Online Business For Over 50s

What is the best online business for over 50s and why should you even look at an online business at this stage of your life. It seems that everyone is talking about all sorts of great opportunities and all you need is a mobile phone….

I am not sure about that but I do know that working online is something that everyone should at least consider as there are so many different opportunities available and anyone can access them. But if you are like me and you spent your whole working life in a different industry the idea of starting a business online seems completely alien and it was even difficult to figure out where to start. Once you start looking you will realize that a lot of your current skills and experience mean that you have almost everything you need for a lot of these businesses.

Why Should I Consider An Online Business

When I hit my fifties I realized that even though the government keep putting the retirement age up I was suddenly getting a lot nearer to retirement and even though I had a good job I hadn’t prepared as well as I should have (lots of reasons why but mainly because we moved country in our 30’s and almost started again). I realized that I would be able to retire but not in the way that I wanted to so I started looking for what I could do to keep me active in my retirement but also generate a bit of extra income. When I looked into it working online seemed to be an obvious choice for a few reasons.

• Flexibility: Online work often allows for greater flexibility in terms of work hours and location. You can choose when and where you work, making it easier to balance work with other responsibilities such as family commitments, hobbies, or personal pursuits.
• Access to Global Opportunities: The internet enables you to work with people anywhere in the world, expanding your business opportunities beyond geographical limitations. It also opens up a range of job options that may not be available locally. It also gives you access to several billion customers that you probably don’t have in your local area.
• Lower Overhead Costs: Starting an online business or working remotely can be done with very little costs compared to traditional businesses.
• Opportunities for Skill Development: Online work often involves using digital tools and platforms, providing opportunities for skill development in areas such as digital marketing, remote collaboration, and technology proficiency. These skills are really useful and actually easy to learn.

What Sort of Online Businesses Can I Do

A lot of people in their 50s seem to think that you need to be a computer whizz to run an online business and don’t realize that being online just gives you the chance to do what you are good at anyway but with more people. Many of the best online businesses actually need the skills that you have spent years developing.

• Online Coaching or Consulting: Many people over 50 have accumulated valuable expertise and experience throughout their careers. Many people will pay for this knowledge through online coaching or consulting services. This could include business consulting, career coaching, life coaching, financial planning, or even health and wellness coaching. Offering this online allows you to coach people anywhere in the world

• E-commerce Store: You might want to open a shop, why not open an eShop instead. You can sell products related to your hobbies, interests, or expertise. For instance, if you love gardening, you could sell gardening tools, plants, or related accessories online. E-commerce platforms like Shopify or Etsy make it relatively easy to set up and manage an online store.
• Online Tutoring or Teaching: Very similar to online Coaching but aimed at education, there is a growing demand for online tutors and instructors across a wide range of subjects. Especially in academic subjects such as languages or even skills like photography or coding. Platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, or Chegg Tutors provide opportunities to reach a global audience.
• Freelancing: Freelancing is basically just being self-employed and offering your skills for hire online. There is a huge demand online in areas such as writing, graphic design, web development, virtual assistance, or project management. Websites like Upwork, Freelancer, or Fiverr connect freelancers with people that are looking for the service that you can provide. They are basically like dating apps for business people, a business has a need for someone with certain skills, you have the skills they need and you use the various apps to connect and offer your services.

• Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is simply promoting someone elses products, if you manage to convince a customer to buy these products then you will earn a commission from the supplier. You are basically their marketing department and rather than doing their own marketing many companies will pay online affiliate marketers to do it for them. It can be done on social media, through product reviews or you could even start your own blog website.

All of the above are good options for starting an online business but my preferred business is Affiliate Marketing, I liked this as at the time I felt my interests were the same as millions of other people and sharing my experience (I have a lot as I am in my 50s) was a good way to connect with other people online.

Do I Have The Skills to Start An Online Business

Based on what I have learned over the last months and years, starting an online business needs two different types of skills.

