Love the side project here, Brian. :) Sure will be interesting to see how things shift as we all start living a lot longer than humans used to. First fleeting thought as I turned on the idea radar and pointed it towards the Boomer generation of my mom is some kind of training and/or app that would help Boomers like her (she's 73) keep from getting scammed by any number of smart and morally reprehensible scammers that target non-tech savvy people like my mom.
She and her friends so easily fall into their traps because they don't know what to look for. After many phone calls with me trying to help her learn the scammers tactics, however, she's getting more savvy.
Looking forward to seeing what you create here, and I hope all is well with you and the family. :)
Hey Forest, as Brian just mentioned - think “opportunities.” I’m about to turn 64 next month and am in the process of learning how to wield and apply AI with some ideas and a focus on one element of the problem you’ve just depicted.
The onslaught witnessed by nefarious bot applications has given rise to application of AI to combat the trend.
One area that can assist everyone including elders has to be apps that run with and hopefully can get ahead of these predatory trends.
Like your friend, I have a friend who got scammed out of $250k in a PayPal phishing email scam… he never got it back. Unfortunately. I didn’t know him then, or I would have guided him away from that as you are doing now.
My point: not everyone has someone to have their back - and I believe that we can begin turning the tide with better tech in the longer run. This is only one idea and example.
The other point Brian makes suggests longevity=needing long range income. That’s a very significant opportunity that shouldn’t be ignored.
I am certain that the save til retirement then spend hopefully the generated income from that will end up a failure longer term or at least as Brian has suggested, fall short.
When people are healthier for longer, activity=living=spending. Living is celebrating life itself.
That means we have to learn to earn in new and different ways that will support our longevity lifestyles active elements. I’m thinking about opportunities that elevate others in some form of need or another.
I completely agree with your idea - an app. One that uses AI to real time process the incoming bombardment.
In addition, i'm also thinking that there's a need to process, filter and categorize the many streams of info that some call news or other types of feeds that are designed to mindjack the masses. Catch these messages from the push feeds and mark when it's BS is a necessary thing we're going to need going forward. Also, apply to social forums to let users know before re-sharing the mindjack.
I'm thinking both should be on smartphones in always active mode. Get and stay ahead of the messages because when enough other people go way off track, it can affect the rest of us.
All good points, Anthony. :) If you create an AI powered app to help non tech savvy Boomers from getting scammed out of their money, please let me know.
I like your idea about a BS filter running on our phones. There's some interesting challenges there, because what I would call BS, someone with a different political worldview might see as absolute truth because they heard it on Fox News.
And yes, I agree about helping people find ways to earn money well past the traditional retirement age.
That's something I think about myself often. I'll be 51 in a couple weeks and find myself looking ahead 15 or 20 years and asking myself "how can I set myself up now so that when that period comes, I have a good means of continuing to earn money?"
My work can all currently be done from my laptop, but because I often have the "what new business could I start" radar on, I weigh new ideas against whether or not that's something I'd enjoy doing as I get older.
We can both agree on the choices some are making when it comes to ingestion of info.
They seek out and consume what fits their bias regardless of how potentially reckless that has shown to be. But BS is still that and I agree with what you say...
I think one of the most telling moments was Conway's blatant statement "alternative facts" - that just blew me away, yet the audience who was in her camp didn't even flinch about it... the ends in their minds justified the means. But, also to your point, it's telling how those viewers appeared to accept that delivery as being gospel while we also realized that Conway knew that her mostly Faux-conditioned audience was completely prepared to hear such a delivery. No one was surprised from that camp.
I also realize that more and more still want a sense of truth and getting that without having to pour through volumes of info data would make the process a lot easier and take a lot less time. Important factors in an ever busier world.
Well, on the Faux news front, Tucker is out and so are his true thoughts and feelings... he and his former cohorts at Faux are some of the highest-paid and wealthiest individuals on the planet. He's worth somewhere around $30M and earned about $8M per year. I find it difficult to understand the message he brings that I'm certain resulted in many deaths due to misguidance during covid. ...all for a buck!
