Regardless if I want to be, I know that I am part of the next paradigm shift, along with many others. Much of this has to do with being a part of the babyboomer generation. Without a doubt we will be the first generation unable to avail ourselves of over promised social programs, government entitlements, and corporate funded retirement. All you have to do is watch the news. Every day down-sizing, corporate lay-offs, overseas outsourcing, and business and factory closings sound the alarm loud and clear. Part of the curse is being too analog in a digital world. Probably unlike most other babyboomers though, I have throughout my life taken the road less traveled. Perhaps giving me an edge. Not that it is any kind of competition. Over the years I have been self employed as an artist, writer, marketing consultant, teacher, and a full-time investor among other things. In the mid 90s I had my own personal paradigm shift after reading many books on emerging technology, including Megatrends by John Naisbitt, and Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte. I saw the warning signs, but did not take action. My takeaway from ongoing research is that most of us struggle, trying to straddle the analog and digital worlds that we all occupy and desperately want to claim more space in. I now find myself once again analyzing my life and reinventing myself. Even though I have skill sets, I know that I am probably too old and not of the temperament to get back to the trenches of the corporate world, and probably could not, even if I wanted to. This has lead me to the conclusion that I will have to embrace technology and apply it to what I know, which happens to be marketing. At first glance marketing online appeared to me to be worlds apart from the familiar offline marketing that I cut my teeth on.

My first conclusions after researching online business opportunities, buying countless ebooks, and subscribing to numerous newsletters and ezines, was that most all of it was bogus regurgitated MLM, network marketing, and worthless Ponzi schemes. Yes, the Internet is chocked full of get rich quick dreams. It initially appeared to me that the only legitimate and viable options were eBay auctions, blogs, and affiliate marketing. Not quite true. Upon further analysis the Internet really is like the offline world - retail, wholesale, goods and services - and each of these can be broken down into thousands of different marketing opportunities. So, the net effect (no pun intended) is that you have to learn a new set of skills and enter the world of email, browsers, autoresponders, SEO tactics, websites, adwords, online market research, and a working knowledge of all the other necessary technology and methodology that has been proven to work. Not to be cliché, but you cannot sell buggy whips when there are no buggies. The Internet is not the domain of mass marketing. It truly is an audience of "one". In the online world your prospects are seeking you out, not the other way around. I now know the core of Internet marketing boils down to three essential areas: Market Selection, Traffic, and Conversion. The most difficult thing is to find a legitimate mentor or coach. All my prior successful business experience has included this aspect of having someone to show me the ropes and point me in the right direction. My suggestion is to pay for coaching if you can afford it, if not, keep looking and you will eventually find an alternative. Keep taking action and do not give up. Once this is understood, you can acquire the necessary underlying skills to define markets, create traffic, and create income. Upon this realization, it will become obvious there is still plenty of opportunity online. What is the market potential? Estimating just the number of people online is almost impossible. However, Internet growth is believed to be exponential, increasing at an incredible rate. Some estimates place the number of Internet users between 400 and 800 million worldwide. This certainly presents opportunities not to be overlooked. My personal paradigm shift as a babyboomer has led me to embark on making a living online, being self sufficient with several "virtual" businesses, and eventually having the ability to travel and work from essentially anywhere on the planet. So, if you are a babyboomer, or even if you're not, the question is "Will you be a part of the next paradigm shift, the shift to going in business online?" 

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About the Author

Michael Beck writes on marketing and business related issues. You can learn more by visiting my blogs: http://soho-quest.blogspot.com/ and http://digital-nomads.blogspot.com/