Boomer Business Launcher

Blog Basics: How to get your favorites sent to you

What the heck is a blog, anyway?

You may have found this website and seen the "blog" navigation button and landed on my blog. If so, you may still be new to the whole blogging phenomenon.

Here's a primer about what blogs are and how to get value from them.

Blog is short for "Web log." It differs from a traditional website in the following 3 ways:

1. A blog is like a diary or journal. It's updated frequently. The blog posts are listed in chronological order, usually with the most recent entry on top. If you look on the left, you'll see the posts are archived by month and by topic category.
2. A blog has a point of view, whereas many business websites are the impersonal face of a company.
3. A blog can serve as your personal information filter. I am always on the lookout for links to articles, podcasts, videos, special reports, books and other blog postings that will help you to launch and build your business. By checking here regularly, you can save time in finding helpful information, because I am filtering it for you for relevance and quality.

One of my goals is to make this blog interactive. That's another way in which blogs differ from traditional websites. Once I add some HTML source code to my blog template, a comment box will appears at the end of each of my blog posts.

Sit back and relax as your favorite blogs come to you

Here's the real beauty of how blogs can transform the way you get information. The video below explains how you can register for your favorite blogs so that the most recent blog posts will be automatically sent to you.

The Internet can be pretty overwhelming. There are over 50 million blogs.

Here's a way to create your own personal stream of meaningful information. This short video by the Common Craft Show explains how to use Google and RSS to get on board.

Subscribe to the Boomer Business Launcher Blog now:

10 Traits that Mid-Life Women Solo Entrepreneurs Have in Common

Boomer Women as Solo Entrepreneurs

If you're already working on your own or if you're considering it, there are two paths ahead. One is to create a job for yourself and the other is to build a business to grow. Either is fine. The one you choose should take into consideration your work style preferences and lifestyle goals.

Michael Gerber, author of The e-Myth Revisited , differentiates between entrepreneurs who work in their business as technicians and those who work on their businesses as the leader who makes it grow.

Here are 10 traits of solo entrepreneurs who want their business to grow:

1. Solo entrepreneurs have a strong desire for autonomy. I think this desire becomes stronger at around age 50 when women often feel they want to call their own shots.

2. Solo entrepreneurs have the ability to bounce back from setbacks. It takes resilience to get past the roadblocks that inevitably arise.

3. Solo entrepreneurs are self-starters. The most successful entrepreneurs also keep the momentum going after the initial creative burst of energy.

4. Solo entrepreneurs believe in themselves and get others to believe in them too. The have the confidence to find the resources they need and are not afraid to ask for support.

5. Solo entrepreneurs are willing to take reasonable risks. They are not reckless, but they are willing to move forward without guarantees.

6. Solo entrepreneurs are action oriented. They make decisions and take the actions required to get them to their desired results.

7. Solo entrepreneurs build relationships. They build networks and thrive on seeing opportunities for connections for mutual benefit, because they understand it's important to leverage their resources.

8. Solo entrepreneurs focus on their strengths and delegate the work that doesn't use them. They have the mindset that they can afford to invest in their business for it to grow.

9. Solo entrepreneurs are visionary and have the end in mind. They know what they are building and are clear about their target market and the problem they are solving for that market.

10. Solo entrepreneurs enjoy marketing, money and thinking about business.

Does this describe you?

Do you agree with this list of traits?

Is it time to move on from your current job?

Although many boomers will be staying at their jobs longer than they might have expected, many others are ready to leave.

In fact, the looming surge of boomers reaching retirement age is predicted to create a labor shortage. With that in mind, some of the more far-thinking companies are creating ways to hold on to their employees who are reaching their late 50s and 60s.

Imagine the brain drain when our whole generation leaves the workplace.

I'm noticing that there's something about reaching mid-life that makes us less tolerant of some work situations that we previously tolerated. Patricia, a speech therapist, loves her work, but is tired of some policies she finds demeaning.

