Archives for August 2019

Are You Unconsciously Blocking Your Business Success?

August 31, 2019 by Jenni Proctor Leave a Comment

If I were to ask you whether you wanted your business to grow and thrive, you would say yes, right? And if I suggested you are blocking your own business success you’d probably be upset with me!

But far too often I find that though you may have the right strategies for growth, there are other factors blocking you from achieving your goals.

Invisible mental traps are blocking your business success!

The problem is, they are invisible! So how the heck do you clear them when you can’t see them? The answer lies in becoming aware of them and using proven principles to lead you to freedom.

Here are the three traps I most commonly see and how to overcome them: [Read more…] about Are You Unconsciously Blocking Your Business Success?

5 Strategies When Searching For A New Job

August 30, 2019 by Jenni Proctor Leave a Comment

Are you searching for a new job?

Looking for a new job can be a challenge. Consider how to prepare yourself for a change. We’re sharing our five strategies that can make the difference between success and disappointment with your job search.

Preparing for change

Don’t be complacent when searching for a new job

Complacency is one of the greatest enemies of mature aged workers. If you aren’t growing in your role, learning new skills, open to new and better ways of doing things, you can be sure that someone else around you will be. Often people who are caught unaware by a redundancy recognize, too late to save their job. They have not proactively adapted within their role or have not been attuned to the politics of what was happening around them.

Don’t just focus on what you don’t want

Conversely, people who want to change their career direction are often so focused on escaping from their current situation and what they DON’T want that they overlook the important point of recognizing what it is that they do want to do. [Read more…] about 5 Strategies When Searching For A New Job

Older Workers’ Challenges

August 29, 2019 by Jenni Proctor Leave a Comment

Older Workers’ Challenges

Everybody, regardless of age, faces challenges in the workplace, but there are some fairly consistent older workers’ challenges that need to be considered.

Let’s face it – your age is what it is and there is nothing you can do about it. If you need to change the colour of your hair, loose weight or obtain more qualifications there are actions you can take to make these things happen. But with your age there is not one thing you can do! So put your birth date aside and get on with facing the challenges you can conquer, fighting the battles that you can win. There is no point in dwelling on your age as an issue. [Read more…] about Older Workers’ Challenges

How To Create A Business Plan In Nine Easy Steps

August 28, 2019 by BoomersNextStep Guest Author Leave a Comment

If you are going to start a business you need to create a business plan of some sort. You need to plan your business whether it is a small home based business, online or offline, or a new business with big aspirations. But you may not need a formal written business plan. Some of the best businesses have evolved from a plan scribbled on a paper napkin or a drinks coaster.

However if you need to get finance for the business a strong business plan is a good idea. You may decide to allow close family to look at your business plan If they need reassurance that you know what you are doing.

How do you create a business plan?

Start by downloading a business plan template that is appropriate to your country. Here are links to an Australian template or a US template. Although parts of the template may not apply to your business, it can provide a good starting point. You will find many business plan templates online.

Decide on your business plan’s objective. This will help you decide what type of information needs to be included. If you are using your business plan to raise capital then you will need to include financial information about your business. [Read more…] about How To Create A Business Plan In Nine Easy Steps

Are You Considering An Online Business?

August 28, 2019 by Jenni Proctor 3 Comments

Over the last ten years the world has moved online…business, learning, shopping, marketing, even ordering a takeaway dinner. The advantages and convenience are obvious. But what does it mean to you if you are considering an online business of some sort for yourself?

Increasingly baby boomers are considering an online business as a very viable alternative to seeking employment. They want a way of creating a business that brings in an income through their own endeavors, skills and preferred style of working.

The thought of having to learn how to make a business succeed online can be daunting for those who can see its potential but haven’t been actively involved in how to make it happen.

Learning About Online Business

I have been working in this space for some years. I have been to so many seminars, attended so many workshops, participated in so many webinars, that if I had put that effort into a PhD I’d have completed it by now. I’d probably have also written a followup book! It’s become a bit of an obsession for me I think.

By nature I’m a lifelong learner. I love learning about new things or hearing similar ideas expressed from a different perspective. I have been fascinated by the possibilities of the internet. I’ve watched the “normalization” of working in this space over the last few years. For a lot of that time I was dabbling in online business but did not feel comfortable telling people of my interest. It seemed such a departure from my previous career choices.

I was embarrassed to say I was starting an online business

Ten years ago if I was attending an internet marketing workshop I would tell people I was going to a “business” workshop. This was true but was definitely putting up a smoke screen. Why? Because I found then that people treated internet businesses with mistrust. I would have to explain to them it was the way business was going. I got the impression in conversations sometimes that people thought I was being “sucked in”. Now I happily proclaim my interest in blogging, social media and internet marketing to anyone who will listen. 🙂

I now blog about working online, particularly from the perspective of baby boomers considering an online business that uses their skills, experience and expertise while giving them new challenges and their choice of working environment. I love working in this way and having the freedom it gives me.

Do you want to start an online business?

Are you thinking about starting an online business but do not know how to start? Would you like to utilize the power of the internet to grow the profit of your offline business?

What model of online business suits you?

The first thing you need to consider is the model of online business that would suit you best. This decision is crucial as there are so many different models and, whilst they all have online marketing in common, there are major differences. Your own skill set, the time you want to spend on the business, the level you want to have with clients, your finances, all are critical issues. There are so many decisions that can only be made when you have some knowledge of what is available. Believe me, it is a lot easier on you if you start with a clear direction and keep going along that path. (I’ve been down many different paths – Not a good idea!)

Be clear about your niche

Once you know what model of business you are starting you need to consider your niche. Who can you best help online? Do you have special skills or knowledge you can share? What will you sell to potential clients?

