I started my online business about eight years ago, without any prior knowledge of the online space. At all. Nudda. Nothing. I barely knew how to send an email. All I had was determination and a willingness to learn. And it was a lot!
My goal was never to start an online business, I just wanted to work online. I wanted more freedom. I wanted to travel and live wherever the heck I wanted to, while working online.
Owning an online business? Never really crossed my mind.
I was stuck in a job I was starting to hate, trapped in a life that no longer felt right for me, had just left an abusive relationship, had just declared bankruptcy, had hit rock bottom, and I just knew it was time.
Time to make some bold ballsy moves and changes in my life. And I did just that.
You can learn a little more about my story and how I started over after 50.
Stick around to the very end of the article where I share the #1 BIGGEST challenge of starting an online business.
(There will be affiliate links in this post so if you click on it and sign up, make a purchase, etc, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you – affiliate disclosure is here)
More women over 50 are working online
There’s no doubt about it – being online is where it’s at. And more and more women over 50 are turning to their laptops and the internet for jobs and the freedom they crave and deserve.
If you’re seriously considering ditching your sh*tty 9-5 and looking to work online, here are just a few of the perks:
- Work from anywhere – (yes, even your cozy kitchen table in your pjs)
- Be your own boss – (yessssssss)
- Monetize your life experience – you can make a living with everything you’ve learned in life
- Low startup costs – (no brick-and-mortar, no big investment)
- Learn new skills – and keep your brain sharp! (this one is my fave!)
From freelance writing to virtual assisting, course creation to coaching, online jobs for women over 50 are booming, and there’s never been a better time in history to start an online business and take control of your freedom, life and earnings!
Here’s why most women over 50 never start an online business
But here’s the thing. While women over 50 are working online, they’re doing ‘jobs’ and not working their own business. We didn’t grow up in the digital age. We’re pen and paper gals. Some of us aren’t very computer literate or tech savvy. At all.
Remember, neither was I, but here I am running my own online business, and a successful one at that. I am a retired hairstylist. Zero computer skills.
It’s easier to work for someone else. Simple tasks, small jobs, write articles, whatever you’re doing. Being an online employee is easy and great, and while many women would love to start their own online business, that thought still terrifies them.
The thought of ‘coding’ ‘funnels’ ‘marketing’ ‘promoting’, etc, can be a little overwhelming. Funnels? Isn’t that something you use to pour a liquid into a small bottle/jar/whatever?
It’s a lot. But, listen. Though it does sound a tad overwhelming, once you see it, watch a tutorial or two and actually understand (which is easier than you think), the only question you’ll have is, “Why didn’t I start an online business sooner?”
In today’s digital age, you don’t have to jump in with a ton of tech knowledge. Even people who have been in the online space for years still learn something new every day. It’s fun!
Today, I want to give you some tips on how to start an online business and share the one tool that has literally been a Godsend for me. This tool makes my life soooooooooo much easier.
But first, I want to share with you how I started my business and how it’s grown so much over 8 years.
How i got started with my online business
When I left my hairstyling job 10 years ago, I was a freelance writer, which meant I wrote for other people. So, while I had achieved the dream of working online and having freedom, I still had bosses.
You can learn more about how to become a freelance writer here.
I was very proud of myself for achieving that and having the freedom I so longed for, but there was still something missing. I wanted more freedom. I wanted to raise my earnings level. I wanted to do my own thing, be my own boss.
After about a year and a half of being a freelance writer and then a social media manager, I became my own boss, and Amazing Me Movement, my small personal website, became monetized, and I was finally making good money, my own money from my own work.
(I’ve since sold that website for a high 5 figures-crazy, right? Considering I am only a retired hairstylist.)
Once you have your own business, the sky is the limit.
I left my clients (aka-bosses) and worked for myself. It was a lot of work at first, but so rewarding, that’s something you can’t even describe or explain. You just have to find out for yourself!
I wrote ebooks, opened a self-improvement estore, I did Angel Card readings (still do, by the way). With my website, I expanded and realized I could do and offer whatever the hell I wanted to. But it was a lot of work.
After 5 years, I had irons in every fire imaginable, I had a VA (virtual assistant) and 2 freelancers working for me. My business was all over the place. A scattered mess, to be honest.