1. Knowledge and experience – I realized that I have a lot more experience than many other people so I already have half of what I need
2. Technical Skills – Yes you do need some technical skills and this is the part that I think puts most people off. The funny thing is that this part is the easiest to learn, it is much easier to learn some new technical skills than to try and fast track the experience and knowledge that you have built up over the last 35 years in work and life.

So what are the technical skills that you will need to have or learn?

• Content Creation: Creating content is a really useful skill and involves writing articles, creating social media posts and even videos. Quality content is essential for driving traffic to your website or online platform. But creating content is also something that virtually anyone can do, if you enjoy writing about a certain topic why not create a blog website. There is really good demand online for information on almost every topic from travel, cooking, DIY projects, personal development or even retirement planning.
• Digital Marketing: This sounds like a really modern term but is actually just about marketing on digital platforms. This involves learning the best ways to promote the content you have created on various different platforms such as email marketing, using Google or on social media like Facebook etc. These are skills which are not that complicated and can definitely be learned.
• Website Development and Design: Building a professional-looking website is necessary for many online businesses and I am sure sounds like the most daunting of tasks if you have no experience in it, but this is not something that you have to learn really technical skills as there are platforms that will manage this for you. Hosting platforms like WordPress will essentially allow you to pick a theme and show you how to populate the various sections making the whole process much easier than you would ever think
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Understanding how search engines like Google or Bing present information is a really important skill to learn as this is a skill you will use to promote your online business and get more customers. This is another skill that can easily be learned now as there are programs and tutorials all over the internet to guide you through this. All you will need is an internet connection and lots of time to learn.
• Basic Graphic Design: This is really part of content creation as you will need to develop some skills in basic design skills for creating website logos, website graphics, social media visuals, and other promotional materials. Apart from learning this skill there are loads of packages like Visme or Piktochart that can help you create professional-looking designs.

Remember, you don’t need to become an expert in all these areas overnight, you have your experience and you just need to start learning the basics that are most relevant and then keep working to improve your skills over time.

If learning these new skills sounds daunting then there are lots of online communities where you can learn all the skills you need and build your online business at the same time. Please beware that there are many that are not very nice people and will just look to take your hard earned money from you but there are many that are really good value and are perfect for beginners like you and me. My favourite platform is Wealthy Affiliate as they have all of the tools you need, you can learn all the skills outline above and they have a great community of like minded people that you can learn form and lean on for support.

Where Is The Best Place To Learn – Wealthy Affiliate

There are lots of different platforms online that will guide you through the process of building an online business, some are good, some are bad and you are more than welcome to experiment and look at them all. I personally recommend Wealthy Affiliate as that is who I used and still do, I find it to be a really supportive platform that has taught me so much and introduced me to lots of really helpful people. I was 53 when I wanted to learn about online businesses and needed a platform that catered for beginners, Wealthy Affiliate does that and was more than I ever expected. I did a full review on Wealthy Affiliate but the main benefits are:

Free Starter Membership – This was the most important thing for me to start with as I was very skeptical about paying online. You can set up a completely FREE starter membership and get access to the platform and basic learning to see if you like it and if you want to stay. Many people in the Wealthy Affiliate community have been there for over 15 years so they must be doing something right.

Beginner Training Package – The learning element really caters for complete beginners and was perfect for me as I genuinely had no clue about where to even start. You will learn all the skills outlined above and more

Step by Step guide – The first thing you will notice is the step by step guide walking you through the process of setting up your business

Full Set of Tools – Every tool you will need from website hosting to SEO research tools are provided with your membership

If you are interested in starting an online business and are a beginner like I was then I would recommend using a partner program to get started, you are more than welcome to try a different one but if you want to try Wealthy Affiliate click below to get your FREE Starter Membership.

 Remember that age is just a number and it is never too late to learn something new, starting an online business is the perfect way to start preparing for your retirement. I hope this article was useful and good luck with your online journey. If you have questions or feedback please feel free to leave a comment below

Pete