The real shocker that's still seated at Faux is Hannity... his salary? Try $30M - $40M annually and a net worth around $300M! It pays to lie, cheat and steal apparently, but like Alex Jones, they will all have their day at some point. The important thing is to keep hammering at exposing these mindjacking frauds.
The telling tale here is the amount of money that the well moneyed is willing to pay in order to get the mass accumulation required to sway votes in any direction that they see fit and that suits only their situation. I've been thinking for some time now that the stars on Faux have been the highest-compensated talkers in the arena. Hannity is the all-time global top dog that's akin to being a sports star. That's telling in and of itself. Who's paying for the type of messaging he's delivering? He's extremely effective for certain, but unfortunately destructive.
I think that the people who continue to wake up to what's been going on, they'll be a part of what continues to tip the scales for better and be willing to find ways to get out of the psychological trap. Those and anyone else who want solutions to end the insanity are plenty and a lot more than those who will choose to stay in an insane loop. Those individuals are the fringe.
Anyway, time will tell and I'm hopeful for our future that more people unplug from or at at least have some tools and means of neutralizing these harmful messages before they take hold and begin to spread.
Enough on all that! ..for now at least.
Brian teaches us to follow our sense of purpose as opposed to passion. Whatever we do, it's got to matter and following that idea, seems logical when thinking there's others who agree and would co-benefit from having a sense of similar purpose. Without purpose, we can lose our sense of direction.
In my world, the more winners there are, the better we all will be and become. It's simple to get that "all boats rise and fall with the tide". Knowing that's my personal sense of my core purpose tends to drive me and my ideas along those lines.
None of us has any idea how things are going to shake out with all that's currently shifting and taking place. Hard to get a view on trend directions when it comes to the longer projection. We can only assume that a lot of what we do at the lowest level like the act of writing is definitely changing. How we approach what we do in the future and what assists us is how I'm looking at all right now.
I'm certain of one thing... everything that I've been doing and preparing for has been shaken pretty hard and now I'm in the process of learning new things and methods using as many of the tools and automation as I can. Doing this while injecting the best parts of myself into each idea and endeavor. Been great communicating with you Forest!
Hi Forest, I think what you’re talking about is a good example of how a product or service that you’re creating with an older adult in mind can be useful to people in all age groups.
According to an annual report by the FBI, Americans lost $10.3 billion last year (2022) to internet scammers – with an increasing number of those people being young, including in the 18-24 age range.
Perhaps with varying users in mind, that type of product can be used by all individuals (and to address various types of digital scams) with greater ease.
Maybe a look into Germanys marketing might be interesting. I remember walking into a department store and being shocked that most of the floor was clothing for the over 40 crowd.
Apr 25, 2023·edited Apr 25, 2023Liked by Brian Clark
I'm very interested to learn. This is the target market for my interiors business innerform.com. My client average age is around sixty and typically they spend big making their final nest comfortable for retirement. They're not active on social media, but use email. They like face to face meetings, a chat and a coffee. Nearly all my new clients are found by word of mouth. Not the website. Brian, how do I attract more?
I'm 52 and something I really don't like is to be put in the same bag as Boomers. Boomers are older than 50+. I do not have the same purchasing power as Boomers so the products and services aimed at them ("travel the world", "retire in comfort", "golf all day"), not only don't work for me, I also feel insulted.
That's because you're a Gen Xer like me. This article focuses on the Boomers because a lot of the negative attitudes toward older people came from when the Boomers were young, and that now impacts those of us from the next generation as well. This is what we need to change in general.
I'm in the same category as Susanna at almost 64 come May. I agree with Brian on the opportunity.
As for myself, I'm definitely not one that did the college/university thing - and didn't go on to do the paint by numbers thing to wealth and a wealthy retirement.
My path has been more creative and hard fought... but it's mine, the good, bad and ugly.
This places me in the perfect spot for opportunity as it's now unfolding like never before.
The financial crisis in 2008 forced me into full recovery mode. I'm still in the process believe it or not, but again, I have no dreams or visions of "playing golf" and retiring!
I want to get my new enterprises going and head off to New Zealand to drive formula race cars for starters - unfinished business that goes back to 1986.
