Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs, 70% of Great Businesses Do NOT Start With A Plan.

 Do great businesses start with a plan? The answer is "no" according to Anthony Tjan.

Tjan says that 70% of businesses with a successful exit (that is, an IPO or sale to another firm) did NOT start with a business plan. Tjan, CEO and Managing Partner of the venture capital firm Cue Ball, discovered this information while researching the forthcoming book that he is co-authoring --Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck. He and his colleagues interviewed and surveyed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs around the world to see what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and build a really successful business.

...their business journeys originated in a different place, a place we call the Heart. They were conceived not with a document but with a feeling and doing for an authentic vision. Clarity of purpose and passion ruled the day with less time spent writing an idea and more time just doing it."  

 This conclusion has sparked quite a controversy. You can see 158 comments at the time I am writing this post.
http://blogs.hbr.org/tjan/2012/05/great-businesses-dont-start-wi.html?awid=6705632995402906805-3271

Though I believe in business plans, I believe that the dream must come first. It is the vision that leads to the development of the business plan. The well written plan, with well defined systems, leads to successful implementation...which results in a successful business. This pathway avoids the 80%+ failure rate of the typical entrepreneurs.

Though this sounds radical, you will hear much the same thoughts from Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited. In the above video, Gerber describes how the entrepreneur goes through a four step process that starts with a dream and ends with implementation.

What do you think? Please share your comments below.

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

What The Mint Taught Me About Marketing

The Buck Stops Here: $1 Coins to Be Curtailed - WSJ.com:



'via Blog this'

Early this morning, I awoke to an e-mail from a friend, Ed. Ed wanted to know what I thought about the Mint stopping production of coin dollars. Of course, my friend was aware that as Superintendent of the United States Mint (Philadelphia), I was involved in the first production of the Susan B. Anthony coin dollar in 1979.

As I watched the coverage, I was transported back to the early discussion of smaller coin dollars in the late 70s.

I recalled going into my office many mornings and finding mail bags with drawings from elementary school children from across the country. Many teachers inspired their students to participate in government by sending their suggestions for who should appear on the front of the new coin. As always, the students were quite creative. Their suggestions ranged from historic individuals to pop culture icons, perhaps even their mother, father, teacher, themselves, or their new puppy. I recall that Elvis Presley was particularly popular. As there is essentially only one law limiting who can be on a coin...the person cannot be currently living...many of their suggestions were possible.

Of course the real decision required hearings in Washington where people appeared to present their opinions. There was a big battle about whether it should be the Statue of Liberty or Susan B Anthony. Then the battle shifted to what image of Susan B Anthony. Should it be her in her early life as in the case of most coins? Or should it be in her later life after the victories for which she is noted?

When the decision was made, we sighed as we came to the end of the debate. Then, the next morning, we awakened to remember that a coin has two sides...the debate was just half done.

Of course there were many decisions to be made before the official First Strike Ceremony in 1979. The next day after the first striking , the process of getting them to the Federal Reserve Banks began. Then  there was another "next day" involving getting the coins into local banks.That was followed by getting them into stores, followed by getting them into the hands of people. This was followed by the first person spending one thinking it was a quarter...followed by the first reporter warning people not to spend the coin dollar thinking it is a quarter.

That battle has raged for 32 years and the discussion is still the same. This leads to what the Mint taught me about marketing:

1. People make decisions on how they feel. The decision are about emotions. Then we select the facts that support our emotions.
2. Everyone has an opinion. For the most part, individual opinions don't matter. It is the collection of opinions that determines if there is a problem that needs to be solved.
3. The fact that there is a problem to be solved does not mean that everyone wants the same solution. Many people awaken in the morning wanting corn flakes. Some of them want Post Toasties and some of them want Kelloggs Corn Flakes.That is not duplication of effort or wasting resources. We call that free market.
4. Marketing is about finding a solution to a problem that enough people want and are willing to pay for, to make it profitable for the person providing the solution. We call that a niche.
5. Business is about serving the niche over and over. Success is in finding your niche.
6. Government has niches too. We call them special interest groups. Government has no way of making every niche or interest group happy by giving them what they want. Government tends to hold it's nose and select one solution that "fits all".
7. Aren't you glad that as an entrepreneur, all you have to do is find the right niche and serve the people in it well?
8. There is always a "next day" unless you fail.

