A Note From Colleen

Hi, friend.

Whoa! I had such an A-HA moment this week. I don’t know if I should feel a bit silly that it never crossed my mind; or, if I should feel lucky for realizing it now. 

Check out the Life Reimagined section and definitely HIT REPLY to this message and let me know your thoughts.  Are you prepared? Do you have a plan?

Thanks for being here.

Cheers,

Colleen Kochannek, Publisher

*This publication may include affiliate links and links to products I sell. If you click and buy, I may earn revenue and/or commission. 

BUSINESS BASICS

[Breaking News] Starting an online business after 50 IS different

We’re digital immigrants. What does this mean for us over-50 digital entrepreneurs?

This means technology came to us during our lives. We weren’t born surrounded by it.

An easy way to think about it is that kids today are born teething on their mom’s iPads. We were born sucking on our mom’s car keys. Tech came way later.

Being a digital immigrant means we approach technology differently. We’re more cautious because ‘hitting the button’ back in our day had consequences.

We didn’t get to cut, paste, delete, duplicate in typing class. If we made a mistake we gommed up the machine because we didn’t wait long enough for the Wite-Out to dry.

It also means, however, we have some seriously awesome old-school skills that work in our favor in the digital business space.

• Critical thinking.

• The ability to talk to people (like have an actual conversation)

• Perseverance

• Ability to think thru and plan… before jumping in

• Patience

And, being a digital immigrant does NOT mean we cannot learn the tech stuff. It simply means we learn it a certain way.

Suggestions for mastering tech as a digital immigrant:

• Train your brain to think tech first. Have a question? Google it. We often don’t naturally think of using technology or asking Google to solve problems or answer questions.

• Train your brain to look at the whole screen and explore all the buttons. When you come on a new page or software, take time to poke around and get familiar with each area and button. Where does this button take me? What’s down here if I scroll down the page.?

• Give yourself more runway to learn a new technology

• Ask people to SHOW you how something works. Don’t just hand over your phone or laptop and let them ‘fix it’ for you. 

• Utilize the internet. YouTube has amazing, step-by-step videos for many things.

• Use a software’s own ‘help’ area. Many offer step-by-step tutorials on using each feature of their product.

• Look for official FB Groups sponsored by the software or application. These are often a great place to get questions answered.

• Let yourself get a little frustrated, but don’t let it stop you from learning (or from fixing your laptop with a hammer).

• Keep in mind you DON’T have to know all the tech. You can outsource the trickier stuff. Personally, I don’t want to know how to code or hook up DNS records. So, I can pay an expert to do it for me quickly and correctly without breaking the bank in most instances.

• Understand that just because society likes to make the ‘grandma can’t operate her smartphone’ jokes, doesn’t mean you have to include yourself in that stereotype.

Digital Immigrants and Digital Business

When starting a digital business, we tend to focus on the tech stuff. In fact, it can be a real roadblock. 

Let me help you reframe this and remind you that your digital business is a business that relies on your experience and expertise to add value, generate revenue and succeed.

The tech is just something to get in place so that you CAN HAVE a digital business, but it is NOT the business. (Learn the tech or hire it out)

And, start celebrating your experience and know-how as your biggest asset ever.

LIFE REIMAGINED

I had a crazy A-HA moment this week. I realized I was caught completely off-guard regarding this next phase of life. The ‘after-50’ phase. The ‘next chapter’ or ‘3rd act’ or 2nd act’ or whatever you call it.

It’s not that I didn’t know it was coming. It was that I just didn’t consider it would be something I needed to prepare for. In my mind, it was kind of just the time to wind down and wait until the end… (not to be morbid)

I fell into the societal trance where all milestones and ‘big events’ in life seemingly happen when we’re younger. 

• Learn to ride a bike or swim

• Highschool graduation.

• College

• Job

• Marriage

• First house

• First promotion

• Retirement

Retirement... This seems to be where the societal black hole begins, except that it doesn’t. Not in reality, at least.

More recently, however (uh, yesterday), I realized that we have a whole damn next phase we get to create. The societal image of us retiring to play golf everyday or drive around in golf carts or volunteer at the church just isn’t what’s what anymore.

We’re so much younger and living so much better and so much longer that the time between 50 and 80+ can be a whole new thing. A whole new phase. A whole new life.

We can start businesses. Move abroad. Become fitness influencers (I mean, others can 🙂). Go back to school. Learn new stuff. Start movements. Sell the big house and move into an apartment. Become an artist or a vet or digital busines owner.  

We know ourselves better than we ever have. We’re smarter than we’ve been. We have fewer responsibilities. What’s the plan? We need to make it a great one.

What about you? Are you prepared? Do you have a plan to ensure this next phase is your absolute best? HIT REPLY to this message and let me know.

QUICK WINS

Screen shot everything!

I screen shot so many things on my phone: from an iron I used once in a hotel room and wanted to buy (that was the best iron ever although I never bought it) to my passport and driver’s license details when I am traveling, in case I lose either.

I also screen shotted (is that the past tense?) lots of special pictures from photo albums I was purging. I didn’t want to keep or move the entire photo album, but there were a few pictures in each I wanted to preserve. It’s fun to scroll through them from time to time.

Once a month (ish) I then go through my phone’s screen shot file and delete what’s no longer needed.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referenced screen shots on my phone.

ASK-ME-ANYTHING

This is officially the 5th edition of The Gumption Gazette (that means we have one month’s worth under our belt). Woot. Woot!

Help me make The Gumption Gazette a most useful publication. One you look forward to reading!

Can you take 10 seconds to complete this BRIEF questionnaire? CLICK HERE.

COMING SOON - Pilot to Profit Startup School

What if you could learn how to make money online while making money online?

The Pilot to Profit Startup School curriculum:

1. Uncover your valuable experience and expertise you can monetize

2. Refine your expertise into a sellable model

3. Create your first downloadable digital product in Canva (yes, I’ll teach you Canva, too) 

4. Set up your first sales funnel in Stan.Store (I’ll teach you click-by-click, step-by-step)

5. Create and launch your first simple marketing plan (on Facebook - no ad spend needed)

6. Get your first sale!

Waitlisters will have a special price.

Get on the WAITLIST here.

COMING NEXT WEEK

• Is that a hobby or a business? How to choose which is best for you.