And then this year I decided it was time to restructure and simplify, and let me tell you, my life is so much easier now! Ooph!!
I’ve narrowed my business down to writing on my site, using Pinterest to share my articles, creating YouTube videos, and now I’ve embarked on adding a digital product store. That’s it, that’s all. It’s smooth, very structured and seamless.
It doesn’t come without challenges, but they are few and far between and not nearly as stressful as last year.
Enough babbling. Let’s get started on getting your online business set up!
How to start an online business – some helpful tips
There are literally a million and one online business ideas, but I’m going to keep it super simple here. I’ll give you some online business ideas and then show you an amazing tool that will help you get everything set up and run your business smoothly.
Online Business Ideas For Women Over 50
- online teacher (teach something you love doing: gardening, math, English, sewing, knitting, etc)
- sell your crafts (yes, you can make money selling your crafts)
- create a digital product store (think ebooks, checklists, PDFs, etc)
- coaching
- writing
- social media management (FYI, I had no idea how to do this, but I learned and became an excellent social media manager)
- do photography and sell your images online
- and so much more!!
And you don’t need any special degree or secondary education to do any of those things listed above. Your experience and passion are enough! You just need a laptop and a desire to learn, grow and be your own boss.
I do want to make one point very clear – don’t do this because you think you’re going to become an online millionaire. Do this with passion and purpose, not greed and power. I have seen many businesses rise and crash because they focused on the latter. Don’t do that.
When you love what you do, it’s not work.
Do Your Research
Once you’ve decided what kind of work you want to do online or what kind of business you want to run, do a quick Google search and find out who your competitors are and what they’re doing. Go on YouTube as well and see what they’re doing over there.
Is the knitting lady just showing her needles and yarn, or is she doing full-face videos? By the way, faceless YouTube channels are extremely popular and very successful. No face required! Isn’t that wonderful?
Don’t want to create a YouTube channel? (Pssst, in case you do, here’s a link to do that) Maybe you just want to create cool digital products like planners or checklists, or workbooks. Very cool idea, and tons of women are doing this and making a good living.
Systeme.io is the perfect tool for this – but more on that later.
One thing is for certain, starting an online business can be a bit scary and overwhelming, but when you have a plan in place, good systems and a passion to share what you love doing (and make money!!), it won’t feel like work at all.
Make a Plan
This is where it gets exciting! You’ve picked your niche (your thing), you did your research, you know what you want to offer the world and how you want to offer it, now you have to find a way to do just that.
Show off your offer to the world.
If you want to create planners, journals, workbooks or PDFs (very good idea, by the way), you can go the Etsy route (though many discourage this) or you can sell them on your own with your own digital store (which is what I’m doing and thousands of others).
If you want to be a coach, you just need a super simple one-page website, a camera and a good microphone.
If you want to run a fitness/health/mentor business, you just need a website.
Systeme.io makes all these easy and possible. Oh, by the way, it’s free to start.
You don’t have to have a huge online presence, a million social media followers, or an ad budget. You can start an online business with one good sales page (website), a good SEO strategy, some email marketing and maybe one good social media platform.
While some very successful online business owners are not on any social media, I would suggest starting with just one and then moving away from there once you’ve built your business and can grow and maintain it off social media.
But let’s be honest, social media isn’t all that bad. I love Pinterest and YouTube. Not a big fan of Facebook or Instagram. It’s important to first and foremost find out where your target audience is hanging out. Then decide from there.
Absolutely do NOT be on all social media platforms trying to promote your business. You will hate it and burn out after about 6 months. Trust me on that. Your target audience isn’t everywhere!
If you still work a regular full-time job, don’t burn yourself out. Set aside some time each day or on the weekends to work on your online business. Stay the course, slow and steady. It will be fun watching it all fall into place!!
And try not to get too overwhelmed. You’re building an online business. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s taken some people years to do that. Take your time and be patient with yourself. Learn everything you need to learn, and if you have to change your path, that’s ok too.
Follow your heart and listen to your gut. They never lie.
Start Creating/Preparing
You’ve narrowed it down, you’ve done your research, and you know what you want to do. Now it’s time to get started creating your product (if that’s the way you’ve chosen) or getting your business started.
I highly recommend Canva for all product creation ideas (e-books, workbooks, planners, etc). You can also use Canva to create all your marketing and promoting materials (Pinterest pins, Facebook images, etc).
