Starting Your Own Internet Business: Advice for Third Agers

Have you ever heard of the term "encore career"? It is an expression that Marc Freedman uses to describe ways baby boomers are reinventing themselves in "retirement." Here are some suggestions, based on the experience of my partner, Dr. Fred, and myself, for coming up with your own online business idea.

Come up with an idea
Two years ago I was a participant in a group coaching session given by Dr. Fred. It brought together business owners, both men and women, and freelance consultants like myself looking for new perspectives and directions on their business and life challenges. Dr. Fred talked about the prospects facing people in the "Third Age" (their 50s, 60s and 70s), just like ourselves. We had the chance of living another 30 years - a period providing unexpected opportunities and exciting challenges. Dr. Fred referred to experts like Dr. William Sadler of the Third Age Centre, who wrote extensively about Third Agers creatively redesigning their lives and making it a time of fulfillment.

Wow! That made us feel good. Dr. Fred threw out the challenge of starting an Internet business focusing on the interests and needs of men and women in "the Third Age." Mark Yerbury, at the time owner of a small publishing company and now director at Dale Carnegie in Montreal, and I took up the challenge. Yes! So with all the energy and enthusiasm the three of us could muster, we decided to start an Internet business.

Research Your Options
Dr. Fred, Mark and I began by looking at various ways of producing information products and services directed at Third-Agers. We wanted, of course, to capitalize on our knowledge, expertise and communication abilities. We thought of writing an e-book; so we listened to tele-seminars given by such experts as John Eggen. We also read his "55 Time-Tested Information Products and Programs" which opened up a whole world of possibility for us. We also thought of creating a membership site for people in the Third Age. Reading the very informative blog, Copyblogger, put together by Brian Clark we were led to Clark's outstanding "Teaching Sells" program (unfortunately it's closed to new members).

Ask Yourself the Right Questions
Then we put on our thinking caps and consulted different business planning books. We realized that we needed to have a clear business plan. focusing on vision, mission, objectives, strategies and plans. We also asked ourselves key questions from a long list provided by Small Biz University. Here are some that they recommended answering before embarking on your business:

What business are you in?

Why are you in this business?

What will it give you personally?

Do you intend to make this business your life's work?

What is the company mission?

What pain does your product or service eliminate or reduce?

How will you get a 1000 perspective visitors in what you offer?

What can you do to make your success an absolute certainly?

Take Small Steps
You need to come up with an action plan and speak to self-employed business people. One of the first action steps that Dr. Fred, Mark and I took was to produce a 20 minute webinar, "The Third Age and Reinventing Aging," in which I interviewed Dr. Fred about the "Rising Energy Model of those in the Third Age." This webinar whet our collective appetite to share more of our expertise and experience in dealing with Third-Age issues. We also consulted savvy Internet-minded business people for advice on marketing and technical issues, people we trusted in "Business Network International" and other networking groups who believed in "giver's gain": the philosophy of caring and sharing generously to help others in their path to success.

Use the Right Business-Building Tools
Here are some important criteria for choosing the best tools for building your online business. You want to find and use a tool that:nn * will allow you to build your own unique content on your own website by espousing the highest quality standards;
* makes available useful information, tips and strategies for developing content and building traffic;
* lays out a clear path for attaining the results that you are aiming for;
* provides the programming and design knowledge that you need to get your website up and running;
* automates the house-keeping tasks of site promotion and management;
* helps you turn your knowledge and expertise into an income-generating, theme-based affiliate site;
* provides support through forums and discussions;
* illustrates clearly how to do things, preferably through case studies.

So go ahead. Create your own business. Write about what you know and love. Work from home or wherever your heart desires (may I suggest Mexico?). Be your own boss. Do the work you have always wanted to do. And earn passive income to boot.