Over 50 and loving it Boomerful website emphasizes zestful living

By Michael Romkey, Staff writer

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Photo: Mike Romkey
When Nancy Nehlsen wants to take a break from running Nehlsen Communication, a Quad-Cities public relations and marketing company with clients throughout the United States, she likes to spend time writing for Boomerful, her Web site aimed at women 50 and older.

MICHAEL ROMKEY: Tell me about your Website for women 50 and older.

NANCY NEHLSEN: It’s called Boomful. At first we called it “Well Past 50,” but we had women tell us, “I’m not well past 50; I’m 40, and I love your site.” So we decided to call it Boomerful instead to include everybody in that age group. It is a website that offers advice on a number of topics for women who are generally past 50. There are articles, some slices-of-life articles I’ve written about my life and issues that I see of importance, things that I want to say to other women.

We also have a panel of experts on the site. One of our experts, Michael Bruce, was on the “Today Show” last weekend talking about sleep problems in older people. We have an anti-aging doctor from Oak Brook. We have image consultants from Chicago. We have several well-known people who are published authors, psychologists, anti-aging experts who have books out on the aging process.

MR: What made you think the world needed a Website aimed at Baby Boomer women?

NN:. I got the idea a couple of years ago because so many friends in my age group were all talking about the same things. Some of these things were a shock to us, good and bad. I had several friends who were leaving their husbands or going back to school and starting new lives for themselves because the kids were gone and they were having opportunities they hadn’t had before. Also, there were physical changes. For a while every day there would be something new. Someone would come in and say, “Have you noticed the chicken skin on your neck?” And we would all sit around and talk about it.

I realized this is an age we sort of come back to a camaraderie we haven’t had since our teenage years, because we all got busy with our families and went in separate directions. Now, at this age, women are really getting together and talking about the issues that they face.

I have women who write to me for advice. A lady just e-mailed me a couple of days ago to ask if I thought it was too late for her to start a business. She’s been a nurse all her life, and she wondered if it was even possible for her to start a business as a florist. People who write in, I will help them or help them get access to experts.

MR: So people from all over the country are looking at the site?

NN: I have a gal in Hawaii who e-mails me regularly. We have people from all over who contact us for information.

MR: How do you experts willing to answer questions on the site?

NN: Some of the experts we reached out to because we knew we needed somebody in that area to help us. Others have come to us because they have books out there, there want to promote themselves, and they asked us to be on our panel of experts.

MR: What are the main features visitors will find at Boomerful?

NN: We have videos, for one thing. We have videos of different procedures. Laser treatments, Botox treatments, so women can see exactly what they’re getting themselves into.

We have videos of other things besides procedures. We have a gal in one of the videos who is not my age but close, and she looks fantastic. She stays that way with salsa dancing. She encourages people to get into something they enjoy, something they have a passion for. Exercise isn’t fun if you’re just exercising because you should. We encourage people to find an activity that’s right for them.

Besides the videos, we have articles in the blog part of the site, things that I’ve written. We have the panel of experts where you can go and ask questions. And of course, people can post comments about any part of the site.

People submit articles and books for review, and we direct people to other sites.

MR: In your other life, you run a PR agency.

NN: Marketing and PR. We have a video department. We have an excellent web designer and graphic designers. Excellent writers. … This is our 35th year I business.

MR: So you knew you had all the horsepower to get it the job done when you decided to launch the site.

NN: We have people to do the design and pitch in and do the work, and we have excellent contacts after years in the business. It was probably easier for us than if somebody from out of the blue would just decide to launch a site like this.

Boomerful is kind of a diversion. For the last seven years, a lot of our business has been in the union construction arena. We really enjoy that, but it’s a very male dominated business, and it can be a little dry. We have clients all over the country, and we love working with them, but as with anything it becomes kind of the same thing all of the time, even though we’re always trying to come up with new ideas.

This was a little bit of a diversion, a fun project to work on. Everybody in the office helps, and they love coming up with articles and ideas. It keeps us all having a good time at something other than the day to day.

Michael Romkey is Q-C Leader editor.

Boomerful

www.boomerful.com

Boomerful.com is Baby Boomer oriented Website featuring sections on beauty, fashion, fitness, sex and spirituality issues and discussions on aging well and living healthy.

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