Various government programs have been put in place to help mature age workers upskill in their field of expertise, or in a new field. And they are to be lauded for that initiative. Gaining skills on using computers, or keeping up to date on legislation relevant to your area of expertise, is a given.

But if you REALLY want to stand apart from the crowd and become a member of the mature age ‘In-Demand’ generation, you need to develop additional skills. The upside is that when you do, you become a very ‘marketable’ commodity. And THAT makes it easier to get the sort of work you enjoy.

What are some of these additional skills? Here’re the key ones. Some may appear obvious, but that doesn't make them any less relevant to your future income stream:

• Positioning skills, so that you can position yourself from a position of strength, and ensure you get the terms and conditions and fee level that reflects your true worth. If you don’t have these skills, be prepared to learn them.
• Presentation skills that make prospects lean forward and listen. It makes sense, doesn’t it? You may have something of immense value to offer a company or organisation but you don’t know how to articulate it and present it, it’ll simply go undiscovered.
• Networking and relationship building skills. If you’re not an ‘out there’ personality type, you may shudder at the thought of joining networking breakfast clubs or making business contacts. But let’s be honest, if you are serious about ‘marketing’ your skills, get used to the fact that you will need to gradually build a contact list of 20 or 50 people or more. Actually, it’s not as hard as it may appear. This contact list could be former employers or colleagues, (so don’t burn your bridges!). People who can refer you on to others, or engage you when they need your expertise. If you can’t do this relationship building, your chances of success suffer proportionally.
• Nurturing skills. This is your ability to nurture relationships by ‘regularly touching base’ with them. For example, if someone refers you to another person, you have to be disciplined in acknowledging that gesture. Whether by a brief phone call of thanks, a note, or a gift basket, (or ALL of these). Your nurturing ‘system’ is going to become a seam of gold as you develop your contact base.
• Acquiring a Mindset of Pre-eminence. Pre-eminence is a wonderful term used by our US colleague, Jay Abraham. In short, pre-eminence is the state of being ‘highly distinguished or outstanding’. And it starts with you. If you don’t have an absolute unshakeable belief in yourself that you are indeed pre-eminent in your field, no one else will. That doesn’t mean you have to go out and get a PhD. It does mean being able to use your knowledge and skills to add value to others in a measurable way … and to KNOW with confidence that you can do it!
• ‘Packaging’ skills. We encouraged a client with a small business in home brewing to write a BOOK on the subject and to distribute it free amongst the home brew community. It made him a superstar! You don’t need to publish a book, (although with the ease of writing an ‘e-book’, you could). There’re dozens of simple ways to achieve this ‘authority status’ through packaging your expertise and distributing it.
• Selling skills. Selling is one of THE most misunderstood skills and understandably one some more ‘technical’ people shy away from. However selling in its true form is NOT HARD. Because true professional selling is simply this … ‘Helping someone to find the right solution for their need, and helping them make informed decisions to buy’. When you understand that true selling is about ethically adding value, it opens up some very exciting possibilities. (Could there be a whole new business here for you, once you really understand how to do this?)

This list isn’t exhaustive. But I trust it’ll give you an idea of just some of the less understood and less practised skills that will set you apart in the ‘age of experience’, as a well paid and respected expert in your field. Almost no one DOES these things! When you do, you’re in the box seat.

If you're interested in developing your skills in creating work opportunities, you may want to consider enrolling in the Age of Experience Network online course: "How to Build Your SELF-EMPLOYED CONSULTANT Business"

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