You think you’ve become too old to start a new business. But here’s the thing: it’s never too late to start something new. As a Senior, it can be daunting to start up an online business. The Internet is filled with young people and you might not know where to turn for help. However, there are many internet marketing tips and tricks that can help you succeed online as a senior!
If you’re thinking of starting an online business, half the battle will involve you steering clear of the pitfalls… and the other half will be you doing what actually matters in your business, instead of running around in circles.
The brutal truth is that thousands of people come online in droves every single day with hopes of starting an online business. Unfortunately, most will fail.
The road to success in this business is narrow and the competition is fierce. You’ll need an “edge” to succeed, but how can you make sure that your edge doesn’t turn into a disadvantage?
In this blog post, we will discuss 9 internet marketing tips that will give you an advantage over everyone else and get you started on your journey of success.
1. Choose a proven business model
The first and MOST IMPORTANT tip you should be aware of is that you need to start a business based on a business model that works. Here are a few examples:
- Affiliate marketing
- Creating and selling info products
- Blogging
- Ecommerce
- Kindle publishing
- Domaining
- Flipping websites
- Freelancing
These are just some of the online business models that work.
First, it’s always easier to do what works than to conjure up an untested strategy of your own and test it out.
Secondly, choose a business model which gels with your innate talents and/or passion. For example, if you love to write, publishing books on the Kindle platform could prove to be very profitable for you…and a rewarding undertaking too. But if you’re more inclined towards graphics and art, you could become a freelancer and offer your graphic design services on sites like Fiverr or Upwork.
What matters is that you choose a business model that suits you (at least for the moment).
Example: I love to write. Hence, I decided to see how much money I could make writing books for the Kindle platform. To my surprise, not only did it prove profitable but also fun and fulfilling as well.
I’m now in the process of expanding this business model by writing more books on other topics that I’m passionate about.
As a matter of fact, my only intention is to position myself in the marketplace as an expert on certain topics – hence, I’m writing books on how to party well and plan others’ parties. This will soon make me an authority on those topics and will generate enough passive income streams for me to retire – although I have no intentions to retire at this point.
If your mind is made up, the next step is to do some research and then jump in.
2. Focus is everything
Follow one course until success. Once you pick your niche, you’ll stick with it no matter what – UNTIL you succeed. Nothing else distracts you. If you can do that, success will be inevitable.
Avoid Shiny object syndrome- The BIGGEST mistake many seniors make is that they look at tons of different offers and make money online schemes – and they want to be a part of it all. There’s even a term for this in the industry. They call it ‘shiny object syndrome. It’s what happens when people keep buying every offer that looks profitable.
Today, they’re buying a course on affiliate marketing. Tomorrow, they’re into dropshipping or print-on-demand. The next day, they’re creating a blog on a topic they know nothing about.
This ‘get rich quick’ promise lures them into buying some of the worst products, wasting their money and resources and in worse cases – substantial amounts of time.
Other times, it might be something like business ideas with no real substance to them. A lot of the time they’re just outright scams.
In a matter of time, they’re broke, overwhelmed and cynical of the entire industry. It happens to the young and old alike… and it happens ALL the time!
So avoid these online marketing myths and do what I did to get started!
3. Know your budget
Generally, seniors tend to be on a limited income. The first thing that you need to do is know your budget.
You absolutely must allocate a percentage of it to your marketing, no more and no less.
NEVER EVER spend more than you can afford in this business.
It’s extremely easy to run up debt. Thousands of people buy unnecessary products, courses, etc., and put it all on their credit cards hoping for quick profits to cover their costs.
In reality, the bills always come before the profits, and they come like clockwork.
Usually, the profits never materialize because the courses were unreliable and unnecessary in the first place. You must avoid this pitfall!
So, figure out how much you’re willing to spend on your marketing efforts. Once you know this number, you have a starting point for your budgeting and planning.
It’s better to start small and succeed while spending less than you budgeted for. If you spend more than your budget, then your chances of failing increase significantly.
Rather than making a big splash in the beginning, it might be wiser to make a small splash and build from there.
By starting small, you can really get a feel for what’s going on in the marketplace and see how well your marketing efforts are working.
After a few months of small successes, then you can increase your budget to try larger marketing campaigns (and more of them).
What will I need to start?
For most online businesses, you’ll need these 3 components.
- A domain – (Namecheap)
- Web hosting – (HostArmada)
- An autoresponder – (GetResponse)
There are many tools that one can utilize to grow your business, but not all of them work for everyone. This article highlights a few marketing tools I have found most effective in growing my own company over the years.
Later on, you may get a page builder, keyword research tools, etc. to further your business. But in the beginning, stick to the basics and just choose one brand of each to go with… which brings us to the next point…
4. Start small
Since you’ll probably be on a limited budget, you’ll want to bite off what you can chew. When buying a domain, it should be under $10. There’s absolutely no need to add on any extras.
When choosing to host, opt to pay monthly or quarterly. Do not pay for an entire year at once. Or worse, for 3 years. Choose shared hosting rather than dedicated hosting.