The nursing home that employs Patricia requires that she clock in and out and wear a uniform. She finds these requirements a small daily insult that takes away from the joy she experiences working with her patients. At 60, she's considering striking out on her own as an independent speech therapist.

Paula is reviewing her options:

• continue in her job without any changes
• stay at her job, but negotiate changes, such as more flexibility
• change jobs to find a better employer
• work for herself
• retire

After careful consideration, Patricia has given notice to her employer. She's going to take a few months to strategize about her next steps. One thing she knows is that retiring completely is not an option.

Is it time to move on from your current job?

Business Week has a 10-question quiz that rates your job satisfaction. You can take the quiz now:

Is It Time to Quit Your Job?

Let me know how you score and what impact it has for you.

The Pig in the Python Turns 60

If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you belong to the Baby Boomer generation. There are a whopping 77 million of us, according to the U.S. Census.

The first boomers turned 60 on January 1, 2006.

Our generation is the largest population cohort of any before us or following us. We've been described as the pig that was swallowed by a python.

A pythons swallows its food whole and the bulge is visible as it moves through the snake's body. That's us; we're the proverbial demographic bulge in the U.S. population.

That we are such big group is what has always given our generation its power and influence in the marketplace, in politics and in society.

Now we're about to make a big impact on society again as we get closer to the retirement age of our parents' generation. Consider these AARP numbers:

• More than 10,000 Americans mark their 60th birthday every day
• By 2015, 45% of the U.S. population will be 50 or older

That's a big switch from the 1960s when half the population was under 30.

Now we are about to decide how we'll be spending the next 10, 20 or 30 years of our lives.

One choice is to start a business. Entrepreneurship, once the domain of the young, is now being embraced by many boomers. According to Paul Magelli, senior scholar-in-residence at the Kauffman Foundation, "Baby boomers are looking at starting real businesses--looking for another 10- to 12- to 15-year career, God willing."

Are you considering starting a business of your own as you move into your 50s and 60s?

Can you retire?

Whether retirement seems on the close horizon or a number of years away, if you're part of the boomer generation, you might want to consider a 2007 ground-breaking report that set out to examine this question facing boomer women in the U.S.

The answer to "Can you retire?" often is "no." According to Paul Hodge, editor of the report and director of the Harvard Generations Policy Program, "Baby boomer women are in trouble."

Some of the report findings are that,

"Many of our boomer women will not have secure retirement futures because of diverse and interrelated demographic, social, cultural, political and economic societal factors."

For leading edge boomers, those born between 1946 and 1950, "only those in the highest 20 percent by income, those who can expect most of their income to come from sources other than Social Security, will be able to retire at 65 and live comfortably." This is based on the assumption that Social Security benefits will not be cut back.

The report proposes possible solutions. One solution mentioned - and that I am devoted to championing - is for boomer women to create a new income stream for themselves by becoming entrepreneurs.

You can read online or download the free, thought-provoking report Baby Boomer Women: Secure Futures or Not? It is the result of a collaborative research projec published by the Harvard Generations Policy Program and the Global Generations Policy Institute.

Boomer Women, Take a Peek! We're Launched!

Take a peek! Here is the beginning of the Boomer Business Launcher website and blog.                      

What propelled me is my sense that we are on the leading edge of a big change in how we women will live our lives in our 50s, 60s and beyond. We'll continue to work ... but on our own terms.

This blog is dedicated to you. I want to chronicle the change and join with you in making it happen. We Baby Boomer women are pioneers charting a new course, just as we have throughout our lifetimes. It's an exciting time!

My vision for the Baby Boomer Launcher is to create a gathering place and forum for us to learn from each other, to learn from business experts featured here, and to get motivated and inspired to create new pathways to purpose and profit.

My thanks go to Shari Horne for designing the website and blog. We are using TypePad as our host .

Although there was lots of snow in Boston in December, we're now having balmy, Spring-like weather. It wouldn't surprise me to see crocuses blooming.

What I hope will bloom on this blog is your participation.

Drop by often. I'll share with you my entrepreneurial journey, but even more, I look forward to having you share yours.