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

Baby Boomer - You Don't Have to Learn Entrepreneurship Blindly Or Alone

A personal and educational introduction to Michael E. Gerber : ""

As an aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur, you want to convert your business idea into a reality. There is approximately an 80% failure rate of people trying to accomplish your same goal. Yet, renowned business adviser Michael E. Gerber says that no small business owner has to fail.

In this video, Gerber talks with small business coaches. He shares what coaches must understand to help small business owners bring the dream back to America...in fact to small business owners around the world. Here, you can get that advice straight from his mouth.

Gerber explains that small business owners fail for reasons other than what they think is the cause of that failure. As a baby boomer making a transition to an encore career, this is valuable information for you.

He begins with what it means to have a dream. He explains the process for converting your dream to reality and how to get clarity from the onset. If you want to understand what needs to be done...and then what needs to be done next, you want to watch this 29 minute video.

You will learn there is a road map to your journey. You will learn that there are people prepared to help you with the task of designing your baby boomer retirement business. You can increase your chances of success by looking for the people who can help you. You do not have to do it blindly or alone.

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

Shallie

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Are You Smarter Than An Old Walrus?

A number of my closest friends have received this video recently with the caption "My New Exercise Routine". And though my stomach could benefit from some sit ups, that is not what I am really talking about.

Much of what it takes to become a successful baby boomer entrepreneur involves behavior modification. You have to learn how to go from being an employee to being an owner. We often call that obtaining the entrepreneurial mindset. This is a new mental exercise routine.

Learning to make that change is a radical shift in your thinking and behavior. But if an old walrus can have his behavior shaped to accomplish new things, so can you.

Your task is to learn what behavior is required for success in the business of your choice. Then you must begin shaping that behavior a step at a time. That is the exact process the trainer used to teach an old Walrus to do sit ups. You can do it. You are smarter than an old walrus, aren't you?

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

Shallie

You Are Not Alone - Most U.S. workers want to be entrepreneurs - UPI.com

Most U.S. workers want to be entrepreneurs - UPI.com:

'via Blog this'

If you have a secret dream of quitting your job and becoming an entrepreneur, you are not alone. UPI reports that "Three-quarters of U.S. full-time and part-time employed adults say they want to leave their job and become an independent entrepreneur..."

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs seem to have an edge in the effort to have a balance in life. This balance is often described as having the ability to set one's hours, spend more time with friends and family, not have to deal with office politics and/or not have to endure a daily commute. You can take this advantage by retiring from your current job and starting a semi-retired life as a business owner. This is sometimes referred to as an "encore career".

For other aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs, the solution may be in developing a part time business. In this case, you begin developing the business on the side until it can sustain your needs.

In either case, you must take action. You must take steps to make your version of the "American Dream" your American Reality. Smarter Small Business Blog is here to help you.

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

Twitter - My Magic Carpet Ride

My father was a born in 1899. He lived in that rare time where he was barely old enough to serve in World War I and barely young enough to serve in World War II. He did both.

Full of curiosity and adventure, he decided to visit every one of the fortyeight states that then made up the USA. He rode the rails to realize his dream, passenger cars when he had money and freight trains when he didn't. He realized his dream between the wars. In 1949 he had his first born son and began a new journey, teaching me to dream.
Having inherited his taste for adventure, I wanted to do life at a bigger scale. I wanted to visit every continent of the world. I visited some continents, but was behind the pace I had hoped.

But three years ago today (July 31, 2008) a magic moment happened in my life. I had already decided that I wanted to begin sharing my business coaching skills with aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs. These are the people born between 1946 and 1964, about 78 million in the United States alone. Many of these people have a taste for adventure and do not want to retire in the traditional manner. Many have a passion for something that they want to share with the world in the form of a business. Many also need help in developing the skills to convert their dreams into reality. My dream is to help them them reach their dreams.

Three years ago today, that magic moment happened while listening to Ed Dale...I learned about Twitter.

