I remember, by the way, the stories in that AARP magazine – about burial insurance and finding places to dump RV waste. Certainly nothing of interest to us.

During the intervening nine and one-half years online, BoomerCafé has shared hundreds of stories written by baby boomers with active lifestyles, and our audience has grown. We’ve learned a lot about the boomer generation and have become experts, I suppose. Baby boomers are a diverse and independent crowd but share a common trait of being suspicious of anything “pushed” at them. Baby boomers are also America’s most affluent group. But, you’ve got to win their respect to get their support.

AARP and few other organizations have made attempts … but have never quite succeeded at reaching the 77-million baby boomers in America, most likely because they are not subtle at either pushing or winning trust. Neither have marketers.

PR agencies, such as Fleishman and Edelman, have formed small groups in an attempt to connect their clients with boomers but their efforts have been inhibited by their overriding goal of selling more time to their clients rather than genuinely learning how to connect with the baby boomer audience.

Greg and I have, over the years, resisted suggestions to turn BoomerCafé into a site to shill products at baby boomers, even though we are convinced the site would be a unique platform for any pharmaceutical, insurance or retirement company to connect with a sizable boomer audience. For that to happen, however, marketers for those outfits must change their style from pushing to connecting.

I think it’s the hardest thing for any marketer or PR person to comprehend. In today’s world, pushing products and services is far more expensive and far less effective than connecting, listening and engaging audiences in conversation. The latter is today’s style of the Internet Era.

Speaking of the Internet Era, I’ve just finished publishing a book, “The Media Savvy Leader,” and an accompanying ebook with a lot of ideas for leaders and business owners to get a competitive edge in today’s challenging world. The book is available at Amazon.com. The ebook is now available for free download by clicking here.

And, your thoughts and comments about BoomerCafé are always welcome and appreciated. Just click on Comments at the beginning and end of this story.

David Henderson
Co-founder and publisher, BoomerCafé

It’s estimated that more than 16 million Americans face the financial challenge of balancing their own financial needs with those of their families. The stress of all these responsibilities may be putting you at risk for fraud. So how can you protect yourself while maintaining your children and parents? A new program from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA)—the oldest organization dedicated to investor protection—offers a series of financial check-ups to help you get your financial footing.

“Nearly half of those in the Sandwich Generation don’t have enough money to finance their own retirement but consider paying for their children’s college tuition a parental responsibility, all while juggling the rising costs of care for their parents,” said NASAA President and Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph.

Joseph noted that many members of the Sandwich Generation don’t realize that the financial security of their children and parents can ultimately affect their own financial situation. “When you combine that fact with the reality that we are all living longer, you’re looking at millions of stressed families across America,” he said. “We’re concerned that this stress may make the Sandwich Generation more susceptible to fraud, depleting the financial resources they need to maintain their families.”

These facts prompted NASAA to “Sandwich Generation: Caught in the Middle” outreach program to offer adults sandwiched in the middle of competing financial responsibilities the resources to conduct a “Financial Check-up” in the following areas: Your Children, You and Your Parents. NASAA members also are available to conduct free presentations to help the Sandwich Generation understand and meet the financial challenges they face. Download your free brochure at NASAA’s Sandwich Generation Resource center here.

The website is basically Yahoo Answers for baby boomers. It does exactly what you’d expect it to do; users can sign up and ask questions, exchange information, ratings and reviews with their demographic peers about shopping, housing, travel, caring for elderly parents, and browse through directories for specific forum topics (e.g. financial advice). It’s hardly enough to stand out considering the plethora of other knowledge and social networks that already exist on the web that welcome people of all ages.

Click here to read more.