Over 50? Try These Side Hustles.

Life begins at 50. So, let’s learn some new skills.

I’m going to tell you about five side hustles that could be big for people over 50. And when I say big, I mean I believe if you put the time into it, you can make some good money. You may have to learn some new technology and when I say learn new technology, all I’m really talking about is maybe having to learn a new app. Without further ado, let’s get to side hustle number one:

Resell Other People’s Junk

So, what does a reseller of other people’s junk do? Well what you do is you make money helping other people sell things that they want to get rid of. You know most of us have closets or garages full of stuff that we no longer need or we don’t want. There’s a lot of people out there who are too busy to put those items on Craigslist or eBay, so that’s where you come in! You could do that for them and you get a cut of whatever is sold and I recommend, by the way, asking for at least 50%.

Related Reading: Looking for Something To Flip for Profit in 2024? Try These.

You’re basically acting as a middleman and you’re making money doing it. You’ve got to know how to use Craigslist, which really isn’t difficult to do; you can learn that pretty quickly, but you should also learn how to use eBay. That takes a little bit more time, but you can certainly use eBay. Just shoot some great pictures and post them.

So, how do you really get started doing something like this? You find a friend or two or three and you just call them, email them, or contact them, and ask them if they have some items that they want to sell or get rid of and let them know that you can do that for them and all you want for your trouble is a 50% cut.

You can explain that they don’t have to worry about stocking it, and don’t have to worry about somebody coming to their home and picking it up because you’ll go to their property, that is, their home or garage and you’ll pick up the item. It’s a great way for you to make money and if you build that into a business and you have a nice platform on eBay where you sell things on a regular basis, you can really build a nice side hustle that could turn into a full-time gig.

Podcast Editor

I know there’s people out there probably saying “Kristen, what does a Podcast Editor do?” Well, you take a podcaster’s audio file, you delete the mistakes, and then you make it sound great. It’s really that simple! Now, let me say this to you, I’ve been producing well over 200 videos over the course of just over two, maybe two-and-a-half years.

It takes a lot of time shooting the video and it takes even more time to edit the video. Sometimes I pay people to help me edit the videos because I just get so backlogged or inundated with work. Yeah, I need help! You know there are lots of podcasters out there who also need the help.

They need someone to help them edit their audio files. So you’re going to be asking, “Well how do I edit audio files or podcast files?” You just use audio software like GarageBand or Adobe Audition and these programs allow creators to create, record, and edit. What you’ll do is learn how to use this program and GarageBand is so common out there, I would think even people like us, people who are a little bit older, already know how to use a program like GarageBand.

But once you know how to do that and you really learn that program, then what you do is contact podcasters. One of the easiest ways to do that is to contact one of your favorite podcasters or you can go on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible or Spotify to find a podcaster.

Then, you just tell them, “Hey I know how to use this app or I use this particular app. I’m pretty good with it and if you need some help I’d be happy to edit your podcast!” So, what do you charge a podcaster for editing or cleaning up their file? I suggest charging around $25 to $35 an hour, at minimum.

Of course, you can charge more. The idea here, though, is to pick up a few podcasters. You’re going to want to start out with one at a time, but as you get comfortable with the program, and as you become faster, you can pick up more and more business. Podcasting is a $1 billion industry and it’s growing. At last count, there were over two million podcasts and over 48 million episodes, so chances are, you’re not gonna run out of work!

Community Manager

A Community Manager is someone who manages a creator’s online community. Communities are just groups of fans that can be found on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and a host of other platforms. A community manager helps a creator maintain and build their community.

Usually what they do is, they respond to fan mail or maybe business inquiries. A good community manager could even create, schedule, and post the creator’s content. It’s easy to get started in this area. All you do is contact a creator or an online group and let them know that you’re a fan and you’d be excited if they hired you to manage their community.

Of course one thing I’ll say is that it does help or would help if you’re already involved in their community. It just lets them know that, “Hey I know your community, I’m familiar with it, and I’m sure that I can help you build your community.” What do you need to know to become a community manager?

