The newest “thing” in the sub-prime loan crisis is this: Banks now are freezing credit lines (called HELOC’s – Home Equity Lines of Credit) because the amount borrowed (including both the HELOC and the mortgage) is exceeding the value of the home.

For example, CBS reports that Countrywide, one of the largest U.S. lenders, has frozen 122,000 HELOC’s. It will also be interesting to see what happens when the bank that gives the mortgage is different from the bank that gives the 2nd mortgage/HELOC. Who wins?

The CBSNews website had some good tips for dealing with this situation, including:

Talking ’bout my generation…
I was reading Baby Boomer Stephen King’s book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and I ran across this:

I don’t want to speak disparagingly of my generation (actually I do, we had a chance to change the world and opted for the Home Shopping Network instead).

Ouch!

Kennth Gronbach (author of The Age Curve that I’ve been talking about) says we Baby Boomers are lazy and self-centered. After all, we’re the generation they were talking about when they coined the phrase “The ‘Me’ Decade” to describe the 1970s.

But are we really that bad? We were the generation that (rightly) protested the War in Vietnam and advocated for Civil Rights and peace. No, we didn’t fight World War II, but many died in Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Baby Boomers have also been supremely entrepreneurial, with people like Bill Gates and others creating wealth, not just for themselves, but for the world. Gates is also a great example of the entrepreneur turned philanthropist. The economist William Schumpeter theorized that entrepreneurs were the key to societal change, because they bring value through economic growth.

I would also argue that Baby Boomers have changed the world through the creation of the Internet. No, I’m not talking about Al Gore, but Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who created the concept of the World Wide Web and gave it to the world.

Without the WWW, what would our world look like? What do you think? Is King being too hard on us?

A great Baby Boomer business might be selling on EBay. If you are like me, you have lots of stuff to get rid of, and you are good at spotting bargains. Suzanne Wells, over at EShopOwner, has a great book to give you to help you start your EBay business.

Suzanne says, “As an eBay Power Seller since 2003, I have sold over 15,000 items. I have experimented with many, many, different products along the way. Most of my inventory has come from garage sales, thrift stores, and consignment stores. My eBook, “Thrift Store Shopping for eBay,” contains information about how to find items to sell at thrift stores,
what sells for the best profit, and how to get additional discounts when purchasing items to resell.”
To receive a copy of the book comment on her blog post: http://www.eshopowner.com/free-ebook-what-to-buy-at-thrift-stores-to-sell-on-ebay-for-profit/

I have MANY books to sell, and I’d love to have them find good homes on EBay.  How about you?  What would you like to sell on EBay?   

First, I wanted to give you a last thought about The Age Curve by Kenneth Gronbach.  As I said yesterday, I don’t agree with everything he says.  For example, I think he is wrong about the oil crisis.  He predicts that OPEC will have to “dramatically reduce” the price of oil and keep it there for a while.  I sure don’t think that will happen, but I’d be happy if it did.

Otherwise, The Age Curve is both informative and entertaining.  You can use it in your business, no matter what age group you are marketing to.  Gronbach says, if you want to profit from “generational demographics,” you need to determine who are your best customers, and match your marketing with the demographic peak of the markeket.  Ideally, your best customers are 8-10 years younger than the peak demographic of your market, so  your market will age toward your products or services, not away from them.

For example (my example here, not his):  If you are selling accessories for classic cars (as we discussed last week), your demographic is baby boomer men.  This group is getting larger, as the biggest group of boomers is coming over the next 10 years.  Perfect timing.  Think about the group you want to target, understand the demographics of that market, and plan your marketing for success.

For a chance to win a copy of this book, leave a comment to this post.  Let me know if you agree with Gronbach, or you don’t, or you just want to react to anything I’ve said in this post or the ones from yesterday and the day before.  Any comment is ok.  You can comment as many times as you want, as long as each comment is unique.  Read more about contest rules on my new THOUGHTS page. Be sure to include your email address (no one but me will see it), so I can email you to let you know you’ve won. (U.S. and Canada only.)

I will accept comments/entries until midnight, Thursday, September 4, 2008 (Central Daylight Time).

This year my husband and I joined other family members in a membership to a local community garden.  This was probably a bad year to start, because the weather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has been awful, first with the floods and then no rain for about a month.  But it has been fun to get fresh vegetables every week, all through the season, and to plan our meals around whatever is fresh at the time.  With these home-grown vegetables, my insistence on free range chickens, and my weekly trips to the farmer’s market, I’ve become a Locavore (def: Someone who buys mostly local foods.)

The “locally grown” movement seems to be gaining strength, both from renewed focus on environmentally friendly initiatives and food costs.  And, of course, “local” usually means “organic.”  The lady who runs the community garden doesn’t put anything on the plants and she worries about the drift from pesticides from neighboring farms.  The Organic Consumers Association (a Canadian group) says the organic food market is over $40 billion in the U.S. alone. 