Ed is the face of a free training that happens each year called The Challenge (formerly the 30 Day Challenge). He teaches aspiring entrepreneurs to use the Internet at a tool to research business opportunities, a tool to market those opportunities, and a networking process to find others with a similar passion. I couldn't travel to every continent by rail, but I had something better, Ed helped me discover a magic carpet ride.

Twitter has taken me to every continent, except Anarctica...that will happen in time. I 've learned about people's passions and shared mine. I've made genuine friends during this three year journey. Thanks Dad, Ed Dale, and Twitter. To everyone else I extend this invitation:

RIDE WITH ME

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

What 3 Issues Must You Master To Be A Successful Baby Boomer Business Owner‬?

YouTube - ‪Behaviors of Successful Business Owners‬‏: ""

All businesses have certain things in common. Business coach Ron Finklestein suggests that you greatly increase your odds of success as an aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur if you master the three issues every business leader faces:

• Making more money
• Having more time
• Having productive employees

He also suggests that YOU must have certain things to achieve mastery of these issues:

• Attitude
• Strategy
• Discipline

Check out his video for more insights.

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You Are Probably Not A Natural Born Baby Boomer Entrepreneur

Should being a baby boomer entrepreneur be your encore career goal? Are you a natural born entrepreneur? Should owning your own business be the next step for you?

Many people feel that they have what it takes to be a baby boomer entrepreneur. YOU might be convinced that it is the logical next step because YOUR goals might be:

• To have more freedom in general in semi-retirement,
• To have better financial control over your life,
• To have greater control over how you use your time,
• To have more control over your intellectual or creative life.

All of these are great goals. But they don't require becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur. Plus becoming an entrepreneur has around a 90% failure rate. You are probably not a natural born baby boomer entrepreneur. You might want to explore your alternatives to accomplishing such goals.

My first suggestion to you is visiting the creators of the above video, encore.org They will show you how to think about "combining purpose, passion, and a paycheck". However, they will show you alternatives, including the possibility of becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur.

1. If you determine becoming an entrepreneur is still your goal,
2. If you decide that you are committed to developing a business that aligns with your needs, values, and beliefs,
3. If you decide owning a business is what you want, not what someone else wants for you,
4. COME BACK AND SEE ME!

You can accomplish what you want. But be sure what you are trying to accomplish IS what you want.

Shallie

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Why Do Veterans Choose To Become Entrepreneurs?

Veterans Often Choose Entrepreneurship | Business Wire

Can aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs learn from veterans? In a study released yesterday, May 6, 2011, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration published new information about veterans who become entrepreneurs following completion of military service. The study reveals that veterans are 45 % more likely than those with no active duty military experience to be self employed.

I am wondering if there is a correlation between veterans moving into civilian life and former employees moving into semi-retired life. SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy Winslow Sargeant said, "Knowing more about the factors behind veteran's self -employment offers the opportunity to lay the groundwork for future success."

At this point, we know from the study that it does not appear that military training is the factor that drives entrepreneurship. Those with four years or less of service are more likely to choose entrepreneurship. However, there seems to be a high correlation of military retirees becoming entrepreneurs. It is believed that this may be the result of higher degrees of wealth and life stability. The research shows that with each additional year of age, the probability of becoming an entrepreneur increases by 7.5%.

Retiring baby boomers share many of the same characteristics of retiring veterans. Can we learn more about promoting successful transition to entrepreneurship by studying these veterans who transition from the military to civilian entrepreneurship? Take a look at the study and the research summary for yourself: Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship Among Veterans.

Shallie

Lemonade Stand Day - Inspiring Future Entrepreneurs

Prepared 4 Life: Inspiring Entrepreneurs, One Lemonade Stand at a Time - AOL Small Business

For years, the lemonade stand has been the symbol of entrepreneurship. With that thought in mind, Houston-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Holthouse inspired the creation of National Lemonade Day. It happens on May 1 for the purpose of teaching youth about business.

As aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs, we can think back to our experiences with lemonade stands from our youth. We can reconnect to what we believed before we became workers. We might have been trying to buy streamers for our bikes or a new pet. We knew we could solve our problem by solving the thirst problem of those around us.

