That's the title of Laura Petrecca's article in USA Today, but actually it's by no means just about "older" Americans: the stats indicate it's "just-plain American" (of all ages) who are starting new businesses, electing self-employment, and otherwise going off on their own as consultants, free-agents, and the like. Here are some of the key numbers on self-employment from that article:
Continue reading “Never too late to start a business,” USA Today
The nature of work may be changing, suggests Michael Luo in The New York Times, as work may be "becoming more temporary and project-based, with workers increasingly functioning as free agents and no longer being governed by traditional long-term employer-employee relationships."
Michael Sinclair, featured in the article, speaking of his role as an independent contractor in the
Continue reading Independent contractors, consultants, free agents: article in New York Times
Came on this in yesterday's Washington Post, an article about a recent (20 years ago) college grad, Jim Garland, who started out "working for a medical supplies company selling badges that
measure radiation emitted from X-ray machines.
"It was all cold calls,"
One of the old-line sales mantras is "Think positive."
Well, on that point,
Continue reading 5 Ways to Become an Optimist. And, Joining Miracles
Yeah, it surprised me, too, to read that in what I'd long viewed as the ultra-liberal, pro-big-government New York Times.
But it wasn't really the Times speaking, rather it was Tom Friedman, one of the Times' most savvy and open-minded columnists.
Just what IS a buying signal?
A buying signal is some kind of often subtle signal that the mood has shifted and the other person is now ready to agree . . . or at least to be open to what you propose.
In other words, a "buying signal" may signal readiness to . . .
Buying signals from the gatekeeper or screen: What kinds of cues should you be alert for? (For the record, gatekeeper and screen are usually interchangeable terms, and may apply to anyone from the guard at the gate, to the secretary, to the Decision Maker's personal assistant.)
Continue reading Buying signals gatekeeper: cues to be alert for
I collect management consultant jokes. Most are funny, some are all-too-true. Like this one: "Question,
Continue reading Consultant, or interim executive: interesting article on the difference
"Starting over at 55" — title of the article by Stephen Greenhouse, part of a New York Times special section on retirement.
Some interesting case studies on early retirees who used their skills and experience to start-up new
Continue reading “People 55 and Older Start Own Businesses in Growing Numbers,” NYTimes
"Contingent workers—including part-timers, free-lancers, and contractors— consistently make up about 30 percent of the [American] workforce between 1996 and 2005. . . [and] . . . that number may be higher next time they measure."
— That's from a Newsweek article by Linda Stern.
Continue reading “Jobs—are freelance and part-time gigs the future?” Newsweek asks