Create a good business plan

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a well-organized business plan before starting any business. Your business plan will serve as your reference in all the actions that you are going to implement in your business. To some, creating a good business plan seems overwhelming, but let’s be realistic and recognize this is just a preliminary task.

There are many more steps that you need to take if you want your business to succeed and the next steps can be more challenging, but don’t be disheartened. When done correctly a good business plan is the key to your online business growth. A business plan helps keeping you organized and focused on the actions that you will take in running your online business.

A good business plan should have realistic financial projections or forecasts. Do not set figures which are unrealistic and impossible to achieve. Your business plan must be clear and straight to the point and should be action-oriented. It must present a clear understanding of the business processes of your company.

Research your Market and Monitor your Competition

An important step is to do solid market research before you make any commitment to any other aspect of the business. Gather as much information as possible about your target customers, your type of product or service and your industry trends. All of this information will help you recognize if it is a viable business idea and, if it is, this will help you implement the perfect marketing strategy for your online business. You can get information from the internet, business journals and government publications.

It is also helpful to look at the websites of businesses similar to what you hope to create. Studying and monitoring competition is one of the most important steps in creating a successful online business. Monitoring your competition will help you identify your competitor’s weak points and create a good business campaign. With this you can emphasize strengths of your business where you have identified their weaknesses. This will also help you get a glimpse of your competitor’s operating systems and so you can endeavor to make your service or product a better one than your competition.

The process of creating a business plan that will work, doing market research and using strategies to monitor your competition can be confusing and complex. Make sure that you’re maximizing your opportunities by seeking the right advice and getting genuine help.

Before you start an online business read our tips:

Educate Yourself When Choosing an Online Business
Five Tips To Create Your Own Retirement Lifestyle Business
5 things to know before starting your own business
Financing options for boomers who want to start a business after 40

So my big question is:

What would you like to know if you are considering an online business?

Let us know through our Contact page and let’s have a chat. If you’d like to suggest a topic for a blog post I’d love to hear from you and will respond with an informative blog post as quickly as I can.

Jenni

Request a copy of our free Retirement Lifestyle Guide “Create A Future You’ll Love” today!

Get a Job Using LinkedIn: 10 Top Tips

August 27, 2019 by BoomersNextStep Guest Author Leave a Comment

If you want to get a job using Linkedin, or at least get noticed by companies that may be hiring, you need to take LinkedIn seriously. There are other business networks but none of them is as big and as well-known as LinkedIn. Although there is a paid version of LinkedIn, most people use the free one and find that is enough for what they want.

Many people register and create some sort of profile and then think that’s all they have to do but there is more!!

10 ways to get a job using LinkedIn

1. Explore LinkedIn thoroughly

Hang around the site a bit to get a feel for the features before you use LI for job seeking. Look up someone you know or a company you have worked for in the Search bar at the top right hand corner of the page to see how it all works.

2. Search the Jobs section

Go to the Jobs section which you can use to find jobs you are looking for in your area of work (and your geographical area too). There is a search facility so you can put in everything you’re looking for.

3. Read the instructions

Follow LinkedIn’s advice for completing applications online. They have so much information available to help you create a great profile and to use the site effectively. But it takes time to read it and therefore most people don’t! You can be ahead of the crowd fairly easily but following the instructions.

4. Create a powerful profile

Develop your Profile so people can find YOU. This is hugely important and you need to spend several hours getting it right. Many head hunters and recruitment agencies use LinkedIn. Talk about yourself in your profile as this is a personal statement where you sell you, your skills or your services. Make sure your profile is up to date and in line with what you say on your CV/resume because many prospective employers check LinkedIn profiles of candidates

5. Your profile photo needs to be professional

Add a business-like photo and link in your website, blog, Twitter account etc if you have them. Be careful and only put professional things on LinkedIn. Some people advise you to upload a current resume, but I don’t agree with that. It’s better to make the profile so good that they ASK to see your resume. That way you can quickly tailor the resume to suit the company and the possible job before submitting it.

Bonus tip to help you get a job using LinkedIn

If you are serious about getting a job using LinkedIn, put your LinkedIn address on your CV/resume, business card, email signature and any other tool you use to market yourself!

6. Consider your Settings

Check out the Settings and make sure you are happy about the people who will have ‘access’ to you but remember, if you want to be found, you need to leave your settings reasonably open!

7. Start building connections

Invite people you know to connect with you. Also invite those people you would like to work for to connect but not everyone will accept direct contact so you have to go through a connection who is connected to them. When you ask to connect to someone, don’t just use the message provided by LinkedIn but write something more personal. Also when you accept an invitation to connect, send a personal note; don’t forget you are building relationships

8. Update your profile regularly

At the top of the page just under where you put your name and job title, you will see an update white bar. Update this regularly as any changes you make to it will be emailed by LI by email once a week to all your connections. This shows you are active and you can say “researching job opportunities in accountancy” or whatever.

9. Join a group

This is useful if you don’t have many direct connections but you want to add some. There are hundreds of groups on all sorts of topics. For example, if you are looking for a job in film, you might choose to join the Film TV Professionals or if you’re interested in selling hats, the Milliners Forum (yes, it does exist!) could be useful. Once you join a group you can reply to posts in discussions and post your own topics to get yourself noticed and have access to other members of that group

10. Build relationships

Remember that LinkedIn is for networking – that is, for building relationships. Don’t expect your first connection to offer you a job straight away!

Bonus tip to help you get a job using LinkedIn

If you are serious about getting a job using LinkedIn, put your LinkedIn address on your CV/resume, business card, email signature and any other tool you use to market yourself!

Our guest author: Kate Cobb has over 25 years experience as a management training consultant providing F2F training, executive coaching and instructional design services for a wide variety of clients in UK, Europe and the Middle East in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

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