If you need to reconnect with that time in your life, click the link and re-experience the moment through the eyes of today's youth.

Shallie

How Coachable Are You?

How Coachable Are You? « Ingrid Elfver

Just how coachable are you? Are you prepared to learn and expand to make the transition to being a baby boomer entrepreneur? Or, are you stuck on the situations that developed in your former career from which you are seeking semi-retirement?

Recently I became familiar with the work of Ingrid Elfver. She is a coach who works with other coaches to help them expand their abilities to serve their clients. She asked this same question, "How Coachable Are You?", in one of her recent blog posts. It stimulated me to think about how coachable I am personally and how coachable I expect my clients to be. You fan find my assessment of myself by reading my comments on her web page. Just click the title to this post and it will take you there.

Now, it is your turn. As you make the transition from being an employee to a baby boomer entrepreneurs, how coachable are you? Here is a video, Baby Boomer Entrepreneur- You Need A Guide, that may help you evaluate yourself.

How Seth Godin Helped Me Understand The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Seth's Blog: Moving beyond teachers and bosses

Almost daily I find myself thinking about the meaning of "The Entrepreneurial Mindset". As I think about trying to help a baby boomer make the transition to from employee to baby boomer entrepreneur, the definition of the entrepreneurial mindset is always an issue.

Seth Godin, one of my favorite writers recently helped me bring this concept into a tighter focus. If you follow the link to his blog, you will learn how we get conditioned to please teachers and bosses. In the process we forget how to take initiative.

Grasping this simple concept shared by Seth will help you, just as it helped me. It brought me to a new level of clarity. It can do the same for you as you make the transition to becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur.

Shallie Bey

TrackBack URL for Seth's entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b31569e20147e1e99563970b

Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Shouldn't You Know The Top 10 Dying Industries?

Top 10 Dying Industries - Real Time Economics - WSJ

As an aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur you look forward to the exciting and new opportunity before you. But are you taking time to look around you to see what is crumbling and how it may impact your plans?

This Wall Street Journal Article shares information about the top 10 dying industries around us. Does you business idea sell to, use products of, or depend upon people who work in these industries? If so, you need to know what the future of these industries will be.

In the big picture sense, the point of this article is that everything is changing around us. A few weeks ago, I drove through a community where I had once owned a small restaurant It has been 25 years since the business closed. I was amazed to see how the community had changed. I wondered what that change would have done to the restaurant if it had continued to operate. I saw corners with vacant lots where thriving businesses had once operated. I wondered ...

So as you make your plans for your business, what assumptions are you making. Do you expect the world to stand still except for the improvements your business will bring to the market? Think and think again!

Shallie

What Will Happen As Baby Boomers Hit Retirement Age?

Baby Boomers Approach Age 65 - Glumly - The Philadelphia Bulletin

The "Age Wave" is about to hit retirement. Baby boomers, from the very beginning, have changed the world as they hit various stages of life. Some describe this as sort of like the bump a pig makes as it is being swallowed by a python.

We saw this Age Wave prompt the building of hospitals, baby food, elementary schools, and sports shoes. Nearly everything you can think of has been touched by the expanding demand of the baby boomer age wave.

In just a few days, the first baby boomers will turn 65, the traditional retirement age. Many things about how baby boomers think will make a mark on retirement as well. According to this research by the Pew Research Center, one week from today baby boomers will start turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 19 years.

Answers to questions in this study point us to some of the changes we can expect in the future. Baby boomers don't think 65 is old. Baby boomers want to have more control of their lives. These are some of the factors already pointing to the emerging trend of baby boomers quitting their "day jobs" and becoming entrepreneurs. This is resulting from a desire to have a change from traditional retirement.

If you are a baby boomer, if you are someone who wants to sell to baby boomers, you may want to read this report. It is likely to point you to needs that will have to be filled over the next two decades. Filling needs is the sweet spot in life for entrepreneurs. You might even be inspired to join the baby boomer entrepreneurs.

Shallie

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Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, Would You Let Your New Business Play In Traffic?

If you had a new puppy, how would you protect it? Would you let it play in your front yard alone? If there is a 95% chance that it would get killed within a year if you just let it do what it wants, would you let it run free?

