The Boomer Creativity Contest has generated many great ideas - I’m motivated just reading them and I wish all of you could win!

There is still time to enter - the contest runs through Tuesday (October 7th).  Just go to my Contest Post and tell me what you would like to create.

Some more inspiration from Brenda Ueland:

“…that creative power is in all of you if you give it just a tiny time; if you believe in it a little bit and watch it come quietly into you; if you do not keep it out by always hurrying and feeling qilty in those times when you should be lazy and happy.  Or if you don’t keep the creative power away by telling yourself that worst of lies–that you haven’t any.”

Tags: baby boomers, Brenda Ueland, contest, creativity

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Mary Emma Allen, over at Home Biz Notes, asks the question:  Does “Going Gray” affect your home business? 

A week or so I wrote about Boomers who color their hair. Mary Emma is taking it a step further.  Does hair color affect how people look at you?  Do customers, employees look at you differently if your hair is dyed? Or not dyed?  For a business owner, it’s important to be taken seriously. If you went to a bank for a loan and you had gray hair, would the lending officer think, “Too old.  No loan.”  ??   Would Generation X employees not listen to you if you looked older?

On the other hand, customers might take you more seriously if you have gray hair.  People in your community might think about you more of an “expert” if your hair is gray.

What do you think?

Tags: , baby boomers, going gray, home business notes

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Ziggs.com is a new social networking site that sends you an email when someone Googles you.  So, why should you care?  Well, I might want to know who is checking up on my, I guess.  Susan Gunelius comments on this new tool on her b5media site, BrandCurve.

I get 6 or so invitations to LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, every day, and I am too busy writing to check up on them.  I tried Twitter for a while but people either talked about stuff like the cat that caught a mouse or they were doing blatant advertising.

Have you tried any of these sites?  Have you found value in them?

Tags: facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, ziggs

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As Warren Buffett does his second bailout in as many weeks (this time of General Electric), I’m reminded of a Buffett quote I brought you last year.

How about this for eerily predictive?

I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.

If we are heading toward a second depression, maybe being greedy isn’t such a bad thing.  What do you think?

Photo: Newscom.com

Tags: General Electric, Second Depression?, Warren Buffett

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I know it’s scary.  I looked at my 401(k) over the weekend.  But the loss is only on paper unless you fix that loss by selling.  I don’t need the money.

If you feel you MUST take out money, call a financial advisor.  If you don’t have a financial advisor, this might be the time to get one.  Look for someone who will really listen to what you want and who will give you options.  If someone says, “I have the answers; listen to me,” Don’t.

If your finger is waivering over the “sell” button, you can call AARP’s financial “hot line” at 1-888-778-6187.  They might be able to speak you down off that ledge.

Ok, enough metaphors.  You get the idea:  Unless you absolutely need the money for an emergency (and a cruise doesn’t count as an emergency), stay put.  Watch and wait.  Sometimes doing nothing is the hardest thing to do.

Any thoughts?

Tags: 401(k), AARP, ionvestments, stock market

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In one of my journeys around the Internet I found a writer named Brenda Ueland.  She was born in 1891, died in 1985, lived in Minnesota, was married 4 times, and wrote a wonderful book titled:

If you want to write: A book about art, independence, and spirit

Ueland talks about writing, but she is really talking about any creative process - painting, sewing, quilting, sculpting, designing, you name it.  I found her book extremely inspirational.  For example, here’s an excerpt:

“I have established that you should work from now on until you die, with real love and imagination and intelligence, at your writing or whatever work it is that you care about….I’m so afraid that… you’ll put off working as so many wonderfully gifted people do, until that time when your husband can retire on full pay and all your children are out of college.”

My favorite quote:

So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering….
Moodling - what a great word! Brenda Ueland’s advice is simple: “Tell the truth” and “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.” There is lots to think about in this little book, and you can find much to inspire you to create whatever it is you want.
The contest: I’ve a copy of the book that I’m willing to give up (I have another that’s all marked up that’s mine… all mine!). To be the winner of the book, leave a comment on this post no later than midnight, October 7 (that’s next Tuesday). In your comment, tell me what you would like to create - a book, a poem, a wall hanging, a garden, a scupture, a painting, whatever you want. I’ll use the random number generator to find the winner. Read more about my contest rules at: Thoughts and other Stuff.

I can’t wait to read what you want to create. And I am sure you’ll love the book.

Tags: baby boomer contest, Brenda Ueland, creativity

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Many business owners have said they are being affected by the credit crunch in two ways:

1.  They’re unable to borrow money to pay their bills.

2.  Their customers are taking longer to pay.

The availability of credit is a serious problem for any small business.  It’s about survival.  Believe me, I’ve been there.  The problem might begin out as a small amount that you need, “just to make payroll,” and it grows.  Pretty soon, you’re using your credit cards to put money into your company to pay your business bills and pay employees.  And it gets worse. If your business has no assets to borrow against, and sales are stagnant or declining, you face the prospect of having to lay off people, cut back inventory, and delay payments to vendors.

2.  Which brings us to the second issue - delayed income.  One recent report in USAToday said that trade credit (extended from one business to a business customer) is being strung out longer, and customers are taking longer to pay. 

How is your business doing?  Are you hanging on?  Are you getting paid by customers?  Any recommendations for other boomer business owners?  Comments appreciated.

Tags: baby boomer business owners, collections, credit crunch, small businesses, trade credit

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Despite the threats of tight credit, and concerns about the effect of the failure of the ‘bailout’ on “Main Street,” not everyone is worried.  I spoke with two people this day who received startup loans.  One got a loan for a professional practice with 10 percent down and no co-signer.  The second got an SBA loan (I thought the SBA money wasn’t available); the second person is a woman, if that makes any difference.

On the other hand, a friend who works for a massive national bank stated they’re pulling in lines of credit (cutting them off, in other words) for two types of borrowers (1) those who haven’t used their credit lines in a while, and (2) those whose credit ratings are below par (I don’t know what that means, but it doesn’t sound good).

For everyone who has bad news, someone else has good news.  I have a friend who is out right now buying up income property.  Donald Trump, look out!

Tags: baby boomers, bailout, credit crunch, investors, real estate investing

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Back in 1984, Alvin Toffler wrote The Third Wave, in which he stated we were in the midst of a change from the Industrial Society to the Information Society. The world of business has been heading in this new direction for over a quarter century. Are you?

In the October 2008 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Father and other books) says that older business owners need to “get with it” (my phrase, not his). Are you?

Do you live in the past? Or are you thinking about change in the future? How will you manage those Gen Y and Gen X employees? Will you think of new ways to do things, taking advantage of new technology? Or will you keep on with the same old ways?

There is a lot to be stated (and my husband states it often) for the good old tried-and-true ways of managing people and running a business.  But in the 21st century,  are those ways still valid?

What do you think?

Photo: Amazon

Tags: Alvin Toffler, entrepreneur, Robert Kiyosaki, The Third Wave

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Well, I spoke too soon on Sunday. Looks like the off/on/off bailout is off at the moment. The House of Representatives said “no” to the bailout, and already stock markets around the world are reacting.

I would say that “irrational exuberance” is rapidly turning to “irrational discouragement.” Hang on and don’t do anything irrational, folks.

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