Over-50

Disruption in Marketing - Google Has Become Our Store Front

Traditional large and midsized law firms should join the small ones and solos in feeling threatened by the online, on-demand services of LegalZoom.

It has managed to migrate from B2C to B2B. So far, its target market is small business but that could change.

Today, LegalZoom, reports Zach Warren in Law.com, announced:

" … it has received a $500 million secondary investment led by Francisco Partners and GPI Capital … [which] will also include participation from one or more Franklin Templeton Investments funds and funds managed by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers."

That boosts its valuation to about $2 billion. And the niche it is playing in is a high-growth one.

Yes, LegalZoom is the dominant brand in the online, on-demand category. But some of its competitors are also thriving.

For example, as Warren points out, competitor Avvo has been purchased by Internet Brands. The latter also has an interest in Lawyers.com, All Law and Martindale-Hubbell.

Clearly, when looking for solutions, clients/customers - and not only in legal services - increasingly are making their first stop online. That puts us in direct control, instead of having to  go through a gatekeeper who filters information and insight through the perspective of making a sale.

Today, I made the "mistake" of not first researching online natural remedies for panic attacks. I was in the vicinity of GNC so, I figured (wrongly) why not just go in. The salesperson, of course, was limited to the products on the shelf. The one for which she gave the highest rating cost about $40. The others were not more affordable.

I thanked her and explicitly said I would first have to check several sites on the internet. Of course, if the price is right, I will order directly online. 

It's becoming standard: internet-first.

The corporate general counsel might prefer to shop around for legal services just that way. Can big and midsized law create online introductions to services which mimic how LegalZoom interfaces with those who click it on?

In coaching those over-50, not one bit of my business has come from putting on special events.

Positive results in new business development comes from how I position and package the services online.

Currently I am preparing the new e-book "Outwitting Ageism to Land, Hold, and Move onto Better Work." Google is our storefront and prospects enjoy peeking in and finding e-books to pick up and read, for free. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

“Over-50: Outsmarting Your Comfort Zone” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/05/outsmarting-your-comfort-zone-free-book.html

 “Over-50: The Four Monsters in the Mind” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/04/ageism-bites-.html

 

The Lost Generation of the Mid 1970s - Current Youth Hasn't Learned from Us

The market for JDs has improved somewhat since the crash of 2009. But the numbers haven't returned to pre-crash levels.  Back then, 6,000 lawyers were thrown out on the street.

Some parts of the legal sector such as litigation remain flat. It's probably more difficult than ever to become partner. And, partners are being forced out.

In addition, overall, the industry is being disrupted by changing client expectations. Soon enough, Artificial Intelligence (AI) could wipe up jobs ranging from document review to strategic planning. 

Also, one reason the number of those landing jobs 10 months out of law school which require passage of the bar exam has gotten better is that there are fewer graduates. For years after the crash, law school lost popularity. The media promoted the scope of student debt. And specific sites such as Abovethelaw chronicled the grim fate of newbie JDs who weren't hired for positions practicing law. 

So, experts on the business of law are wary of what is good news for law schools.

As Karen Sloan reports in Law.com, fall applications to law schools are up 8%. That comes down to 60,401 applying this year versus 55,580 last year. Also the number of those taking the LSAT in June and July had been up 30%. Scores on the LSAT are higher than they have been recently.

What could be in the making is yet another glut situation: More JD graduates than jobs available. 

The law school industry has been under the media microscope for not limiting the raw number of applicants in order to prevent glut. Historically, it was well known that the medical school industry did that. 

In addition, there is the ongoing problem that it is challenging to hold on to those "good" jobs in law firms. The game remains up or out. Sure, the JD can be hired for one of the associate positions paying a $190k first-year salary. But that "tap on the shoulder" often comes soon enough.

The corridors of other industries are filled with the emotionally wounded who were weeded out after a few years and those who were knocked out of the box after eight years.

Since the crash of 2008, I have been coaching them. Typical is the former associate who had been forced out who claims he or she feels better doing something else. However, they can't stop alluding to that phase of their professional life. Obviously, their soul is stuck in the past.

The analogy is the Academic Lost Generation in the Humanities of the mid 1970s. Those completing their doctoral degrees in disciplines such as literature found the market for tenure-track college professors had collapsed. I was among them.

Once hailed as the best and brightest who had received prestigious fellowships to matriculate in graduate studies, we became unmarketable. Employers either smirked or were puzzled why we had spent our youth chasing degrees in oddball things like 19th century English literature.