If you met the love of your life and decided to get married, would you forget to tell them every day that you love them? Suppose research proved that 95% of people who don't tell their spouses every day that they love them have a divorce within a year? Wouldn't you take action to protect your relationship?

When your child gets big enough to play outside, would you let it play in the street if there is a 95% probability that it would get hit by a car within a year?

These are the same odds that a baby boomer entrepreneur faces, that something will hurt or kill her business within the first year, with a 95 % certainty. This is true for all entrepreneurs, from baby boomer entrepreneurs through Gen -Y. I suspect that it even applies to kids with lemonade stands, but I haven't seen the research.

What we can see in the research is staggering. In the United States alone, a business started today has a 95% probability of not surviving for twelve months. Next month 500,000 businesses started across America will produce that same result. And next month another 500,000 businesses will have the same fate...and then the next month...until six million businesses are started in the year. And every January 1st a new year starts the cycle all over again. If you knew this, wouldn't you do something different to make sure your business is among those that survive?

When you have a child, you want them to learn to walk, go to school, graduate , and eventually become a responsible adult contributing to the world. Though you have the lofty vision of their life, you first immediate goal is to keep them alive until their first birthday. As they grow, you will protect them from the new set of age appropriate set of dangers.

If we know businesses have a 95% infant mortality rate, why do we wrap our beloved new born businesses in a baby blanket, set it in a basket in the street and ignore the traffic? Would YOU do that and expect to be a successful baby boomer entrepreneur?

Shallie

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Image: Tom Clare / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, Do You Want A Worthless Business?

If you are like most entrepreneurs, you are building your business primarily to give yourself a job. This is true not only for baby boomer entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs of all ages. If you are currently, or hope to be, one of the owners of the 23 million businesses in the U.S., and don't want to explore being able to build a business you can sell to someone else, this book is not for you.

However, if you want to maximize your options, this is the book you seek. If you want to be the 1 out of 100 business owners who have something of value that someone else would want to buy, this could be the book for you. If you are tired of the typical chaos of small business or you are tired of the business practices that make most service businesses unsellable, you may want to look over the shoulder of Alex Stapleton, the owner of the business discussed in this book. Learn why building a sell-able business might be your best option.

Following Alex through this fictional account as he learns how to build systems and a management team will expose you to new options. Even if you are already a fan of E-Myth's Michael Gerber, you will gain new insights on how to “work on your business and not just in it”. Through his story, author John Warrilow shares the benefit of much experience in actually doing what he teaches you to do in the book. You will learn what to do, how to do it, why to do it, when to do it, and how to handle situations with conflicting priorities. He even gives you an “8 Step Model For Selling Your Business” in the recap of what you should learn.

As baby boomers, a new business may be the best bet for a comfortable retirement. If you are already a baby boomer entrepreneur looking to downsize and form a different business, this book may help you. If your goal is to get freedom with your time, I recommend you take a look. You might even only want to sleep better knowing that you could sell your business if you want to do so.

READ Built To Sell if you want to know:
1. How long it will take you to prepare your business for sale.
2. How to find prospective buyers.
3. How to avoid being taken advantage of by your advisers or your prospective buyers.
4. How to reward your management team for helping you build a sell-able business and make them willing to stay with the business when you leave.

If you are a baby boomer entrepreneur, you will be delighted to learn how to turn your business into one you can sell. Of course, this is true for entrepreneurs of all ages.

For more videos and more information, see my Squidoo Lense: Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, Do You Want A Worthless Business?

Shallie Bey

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Do You Really Have To Pay To Play, Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs?

In the old era, you had to pay to play. But today's aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur has a new edge. In the old model you had to buy attention. But today, corporations are discovering that big budgets don't produce results the way they once did.

So, if big companies are spending less on social media and getting better results, doesn't it make sense that you can make it on a low or perhaps no budget too?

You can't buy attention anymore.
Having a huge budget budget doesn't mean anything in Social Media.
The old media paradigm was PAY to PLAY.
Now you get back what you authentically put in.
You've got to be willing to PLAY to PLAY.
------- Alex Bogusky, Co-Chair, CP&B

The following video shares with you a glimpse of how Social Media is completely changing the nature of the game.