On the whole boomer thing... there's a great and successful copywriter - (boomer btw!) Carline Anglade-Cole who's made quite a name and living for herself a ($7 Figure Earner) Her pretending to be a white 50+-year-old male (much of her audience demographic is mostly conservative, white male boomer). She even wrote a book with a similar title. I personally love her story, especially because she's a mixed-race woman of Haitian descent whose audience hasn't a clue who is talking and writing to them!
My sense about my own generation in the health, well-being and longevity category is that many don't have a clue about - they don't know the best ways to slow the body's decline while aging. Many of their ideas on the subject are based on data that's too old and outdated. Educating them on this subject to me is the sweet spot because the desire is definitely there. Boomers want to live forever (or try) or at least want to avoid the effects of getting old.
That's where the fit is when it comes to Brian's message, how the same group who developed and promoted ageism are also the one who is both facing what they've created while wanting to know how to stave it off and fight it. Again, that to me is where the perfect storm resides.
Anyone fortunate enough to get old - which these days is considered to be over 50 or over 55 years, depending on what country you live in - is typically spending money on multiple generations, three or more: self, children, parents, possibly grandparents, and has more discretionary spending power than the generations coming up behind them. Businesses that ignore older people have several marketing chips missing, and they don't recognize their own stupidity.
Every generation will eventually get old, it's not some special affliction that applies to the boomer generation.
Great post... so much to unpack and think about. The opportunities do seem endless.
And just as I've been pondering some changes at Rogue Mogul this post has given me something concrete to think about. It's always interesting with seemingly unrelated ideas converge.
Looking forward to seeing where you run with this latest project. It's obviously HIGHLY relevant to my business. Hoping you include the latest longevity/healthspan research as well given the relevance for anyone over 40 (according to the research). I spend at least an hour a day keeping up to date on all the breakthroughs, which are at least weekly now, and seem to be accelerating. Exciting times!
Yes on subscribers, and I can move the content, and I'm using my own domain. As blogging software it's no different that using something like WordPress.com or Squarespace.
Love the side project here, Brian. :) Sure will be interesting to see how things shift as we all start living a lot longer than humans used to. First fleeting thought as I turned on the idea radar and pointed it towards the Boomer generation of my mom is some kind of training and/or app that would help Boomers like her (she's 73) keep from getting scammed by any number of smart and morally reprehensible scammers that target non-tech savvy people like my mom.
She and her friends so easily fall into their traps because they don't know what to look for. After many phone calls with me trying to help her learn the scammers tactics, however, she's getting more savvy.
Looking forward to seeing what you create here, and I hope all is well with you and the family. :)
Hey Forest, as Brian just mentioned - think “opportunities.” I’m about to turn 64 next month and am in the process of learning how to wield and apply AI with some ideas and a focus on one element of the problem you’ve just depicted.
The onslaught witnessed by nefarious bot applications has given rise to application of AI to combat the trend.
One area that can assist everyone including elders has to be apps that run with and hopefully can get ahead of these predatory trends.
Like your friend, I have a friend who got scammed out of $250k in a PayPal phishing email scam… he never got it back. Unfortunately. I didn’t know him then, or I would have guided him away from that as you are doing now.
My point: not everyone has someone to have their back - and I believe that we can begin turning the tide with better tech in the longer run. This is only one idea and example.
The other point Brian makes suggests longevity=needing long range income. That’s a very significant opportunity that shouldn’t be ignored.
I am certain that the save til retirement then spend hopefully the generated income from that will end up a failure longer term or at least as Brian has suggested, fall short.
When people are healthier for longer, activity=living=spending. Living is celebrating life itself.
That means we have to learn to earn in new and different ways that will support our longevity lifestyles active elements. I’m thinking about opportunities that elevate others in some form of need or another.
I completely agree with your idea - an app. One that uses AI to real time process the incoming bombardment.
In addition, i'm also thinking that there's a need to process, filter and categorize the many streams of info that some call news or other types of feeds that are designed to mindjack the masses. Catch these messages from the push feeds and mark when it's BS is a necessary thing we're going to need going forward. Also, apply to social forums to let users know before re-sharing the mindjack.
I'm thinking both should be on smartphones in always active mode. Get and stay ahead of the messages because when enough other people go way off track, it can affect the rest of us.