For this article, I will be focusing mostly on this business model, as that’s where I have the most experience.
However, if you decide to become a coach, teacher, or mentor, the best way to get started with this is to build your website, start your YouTube channel (if you decide to go that route) and let all your friends and family know you are doing this.
Put the word out on your Facebook page or IG account, and then take the time to build out your business. The hardest part of starting an online business is not the creation, it’s the marketing and promoting, and this is where many people freeze and fail.
It might be hard and frustrating, but it’s worth it. Trust me on that.
The Power of SEO
I should have mentioned this much earlier, but it’s still not too late. SEO will be your best friend, and this is how it works.
SEO is Search Engine Optimization.
Now, without getting all techy geeky on you it simply means this: when you go to Google and search for something (ie best sugar free cookie recipe) the website owners that show up on the first page made sure that their blog post and recipe was optimized using keywords that people are searching for in Google.
You want to do the same. You want to make sure that your online business/store is fully optimized with good keywords that people are looking for, so people can find you!
For this, I use Keywords Everywhere and it’s super affordable and easy to use. I would highly recommend getting this tool for the beginning stages. You can cancel at any time. This tool will show you how many people are searching for your ‘thing’ each month.
This information is crucial. No sense in creating a business on how to knit tiny socks for baby turtles if no one is searching for how to do that.
I hope that makes sense.
More Things You’ll Need to Start an Online Business
The above information should be sufficient to help you start an online business, but there’s a little more involved. The actual marketing, creating, and working tool you need that will make this whole process so smooth and easy.
Systeme.io will do that, I promise.
- an email list is important
- a place to store/house your products
- a tool to collect payments
- somewhere to build a course/community
- an easy-to-build one-page website and a place to host it
Meet Systeme.io: Your All-in-One Business Buddy (No Tech Skills Needed)
Systeme.io is a game-changer for women who want to start an online business without the tech nightmare.
Here’s why it’s perfect for beginners, especially women over 50 starting their first online business:
✅ Free to start (yes, really — no credit card needed)
✅ All-in-one platform: email marketing, landing pages, sales funnels, course hosting, blogging, and even affiliate programs — all in one dashboard
✅ Drag-and-drop design — no code, no stress
✅ Perfect for coaching, digital products, services, and content creators
✅ Step-by-step tutorials if you’re new to online business (you won’t feel lost)
Systeme.io takes the guesswork (and the wallet-draining) out of starting online.
Real Ways You Can Use Systeme.io
Wondering how to use it for your business idea? Here are a few real-life examples:
- Start a blog + email list to share your midlife wisdom
- Launch a course for women going through divorce, menopause, or life reinvention
- Offer virtual services like mindset coaching, wellness support, or journaling prompts
- Sell digital products like eBooks, checklists, templates, or self-care guides
- Build a community of women just like you ( I love this one!)
The support is great, and the private community Facebook group is the best I’ve ever seen. So many helpful people who are already successful online business owners. Never any bullshit spam or trolls. It’s my favourite FB group right now!
The Biggest Challenge of Starting an Online Business
The one thing I hear the most and the biggest challenge for people who want to start an online business is this:
Lack of self-confidence.
It’s sad but it’s true. We don’t believe we can. We don’t believe we can succeed or have the skills or are good enough, smart enough, deserving enough or whatever enough!
I’m here to tell you: YOU ARE ENOUGH AND YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
Final Thoughts on how to start an online business
If you’re a woman over 50 who wants to start an online business or maybe just start working online and then work her way up from there, your timing is perfect. Now is the best time to start.
You’ve lived. You’ve learned. You have something to say, share, or sell.
And now, you have the tools to do it.
I know there was an awful lot of information in this article, but I tried to leave no online stone unturned. I hope it was helpful and easy to understand!
I just want to end on this final note:
No matter how old you are, no matter what skills you have, your life is what you make it. If you want freedom, joy, abundance, and true happiness, it’s up to you to take the leap and create it. No one can do that for you.
Remember, this is your life, and you deserve happiness and so much more. Don’t wait another day to build your dream life. Start your online business today. Your future self will thank you.
🖱️ Click here to try Systeme.io for free and start building your online future — one step at a time.
