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Gray Power Geek

You can teach an old dog new tricks!

Anyone who stops learning is old, at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Henry Ford.

Gray Is Great!

Baby Boomers and the Internet

You hear it more and more in the news, on TV talk shows and on radio: "Baby boomers are changing the face of society!". They're right. We're a force to be reckoned with, in most areas of society but, we still haven't really embraced one of the most powerful tools of the modern age: the Web.

I built this website to convince you, my fellow-boomers, to join me on the Internet bandwagon in order to give to the next generations the benefits of our accumulated wisdom (that sounds so stuffy!) but having fun and making some money at the same time.

P.S. If you're not an American you may raise an eyebrow at the use of gray rather than grey throughout this website. My research tells me that both are acceptable in English, although grey is in use mostly outside of the U.S. So, like any normal Canadian, I've decided to pander to the wider audience. That's business! I hope that you're not offended.



Let's talk about me!

The Gray Geek

My name is Mike. I was born in March 1949, in the early stages of the baby boom. I have a wife, two grown sons, a home in the city and a country cottage. I did have a dog for many years but he died and we tore down the white picket fence a few years ago.

I've had two careers over the past 35 or so years. For the last 25 years I've been a teacher. My job is interesting and challenging and I enjoy it but I will retire anyway in 18 months because I've got a third career to launch.

All in all, I'd say I could be the poster-boy for the baby boomer generation, except that I don't play golf.

And I'm a geek.

But I'm not apologizing. According to Wikipedia (the geek bible), the term "geek" has many definitions, most of them somewhat flattering. I choose to put myself into the one that refers to "intellectual" and "technology". Therefore, with the graying hair and the computers, I guess I'm a "gray geek" as opposed to all the "young geeks" that you hear about all the time.

I discovered the Internet around 1996, when it was still very young, and I've been a huge fan ever since. And several years ago I started to learn Internet Marketing as a hobby. Well, the hobby has become more and more consuming because it's so much fun!

This website is the fruit of my efforts and studies in Web design, Marketing and the Internet over the past few years and I want to spread the word to all boomers who care to listen.

At this point I must warn you that I will try to convert you to geekdom. If you feel that that is too deep for you or that your golf game will suffer as a result, stop reading right now!



What about you?

You are a baby boomer professional approaching retirement or recently retired. You've got some time on your hands, a few hours a week, and you'd like to do something useful and interesting with it.

You've had a full career, possibly with several specialties. You learned a lot but you feel sort of sad that most of that experience you worked so hard to acquire won't be of use to anyone after you're gone. If only they knew what you've finally figured out about such and such ...

Also, it's possible that your retirement income is not exactly what you hoped it would be at this point. Could you use an extra few hundred dollars or euros a month? It might pay the green fees with a few beers afterwards and then some ....

Having a hobby would be nice. Isn't it time to let your artistic side show? You can be a creative writer, illustrator, communicator or teacher, all at the same time while doing something that's fun and profitable.



Now, here's the Plan ...

Gray Power usually refers to the influence of citizens aged 55 and over in social and political circles.

Let's show them that when it comes to technology and the Internet, we gray folks can also wield POWER because we possess the most valuable currency in the Internet Age - we possess knowledge!

As you approach retirement after many years in your chosen field, you are sitting on a gold mine of information, whether you know it or not. The Internet is hungry for that knowledge! In Internet terms that knowledge you can teach others is called "content". Good content is a valuable resource. Google, Yahoo! and others are eager to get you to show your content on the Web.

I will teach you how to convert your valuable knowledge into valuable content. You will build a website to showcase your expertise on the Web and at the end of the process you'll be a Webmaster and you'll have entered Geekdom. How's that for a conversation with the grandkids next Christmas!

Don't worry! It's not really hard. I'll guide you through a series of step-by-step lessons. And there's nothing to buy. This is not a scam to get you to invest. Yes, there will eventually be an expense - it will cost you about $50 a year for a website - but you don't buy that from me.

What do I get out of it? The same thing you will after I teach you how - revenue from advertising, like any newspaper. And also, I hope to get you to send people to my website and I'll send some to yours. That's it. We set up a loose network of like-minded individuals who have a common hobby, we exchange leads and we make some money along the way.

Now, if you want to look at the rest of it, go to the Lessons area.

If you decide that this is not for you and you'll take a pass, that's perfectly OK. Goodbye! Have a nice retirement! And look us up on the Web sometime!