All good points, Anthony. :) If you create an AI powered app to help non tech savvy Boomers from getting scammed out of their money, please let me know.
I like your idea about a BS filter running on our phones. There's some interesting challenges there, because what I would call BS, someone with a different political worldview might see as absolute truth because they heard it on Fox News.
And yes, I agree about helping people find ways to earn money well past the traditional retirement age.
That's something I think about myself often. I'll be 51 in a couple weeks and find myself looking ahead 15 or 20 years and asking myself "how can I set myself up now so that when that period comes, I have a good means of continuing to earn money?"
My work can all currently be done from my laptop, but because I often have the "what new business could I start" radar on, I weigh new ideas against whether or not that's something I'd enjoy doing as I get older.
Interesting things to consider. :)
We can both agree on the choices some are making when it comes to ingestion of info.
They seek out and consume what fits their bias regardless of how potentially reckless that has shown to be. But BS is still that and I agree with what you say...
I think one of the most telling moments was Conway's blatant statement "alternative facts" - that just blew me away, yet the audience who was in her camp didn't even flinch about it... the ends in their minds justified the means. But, also to your point, it's telling how those viewers appeared to accept that delivery as being gospel while we also realized that Conway knew that her mostly Faux-conditioned audience was completely prepared to hear such a delivery. No one was surprised from that camp.
I also realize that more and more still want a sense of truth and getting that without having to pour through volumes of info data would make the process a lot easier and take a lot less time. Important factors in an ever busier world.
Well, on the Faux news front, Tucker is out and so are his true thoughts and feelings... he and his former cohorts at Faux are some of the highest-paid and wealthiest individuals on the planet. He's worth somewhere around $30M and earned about $8M per year. I find it difficult to understand the message he brings that I'm certain resulted in many deaths due to misguidance during covid. ...all for a buck!
The real shocker that's still seated at Faux is Hannity... his salary? Try $30M - $40M annually and a net worth around $300M! It pays to lie, cheat and steal apparently, but like Alex Jones, they will all have their day at some point. The important thing is to keep hammering at exposing these mindjacking frauds.
The telling tale here is the amount of money that the well moneyed is willing to pay in order to get the mass accumulation required to sway votes in any direction that they see fit and that suits only their situation. I've been thinking for some time now that the stars on Faux have been the highest-compensated talkers in the arena. Hannity is the all-time global top dog that's akin to being a sports star. That's telling in and of itself. Who's paying for the type of messaging he's delivering? He's extremely effective for certain, but unfortunately destructive.
I think that the people who continue to wake up to what's been going on, they'll be a part of what continues to tip the scales for better and be willing to find ways to get out of the psychological trap. Those and anyone else who want solutions to end the insanity are plenty and a lot more than those who will choose to stay in an insane loop. Those individuals are the fringe.
Anyway, time will tell and I'm hopeful for our future that more people unplug from or at at least have some tools and means of neutralizing these harmful messages before they take hold and begin to spread.
Enough on all that! ..for now at least.
Brian teaches us to follow our sense of purpose as opposed to passion. Whatever we do, it's got to matter and following that idea, seems logical when thinking there's others who agree and would co-benefit from having a sense of similar purpose. Without purpose, we can lose our sense of direction.
In my world, the more winners there are, the better we all will be and become. It's simple to get that "all boats rise and fall with the tide". Knowing that's my personal sense of my core purpose tends to drive me and my ideas along those lines.
None of us has any idea how things are going to shake out with all that's currently shifting and taking place. Hard to get a view on trend directions when it comes to the longer projection. We can only assume that a lot of what we do at the lowest level like the act of writing is definitely changing. How we approach what we do in the future and what assists us is how I'm looking at all right now.
I'm certain of one thing... everything that I've been doing and preparing for has been shaken pretty hard and now I'm in the process of learning new things and methods using as many of the tools and automation as I can. Doing this while injecting the best parts of myself into each idea and endeavor. Been great communicating with you Forest!
Let's stay in touch.
Hi Forest, I think what you’re talking about is a good example of how a product or service that you’re creating with an older adult in mind can be useful to people in all age groups.
