger return than what you can accomplish by just working alone. The leverage can come from having employees, business systems, or a combination of those.

In our featured video Judy MacDonald Johnston gives us a case study. She helped ranchers, Jim and Shirley Modini plan for the end years of their lives. She manage assets for them as their caregiver and health advocate. She managed the people needed to provide daily care and to run the business of the Modinis. 

Click here to see the video: http://www.ted.com/talks/judy_macdonald_johnston_prepare_for_a_good_end_of_life.html

Granted, the Modinis had a good head start. But the principle is still true at any age. The challenge is to begin building the asset, your business.

What is your next step?

Building your business requires having a vision, just as the Modinis had a vision for their lives and for their wildlife preserve beyond their lives. You can build that vision by understanding the basics of business development. Business development is the process of consciously starting and intentionally growing a business.

Business development is more about developing an entrepreneurial mindset than about being an expert in the details of business. It is about being able to pay attention in a way to spot business opportunities. Next, after spotting the opportunity, it is about learning how to take action to make the opportunity a reality.

By understanding the process of developing an entrepreneurial mindset and acting through that mindset, you greatly reduce the risk of failure that is the experience of so many people who start businesses without a plan.

If you would like more information on developing that entrepreneurial mindset, please sign up to be on our Smarter Small Business Blog mailing list. We will share with you more information on the resources that will help you build your entrepreneurial mindset in a smarter way. Just click this link: http://mybabyboomerbusinessdream.weebly.com/
Then give us your name and e-mail. There is no obligation and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Brought to you by Shallie Bey -- The Business Dream Weaver