Women over forty who want to blog.
Or women who are blogging in their thirties who want to make a career out of it, like me.
The most asked question: How do I make money from blogging?
Yes, we know you can make money from blogging, but the big question I’ve been getting asked a lot lately is “Can I still blog and survive financially after forty?” I mean, we all know that blogging, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a 401K. You have to create your own.
In this post, we discuss how you can financially secure your golden years while enjoying life and creating awesome content.
Merchandise
One of the simplest ways to expand your blog is to generate income. If you have a decent following of over a thousand (between your email list and social pages) people who engage and actively interact with your blog and social media posts, give them a call to action. Research your market and find out what you could offer your followers in the form of a product. Fashion, desk accessories, and ebooks are the most popular. This not only gives you a stream of income, but also residual income where you can make money while you sleep.
Speaking Engagements
Speaking engagements will not get you a large retirement fund; however, pair it with your residual income from merchandise and advertisement partnerships and you could have a nice part-time gig that you love with a substantial income. Speakers can get paid anywhere from $1,500 and up for one hour, plus your travel and expenses included. Some speakers earn more than $5,000 per event. Do the math.
Services
Good at what you do and want to share your secrets? You can offer consulting services, workshops, or even host webinars throughout the year to give people who want to be in your position the opportunity to learn directly from you. For a fee, of course.
Go Big or Go Home: Start a business
Many bloggers who started out with a simple personal blog have used their knowledge, connections, and business opportunities to expand into a full-fledged business. Start a PR firm for bloggers, a consulting firm, or even a management agency for bloggers.
Expansion
Like any successful business, at some point, you outgrow your space and need to expand. How do you expand a blog? You transition from a personal blog to a lifestyle blog, online destination, or webzine. Not to take away from your personal opinion and brand that you’ve built, but you’re adding more content and topics to expand to a larger audience. Take blogger Necole, better known as Necole Bitchie, who ran the very popular blog NecoleBitchie.com, the one-stop shop for gossip on all your favorite celebrities. She recently shut down NB and started xoNecole.com, a blog geared toward empowering women of color.
A Blog-a-business
Black and Married with Kids is a great example of a business within a business. BMK has expanded their site into much more than the average, by hosting trips, producing films, offering courses, selling merchandise, and much more to streamline multiple avenues of revenue. As a blogger, you have a built-in audience; loyal fans that it has taken you a while to obtain. Now that you have their full attention, what can you offer them in terms of a product/service? Remember, as a retiree you want to do as little work as possible, therefore, you don’t want to still have to work twelve-hour days. You just want to be able to oversee things and delegate what needs to be done. Find your niche, what you can sell to your fans that you’re passionate about, while not coming off as a salesperson.
Real Estate
Real estate is a hit or miss, yes, I know. However, if done the right way, real estate is a great investment and security net for your future. Buying and flipping or simply buying homes and renting them out will make a great nest egg for your retirement. You sit back on your porch and wait for the checks to roll in. If the real estate isn’t for you, find other investment opportunities that would be a good fit.
In closing, once you decide to transition into blogging full-time, you become your own boss and are responsible for everything from taxes to your retirement fund. Freelancers Union is a great company that will handle setting up your benefits; anything from health and dental insurance, to life insurance and yes, retirement funds. Partnered with Honest Dollar, Freelancers Union can help guide you in structuring your A–Z in preparation for your retirement years.