According to an annual report by the FBI, Americans lost $10.3 billion last year (2022) to internet scammers – with an increasing number of those people being young, including in the 18-24 age range.
Perhaps with varying users in mind, that type of product can be used by all individuals (and to address various types of digital scams) with greater ease.
Maybe a look into Germanys marketing might be interesting. I remember walking into a department store and being shocked that most of the floor was clothing for the over 40 crowd.
I'm very interested to learn. This is the target market for my interiors business innerform.com. My client average age is around sixty and typically they spend big making their final nest comfortable for retirement. They're not active on social media, but use email. They like face to face meetings, a chat and a coffee. Nearly all my new clients are found by word of mouth. Not the website. Brian, how do I attract more?
You're in the right place, stay tuned.
"We spent more with you than we paid for the house twenty five (or so) years ago", is a typical comment at the end of a project. Tuned in.
Substack? Really? Would love some insights into why you decided to go this route.
I'm 52 and something I really don't like is to be put in the same bag as Boomers. Boomers are older than 50+. I do not have the same purchasing power as Boomers so the products and services aimed at them ("travel the world", "retire in comfort", "golf all day"), not only don't work for me, I also feel insulted.
That's because you're a Gen Xer like me. This article focuses on the Boomers because a lot of the negative attitudes toward older people came from when the Boomers were young, and that now impacts those of us from the next generation as well. This is what we need to change in general.
Claudia, as a boomer I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that those messages don't resonate with me either.
I'm in the same category as Susanna at almost 64 come May. I agree with Brian on the opportunity.
As for myself, I'm definitely not one that did the college/university thing - and didn't go on to do the paint by numbers thing to wealth and a wealthy retirement.
My path has been more creative and hard fought... but it's mine, the good, bad and ugly.
This places me in the perfect spot for opportunity as it's now unfolding like never before.
The financial crisis in 2008 forced me into full recovery mode. I'm still in the process believe it or not, but again, I have no dreams or visions of "playing golf" and retiring!
I want to get my new enterprises going and head off to New Zealand to drive formula race cars for starters - unfinished business that goes back to 1986.
On the whole boomer thing... there's a great and successful copywriter - (boomer btw!) Carline Anglade-Cole who's made quite a name and living for herself a ($7 Figure Earner) Her pretending to be a white 50+-year-old male (much of her audience demographic is mostly conservative, white male boomer). She even wrote a book with a similar title. I personally love her story, especially because she's a mixed-race woman of Haitian descent whose audience hasn't a clue who is talking and writing to them!
My sense about my own generation in the health, well-being and longevity category is that many don't have a clue about - they don't know the best ways to slow the body's decline while aging. Many of their ideas on the subject are based on data that's too old and outdated. Educating them on this subject to me is the sweet spot because the desire is definitely there. Boomers want to live forever (or try) or at least want to avoid the effects of getting old.
That's where the fit is when it comes to Brian's message, how the same group who developed and promoted ageism are also the one who is both facing what they've created while wanting to know how to stave it off and fight it. Again, that to me is where the perfect storm resides.
Education with solutions is the play.
Anyone fortunate enough to get old - which these days is considered to be over 50 or over 55 years, depending on what country you live in - is typically spending money on multiple generations, three or more: self, children, parents, possibly grandparents, and has more discretionary spending power than the generations coming up behind them. Businesses that ignore older people have several marketing chips missing, and they don't recognize their own stupidity.
Every generation will eventually get old, it's not some special affliction that applies to the boomer generation.
Great post... so much to unpack and think about. The opportunities do seem endless.
And just as I've been pondering some changes at Rogue Mogul this post has given me something concrete to think about. It's always interesting with seemingly unrelated ideas converge.
Looking forward to seeing where you run with this latest project. It's obviously HIGHLY relevant to my business. Hoping you include the latest longevity/healthspan research as well given the relevance for anyone over 40 (according to the research). I spend at least an hour a day keeping up to date on all the breakthroughs, which are at least weekly now, and seem to be accelerating. Exciting times!
Brian on rented land? I guess you can easily export subscribers out of substack right?
Yes on subscribers, and I can move the content, and I'm using my own domain. As blogging software it's no different that using something like WordPress.com or Squarespace.