This guest post by Steve Thomas is part of the VBL Guest Post Month!
Most blogs and articles about online business are geared toward the twenty or thirty something crowd. These young people have become disillusioned with the world of work and want to spend more time traveling and enjoying life. Fine for them, but what if you are forty, fifty, or older?
Does a virtual business lifestyle fit baby boomers?
No offense to those young folks, but hey, they’re just starting out. You, on the other hand, if you are nearing retirement or already retired, have worked long and hard for this lifestyle. You have spent the last twenty or thirty years slaving away and dreaming of the day you could put it all down and go live, at least for a while, in some wonderful place.
Well, now is the time! You don’t need to wait another fifty years to live your dream. It can be had right now!
How?
The Internet is everywhere. In today’s world, you have to look really hard to find a place so remote that there is not some sort of Internet connection. It is everywhere!
Own your own business already
Have you thought about using a virtual assistant? What is a virtual assistant? Well, a VA is someone who can do anything you need doing that doesn’t require face to face. Need appointments set up? The VA can do it. Need a proposal written, the VA will do it for you. Scheduling problems? Hand it to the VA. Many VA’s are multi-talented and can do just about anything you need!
Running your own business virtually isn’t about emergency flights from your relaxing vacation to fix things, it is about hiring the people that can do the job and then getting out of their way.
Most bosses think that their little empire will die without them. The truth is, it won’t. You can make command decisions from Tahiti just as well as your office!
Retired and bored out of your mind?
Most people, when they retire, enjoy sitting in the rocker on the front porch for a maximum of about two weeks. Then that damned rocker looks more like a coffin every time you look at it.
Start your own online business!
You might be thinking that you don’t know anything about online business, but it is so simple just about anyone can do it. Sure there is a little bit of learning to be done, but if it wasn’t easy, I couldn’t do it and I am.
What would you do? What are your interests? Any hobbies? Unless you are into collecting used left socks, you can probably make a business out of your interest. How can you find out?
Do a simple search on the internet for your interest. Let’s say chew toys. When it comes up, look at the top of the page. Are there some sites there highlighted in pink? How about over on the side? It might say sponsored links above it. These are people who pay to have their sites there. They are making money!
There are tons of people out there who will help you learn how to set up a site and much of what you need is very cheap, like ten dollars a month, or free.
Slaving away at the office!
I started my website almost a year ago. It took me about a week to get things set up the way I wanted and I am still tweaking. Do I make money? Not as much as I would like yet, but oh yeah, I make some money, but it isn’t the money, it’s the freedom!
I visit my two daughters and families in another state a couple of times a year and never miss a beat. I load up the laptop and away I go! The same goes for vacations. If I don’t want to be offline, I just take my laptop and work from wherever I am.
I won’t lie to you. It takes some work to get things up and running. The harder you work, the more success you will have. Whether you have your own business or want to start something online, the Internet is there for you and it can give you your dreams.
I’ll ask the question again. Does the virtual business lifestyle fit baby boomers? The answer is YES! You have put your dreams off long enough. Now is the time to grab the lifestyle you always dreamed about and live it!
Steve Thomas is the creator of Fungeezer, a website all about living your live by design, no matter how old you are.