Whether you want to start a side job for extra money for retirement, or you just need the extra cash, Side Jobs After 50 is here to help.
You can find articles and resources to help you get started with something on the side. And maybe even turn it into your dream job or dream business.
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7 Surprising Ways To Earn Extra Money During The Holidays
7 Surprising Ways To Earn Extra Money During The Holidays There are so many things to love about the holiday season. We look forward all year to celebrations with friends and family, enjoying all the traditions that make this season special. But if you’re trying to save money, the holiday season brings with it some added stressors, too. You may wonder how you’re going to swing the extra cash to purchase gifts or make travel arrangements. Travel plans and holiday gatherings may also interfere with your normal work schedule. If you’re looking for a little extra work to provide a much-needed financial cushion during this time, it’s not as hard as you think. Many opportunities exist. Some of these are fairly flexible and can be quite lucrative. Some may even blossom into year-round moneymakers. So here are some unique and surprising ways to earn extra money during the holidays Making Deliveries Since the pandemic, more and more families do their shopping online, especially over the holidays. As a result, the need for delivery drivers becomes even more pressing. It’s exacerbated by the fact that many regular employees take time off during the holidays. Start by looking for opportunities at companies like DHL, FedEx, Amazon and UPS. You might also want to check out Postmates. This is an online platform for ordering deliveries of food and beverages. Because of busy schedules during the holiday season, there is even more demand for this service. You can use your own car to make deliveries, or even a bike or motorcycle. Caring For Pets Pet owners often need help during the holidays. Sometimes they just have too much going on or they might be traveling out of town and need someone to care for their fur babies, especially if they’re planning to stay in a hotel which isn’t pet-friendly. If you don’t want to stay in someone else’s home, consider boarding dogs at your own home during the holidays. You can earn over $25 a day for this service. If you’re an animal lover, that means you get to enjoy spending time with these adorable pets, a lovely added bonus. Often, you can find dog-walking or pet-sitting gigs simply by searching Facebook and/or Craigslist. Babysitting Or Nannying What does every parent want? An evening out, of course. They are willing to pay good money for someone to make that happen by babysitting their children for a few hours. If you’ve already raised children, your wisdom and experience can be valuable assets. The holidays are the perfect time to offer your babysitting services since many parents are dealing with packed social schedules. These often include office parties or adult events which compel them to leave children at home. There are plenty of sites like Care.com or Sittercity.com where you can advertise your babysitting services, as well as searching through posts asking for help. Depending on what you want, you can find a one-off job just for the evening or something more long-term. You can expect to earn a minimum of $10 an hour babysitting. Consider asking more if you can provide additional services like housework or homework help. Tutoring Since the pandemic, many kids are struggling with academic losses and in need of support. Besides that, kids are now facing a holiday break in which many will fall even further behind. High school and college students are about to take their final exams and could use the extra assistance as well. There are a number of great websites that match tutors with students, such as Course Hero. Some of these even allow you to tutor online, which offers some great flexibility in your schedule. Course Hero has the added benefit of a wide variety of subject areas and levels, so you can choose to tutor in an area that meshes with your expertise and background. Driving Driving for Lyft or Uber is a great way to earn extra cash over the holidays. If you’re still unfamiliar with these apps, they allow anyone to order a ride via their mobile device. A nice bonus about driving for a rideshare company is that you get to determine your own schedule. Because of this flexibility, all kinds of people have been using Uber and Lyft to earn money, including college students, retirees, or even people who already work full-time and need some extra work on the side. If you want to expand this service beyond what you can find on these platforms, there are added opportunities helping out people in your community, such as children or senior citizens who need help with transportation. To find these, try searching message boards for parent groups or seniors. Another nice perk to driving is that it allows you to meet lots of interesting people. Be an Assistant With the chaos of the holiday season upon us, many people feel like they need extra help, whether it’s for watering their plants, house sitting, preparing meals, wrapping gifts, grocery