It took me five years of bouncing around before I landed in a well-paying job in executive communications at Chevron. At the time the powers that be there respected our academic backgrounds. That was then. Today, in this era of extreme cost efficiency we would probably be labeled "too expensive" and not be allowed in. 

The wound hasn't healed. It can't. In a short time I went from having an identity as a budding scholar to being perceived as having made a very big mistake in career direction.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

There Must Be a Better Way to Get Work Done

In developed economies it's a status symbol to be enduring extreme levels of stress - on a sustained basis. Many U.S. lawyers, software developers, and medical interns proudly flash their stress badges on the way out of work at dawn. 

But the glorification of stress could be changing.

The powers that be in U.K. banking are being faced with the reality that heart attacks are up about 10% among employees in their 20s/30.

One female who had been hospitalized three times in one year for health reasons noted that she frequently worked until 4 A.M. That was the expected norm. 

When she requested a sick day, the bank refused and an infection traveled to her heart. Here are more details from BusinessInsider. 

Yes, after the death of the Bank of America intern who had been putting in crazy hours, banks have focused on how to reduce stress and long long hours. But, obviously, those initiatives aren't effective.

An interesting read on workplace conditions around the world is "Dying for a Paycheck." It's by Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jerry Pfeffer. He reports that 61% of employees surveyed noted that stress had made them sick and 6% said they had been hospitalized. Here the book can be ordered from Amazon. 

In banking that kind of book might be titled "Dying to Get Ahead."

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Maybe Seeing the World Isn't Such a Good Idea - The New Retirement

Now we know.

SCOTUS justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will remain working long enough to deny Donald Trump the opportunity to replace her with a conservative.

At age 85, she announced that she plans to retire in five years. That will be a few years after the 2020 presidential election. And, we can speculate, the craziness in politics will subside. There might be more objectivity in determining whom to put up to fill her shoes on the court.

Recently, heading-toward-age-100 Betty White did one better than Ginsburg. She announced that she had no plans to retire.

Retirement is a concept that had been tried out since the 19th century. In 1881, reports The Atlantic, Germany's Otto von Bismarck proposed the idea. 

The good part of that was that government entitlements were invented which financially allowed the aging to ease off from working so long and hard. Here in the U.S. we have Social Security. In addition, Medicare keeps a lid on medical costs.

But, overall, the retirement experiment hasn't panned out. For many it triggers boredom. For even more it's not affordable.

Interestingly, the Federal Reserve Board documents that one-third of those who retire return to working. 

Essentially what is evolving is what I call The New Retirement. It involves the conscious decision to downshift from the traditional demands of a career. In their place can be opening a business on one's own terms, less stressful full time or part time work, and gig assignments. 

Those faring best never really leave the workforce. If they do they miss out on being up to date with changing business models, technology, and the web of contacts. So, in coaching the over-50, I recommend they plan a bridge from what for them is a kind of official retirement to interim work. Their work ethic, alertness, and skills can atrophy if they hop a plane and go travel the world. Pleasure should be taken in small bites.

Here is my book, free to click open and read, on how to transition  Download Over50OutsmartingYourComfortZone

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Since Google Is Your New Resume ...

That was fast - and typical of the power of investigative journalism.

Over the weekend, directors at CBS discussed if CEO Leslie Moonves should "step aside" while the corporation investigates sexual harassment allegations.

It was the investigative journalism of Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker which triggered this disruption.  And investigative reporting could prove more of a game-changer than anything created in tech. 

It had been the investigative reporting of John Carreyrou at The Wall Street Journal that set in play the beginning of the end of Girl CEO Elizabeth Holmes and the imaginary technology of startup Theranos. Holmes has been indicted for various forms of fraud. If convicted or if she takes a plea, she could wind up in prison. 

And Gabriel Sherman's book "The Loudest Voice in the Room" began throwing shade on the cable television media genius Roger Ailes. The door was opened to look beneath the roly-poly surface.

So scary was Sherman's book to the establishment that Ailes' personal public relations representative Bob Dilenschneider tried to distract from it by the supposed stealth move of paying big bucks to promote a vanity biography of Ailes.

The caper was detected. Here are the details from ADWeek. Consequently, more attention was created for "The Loudest Voice in the Room." The Ailes' brand became vulnerable.

One takeaway from the recent developments triggered by investigative reporting is that those focused on reform must consider simply digging versus other kinds of tactics such as class action lawsuits and protests. 