Keep your costs low… but don’t buy cheap, unreliable products/services. (Always do your research before buying.)
Start small, and once the profits are rolling in, you can scale up and improve. That’s how you do it.
Avoid the error of thinking you need to start on a grand scale. You don’t need to. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
5. Avoid high ticket courses
Here’s another point to note – when you’re starting, there is no need to pay anyone a few thousand dollars for a course or mentorship.
You’re still new and there’s much to learn. There are a lot of helpful articles and guides for beginners on Google. You can also find information about what courses work best from books, blogs, and through the internet communities that are dedicated to this topic.
This means you don’t need to spend $5000 on mentorship or $2000 on a course for each topic that you want to learn more about.
Just keep educating yourself and learning how to do something new every day.
Once you’ve decided on your business model, you’ll better understand the steps you need to take to make it work.
After that, you can enroll in a more expensive course for that specific topic or step-by-step process of how to proceed with your online business venture. That’s up to you.
Just remember to exercise due diligence before purchase. Check on the vendor’s reputation and make sure they’re legitimate.
6. Keep learning
Online marketing is a business where one can learn about anything from Google searches or YouTube tutorials.
In fact, many online marketers succeed by just learning things as they go along and never buy high-ticket courses or rely on mentors. This is all part of the learning process and it’s a crucial skill you need to have.
If you ever encounter any problems in your business, you’ll know how to find the answer by locating it online or on YouTube and testing it out.
It’s so easy to find information about just about anything these days, and that means you can be up-to-date and informed on what you need to know.
7. Networking helps
Networking is one of the best ways to get help and support. Join forums and/or Facebook groups in your niche and contribute value without selling anything.
Just by being helpful, you’ll develop a positive relationship with the people there who will want to support you later when you do start selling. You’ll also accrue the benefits that come from teaching others – which will make you learn more too!
8. Learn how to overcome obstacles
The best way to overcome obstacles is to never give up.
Failures are unavoidable, and they show us what we need to be different when we work on a new project.
Here are some strategies that you can use to overcome and smash through the roadblocks you come across:
– Hire outside help to overcome any roadblocks you hit (hiring a VA to do some of the tedious work will free up your time and energy)
– Build your business with long-term goals in mind rather than just trying to survive another day (creating a passive income online)
– Learn new skills by enrolling in free courses that teach you the basics of any subject and give you some tactical knowledge you can apply right away. Here are a few popular, free online classes to take this year:
- Facebook Blueprint – offers self-paced and live e-learning courses for marketers seeking to grow their organizations using Facebook.
- University by Convertkit – Starting an online business
- The Strategy of Content Marketing – Coursera
- Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate – Facebook
- Google Digital Marketing Course – Google has expanded its course offerings to include other types of digital marketing, too, so check out the site for up-to-date insights into the marketing world
- Graphic Design Basics – Canva’s tutorials have all the tools you need for your creative journey
- YouTube Ads Certification – Find free online product training and certifications right for you
- Neil Patel SEO Training Course – Learn SEO step-by-step for free
- Canva Design School – Anyone can make beautiful designs with Canva.
Free courses are amazing resources for budget-conscious marketers and will help to sharpen your expertise.
Find what works for you and make it work.
9. Outsourcing
Last but not least, we look at outsourcing. If you’re a senior looking to do it all, you’ll be aware that your time and energy are precious – so having someone else to do the more menial tasks for you is a must.
Outsourcing work will help you conserve your energy and focus on the tasks that are important for your business.
One common area many marketers struggle with is graphic design. They can spend hours fiddling with some graphics to create a blog image or a YouTube thumbnail. Only to discover that their image didn’t come out quite as they pictured it or that it just looked plain bad.
When outsourcing a graphic, you give someone else the chance to show off their skills and be creative with your design. You’ll have time to focus on more important things like content, connecting with people, and driving traffic.
So how do you find someone to outsource the tasks you’re not good at or just don’t have time for?
Well, if your business is still in its early days then a graphic designer on Fiverr will be perfect for you. They’ll charge as little as $5 per hour
The best way to find the right outsourcing partners is by doing your research and finding sound partners. These tips will give you an idea of how to get started when outsourcing.
– Check out their profile – see where they’re based, what they specialize in, and look at their portfolio.
– Ask for previous work samples; this will allow you to check if the person’s style matches your business needs.
– Spend time talking to them about their process
– Ensure the cost of outsourcing matches your budget.
We recommend that you use Fiverr for small projects and Upwork for bigger ones.
To Wrap Up
If you’re looking for a way to make money on the internet, it can be done even if you’re a senior with no experience. If you follow the pointers given in this article and have an open mind that is keen to learn, you’ll have no problem starting and growing your business online.
You will need patience too, which is a must if you want to be successful in this game. It’s not always about how fast you make money but more about the long haul. Don’t expect to see income rolling in within 6 months; it should take at least a year.
If you start making money sooner, that’s superb and exceptional. But if you don’t, just know that it’s the norm.
Plan your budget well and make sure that you have the grit and fortitude necessary to stay committed until you see the profit. It will come if you keep at it. Success in this business is possible for anyone that wants it!
