Working for yourself isn’t as footloose and fancy-free as advertised. I receive dozens of emails weekly inviting me to join this program or that course and I’ll have an internet program earning me income while I sit at the beach.
The sales letters that make no sense to me are the ones where the promoter is telling his story of being in debt and in 2 years purchasing this huge home and driving a big car. Then there are the many sales letters of a young mom, single, trying to earn an income but wants desperately to heed the need of staying home with her kids. In two years or less she’s got a business, a nanny, and is supporting her parents.
I am definitely not the target market for any of these folks.
So far I have not seen one program that targets those in retirement or about to retire, especially for starting an online business. I suspect that targeting a program to this senior market is not seen as lucrative because retirement means fixed income and no one is going to pay for such a program, or the technology learning curve is too big to provide any success.I believe those conclusions to be false. That is they are probably correct if your program is geared to help people make a 7 figure income over the internet with social networking, multi media tools such as videos, podcasts, plus entering the pay per click world of advertising and do it all in 7 months. Not everyone wants to get involved that intensely, not even those fresh out of college.
I sometimes help this gentleman who has been out of a job just over 2 years. He is 56 years old. He attended a networking meeting for women one morning in his efforts to make connections. That’s where I met him. His area of expertise is related to the auto industry and graphics. The other day after another very successful interview that went no where I told him he had to confront the interviewer with his age.
To me the lack of programs is just another example of a kind of age discrimination – not viewing this population as entrepreneurial. Or maybe it has to do more with greed?
At any rate my new friend faces the same problem as you do in writing a sales letter. Answer the concerns in the sales letter so that any doubts and problems are answered. He has to initiate the conversation by acknowledging that some companies see his age as a detriment. “However, I have worked under younger people who are my managers and I have worked with younger people as their manager.” That’s a start and you are welcome to use it if it makes sense for any job search you’re involved with.
This gentleman also started a small business. He paints water colors. He copies the water color from a photo you give him – of your home, a momentum, a headshot, anything from a frozen moment of your time. And he’s been earning a small income from that effort. He’s also employed at a very low paying job right now while continuing his search and his painting. His wife is working and carries their health insurance.
Obviously I am passionate about this topic of creating an invisible population of seniors. I am thinking of creating several programs for those in retirement looking for ways to use their skills and talents but not interested in working for someone else.
What do you think? Does it have possibilities?
Please write your response in the comment box with your email. I won’t publish any of your private information.
To your successes regardless of age,
Ruthan
Ruthan Brodsky
Information Products & Content Marketing
About Ruthan Brodsky
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