Update for friends following my business journey because a few of you have asked: “How’s Wiserr going, I see you’re back designing again?”
The best thing for Wiserr is for me to become a teacher.
I didn’t think this at the beginning. I thought the biggest barrier for over 40s, 50s & 60’s to create a business was not having a clear path to setting up online. When I did a bunch of customer development it was always about not knowing where to start.
But after building the platform and guiding many people through the start, I’ve realised that it’s more than just getting set up online.
Most of the people are providing services that they are highly skilled in. That’s not the issue either.
The biggest struggles have been:
- branding & marketing themselves in a way that gets business;
- getting them to say (in words!) what they do (in public!) and;
- finding the work.
If I want to reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship and freelance work for over 40s, 50s & 60s, these are the struggles that need to be addressed.
To do that, I have been upskilling heavily in this area. But I know that to guide anyone through this part of the journey…I have to do it myself.
So it’s time for me to step back from the platform for a bit and go back to doing what my craft: designing brand identities for businesses with heart.
Besides a few bits and pieces (Peak Persona, RFG), I haven’t worn my designer hat for a while.
I’m basically starting from scratch (I mean I have the skills but I’m building up my client base again), just like most of the people on the Wiserr platform. And, from scratch, I’m going to show that it can be done.
This means that I’ll eventually be able to go back into Wiserr, not just as the person who runs the marketplace, but as someone who can show them how to brand, market and create work for themselves.
In the meantime, Wiserr is still working well as a self-service site where anyone over 40, 50 & 60+ can set up shop. There’s an email sequence to get them set up and a terrific guide to creating an about page (a free mini-course actually). I’ll also be documenting bits of my journey through Facebook lives on the Wiserr page.
If you’ve read to here, thank you. And I have a few asks:
1. If you need a brand identity with heart, message me and let’s do a coffee or call. I’d love to talk about how I can help.
2. If you would love to delight your child a great no-screen activity, please check out the pen-friend starter pack that I’m giving away (link in comments).
3. If you know someone who is over 40, 50 & 60+ and wants to start a service-based business, send them to the Wiserr website (link in comments) to set up an online presence.
Thanks again for being part of my journey.
I look forward to talking to you soon.
