The generation known as the Baby Boomers, especially in the United States, was born and grew up during the late 40's, 50's and early 60's. They are called boomers because they know a time of plenty, both financially and materially. It was also a time of protest and desire for change from tradition. They tend to think of themselves as a special generation in which things were going well, even during the Vietnam War. After all, the war was not at home.

Back to the present day, Baby Boomers are now retiring or about to retire. This means they will have less income and must live on savings, investments or pension plans. This huge segment of the population in every country will be depending on the younger people still working if they haven't saved enough. Are they ready for retirement?

The authors in Wikipedia point out some characteristics of the Baby Boomers.

As a group, they were the wealthiest, most active, and most physically fit generation up to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. They were also the generation that received peak levels of income; therefore they could reap the benefits of abundant levels of food, apparel, retirement programs, and sometimes even "midlife crisis" products. The increased consumerism for this generation has been regularly criticized as excessive.

This seems to suggest that this generation will not be as prepared as even their parents were. They have not saved much and they assume that things will get better so that the pensions and automatic benefits will always be there. With the US piling up huge debts and the strength of the dollar in doubt, it seems that the future might  not be as rosy as the aging population seems to assume.

What can people in this state of affairs do about it? One alternative is to start a business online. There is a great program that teaches how to do that called My Online Business Education. It was written by people who have found wealth online by using the methods they describe. These are tried and true methods, easy to duplicate and at a very reasonable price. Why not watch this 15 minute video that explains it?

Just click here to start it.

Recognizing and Recovering from Depression

While depression is a disease that effects all ages, a higher percentage of depressed people are in the elderly age range of 65+ years. The possible social and environmental causes are there: losing a long-term partner, recent physical disabilities, moving out of a family home, etc. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), depression in elderly people often is mistaken for other physical ailments and thus is not diagnosed. In addition, the people themselves won't admit they are depressed or perhaps don't realize it.

Recognizing Depression

The first step then is to recognize when you or one of your friends or family members is suffering from depression. Here are some of the possible symptoms in older persons: memory loss, confusion, delusions (fixed false beliefs), irritability, vague complaints of pain, lack of sleep, social withdrawl and demanding behavior. While everyone experiences some of these problems from time to time, the depressed person will have a number of them and for long periods of time. It is one thing to grieve the loss of a partner or friend but most people recover eventually and go on with their lives. Not so the depressed person.

The difficult issue is that the depressed person often will not admit it or even recognize it.

Also, many older persons think that depression is a character flaw and are worried about being made fun of or of being humiliated. They may blame themselves for their illness and are too ashamed to get help. Others worry that treatment would be too costly. Yet research has also shown that treatment is effective and in fact  changes the brain when it works.
To read the original click here.

Recovering from Depression

What then can be done to alleviate this often debilitating problem? There is medication that can help, especially if the person is otherwise in good health, such as anti-depressants prescribed by a physician. However, taking pills requires regular doses, difficult for forgetful people. The old treatment was electroshock (ECT), a rather extreme solution. Something new that seems to work is called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)  which has been cleared by the FDA for the treatment of mild depression.

I would like to suggest alternative remedies such as dietary change and social support from church or other social groups would also be beneficial. Just as with treating alcoholism or drug addiction, the outcome is going to be stronger with a combination of methods. The difficulty here is that the person with depression must participate in treatment. The very nature of depression creates barriers to recovery. I suspect we have not gotten to the physiological basis of depression yet - a hormonal change? a chemical imbalance? a deficiency of some vitamin or mineral? More research needs to be done here. Perhaps it is sufficient to say that people can and do recover. The main thing is to recognize it and then to get help.

Single Seniors Who Love to Travel

People over 50 who are now considered seniors by travel and tour agencies are often looking for good trips to take. They are often retired and have both the time and money to finally take off on excursions they have dreamed about for years. In addition, many women in particular have lost their husbands or partners due to illness or death. Therefore, this article is dedicated to those single seniors who want adventure to keep them physically active and mentally still alert. Due to the large number of baby boomers now at retirement age, there is a lot of choices for people in this category. While single seniors might be afraid to travel solo there are some great small group tours available.

Here are just a few of the companies that are catering to seniors to give you some general ideas. Road Scholar (roadscholar.org), now celebrating 40 years of operation, offers educational trips to various places and has some trips under the heading "Adventures Afloat". It is advertised as "the not-for-profit leader in educational travel since 1975, offering 5,500 educational tours in all 50 states and 150 countries. Alongside local and renowned experts, experience in-depth and behind-the-scenes learning opportunities, from cultural tours and study cruises to walking, biking and more."

Perhaps education is not your thing. How about a very active trip with Eldertreks (eldertreks.com)? Again you can travel to almost every continent with a small group with headquarter in United Kingdom and North America. The website advertises "small group exotic adventures for travelers 50+". The pictures on this site are truely amazing and certainly would peak the interest of adventurous travelers and hikers. However, there are also small group trips on yachts carrying perhaps 30 people with trips to Alaska, Arctic regions, circumnavigating Newfoundland and around the Sea of Cortes in Baja California.

This one got my attention: Over The Hill Gang International (othgi.com), a company catering to very active seniors who want company of ski trips or hiking such as "Hike the Wonders of the Southwest" (now sold out for this year). Again the trips are local or international as you prefer.

Here are a few questions to ask when choosing a senior vacation:

1. Do you want to travel with only singles or senior couples and singles? I notice that couples tend to socialize with other couples and exclude the singles. However, some singles only trips might end up being a dating situation. It depends upon what you are seeking. I'm sure there must be trips for women only or gay couples only.
2. What is your budget and what other expenses will you have not included in the tour price listed?
3. Do you want to travel with a sister, friend, brother or other relative over 50 instead of a spouse?
4. What is going to be a stimulating but relaxing trip for you?
5. What is your goal for going - meeting new people? getting out of the same routine for a while? getting some exercise? It makes a difference with which excursion you pick.
6. Do you have any health problems that may need attention? It's tempting but you better not go to some remote corner as your issues may influence others' experience.

Lastly, I'd like to introduce a tour company that does not cater just to seniors. However the trips are designed to appreciate nature and especially wilderness in various parts of our world - Sierra Club (http://content.sierraclub.org/outings/). The group started by John Muir over 100 years ago has a catalogue of excursions from local neighborhood jaunts to cleanup camapaigns and trail building. They also have a fund to allow inner city children to go on trips to the forest and woods, places they have never been before. These come under the category of "Adventures with a Cause". Now there are some for returning military personnel too. I especailly like the Local Outdoors and Inspiring Connections trips. Here are trips that can benefit you in natural settings. Many of the tour guides are dedicated volunteers and well trained for any emergencies as well as ways of getting people together. Singles are certainly welcome. The Sierra Club trips are know to be very bonding so that the members become like your family no matter what backgrounds they (or you) come from.

Please leave comments about these excursions or trips that you have found worthwhile.

Restaurant Discounts for Seniors

Did you realize how many restaurants offer discounts for seniors? Probably not many of you did because the discounted prices are rarely announced. You have to ask. In some cases the price is significantly different, so by all means from now on if you are eligible be sure to ask.

Some of the discounts might be like a free morning cup of coffee but others might be as much as 20% off on certain menu items. Note also that discounts may apply only to certain locations of a chain restaurant. Are these discounts listed online? Never seen them, but now I will be looking.

It goes without saying that you will need to show proof that you are over 65, usually the cut-off age for the senior category.However, certain chain restaurants offer discounts to people over 50.

Lastly, some restaurants have a senior menu, the equivalent to the kiddie menu with smaller portions and thus a reduced price. Frankly I would find it a relief to have smaller portions as I can never eat the amount I’m given. It’s enough for two people, and I have gone to a restaurant where we ordered only one dinner for the two of us.

Here is a list of restaurants offering discounts. This list is now a few years old from an article by Donna Montaldo for About Money. However, it will give you an idea of how many American restaurants at least have discounts of some type.

Restaurants Offering Senior Discounts Include:

• Arby's

• Bakers Square

• Bennigan's Bob's Big Boy

• Boston Market

• Burger King

• Carl's Jr.

