First Steps to Build an Encore Career

Since the re-brand of Creating Your Encore Career, I’ve talked a lot about Encore Careers. I’ve explained what they are and why we need them in this day and age. 

In case you need a recap on why you should consider starting an Encore Career, let me remind you that 20% of people are over the age of 60 today. By 2034, more people will be over the age of 65 than under the age of 18. Therefore, older people are essential to the full functioning of our economy.

So, how do we actually make an Encore Career a reality? Today, I want to get into the specifics of how to start one and share the eight steps to building your Encore Career, as inspired by my good friend and mentor Mike Kim.

 

The Eight Steps

 

In his book, You Are The Brand, Mike Kim shares eight steps to building a brand. These can be applied to creating an Encore Career as well. The eight steps are:

 

1. Point of View

2. Personal Stories

3. Platform

4. Positioning

5. Products

6. Pricing

7. Pitch

8. Partners

 

Good Questions to Ask

 

When you are first starting this 8-step process, you need to ask yourself questions. Your answers will help you determine who you will help and what your Encore Career will look like. 

Two main questions are:

  • Who am I? 

  • What am I doing here?

 

Mike Kim’s PB3 is another method for figuring out who you are meant to help in this world. It includes three questions to ask yourself to determine what your Encore Career will look like. 

1. What pisses you off?

2. What breaks your heart?

3. What big problem will you solve?

 

My Journey

 

My own Encore Career journey has been going on for seven years now. In 2015, I attended the Permission to Prosper conference with Ray Edwards, Mike Kim, Jody Maberry, Andy Traub, and Steve Kurti. Then, I attended Jonathan Milligan’s camp 7 Streams of Income. From there, I began consulting in the manufacturing business and consulted with the Chamber of Commerce. 

My Encore Career journey took many twists and turns from here. In 2017, I got help from a Virtual Assistant, in 2018 I joined a training program for coaching on emotional intelligence, in 2019 I began this podcast, in 2021 I did a public webinar, and in 2022 I attended an MEA online event.

On episode 143 of the podcast, I get into more of the details of this process. Tune in there to learn more!