The very old adage is really true: The pen is mightier than the sword. Sure, traditional journalism jobs are disappearing. The New York Daily News just sent half the newsroom packing.

However, well-researched articles and books have become weapons of mass destruction. Because of digital technology, they can be distributed without an establishment media outlet. The classic example of that has been Susan Fowler's blog about alleged sexual harassment at Uber that helped end the reign of rogue CEO Travis Kalanick. 

When it comes to the equally important matter of individual careers the pen is also mightier and more affordable than other kinds of promotional outreach.

That's why I recommend to the over-50 I coach to publish their way to a fresh chapter in how they can earn a good living. No, that doesn't have to be a traditional book. The risk there is major. Without top public relations support to promote the book, the publication could receive low rankings on Amazon and become a liability in branding. 

The more likely formats are e-books, blogging, and sustained posting of well-researched thought pieces on social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn Update, and Medium.

All that creates a positive online presence. Google has become the new resume. Iconic career guide "What Color Is Your Parachute? 2018" explains in detail that reality. 

It was my own e-book -  Download Over50OutsmartingYourComfortZone - which brought in new business for my ghostwriting thought leadership content on aging. That profit center has been as much a revenue producer as coaching per se. 

Reflection: The written word stands toe to toe with myriad other forms of power. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Is Funding Your Children's Higher Education Preventing You from Downshifting?

The average student loan debt is $34,144. That comes to a total of $1.5 trillion student loan debt in the U.S.

That financial burden has been good for divorce lawyers.

Student Loan Hero found that 13% of those surveyed assessed that student loan debt was the cause of their divorce.

That's probably a low estimate since, according to SunTrust Bank, more than a third surveyed indicated that student loans were a source of trouble in their marriages. Here are more details.

One alternate to student loans is having parents pay all or a significant part of the cost of higher education. But that too can trigger financial problems - only a different kind.

In coaching those over-50, I am hearing more and more about professionals wanting to bail out of high-pressure jobs or operating their own enterprises which require 80 hours a week. They want The New Retirement, that is, to keep working but downshifting to less demanding ways of earning income. 

However, their value system keeps them stuck in what they experience as the rat race. They are convinced that they have a duty to finance their children's education. In addition, some are also committed to having their offspring attend the college or professional/graduate school of their choice.

As lawyers know, there are no state laws which require that. In cases of divorce and child custody, though, the duty to pay can be part of the agreement. 

The financial burden usually is self-imposed. And it could be among the factors causing the young old currently to have a high rate of suicide. 

Takeaway: Everyone in the loop, from students to parents, should re-think higher education, how it should be selected, and how it is to be financed. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com

Baby Boomers - Shaking Off Traditional Concepts of Excellence in Customer Service

That series of programs created by Dick Wolf is the gift that keeps on giving as re-runs on ION.

They range from Law & Order to Law & Order SVU.

The Wolf formula of earnest law enforcement/prosecutors, unspeakable evil, and the triumph of law makes those re-runs a predicable way to shake off our own trauma.  

And trauma is the new usual in earning a living. Take for instance, the growing popularity of applying the Pareto Rule to our businesses.

According to the Pareto Rule, 80% of our revenues come from 20% of our clients/customers. The trick is to identify that 20% and then figure out how to phase out what burdens, not adds, to the bottom line.

More professional services are doing just that: eliminating those clients causing more problems than revenue opportunities.

The process, though, can be traumatic. Also, there is that old undertow of wondering if some slow season we will miss those clients.

Last week, I imposed the Pareto Rule. The difficulty, I am convinced, was rooted in too large a cultural difference. What I learned is that in major, ongoing projects that bill at a relatively low rate it simply isn't worth it to struggle to navigate that terrain. Never again will I accept that kind of account in that format. 

But, that smart way of doing business goes against traditional concepts of excellence in customer service. I suffered. That was last Tuesday.

When I wasn't focused on operating my two lines of business - communications and coaching - I tuned in ION. 

It was reassuring that Jack McCoy on Law & Order has his troubles too, both professionally and personally. His staff often creates conflicts and he is estranged from his daughter. But, at the end of the each episode there are the best possible resolutions in an imperfect world. 

In addition, on Law & Order SVU, Oliva Benson never hardens. Her heart remains open, including for her colleagues and superiors. 

That helps me not to become cynical.

In real life the actress playing Benson - Mariska Hargitay - is an activist and fundraiser on behalf of the victims of rape. In that, she was ahead of her time - that is, the #MeToo movement.

In my coaching I use her deep sense of empathy as a model for how to lead clients out of their professional pain. More than guidance, at least initially, they need someone to listen and to understand.

Pain associated with careers, at least in capitalist America, is usually isolating. As with rape, the ethos tends to be: Blame the victim.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The New Retirement - Derailed by Brutal Housing Slow Down

Selling the house, usually for a significant return on investment, is a standard part of The New Retirement.

For many, The New Retirement means being able to leave the high-pressure job with long hours and a hellish commute and downshifting to, as they say, "doing work which won't kill them." After the house is sold usually there will be a re-locating to where the cost of living is lower.  

However, that scenario isn't playing out. A major obstacle is the slow down in the sales of houses. As Bloomberg reports, inventory is up 24% in Seattle, Washington and 32% in Portland, Oregon. Economist Robert Shiller sees the pause in sales as a trend. 

The causes are two-fold. There are rising mortgage rates. Also there is an escalation in the sticker price. About the latter, owners are willing to go down some - and are doing just that in some markets. But because of the money they themselves invested in the house and what price point makes sense to them to sell it they can't or won't go down to want buyers are willing to pay. 

Consequently, they are forced to delay The New Retirement. There is also the possibility that they will be stuck with the financial burden of the house if they lose that good job. 

That's a palpable fear among more of those over-50 whom I coach.

A classic case - and it's a kind of perfect storm - is the 60-year-old executive in a suburb of Connecticut. What he considers the market value of his house is about a million dollars. He's counting on that both to put his two children through college and to fund the transition to The New Retirement.

Nothing in that upscale suburb is selling. And nothing might since GE is pulling out of CT and moving headquarters to Boston. 

If he's stuck with the house that entails annual property taxes of over $20k. 

That's a nightmare scenario, especially since ageism threatens his job security.

Right now, that's the way it is. To prevent getting in this pickle, those over-50 might consider making it part of their planning for The New Retirement to sell the house when the market shifts back from a buyers' one. Renting gives them both financial and re-location flexibility. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Aging Needing a Job/More Business - Stop Over-Selling

This is an era of over-selling. And that's one reason social networks, platform for sales pitches, are in the soup.

Lots, ranging from the compulsive salespeople to the cons, made it their business to try to gain an edge for their commercial messages through unethical or maybe even illegal manipulations.

Given the environment of too many sales pitches, the new hustle is the non-hustle. That is, selling by not selling.

Professionals looking for jobs, more business for their enterprises, and continued business from current clients/customers have to learn the non-hustle. 

The non-hustle represents a combination two things. 

One is a simple, concrete statement of fact. Professionals tell potential employers and prospects for their products and services, "Here is what we can do for you."

The other is to then back off with, "Think about it and, if you decide we can get the results you need, we're always here."

This also entails the growing practice of ridding the list of clients of problematic ones. That goes back to the Pareto Rule that 80% of revenue comes from 20% of the client base. Identify that 20% and purge work days and nights intended for sleep of extreme agita. 

It's almost as if the world of professionalism has become phobic about being sold to. When prospects sense that is happening they begin to panic. 

I did just that early this week. A social acquaintance first praised my post on Medium. Then, that graphic arts expert pitched how I could improve my use of visual supports. I chose to be polite, but with attitude. I thanked that vendor for the offer of help and noted that it was not my graphic skills which brought in new business. 

Meanwhile, more and more of us are blocking those making blatant sales pitches. 

We sell by not selling. Instead we position and package ourselves as being results-providers who are always available for those who find our services useful. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

At 59, Barbie Rebrands, Returns to Hot in Digital Era - Important Lessons for All Aging Refusing to Retire

Mattel, after a lousy quarter, is cutting its global workforce by more than 2,000. But, Bloomberg reports, there is growth area in its product line.

That's the 59-year-old Barbie. 

During Q2, sales were up 12%. That's primarily because of how the company repositioned and repackaged her. Incidentally, so many of us aging employees, contract workers, and business owners are doing the same thing: rebranding so that we don't have to retire.

The new pitch for Barbie is that she is a useful tool for child development. The time spent with Barbie, versus with a digital gadget, provides the opportunity for the child to play. And play, as we all remember from Psych 101, is an essential part of maturation.

Think tanks and plain-vanilla consultants will be penning case studies how Barbie has managed to return as relevant in a digital marketplace. Those over-50 struggling with finding, holding, and moving on to better work can learn from all this.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.