• Carrows

• Chick-fil-A

• Chili's Grill & Bar

• Church's Chicken

• Coco's Bakery Restaurants

• Country Kitchen

• Dairy Queen

• Denny's

• Dunkin Donuts

• El Pollo Loco

• Elephant Bar Restaurant

• Fosters Freeze

• Fresh Choice

• Friendly's Restaurant and Ice Cream

• Fuddruckers

• Golden Corral

• Gondola Pizza & Steak House

• Grandy's

• Hardees

• HomeTown Buffet

• IHOP

• Jack in the Box

• Kentucky Fried Chicken

• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

• Krystals

• Le Peep

• Long John Silver's

• McDonald's

• Mrs. Fields Cookies

• Ponderosa Steakhouse

• Popeye's Fried Chicken

• Shoney's

• Sizzler

• Sonic Drive In

• Souper Salad

• T.J. Cinnamons

• Taco Bell

• TCBY

• Todai

• Village Inn

• Wendy's

• Whataburger

Amazing how many there are. I’d be interested to get feedback for other people about the number of discounting restaurants in other countries. Let me know if anyone finds out. I have to say by looking at this list that these are not my favorite places to go, but some of them might be healthy enough to be interesting.

The other way to dine out on a limited budget is to find discount coupons. Here are a few good sites to check out: local newspapers, hotel travel magazines, city information centers (sometimes called welcome centers), phone books and of course the websites online including opentable.com, rewardsnetwork.com and restaurant.com. Happy eating!

Ideas for Online Business Startups

Want to start your own business but you don't know what to do? Here's an article that will help you find your niche, hopefully a profitable one. These ideas could be used both as retail and  online businesses. While this article was written in 2012 by Chad Brooks, Senior Writer for the BusinessNewsDaily.com, it is still very useful and current for today's markets. He explains 10 business ideas such as e-recycling, socially responsible public relations, or disaster consultant. These jobs are easy to understand, but a few others need more explanation. Here are Chad's words.

Local marketing services

Creating a business that serves local markets is another smart way for aspiring business owners to jump on a growing market. Hulafrog, a service that provides information about local events to parents, is one business taking advantage of the concept. "It's a very good time if you are serving a niche that has a unique need for local content," Hulafrog co-founder Sherry Lombardi said. "Hulafrog connects parents to all of the daily events and business for kids in their local community."

Multicultural marketing expert

All businesses are looking for new ways to connect with customers, but many are missing the mark when it comes to connecting with minorities. To reach those targeted shoppers, businesses must recognize the places where the consumer resides and design a specific message not just for a single ethnicity, but also for cultures among those segments.

That has created an opening for marketers looking to specialize their services, like Lisa Skriloff, founder of Multicultural Marketing Resources Inc.

With minority populations growing at a faster rate than the Caucasian population, Skriloff notes that businesses that want to succeed must effectively tap into the minority markets.

"It is very important that (businesses) don't ignore this, and start paying attention to these communities," she said.

To read more, click here.

There are an increasing number of new possibilities, and certainly those folks who are in danger of being "downsized" out of their jobs should look into these new online business startups that could go from part time to full time endeavors. Being flexible in this fast-changing world is what is needed. Have any other good ideas for businesses to meet social or community needs? Leave a comment below and share your ideas with the other readers.

How to Create a Media Marketing Video

Hundreds of videos being created here

Media production is changing daily and mostly towards making it easier for the average person to produce entertaining videos and pictures. Now you can get your iPhone or another cell phone to produce quite good videos. However, with a few more pieces of equipment you can produce what looks like a professional production. Want to edit your video? There's a number of good programs and software that are free such as Mashable, Animoto and Jing.

If you are an Apple user and happen to have an iPad, here's a good tutorial about shooting videos: http://youtu.be/m8_i6KY4ZdI

Here's a few tips to get you started on that important video that can make the difference between making lots of sales for media marketing and making very few.

1. Get a plug-in microphone for your cell phone. You can find them at most shops selling mobile devices. It will make your sound clearer, not hollow or distant. You might be able to find a quiet place outside for the better light, but inside it's best to rent, borrow or buy a studio light.  You need to speak loudly and look at the camera of course.

2. Write a script. If you try to just ad-lib you might be able to do it, but most probably there will be too many "ums" or pauses, not to mention mistakes. It's a clear sign of success when you can "say your lines" but not sound canned - like you are just reading them. I few more times practicing will get you there.

3. Just mention 2 or 3 rewards or bonuses. Let the viewers know there will be more later but no need to drag it out too much. People can only take in so much at once. Which bring us to the next tip.

