Sometimes life gets too much for you — burn-out — and you have to stop work for a while. But the bills keep coming in. If you’re self-employed there’s no cushion. So it makes sense to design your income strategy so that there’ll still be money coming in if you can’t work.
Let’s get this straight, right from the beginning. For most of us, there’s NO magic money tree — either offline or on the Internet, however much the slick-sounding Internet coaches try to tell you.
I should know. …
It’s hardly credible that we’re coming up to a full year since our lockdown in the UK. But here’s a quick scan of my happiness and ultimate heartbreak through the year.
Thoughts in February / early March 2020
By late February 2020 my daughter-in-law had the pandemic fixed on her radar and was warning my son and I that we (the UK — and indeed the whole world) were going to be suffering soon. To our (later) shame my son and I were very dismissive of her fears. …
You’re probably aware that there are many get-rich-quick, money-making ideas that people may be tempted into — especially if they are desperate and broke.
- Many just don’t work at all — for instance, broken software.
- Others WILL work but not as easily as the online promotional material promises.
- Others are illegal and likely to be shut down, with loss of your money and credibility.
- A very few will work for the right reasons.
The truth is that there are no get rich quick, money-making ideas! Just ideas that are sound. Ideas that work — but only if YOU work.
One…
‘They’ say you should never do business with friends — and my past experience (as always) bears this out. But what a pleasant surprise when the people you do business with turn out to be better friends than some of the people you thought were real-life friends.
Friends in Lock-down
My Dad died in February, so I’ve largely been off the work scene. Work and business colleagues online and offline have been kind and understanding when I haven’t wanted to be involved with anything but grieving. My offline friends, largely, have been wonderful too. …
I have spent many years searching for a stay at home business while trying to improve my retirement income — click here to see why. Maybe I’m just a loser, but however hard I work, I always seem to come up with problems.
Problems with Online Businesses: Physical Products
My first ventures in working from home predated wide-spread use of the Internet for online business, so I didn’t think beyond home businesses involving selling physical products. And trust me, even today, however, promoters try and dress it up as ‘sharing your business’ you are SELLING.
After all, who in their right minds wants to buy something…
I started writing on a typewriter, similar to the one shown, when I was a ‘nipper’ — that’s a local word for youngster. I can’t remember how old I was.
To be honest, I can’t even remember if I started on an electric or manual typewriter — but one like that in the image above certainly featured in my writing journey at some time.
My Mum was an excellent (proper) typist and I used to watch her fingers fly across the keys and perfect copy flowed out from the top. All I wanted to do at first was just press single keys and see a black mark on the paper. …
Trusted blogging friends tell me about their favorite advantage of blogging in Medium. Some tell me:
· It’s good to be part of a blogging community.
· Less pressure because if I can’t manage a post one week, others in our blogging team will.
· Bloggers are enjoying better search engine rankings — so your articles are more likely to be found.
· Better quality of reader — either someone who has found your article from the higher search engine ranking OR someone who is serious enough about blogging to pay the $5 a month that lets ‘Medium Bloggers’ earn…
If you worry too much about finding the best time to write for your blog, chances are you’ll never get started at all!
But it IS an important consideration — because if you write at a time when you’re continually interrupted, blogging can be a frustrating experience.
Blogging Before Breakfast
Some bloggers swear by getting up at the crack of dawn, taking a shower, and just getting right down to their blogging straight away — before the rest of the day gets in their way. I’m afraid that just wouldn’t work for me. I’ve always been a night owl. In fact, the truth…
“How can I improve my retirement income?” — I wailed to my financial advisor, once I’d received an estimate of my retirement income. The news wasn’t good…
While I wouldn’t be completely poverty-stricken, relying on the UK state pension isn’t the way to live the dream lifestyle that I’d seen my friends, who retired before me, enjoying.
From discreet — and not so discreet inquiries — I found what they had been doing their retirement planning for years. …
Maybe you’re NOT working online. Perhaps you’re just whiling away the hours until the next Netflix episode, or you’re skimming through cat videos on Facebook (hint — you’re in the wrong place — this is Medium!)
It could be that you’re researching a cause that you’re passionate about, or just checking up on what the latest celebs or politicians are up to?
Whatever your reason — worthy or just time-wasting — here we are, sitting at our computers, tablets, or phones when, only a few years ago, most people would probably be settling down for ‘family time’ — when they…
Joy Healey
Joy Healey has been a part-time online blogger since 2014, to generate an income for the retirement she forgot to plan for! See how at: https://JoyHealey.com
