Our friend Jeff Williams of Bizstarters is taking his act on the road, with a series of “Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Workshops” York, Chicago and Boston this June.

“We’ve learned from working with hundreds of Boomer entrepreneurs that many just want to run their business part-time and so are looking for a quick, easy way to launch,” says Williams. “We’ve spent more than a year designing a one day workshop and follow up coaching group to get our Boomer clients open for business quickly”.

The seminar is designed for individuals who have a pre-existing business idea and who want to be well on their way to launching their business at the end of the one day workshop.

Details and registration information on the workshop can be found here

For all the talk about the importance of fitness to Boomers, the big U.S.-based gyms do precious little to attract them. Clubs in big cities like Bally focus strictly on buff 20-somethings in their ads, and adamantly refuse to target the 50+ market, which has the motivation and money to work out. They’re following the age-old marketing adage of the auto industry, to wit: you can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but not the other way around. Now, Associated Press reports, niche gym operators are springing up to serve the 50+ and senior markets. Players include Healthfit, Club 50 and Nifty after Fifty. Some of these outfits are franchises, in case you’re thinking of tapping into the midlife bulge market.

Earlier this month, I wrote about the rapid growth of social networking at Eons. That site’s business model calls for developing large-scale traffic and advertising revenue. But smaller networking sites serving Boomer interests are thriving, too. A case in point is Boomer Women Speak, started by Dotsie Bregel 2002. The site’s mission: to “help women live their passions” at midlife. Boomer Women Speak has about 2,000 members, 60 lively forums and thousands of posts. The most popular areas: marriage, single life, grandchildren and travel. Faith-oriented discussions also are crowded, Bregel says. “Women are embracing these forums because of the anonymity. Some don’t care about that, but others have a screen name. So women will post comments like, “I haven’t even told my best friend this . . .but here’s what’s going on—what do you think?” In late 2005, Bregel decided to extend beyond the free discussion forums, starting up a paid-subscriber association for professional Boomer Women looking for services beyond online conversation. The National Association of Baby Boomer Women provides professional networking, visibility and public relations services and discounts on services for its 425 members.

The Boomer Venture Summit is a great place to gain insights on entrepreneurial trends, and the types of start-up companies that appeal to Silicon Valley venture capitalists. The June 19 event is sponsored by the Executive Development Center at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business and Mary Furlong & Associates. A highlight of the event each year is the $10,000 Business Plan Competition, which is open to early-stage companies developing products and services for the 40+ market. Companies that make it to the final round are judged by a panel that includes Silicon Valley venture capitalists and other experts in the field, with one prize given for the best general business plan, and a second for the best health care-related plan. I’ll be serving as a screening judge this year.

You can find the entry form here. If you’re interested in attending, registration information is here.

Today I’m joining the ranks of industry experts at Small Business Trends, a respected website run by entrepreneur Anita Campbell. Anita’s experts contribute articles on trends affecting entrepreneurs; my first article examines Internet usage trends among 50+ Americans, and where entrepreneurs can find opportunities in the online market.

Boomer Internet adoption is nearly as high as the overall U.S. population. About 70 percent of adults age 50-64 are online, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That’s 12 percentage points lower than younger age groups. However, the gap will close as younger Boomers age into the 50+ market. And, as overall Internet audience composition gets more gray, we’ll see more use of cutting edge digital applications by 50+ users, including social networking, audio and video and blogs. Companies with the right content and business strategies will find plenty of opportunity to serve 50+ audiences, and the article discusses some of the most promising niches for for online launches.

Matt Dickman offers observations on the importance of targeting Boomers online at his Techno//Marketer site, including statistics from a recent study of online usage trends by JWT/Boom.

I’m interviewed in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch about the startup of 50+Digital and the general landscape for 50+ Americans considering business start-ups. Chip Jones, the Times-Dispatch writer who talked with me, is a sharp business reporter there who is just getting going on the 50+ beat. You can read the interview here.