4. According to Kendall Almerico, your video should be short (no more than 3 minutes) and end with a bang. No one wants to listen to someone drone on and on. Make something surprising or exciting at the end if possible.

The video should be short, exciting and get the viewer fired up and wanting to read more about what you are offering. Ideally, the video should be three minutes long or less (although really great videos will hold the audience’s attention even if longer).  For those who have a tendency to ramble on, keep in mind, with a crowdfunding campaign, you have an entire page online to write out more details and to show photos to supplement the video. People have busy lives and short attention spans. Don't lose your viewers before getting to the most important part -- asking for donations and help spreading the word about your campaign.
To read more of this click here.

5. Lastly, don't forget to ask people to opt in to your list or join your organization usually with some "bribe" or free offer as a benefit to them. You need to tell people what you want them to do so that more of them will figure it out.

Need more ideas of what to say? Look at other videos to get some ideas. The internet is full of them today and of course YouTube is a collection of them. Once you have finished, post it everywhere - your blog, social media and of course on YouTube.  It's easy if you have the embed code, given to you by YouTube but other media channels as well. Have any more ideas for media marketing? Leave them below for other viewers. or send them to us in an e-mail.

Next post: Making Your Videos Go Viral

The Power of Visual Marketing

Visual marketing is powerful because vivid images carry the potential to impart emotional impact. Marketing that connects on an emotional level is exceptionally effective. In fact, these days, if you aren’t telling the story of your business in images on Pinterest and Instagram, you’re doing something wrong. These sites allow you the rare opportunity to take your customers behind the scenes. They give your brand an identity and make your company appear trustworthy.

Many brands have seen remarkable returns from simply asking their customers to take pictures of themselves engaging in their product or service. These images provide social proof that your service is valuable, and most customers are happy to engage in these contests just for the chance to win an inexpensive prize. Visual marketing is so powerful that companies and universities are pouring large sums of money into programs that assess how people respond after viewing promotional material. In fact, corporations have created systems that track eye movements in retail environments in an effort to assess how effectively these images spur customers to take action.

Visual Marketing Tips It’s a good idea to place your logo on most of the images you create and share on social networks. You can do this quickly with commercial software like Photoshop, or free alternatives like GIMP. Branding your images builds trust with viewers—provided that you’re consistently offering them high-quality content—and it increases brand awareness at the same time. These days, every image on your site should contain a call to action.

Pinterest allows you to add a button to your images. With this button, your visitors can share the image directly to the network, thus increasing your exposure. If one person finds your content share-worthy, there is a good chance that someone else will as well. One practice that you should adopt if you haven’t yet is to embed social media content within your posts. Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ all allow you to do this.

These additions can turn your posts into social hubs, and if you already have decent traffic, you’ll find your content shared more often than ever before. You can also use SlideShare or a similar service to create slideshows. Well-designed slideshows can keep your visitors on your domain longer, and you can also use them to direct visitors to other articles on your site. Slideshows are also extremely sharable. Infographics and videos serve the same function. Additionally, it pays to customize your Pinterest layouts. Pinterest traffic is often well targeted, so you want to give your prospect every reason to click. A good-looking template will get you more clicks, save you time and give your profile a more uniform appearance.

More Tips Here's some more tips from Milly at Ronin Marketing in Kent, UK. She suggests to be consistent so your readers can come to expect what they will read, put some emotion into your posts and have a call to action (what you want people to do) at the end.

#4 strike an emotional cord

Images create a more emotional response in the viewer, which makes them more engaging. Play on this. Ask yourself how you can spark an emotional reaction, be it intrigue, humour, anger, affection, through visuals.

This doesn’t mean posting silly photos of animals in miniature clothes, (although I’m not necessarily saying this doesn’t work!), but being creative with the visual posts whilst in keeping them with your brand and personality. For example, sharing a recipe if you’re a kitchen retailer, including a photo of employee of the month if you’re an IT specialist, using an image of a new office or fit out if you’re an interior designer, or creating a trend focus graphic if you’re a retailer – all gives your business a bit more personality and makes for engaging content.

To read more of this post click here.

With those ideas in mind, here is my call to action: keeping up to date with visual marketing tactics can be time-consuming. If you’d like to receive qualified leads automatically every month, click here to learn more about my done-for-you system.