You should know the platform or platforms that they use to engage with their community, and it would certainly help if you were proficient with Hootsuite or Buffer. Those platforms allow you to make one post that is dispersed to all their social media accounts. It just makes it more efficient and it certainly makes your job easier. How do you get paid?

Well, you charge an hourly fee and I’ll say this, I would charge nothing less than $25 — $35 an hour. You could even go as high as $45 — $50 an hour. It really depends on how much easier you make the creator’s life, but I will say to you that if you get enough creators, you can earn a pretty good living becoming a Community Manager.

Online Course Creator

An Online Course Creator helps anyone with a large following or large email list create online courses that they can sell. For example, a realtor who’s been around a long time has a lot of knowledge about home buying, has a big customer list, but you know what? They just don’t have the time to create a course, even though they’ve got the knowledge, even though they have the expertise, they don’t have the time to create a course that would generate even more money for them and that’s where you come in!

You contact them. You say that you have this expertise, you know some of the programs that will allow you to create a great course for them, and you offer your service. Now before you contact a realtor or a social media influencer, before you offer your service, you’re going to want to learn one of the powerful online course creation platforms and they’re not that difficult to learn.

One of the most popular is Teachable. There’s also Udemy and Skillshare. I’m a big fan of Teachable. As a matter of fact, I’m going to use Teachable to create some of my online courses. So, how do you get paid for creating an online course for a realtor or some social media influencer? Well, you charge a set fee or maybe ask for a percentage of the revenue. You can make a good amount of income, especially if you get a number of creators, whether it’s realtors, social media influencers, or even book authors.

Newsletter Publisher

I believe it’s a very good idea for you to get into this type of business if you have a skill, if you have some knowledge, if you have something that you can share with other people that they’re willing to pay you for. For example, maybe you are a model train enthusiast and you know this hobby inside and out, or you’re an expert at preparing cajun food and you know some delicious recipes.

Why not share that information? I saw a Youtube Video about a woman who became an expert at growing succulent plants. She decided one day to share her skills on YouTube and she built a multi-channel business that generates hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in income and you know what?

She also sends out newsletters and she makes money. She charges for a subscription. Charging or becoming a newsletter publisher is a way for you to share your information, to share your knowledge, share your expertise, and to make money doing it. So how do you get started creating a newsletter?

Well, I suggest you use a software program called Canva. I use this program virtually every single day. I have design experience, but you know what? Even if you don’t have design experience, they have custom templates that you can use to create a really cool-looking newsletter. But first I suggest that you build a mailing list because you’re going to need it to mail out to people.

You can use Mailchimp or Convertkit. I use ActiveCampaign just because I like the intuitive automations, but it’s a bit more complicated than say the other two, but regardless of that, it’s a good idea to learn or to have some knowledge of a mailing list or an email software program. The last question that you might have is, “Well, Kristen, how do I get paid?”

You charge a small subscription fee, maybe it’s an annual fee or maybe every six months kind of fee. I would start out with no less than every six months, but you charge a small fee, perhaps $5. You get 100 people at $5, and that really adds up! That’s $500. Over time, if your information is good, if it’s quality, if it helps people, which is always going to be the key, if it helps people, you’ll build that list up and you’ll, of course, increase your income.

Well there you go folks! I just gave you five side hustles that could be big for people over 50.

The Minimalist Side Hustle Toolbox

Not earning enough money online?

Or worse, not earning any money online?

Start your minimalist side hustle today.

Choose one or many of these 7 minimalist side hustles.

Blogging on Medium

Email Marketing

Print On Demand

Self Publishing

Sell Printables

Sell Templates

Write A Newsletter

Follow the simple steps included with each one.

Use the platforms (20+) and resources (50+) provided to level up and earn an online income.

I’m always just a DM or email away for any help or questions.

- Jamie Northrup a.k.a. Minimalist Hustler

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