Now that “organic” foods have gone corporate (you can find so-called organic foods in Wal-Mart), many of us are looking to local markets because:

• Locally grown food is fresher and tastier
• Local growers are more honestly “organic” (yes, that means I don’t trust Wal-Mart)
• Many of us want to support local businesses whenever we can.

So, have you considered starting a community garden business?  This would be a large garden that you work, selling the produce to members or to the community at the local farmer’s market.  You could have people come to you to pick up the food or you could come into town to deliver the food. Some additional thoughts:

• Our community garden lady (Laura)  is a teacher, and she hires college students to work for her.  Great summer job for all of them.
• If you want to travel south in the winter, your summer gardening business might be just the ticket to get you some extra money.
• You would need to advertise on the web or in local businesses and the local newspaper, but this isn’t terribly expensive.
• Laura puts out a weekly newsletter with information on what’s fresh that week, recipes and other tidbits.

I don’t know all the details on costs for this kind of venture, but I’ll do some more research and let you know.  In the meantime, let me know if you have questions for me to ask Laura.

Here are some more great responses for the “50 things to do at 50″ contest.

• Play Nintendo DS to keep your mind  sharp
• Buy a Wii and get fit in the comfort of your home. I do not do gyms, so this would be a great alternative. You can do what you want, when you want and the choices of activities are only limited by your pocketbook.
• Get involved in an online community to save your tv program. I am currently involved in Save Moonlight and have found friends and kindred spirits throughout the world. Laughed with them, cried with them, offered support and was given support when needed
• Take time to do all the things you have dreamed of today because you never know what tomorrow will bring.
• Read a good book – start your own bookstore – teach someone to read — start a book club — Read all the books you never had time to read.  Make a list of all the classic literature you wish you’d read. Then start reading it, one book at a time.
• Race a go-cart — fly (never have) — learn to cross-stitch — learn to quilt
• Execute or update your will
• Start a garden – start a container garden
• Volunteer somewhere
• ride a roller coaster with your children or grandchildren
• Start a scrapbook for you or your family. Include photos, memorabilia, stories and anything that will help future generations understand how you lived.
• Learn to play a muscial instrument.
  Subscribe to season tickets for your local orchestra, ballet or theatre.
• Join a gym – take painting classes
• Take the vacation you’ve always dreamed of…like the trip I’m taking to Italy next year!
• Go visit your long lost cousins…you would be surprised at how much you have in common
• get an iPod……load it up…and REALLY LISTEN to and ENJOY the music!
• Take a dance class, be it ball room, swing, line dancing, salsa…anything. Have fun!
• Take a trip to the zoo!
• Keep your mind active by solving a daily puzzle, a crossword, a logic puzzle, a sudoko puzzle, anything!
• Start a “bucket list” – Ha!
• Join a barbershop chorus
• Make a list of what you have done your first 50 years then make a new list for the next 50 years and start with #1 and just get out there and do it!
• Plant flowers at the community center or help a less well off family plant a garden so they will have fresh vegetables.
• Reconnect with old friends. I mean really old friends…start tracking down the people you went to elementary school with and compile of list of “where are they now.” The trip down memory lane can help you remember who you used to be…and who you wanted to grow up to be.
• start a small side business to bring in that “rainy day” money that will be needed for all of the traveling we want to do as we retire.
• Let the child within you play. Be spontaneous take advantage of the freedom to do what you want to do, and no longer have to do what you ‘need’ to do.
• Start sweepstaking or ebaying. I turned 50 the last of May and just started both and am having a ball with it. Also, instead of sitting around crying over turning 50 (which is what I expected), life is actually better. Its just me and my husband at home..no stress..its great! So I guess what I would add to 50 things to do at 50 something is——–Do ANYTHING you want because you deserve it!

And Patty and Diana kind of summed it all up with their comments:

• At 50 start putting yourself first for a change and have some fun doing things you always wanted to do. (from Patty)
• Don’t forget to live every moment, this life is not a practice. (from Diana)

Thanks to all for the fantastic comments.  I hope they inspired you as much as they have inspired me.

Yesterday I talked about The Age Curve by Baby Boomer Kenneth Gronbach.  The book’s subtitle is “How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm.”  The “storm” he’s talking about, I think, is the influx of baby boomers as an aging generation and its effect on many areas of economics.

Yesterday, I said Gronbach’s central premise is that you need to know two things about a group your business is marketing to:  (1) How big is it?  (2) What are the group’s buying patterns?  If you know these two things, you can use them to profit in your business,  investing, and retirement planning.  For example, Gronbach talks about many of the problems and issues of today, so you can learn how to overcome them:

• He says Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme.”  Great analogy!  So how will you plan for the possibility that you won’t receive any?
• He explains the sub-prime lending crisis.  How will you plan for the possibility that your big home might not be saleable to a shrinking market?
• He says Boomers will force the U.S. into socialized medicine.  Can we live with that?
• He details why Wal-Mart’s days are numbered (they have targeted the wrong demographic) – so you might want to review your portfolio.
• He explains why assisted living facilities will fail in increasing rates (too soon for Boomers, not enough GI Generation and Silent Generation elderly), so you might want to wait to invest in one.
• He shows why the aging of Boomers to retirement will create a profound labor shortage.  One good example he discusses is the trucking industry.  There aren’t enough qualified truckers.  His description of the problem makes me nervous now when I get on the interstate.