shopping, or doing the laundry. All of these essential tasks can be challenging to accomplish with parties, travel and holiday shopping filling almost every hour of the day. If you can assist with these tasks, you will find an opportunity to build your reputation as an established holiday assistant in future years. Assembling New toys, furniture and appliances often require assembly. Besides that, families sometimes purchase new tables and chairs for hosting large gatherings. But the last thing anyone wants to do after opening gifts or when preparing for a party is spend hours putting stuff together. All it takes is a lot of patience, a little basic skill, and or the desire to learn a new skill and you can do this job for others. If you’re skilled at putting such items together, consider hiring out this service by advertising online or by word of mouth in your community. Make a post on social media letting people know that you will provide this service. You
So You Want To Be A Virtual Assistant? Here’s What You Need To Know
The Virtual Assistant field is becoming more and more popular. Businesses realize that it saves them time (they don’t have to do the work themselves) and money (no benefits to pay) to hire Virtual Assistants. And more and more people are wanting to work out of their homes rather than have to commute to a job, pay for child care, pay for gas, pay for parking, and all of the other expenses that come with working in an office. Of course, on the other side of the coin, you will have to pay for your office supplies, you must have your own equipment, and you’ll be pretty isolated by yourself with no other people around you. So the first thing you have to decide is – Is this for me? Am I ready to stay home every day for work and have no day-to-day interactions with people? But if you have decided, Yes, this is for me, I want to be a Virtual Assistant, then here’s what you need to know to get you started – some steps you should take and also where to start looking. Initial Steps To Take For Becoming a Virtual Assistant What Skills Do You Have? You have to determine what your strengths are that you can offer to potential clients. You want your resume to highlight everything you can do in the administrative field that will show you are capable of getting the job done. Computer Skills – Are you proficient on the computer – such as managing email inboxes and responding to emails. Can you create documents, spreadsheets, manage file sharing using cloud-based software? Communication Skills – Do you have excellent communication skills, written and verbal, which are vital in the Virtual Assistant role. That’s because you will be responsible for contacting clients, keeping them up-to-date on what is going on, receiving your assignments and responding – just to name a few. Typing/Grammatical Skills – Any documents you turn in have to be error free with the proper grammar so it’s important you are proficient in this area. If you want to practice your typing skills you can take practice tests at RataType. It’s free and a great way to increase your speed and accuracy. Organization and Time Management – Not only are you going to be responsible for keeping yourself organized and manage your time properly, you are also going to have to keep your clients organized. You may be responsible for their calendars, schedules, and appointments – and you may also be juggling multiple clients. So organizational skills are vital. What Services Will You Offer and How Will You Price Them? Doing a bit of research for this will be your best bet. There’s a ton of information online that can help you determine what services to offer. Here’s a list of services to help you get started. Once you determine what you want to offer, put packages together with the services listed and at a set price. The above step may be unnecessary if you choose to go with a Virtual Assistant Company that hires Virtual Assistants and will connect you with potential clients. There’s a list of these companies below. Have An Updated Resume Your resume is the first thing a hiring manager is going to see. If it looks like crap, well then more than likely it will end up in the trash. Learning how to design an effective resume should be something you will want to know how to do, and start with yours! Your resume should include your contact information, job summary or objectives (if you don’t have experience), your educational background, your related skills, and any awards you may have received that’s related to your field of interest. Have The Necessary Equipment Most VA’s will only need a laptop, dependable high speed internet connection and your cell phone. But this is all dependent upon what type of services you are offering as a Virtual Assistant. As you grow as a VA you may also want to add a printer/copier/scanner. And depending on your cell service, you may have to add a landline. Do You Need A Website? This question is answered in many different ways in the online world, depending on what you are looking for. So this is just my two cents on whether you should have a website or not. When you are just starting out and IF you are going to go through websites that hire Virtual Assistants – most of them find the clients and then assign them to whatever VA meets their requirements. You would have gone through a hiring process with this company and submitted your resume. So in this instance you don’t really need a website – at least at the very beginning. Once you get more experience under your belt as a Virtual Assistant, you may decide you want to start your own Virtual Assistant business. If that happens, then, yes, you do need a website. Most definitely. However, if you decide right from the start that you want to have your own Virtual Assistant business but the thought of setting up your own website is what’s holding you back, you can try the following: You Can Create a Facebook Business Page – You can add your services to your page, design a cover page, and invite people to like your page. Business pages are easy to set up and look professional. Make a LinkedIn Profile – LinkedIn is known more as a business tool than a social media platform. You can set up a business profile and they walk you through all of the steps. And you can also list all of the services you are offering as a Virtual Assistant. You will need a website eventually but this will get you started so you aren’t holding yourself back because you don’t have a website. Starting Off Is Never Easy Yes, starting off is never easy, but
Epic List Of In-Demand Services To Offer As A Virtual Assistant
Let’s just jump right to it – you know why you’re here – for the list of in-demand services you can offer as a Virtual Assistant – so I’m not going to waste your time and fill this up with fluff. We’ll start with typical admin/management services because a lot of these you probably do every day, so it’s a great place to start. Admin Organizing Email inboxes Responding to Emails Customer Service via phone Answering blog comments Managing Social Media comments Managing calendar Data Entry Scheduling Appointments Sending Thank You cards Managing blog editorial calendar Following up with prospective clients Managing travel arrangements and accommodations Project Management Event planning Organizing cloud files Research for blog posts Transcription Prepare meeting minutes Online shopping Bookkeeping Creating Reports Moderating blogs Creating spreadsheets Add blog tags/images Setup Webinar Graphic Design Photo editing Designing business cards, brochures, flyers, logos, etc Design social media graphics or pins Branding Designing Ebooks Designing printables Website Maintenance and Tech Updating Website and Plugins Website security and backups Website SEO Video Editing Webinar setup Create custom pages Revisions Create contact forms Create payment systems Google Analytics reporting Creating and setting up newsletter opt-in forms and sequences Creating landing pages and squeeze pages Tracking links and fixing broken links Ad Management Managing eCommerce sites Wordpress functionality Website Revisions Setting up membership sites Social Media Set up social media accounts (Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, etc) Post articles Uploading YouTube videos Run ad campaigns Social media updates Responding to social media messages Monitor social media pages Research Keyword research for Google, Etsy, Pinterest, etc. Product research Research for blog posts Guest post opportunities Researching and applying to Affiliate Marketing programs Programs and software Travel Research Researching podcast guests Researching local news and industry news Researching the competition Bookkeeping Basic bookkeeping (accounting software such as Quickbooks) Receiving payments Invoicing Process orders and refunds Payroll Collections SEO Set up Google Analytics General keyword research Write quality content Pay-per-click advertising Website audit Human Resources Job posting Resume reviews Initial phone interview Background check Schedule in-office interviews Send Welcome Aboard emails to new hires Send job contracts and requirements Employee attendance tracking Marketing Set up sales funnels Capture lead generation Blog post promotions Promoting live events Promoting podcasts/webinars Product launches Email Marketing Specialized Fields Copywriting Bilingual Translation Accounting Proofreading Write Press Releases Project Management Creating auto-responders Conclusion After going through this list, depending on what you know and what you can do, combine related fields together and offer packaged services. And what you don’t know – LEARN! There’s a ton of free information out there (watch youtube videos) or you can research and find courses that are available online. You can start with offering a few services/packages and just keep growing. Don’t wait until you know everything on this list because then you’ll just keep putting it off. You may change up where you started to other areas because as you grow you might find something you absolutely love doing and want to just do that. “If you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life” – Mark Twain Have a Wonderful Day! Share on FacebookTweetFollow usSave
How to Tell if a Remote Job is a Scam: 5 Signs To Look for
Working from home, setting your own hours, and basically being your own boss sounds like a dream come true, right? For many, it can be, but for others, it is more like a nightmare because they fell for online scams. There are many legitimate work-from-home opportunities online, but you need to know where to look. You also need to know what to be aware of when it comes to online scams to ensure you don’t get caught up in one. Today we will look at the various signs indicating that a remote job is a scam and potential scams to watch out for. Let’s get started. If It Seems Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is There are some job offers online that sound like fantastic opportunities. The pay is high, you don’t have to work many hours to earn a lot of money, etc. But, on the other hand, the company may offer amazing perks or an excellent position that you aren’t even qualified for. When you see such offers, it is best to research them to ensure they are legitimate. Otherwise, it is probably better to walk away and look for something else. You Can’t Find Background Info on the Company You should have no problem finding information online if a company is legitimate. However, it is definitely a red flag if you can’t find enough, or in some cases, any information. You may find a website, but if it is vague, chances are it isn’t legitimate. Scammers often use such vague descriptions to fool people into thinking the company is legitimate when it actually is not. There Are Warnings About the Company Online If you are interested in an online job, use a search engine to look up the company or employer. Unfortunately, you may find in the search results that many people who the employer has already tried to scam and have published warnings. So any time you see job boards and warnings about a particular employer, be wary. Another thing to look for is bad online reviews about the employer. The Employer Seems Too Eager to Hire You usually won’t get an immediate response when applying for jobs. This is because legitimate employers are very busy and have other work to finish before they can get back to you. On the other hand, if they respond immediately and then start pressuring you to accept the job, or if they are willing to hire you even if you don’t have the right qualifications, chances are it’s a scam. They Ask For Payment For You to Work No legitimate employer will ask you to pay them. Even if you need specific equipment, they will either tell you that you will need to buy it at your own expense or that they will reimburse you. A legitimate employer will never ask you to send them money for the necessary equipment to do the job. If they do, it’s a good indication that they are trying to scam you. Remember, they are supposed to pay you, not the other way around. Problems With Communication The correspondence should be professional and well-written if you communicate with a potential employer via email. If there are spelling or punctuation errors, it is a good sign that the offer is a scam. One of the first things to look at is the email address. Make sure it is not a generic, G-mail address but one linked to the company. Potential Work-From-Home Scams to Avoid Let’s take a look at some of the most common work-from-home scams to be aware of. Bad Checks A common scam sees “employers” sending a check for more than what they owe you. They pretend they have made a mistake and tell you to send the difference back to them before cashing their check. Once you do as they request and try to cash their check, it will likely bounce. Now they have your money, and you are left holding a fake check. Work Part-Time for Full-Time Income If it seems too good to be true, chances are it is. For example, if an employer offers full-time income for part-time work, it is a good sign that this is a scam. While it may sound like a dream come true, it could quickly become a nightmare. On the other hand, if an employer is legit, they will pay you for what you are worth, and that is what you should expect. They Want You to Recruit Others In most cases, multi-level marketing companies are not legitimate. While some are, it can be tough to weed through all of them to find the good ones. The not-so-great companies will woo you with great benefits if you promise to recruit more workers. They tell you how much money you could be making if you have X number of people under you rather than what you likely will make. They Charge a Training Fee You may find companies that offer ways for you to enhance your business skills. They will show how their resources, courses, etc., can help you to grow your business. The catch is they want you to pay for these services. They will pay you during training if a company wants you to work for them. Conclusion Working from home can be ideal for stay-at-home mothers, retirees, etc. But you must do your due diligence and research potential companies before signing on with them. It is often best to work through a freelancing agency, such as Upwork or Fiverr, where you know your payments will be guaranteed and you won’t get scammed. Share on FacebookTweetFollow usSave
6 Benefits of Working From Home As A Retiree
