Mary Furlong's "Turning Silver Into Gold"

Dr. Mary Furlong is an academic, entrepreneur marketer, and author. Most importantly she is an expert on the baby boomer demographic and "Turning Silver Into Gold" is her comprehensive and authoritative tome on how to reach and be received by baby boomers.

In addition to marketers who are the obvious target of the book, "Turning Silver" is an excellent read for those in midlife who are thinking of starting their own business but unsure where to start. Step one, of course, is having a good idea for a business that serves a large, growing, untapped market.

Furlong's book details how increases in longevity from improved self-care, medical advancements, and boomer's wealth is creating an entirely new phase of living for the 70+ million baby boomers (a "bonus" round of life so to speak). This immense and wealthy market is largely untapped market for entrepreneurs and there are hundreds if not thousands of opportunities for new businesses to cater to it.

Baby boomers aren't just living longer but they want different products and experiences than their parents did. This means that even existing industries with established competitors are susceptible to new entrants. The same way that the sudden rise of the Internet in the 90s allowed entrepreneurs to compete against mature companies, the changing face of aging being driven by baby boomers is creating similar opportunities for new businesses. But these opportunities won't last forever and the boomer market land rush is well underway. For example, in the relatively narrow field of baby boomer social media networks (think MySpace for Boomers), there are no less than ten new companies battling it out.

In addition to marketers and would-be entrepreneurs, "Turning Silver Into Gold" is simply a good read for those interested in better understanding the world around them. I just read a book about the rise of Gatorade even though I have no intention of launching a sports drink company. I was simply interested in the back story of the company and evidently others are as well as it became a top seller. For those interested in the back story of a generation and insight into how the world is changing because of it will find similarly find "Turning Silver" an enjoyable and informative read.

Amazon link: Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace