It’s often said that marketing online can be easier and more successful when people know who they are, what abilities they possess and truly realize what it is they want. That might be a little self-evident, but here lies the problem. When it comes to seniors, many may possess a variety of skills and abilities, yet, what they lack is some type of plan for getting started online.

Most will begin unprepared and try to ad lib everything in hopes to make a few extra dollars. Frequently, a lot of seniors end up choosing the wrong programs and just like many other marketers, they soon become frustrated, overwhelmed, or simply lose interest with all the things that need to be done with online business.

Personally, I believe that seniors have just as much opportunity of marketing online as everyone else. Why? You can’t spend 20, 30, 40, or more years without picking up some skills and abilities, even if it was developed through a particular hobby (a passionate hobby can easily be an advantage with online marketing).

Here’s some key points that seniors should look at before starting their online journey.

What’s the reason for you to market online?

This question is crucial for those seniors who wish to explore marketing online. It opens the book as to why.

• Are you bored and simply want something to do?
• Are you hoping for a way to make a little extra cash to pay bills?
• Or could it be a little bit of both?

Understanding the reason for you wanting to market online is very important. Let’s be honest here, it can get challenging for some seniors and many will continually struggle to build a business. However, if you know why you want to get started online, it can help to motivate you more and keep pushing you forward.

Besides having the motivation, it will also allow you to decide the best options available to you. If your interest is generating revenue fast, you might consider putting your skills and talents to use by freelancing. On the other hand, if you’re not pressed for income and just want something to keep you busy, you might consider the options of niche marketing or even getting involved with ecommerce.

Keep a journal of your thoughts and ideas and go over them frequently.

How much can you afford to spend?

Whether you’re a senior or not, this is a big question for every person who wants to get started online. Knowing the availability of funds, you can spend to get started with your online business is vital for online marketing success. Even though it doesn’t require a lot of capital upfront, you’ll still need money to cover certain costs such as domains, hosting, autoresponder, etc.

As an example, if you plan on using the Amazon platform to publish online, you’ll more than likely need an ecover designed.

If you have a little more room to play within your budget, the greater the opportunity to outsource some of your project needs. However, you might have to do a lot of the work yourself if funds are tight. If that’s the case, you’ll need to discover some of the online marketing strategies that are generally inexpensive to incorporate.

Also, if your budget is thin, you don’t even want to think about ecommerce platforms, paid content creation, advertising, etc. Take a serious look at your budget first and make plans accordingly.

Don’t get involved with a strategy or program that you cannot afford, no matter how promising it might be. Notice how I said – might be. And by all means, don’t fork out money that you don’t have.

How desperate are you for money?

Freelancing is probably your best option for starting online, especially if your need for money is now. Seniors who desperately need to generate revenue in a hurry should stay away from the slower options of income generation online. A perfect example of this is anything that has to do with SEO, which is often slower and requires additional time.

Even platforms such as Amazon Kindle can be questionable with regards to time, and doing something on ecommerce will often require paid ads.

In order to generate faster income online, you’ll generally need methods that produce faster results. Once again, freelancing your skills could be the best route. Another alternative is product creation which can also be a viable option as well.

What skills do you have?

You should take advantage of any available skills. For instance, if you have teaching experience, creating courses might be a good option for you. Maybe you have a passion to write, so why not create content. Do you like to draw or paint, maybe doing graphic design work online would be a good fit for you?

There are so many options for you just by utilizing any of your existing skills. Besides that, you’ll do a better job and you won’t have to face so many new challenges in learning new things, especially if you’re not interested in them. Keep in mind, some skills will do better and be faster at generating profits online.

Now, if you happen to be without any particular skills, you’ll definitely need to learn something that you would prefer doing. It’s usually a lot easier to learn something new that you would enjoy doing.

Take a look at your weaknesses

It’s vital to know what weaknesses you have. I have weaknesses and so does everyone else. Knowing your weaknesses will help identify areas where you need help. If you don’t like to write, it’s obvious you’ll need help in this area.

How much time do you plan to devote to your business?

Getting started with an online business can take time. However, some marketers will claim that you can make a living overnight with very little work. Sadly though, it does require a little time and it definitely takes more than one or two hours of work each week.

Basically, it all boils down to time and effort. If you expect to build a successful business online, what you put into your business is what you’ll get out of it.

One of the keys to success is planning. You simply need to know how much time you will spend on daily projects. More importantly, you need to be consistent with your work and finish tasks that are in your plan.

Taking action on a consistent basis will also help you reach greater success with all your work and provide you with better results.

What goal do you have?

Everybody has some type of goals. However, when getting started online with a business, what primary goal do you have set for yourself? Is there a hobby that you can help people with? Do you have a passion for something? Can you help people with that same passion?

If you have an idea of your primary goal it will assist in keeping you on track. Let’s face it, you’ll definitely have a hard time getting anywhere without some kind of direction.

As I mentioned above, keep a journal and write down your thoughts and ideas. This will help to keep you focused with all your online marketing goals. But most of all, you’ll continue to be motivated and continually push forward.