Once upon a time, people would work until they were 65 and then retire and enjoy a nice, quiet life. But unfortunately, in today’s economy, most people at retirement age cannot afford to retire. But this shouldn’t mean they should be required to commute to work and sit in an office all day, greet customers at department stores, or do heavy labor. Thanks to technology and the internet, there are many ways to earn extra money without leaving home. Part-time incomes will supplement pensions, and you can enjoy the retirement you have earned through decades of hard work. Working from home is ideal for retirees who need additional income while enjoying their golden years. There are so many different opportunities available that there is something for everyone, no matter their skills. Benefits of Working From Home Let’s discuss why working from home is ideal for retirees and available job opportunities. Schedule Flexibility When you work from home, in many cases, you can set your own hours and create a schedule that works for you. For example, if you like to sleep in, you can schedule your work hours for later in the day. You can work into the small hours if you are a night owl. This will allow you to get other things done, and you won’t feel as rushed. In addition, you won’t have to save all of the housework to do on the weekend when you would rather be out enjoying life or even just sitting around doing nothing. No More Commuting One of the biggest complaints from people in the workforce is that they often have to spend a lot of time and money commuting to and from work. This isn’t an issue when you are working from home. You don’t have to worry about being stuck in traffic or whether you will be able to catch the bus or train on time. Without needing to commute, you will have more time to complete assignments or use that time any other way you want. Plus, you will save a lot of money by not paying for transit or gas for your vehicle. You Can Work In Comfort While some people enjoy getting dressed daily, it’s not for everyone. For example, when working from home, you don’t have to worry about whether or not your blouse matches your pants. Even better, you don’t have to bother wearing a uniform that you might have to wear when working for many companies. In fact, if you want to stay in your pajamas all day, that is also an option. No one is going to see you. If you do need to go on a Zoom call, all you have to do is put on a shirt, and no one will see what you are wearing for bottoms. You Will Save Money Many people don’t realize how much they spend in a week when working outside the home. But unfortunately, people expect many expenses, and they pay for the “pleasure” of having gainful employment. When you work from home, you will not have to spend money on commuting, business clothing, shoes, lunches, childcare, etc. Remember that you will use more electricity by working from home, but this expense will be minimal compared to what you will save in the long run. You Can Work From Anywhere Many retirees love to travel, but this is not always possible when they work daily. Remote jobs are ideal for anyone who doesn’t want to be tied down to one location all the time. As long as you can pick up an internet signal, you can work from pretty much anywhere. Many people who work from home travel more than they would if they had regular 9-to-5 jobs. As long as you can create a schedule that allows you to get your work done, it shouldn’t be a problem to work while you are on the road enjoying all that life has to offer. Your Workspace Is YOUR Space Because you are not working in an office where everything has to look the same to have a professional appearance, you can decorate your workspace any way you like. It doesn’t matter if you have a messy work area or are eating at your desk. One of the great things about being able to customize your own workspace is that you will be able to get more done. This is because you will be in an atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. This is YOUR space, and you can do whatever you want to ensure a comfortable working environment. Work-at-Home Opportunities You might be surprised to learn how many different work-at-home opportunities are available. In fact, there are plenty of opportunities to make an excellent income without ever having to step outside of your home. In fact, there are some opportunities that you don’t even need a computer for, such as pet sitting and dog walking. Here are some of the most popular work-at-home opportunities for women. Virtual assistant Customer service representative Transcriber Translator Online tutoring Virtual juror Making and selling crafts Freelance writer Conclusion If you are concerned that you won’t be able to retire when you turn 65, stop worrying. There are so many work-at-home opportunities available that there is sure to be something that will suit you perfectly. As a result, you will be able to earn an additional income in your retirement without having to worry about the struggle of day-to-day work life. Share on FacebookTweetFollow usSave
Hi, I’m Mary Jean
And my goal is to help women earn extra money for retirement – or for just every day living. There are so many ways to earn extra money online (and some women are making HUGE amounts of money with online businesses) and that’s why Side Jobs After 50 was born. This is also my journey on making extra money online. So here’s to us Ladies!!!
