Tag Archives: research

What do Retirees Really Need?

It’s time to pivot.  It’s time to dream up some new ideas.

It would appear that retirees or soon to be retirees are only casually interested in launching an online business.

I would love to continue publishing and sharing information on how best to launch an online business but I need confirmation that this is truly of interest to retirees.

I do however believe that retirees are looking for something to fill their time with.  The question is what is it?  What are the top 5 things that retirees want and/or need?  How could I help identify these?

Of course there are the obvious ones:

  • More financial freedom
  • More time with family
  • More travel
  • More excitement
  • More passion

These are so many more but what are they?  What are your top 5 wants/needs?

The challenge is how best to convert these wants/needs into something useful and beneficial for the whole retirement market place?

The converse to the wants/needs question is what are retirees or soon to be retirees really struggling with?  What would be required to help resolve the problem or painful situation?

I would love to hear from you.

Please feel free to email me at vance@retireandrecharge.com.

Please note I have disabled the comments section on this blog due to the inordinate number of spam comments from people wanting to advertise their products or provide links to websites where the spammers can gain some sort of commission.

I hate spammers.  They ruin it for bloggers who simply want to share information.

Thus the reason for providing you with my direct email access.

Seriously, I would love to hear from you on what would make your retirement lifestyle a whole lot more enjoyable.  Please email me at vance@retireandrecharge.com.

 

 

 

How to Build an Audience with an Email List

It’s one thing to create and publish a blog post about a topic that you are familiar with but is it of any value to your intended audience?  It’s so important to deliver that value and to gain an audience of followers and maybe someday, some raving fans.  How does one go about doing just that?

Who are you?  How will Google find you?

First of all, you need people to find your blog.  For that you need to generate traffic to your blog site.  There are several way to generate traffic to your website by usAudienceWanteding keywords, backlinks, social media presence or even purchasing traffic through Facebook advertising. Checkout a blog post that my son Trevor published about Search Engine Optimization.  This beginner’s guide will help to at least get you’re your blog recognized by Google in its search algorithm for any potential organic traffic.  Then to make further inroads to building your audience you can view this blog post by son Trevor on Building an Audience.

 

Building your eMail List of Potential CustomersOnline Business Resources Checklist Lead Magnet

How does one go about building your very own email list of potential customers?  You need to give something to get something.  You need to provide a potential customer some added value over and above your informative blog postings.  After all, not everyone is willing to give you their email address just for asking.  You will notice that I generated my very first value offer (see sidebar) for someone to join my email list.

I did a lot of research into all kinds of technical and educational resources that one could need to help build an online business.  I then documented these resources with all of the corresponding links to the vendor websites.  I also included references to expert blog postings that can help a beginner get started.  The idea is simple, give something of value in exchange for an email address. This is what is called a lead magnet. The more email addresses you collect the more potential customers you could have down the road when you decide to market and sell your products.

How to Create a Lead Magnet?

Once again, there are free tools on the market to get you started building a lead magnet.  One tool I ended up using was the one from https://fatcatapps.com/optincat/.  You can click on the demo video to learn how to set up and integrate a customized version of your very own lead magnet plugin into the sidebar of your blog, very much like I was able to on this blog.

It’s important to note that creating a lead magnet on your blog to capture email addresses is one thing but you need to store them somewhere and to follow up with these individuals to thank them for providing their precious email address as well as delivering the free product you were offering them.

To accomplish this part you will need to integrate the lead magnet capture information with your email management software.  In my case, I am using MailChimp.  As it demonstrates in this demo video, you will need to copy and paste in the MailChimp API key so the OptinCat plugin can communicate with your MailChimp email list you will create as described in the next section.

How to Capture and Store the eMail Addresses?

The second portion of setting up a proper lead magnet involves capturing and storing those email addresses in a separate list with the MailChimp software.  MailChimp software is free for the first 2000 email addresses you collect.  So plenty of time to trial and error various lead magnet email sequences to confirm email addresses, thank and welcome your brand new customers onto your email list.

A demo of how the email sequence can be set up can be viewed in this video.

Call to Action

It’s important to note that I implemented the lead magnet on this blog without any outside help.  I simply followed the demo videos and installed it.  Trust me, I was amazed how easy the whole process was.  Granted there was some initial apprehension whether I could ever complete the task successfully but what’s the worst that can happen?

The key is to develop a solid and valuable lead magnet you can offer for free in exchange for an email address.  Those email addresses you collect are like gold.  They will serve you well if and when you develop your core product which you can offer at a reasonable price, to your precious list of loyal customers on your very own email list.

Start thinking about what kind of valuable information you could offer as a lead magnet.  It doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, like creating a whole eBook.  You just need to offer something of value that would be of interest to your following.  Then perhaps down the road your core product could be an eBook, a video tutorial course or a series of helpful tips in your specific knowledgeable area of expertise.  In the words of golf professional and teacher, Michael Breed, “Let’s do this”.

 

Let the Journey Begin

The alarm clock buzzes, it’s 6 AM and time to get up for work.  Your trip into the city is a long one.  If your driving it’s survival of the fittest.  If you’re using public transportation then maybe you’re just dreaming of the day when this whole rat race thing will end.

As the work day lingers on, whether it be meetings on top of meetings, a never ending list of emails to read and respond to, or a job jar so full, you’re ready to simply surrender.  But then your mind will occasionally wonder to that ultimate day when you will finally have a stress free life.