While I didn’t agree with everything he said, Gronbach has many good points.  He also has an interesting writing style and he peppers his writing with “zingers,” like:

• Boomers will refuse to grow old.  They will not buy “old people” services.  (He specifically mentions AARP, and I have to agree. I refuse to be associated with a group that is for “retired persons” and which sent me my first offer just after I turned 50.  How dare they!
• “2% do the work; 2% cause the trouble; the rest eat the food.”
• He says most Americans are “math deprived.”  Gotta agree there.
• A perfect match of product and market — Baby Boomers and Erectile Dysfunction drugs!  (See what I mean?)

A final point and a chance to win a copy of The Age Curve, tomorrow.

I have a winner in the replay of the “50 things to do at 50″ contest (more about the winner after he/she is notified). The responses were FANTASTIC and I want to share them with you, in no particular order:

• Think about what you enjoy and then act on it! Start a hobby or business you never had time for and just enjoy.
• Get a new hairstyle – do you still have the same style as in your high school photo?!?
• Take time to really listen to your grandchildren
• Find a hobby you love and make money on it
• Sign up with a modeling agency (I love this one! There are lots more opportunities for us Boomers to get small modeling or acting parts)
• Take time to do all the things you have dreamed of today because you never know what tomorrow may bring (AMEN!)
• Start traveling -Go somewhere y ou have never been – discover new things
• Learn how to knit – ride a motorcycle – do crossword puzzles
• Do skydiving (mentioned George Bush Sr who skydived at 83) or parasailing
• Start walking 1/2 hour a day -Try a new exercise class
• Sign up for a college or technical course, like geneology, history; or find a symposium

…more tomorrow

I’ve been reading an excellent book titled The Age Curve: Why Size Matters, by Kenneth W. Gronbach (AMACOM, 2008). The book is valuable to anyone wanting to understand the importance of what Gronbach calls “generational demographics” and how to use it for marketing and selling to baby boomers and other generations.

Gronbach’s basic premise is that “size matters.” In other words, the size of the generation (Baby Boomer, Generation X, Generation Y, etc.) determines its buying power. Our boomer generation at 78 million is followed by Generation X, which has 9 million fewer people, resulting in a drop in buying power, and, of course, sales to that generation.  Since the generation following is significantsly smaller, and the generations above the Boomers, the GI Generation and the Silent Generation, are dying off, the Baby Boomer generation is, literally, the “bulge” at the top of the age curve.

Gronbach, a Baby Boomer himself, hits it on the head in his description of Boomers:
* Boomers say, “We are not our parents, and we never will be”
* Boomers are health conscious and work at staying healthy
* Growing up after the Depression, Boomers are not savers, and many are spending our retirement money
* Boomers aren’t graying; we’re getting better
* Boomers work to stay with the times, including technology
* Boomers are essentially lazy (we like to give gift cards because it’s easy)
* Boomers are quick to change partners; many are on their 2nd and 3rd marriages (I can identify with this one)
* Boomers have all the stuff they need; Boomer men have created the boom in self-storage facilities by filling them with all their stuff (I can DEFINITELY identify with this one – ask my husband)

The Boomer top three priorities, according to Gronbach:
1: Make my life easy
2: Save me some time
3: Don’t rip me off

OK, I know it’s difficult to characterize a whole generation, especially one with such a diversity in ages, but Gronbach seems to have a handle on what makes Baby Boomer tick.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the effects of these generational demographics on marketing and selling, and give you some Gronbach predictions….

My favorite Twilight Zone episode is one with Burgess Meredith titled “Time Enough at Last,” in which he plays a henpecked husband who just wants to find time to read.  Remember it?

Well, it appears that book reading is becoming less popular among the younger generations (X and Y), and independent bookstores, even in highly literate places like Seattle, are having a hard time competing for attention with the big chains, and, of course, with Amazon and other online bookstores. An article in the Seattle Times Book Section comments that “running a bookstore has always been an occupation for dreamers.”  Very true. I’d love to own a bookstore, but it would be more for my own pleasure than to make money.  The bookstore owner in the article (his bookstore was closing after two decades) says, “I’d like to have one copy of everything in existence.”  Gotta agree.

I buy books online, but I also frequent bookstores.  There is nothing better on a Friday night after dinner to wander through a bookstore checking out the bargain books and finding a new gem that I’ve been waiting for in paperback.  And, I confess, I love the look and the smell of books.  And I’m not alone, a Zogby survey in May found that 82% of readers prefer to curl up with a book.  How can you get emotionally involved with Kindle?

How many books do you buy a year?  Do you buy them online or at a bookstore?  Do you prefer printed books or online ones?