You can do market research on social media. You can serve your customers through social media. Social media is the doorway to your success as a baby boomer entrepreneur.



One very exciting example of market research is the new use of Twitter to predict customer response to a product.

Two researchers at HP Labs have established that they can use Tweets to predict how well a movie will do - research that can be applied to all manner of events including how well a product or ad campaign may perform.

Although the researchers, Sitaram Asur and Bernardo Huberman, have only applied their methodologies to Hollywood movies, the accuracy rate of their tests is startling - essentially it was more accurate than the current gold standard, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which the industry uses, writes Fast Company.
You can click here to get the full story. http://www.marketingvox.com/twitter-as-a-predictive-tool-046619/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=mv&utm_medium=textlink

Fellow baby boomer, we are blessed to be living in the most exciting of times for entrepreneurs. If you know what business you want to be in and how you want to serve your customers, you can PLAY TODAY.

Shallie Bey

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs Gary Vaynerchuk Explains The New Opportunity

Gary Vaynerchuk explains what he sees as the new opportunity for entrepreneurs. It is the ability to build a business focused upon your personal happiness and your personal range of opportunities. This is wonderful news for everyone, but especially for aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs.

He explains that we are in a sea of culture shifts. These shifts create opportunities that did not exist: five years ago, a year ago, even days ago.

Gary Vee believes that the Internet is the single most under-rated aspect of society today. It is the open door to the "Thank You Economy" that places word of mouth on steroids. It is the opportunity to create real relationships in new ways.




Winning this battle requires living in a world where content is King and marketing is Queen. It opens the opportunity for "Tag Team Partners" where a content producer can partner with a marketing partner. The team can produce results that neither could produce alone.

Now, in the spirit of disclosure, Gary is about passion. In the midst of his excitement, that passion shows up in the form of a word that you might not use in polite company. But, if you can overcome that, Gary Vee has a word for you about becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur.

Shallie

Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog

Note: The video is about an hour and eighteen minutes long. The first thirty minutes are presentation with the balance being Q & A. You can find the direct link at:

Crush It.

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs Seth Godin's Linchpin Has Been Out For A Month

Well, baby boomer entrepreneurs, Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin, has been out for a month. What are we seeing about it's impact so far?

As for me, it has been a wonderful month. I've read Linchpin a couple times. I've shared it with many of my friends. I created a squidoo lens called Become A Linchpin. That is exactly what I want to do, be a linchpin. What have you decided? Why don't you tell me in the comments below?

Shallie Bey
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Baby Boomers - Especially Entrepreneurs - Seth Godin's New Book Linchpin Is For You

How can I make such a statement to you baby boomers? After all. Seth says:
- I didn't set out to get you to quit your job
- or to persuade you to become an entrepreneur
- or merely to change the world.

Yet, he also says: ...fearful employees are in pain. They're in pain because they're overlooked, underpaid, laid off, and stressed out.”

“You weren't born to be a cog in the great industrial machine. You were trained to be a cog.”
“ You were promised: Follow these instructions and you don't have to think”

Now I ask, who can he be speaking to other than baby boomers. Who has lived under this training longer than any other generations? All of our lives, we baby boomers have been “pushed to produce, to conform, and to consume”. That is why 77+ million of us are looking to end our work careers. That is why many of us are seeking an alternative to traditional retirement and searching for advice on how to start your baby boomer business. We don't want anymore “attendance based compensation”.

We want the choice to be indispensable and to make a difference. As consumers, employees, and business owners - we do not want to participate in the old model “of racing to make average stuff for average people in huge quantities”.

As baby boomer entrepreneurs, we are starting baby boomer businesses at an amazing clip. We are already half of all the self employed business owners in America. Baby boomer women are leading the way at business formation at about twice the rate of men.

Seth doesn't promise you a map. What he does provide is a compass to point you in the right direction. He does advise you to focus on the audience you choose. He advises you to listen to them to the exclusion of all others. He advises making these customers happy. “Let the other guys pound sand”.

Baby boomers, especially entrepreneurs...this one is for you!