However, dreaming about leaving the work place for some kind of retirement is one thing. Being able to take action on that dream is a whole other matter.  In fact for many, that decision to retire is one filled with uncertainties and actual fear.  Procrastination will tend to creep in. Perhaps the most important issue that rises to the top of the “fear list” is how can one afford to retire and maintain a decent standard of living?  How long is one even able to live and enjoy that stress free life?  Could one actually outlive their retirement income stream?  All legitimate concerns.

Fear of the Unknown

Actually the first fear that one always seems to deal with is our mortality.  We all know we only have so much time on this wonderful planet and we need to use that precious time wisely. When I mention the word retirement I am absolutely not talking about old age nursing home life.  I am talking about a whole new chapter in your life.  A chapter where one can recharge and be the person you always wanted to be.  I am talking about making every day count for something.  I will post more on that subject in the future, but for now, let us deal with the financial affordability concern with retiring and recharging.

Research

The best way to alleviate the fear of retiring is to perform some rudimentary research on what’s really involved.  There are hundreds of websites that deal strictly with the affordability question.  There are a few good books on the subject as well.  I particularly liked the book by Charles Schwab – You’re Fifty – Now What?.

If you are fortunate to have earned a pension, then “Hello Pension, Goodbye Tension”. There are so many retirement calculators out there, all you need to do is “Google” it.  The bottom line is  everything depends on how much you have saved, how much you’re going to inherit or how much your defined benefit pension will be worth at retirement.  When I performed my research into the whole affordability question, I could not believe how many so called experts had differing views on what’s actually required.  I mean 60%-80% of your current income.  Come on, that’s a huge range to factor in.   If you are or have been saving for your retirement, I cannot stress enough the importance of engaging a trusted Financial Planner/Advisor to help manage your money.   Manage it, or it will manage you!

I found the best tool to determine whether one could afford to retire, whether it be early or later, was to simply develop a monthly income vs. expense budget.  Thankfully several expenses can or will be eliminated once working life ceases and retirement begins.

In today’s fast changing corporate world, several companies are offering early retirement incentives.  The decision to retire early is not an easy one.  It’s one thing to answer the affordability question, but what about the lifestyle after retirement.  What on earth does one do to stay active and healthy?  I highly recommend reading Ernie Zelinski’s book,  “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”.  This book is filled with lots of tips to help you keep active and to live every day stress free.

The Honey Do List

I remember when I first retired and everyone warned me that just wait until your spouse gives you the dreaded “Honey Do List”.  Well it turns out that list will likely contain a job jar that only lasts about 4 months.  OK, then what?

Part-Time Work

After completing all of my “Honey Do List” in about 2 months, I decided to look for a part-time job.  There are lots of part-time jobs for the semi-retired – again just “Google” it.  But I certainly did not want to re-create another stressful part-time job situation.  After all, I was pleased to leave that life behind.  After thinking about several job opportunities, I decided my true passion was to get away from an office job and to work outside in the fresh air.  I applied to be a greens keeper at a local golf course.  After all, I was already used to getting up early for the long commute into work.  This golf course was only 10 minutes away.

What a weird feeling it was, having to develop a resume for a job I had absolutely no experience with.  After handing in my resume, I was called the next day for a job interview, sitting outside on a picnic bench where the golf superintendent asked me a few questions and boom, I was hired.  To make a long story short, I worked at that golf course for 7 years, cutting greens, approaches, tee decks, changing hole locations on the green, top dressing the greens etc.  I could not believe the joy I had, knowing that at the end of my shift, I could actually state clearly what I had achieved.  Amazing!

The transition from a working career to a part-time job made the whole process virtually seamless.  I loved every minute of it.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is thinking of retiring early.

Suggested Books to Read

How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free by Ernie Zelinski

You’re Fifty – Now What? by Charles R. Schwab 

 

So You’re Retiring – Now What?

 

For some of us, retiring has been a long desired destination.  However, we all know by now, that it’s more of a journey than a destination.  I realize that retirement is not for everyone and it’s very much a personal decision on whether to retire early or as late as possible.  Now, thanks to the internet, information and knowledge can be shared instantly throughout the world.  If you are reading this blog you are one of many who have learned that knowledge is power –  power to overcome any doubts, worries, anxiety or even procrastination.  My goal is to provide you with some of that knowledge to help you on your retirement journey that can be both exciting and fulfilling.

About the Author

My name is Vance Page, as a baby boomer, I was both anxious and worried about retiring.  So many variables to think about.  Why should I even think about retirement?  How does anyone deal with it all?  When is the best time to give up your career and start a new one?  What on earth will you do with yourself?  Who can you rely on for some direction and guidance?  Where should you move to or even move at all?

Well, after retiring early at the age of 56, I have spent the last 8 years experiencing the retirement journey and believe me I am recharged.  I would like to share these experiences with you through this blog.  Hopefully, this could help relieve some of the anxiety and worry about this whole journey.  Granted my journey will be different than yours, nevertheless, it should provide you with a benchmark of what could be expected and more importantly, a very positive feeling of things to come.

What to expect from this blog

My goal is to be as transparent as possible in the upcoming blog posts.  For example, here are some of the topics on my retirement journey that I would like to share with you:

  • The early research into what’s involved in retiring
  • The financial affordability concern and how to deal with it
  • Downshifting from work life, to part-time work, to an active lifestyle
  • Golf anyone?
  • Time is your friend – use it wisely
  • Second guessing – reliving work memories
  • Fear of the unknown
  • What about downsizing?
  • Looking into Active Lifestyle Community living
  • Keeping the body moving and the mind active
  • Meeting new people, new neighbours and making friends for life
  • Volunteer to do something, anything
  • Venture into the new and challenging
  • ….and many more

I am very excited about my venture into something new and challenging through these blog postings.  So, welcome to Retire and Recharge.  Enjoy the ride!