So, You Have a Website

Now what?  The most beautiful website sitting alone in cyber space is going to earn absolutely no money unless it is seen by potential buyers.  You need to drive traffic to your site and a lot of it.  There are so many ways to do this.  You need to do search engine optimization but what is the best way to do this?  You could hire a professional service but that would cost a lot.  You could pay for advertising but that is also quite expensive.  There are many ways to advertise for free.  You could participate in traffic exchanges, write blogs or submit articles to article submission sites.  I have even had videos created and submitted to video submission sites.  To determine the proper technique for you, you need to study all the techniques and try a few.  The following site suggests free and paid methods and contains many sources of information.
http://www.expertseohelp.com/
If you don't have a website, here is a free one.  No hosting charges either.
http://cbglobe.com/index.shtml

Reverse Mortgage

For some baby boomers, a reverse mortgage might be an excellent way to supplement retirement income before and after retirement. A reverse mortgage is exactly that, a reversal of a normal home mortgage. Instead of borrowing money and making monthly payments to a mortgage company, the home owner gets a loan from the mortgage company which will be paid out over time, usually for 15 years. The loan can be up to 60% of the home's current value. The homeowner continues to live in the home and pays the insurance, real estate taxes and normal upkeep. The homeowner benefits by no longer having to pay their mortgage, it comes out of the monthly loan payment from the mortgage company, and actually receives additional money from the mortgage company. Obviously, the homeowner needs to have significant equity in the home prior to entering into such an agreement. Since this is actually a loan, the homeowner must pay substantial closing costs. The reverse mortgage ends when the homeowner sells the house or passes away. At that time, the remaning balance of the loan is paid off and the homeowner or heirs receive the remaining equity. A reverse mortgage is not for everybody but is something one should look into in an effort to supplement retirement income.

Travel agent

It used to be that it required a storefront office to become a travel agent but the internet has made it possible to do this at home with no employees.  One of the advantages is that you can become a licensed travel agent with minimal cost and effort.  Once you become licensed, you can go to cruise lines, hotels and airlines and get free trips under the understanding that you want to check out their offerings for your clients.  I know one baby boomer who works with her local senior citizen group and makes a nice living organizing trips 3 or 4 times a year. If you are interested in becoming a travel agent, you might want to check out this website http://ad03fe4a6a7x6tf7p1j4-k0hjy.hop.clickbank.net/
It is very easy to become an affiliate for any of the airlines, cruise lines, car rental agencies and Hotel chains.
One problem that might arise is you probably have to have a computer readily available at all times.  Another possible business is with this company.  They sell discount travel packages.  They provide you with a website and potential customers call their office and their sales people close the deal.  Here is their site.
www.tvtravelpackages.com/sk8128.

Do Baby Boomers Need to Supplement Retirement Income?

Some have asked why I am doing this blog?  They tend to think that most baby boomers are pretty well set for life when they are ready to retire. I beg to differ.  I would guess that a person needs roughly $60,000 annually to live fairly well in today's economy.  This is equivalent to $5,000 per month.  Assume Social Security income of $1200 per month and a pension of $1800 per month, for the lucky ones.  This income still leaves us $2,000 short of our $5,000 per month goal.  In order to compensate, one would need roughly $750,000 in their 401K plan to achieve the difference.  Let's be honest, how many people actually have an investment account approaching anywhere near $750,000. Most baby boomers need some way for them to supplement retirement income.  

Selling on Ebay

One of the most obvious ways to supplement retirement income online is selling products on Ebay.  The question is what to sell.  The easiest place to look for items to sell is around your house.  There are all sorts of items around our house that we no longer need.  Believe it or not, somebody will buy your unwanted items if you price them properly on Ebay.  Some people go to yard sales, tag sales, garage sales, rummage sales, or whatever you call them in your area, for the simple reason of finding things to sell on Ebay.  Another source is estate sales but the ultimate way to supplement retirement income is to buy products from wholesalers who will dropship your products to your customers.  If you want to go this route, check out this source for wholesale dropshippers
http://www.informationsources.net/wholesale/index.php

Gigs

One of the best ways for baby boomers to supplement retirement income is to find the right gig. If you live in a big city, look at your local Craigslist for possibilities.  If you are unfamiliar with Craigslist, it is an online classified ad publication, see http://www.craigslist.com/  I just perused the San Siego edition and found dozens of listings under Gigs.  These are short term term or part time jobs.  What better way to supplement retirement income?.  For those of you who are computer experts, they were looking for web developers, Adobe Dreamweaver instructors, telecommunications technicians and graphic designers.  Other gigs available were article writer for online publication, brochure designers, freelance hair and makeup artists for weddings, tutors, personal assistants, caregivers and driving cars cross country for used car salesmen. It all depends on what you have done previously but there appears to be more gigs listed than actual full time jobs.

Mystery Shopper

A mystery shopper goes to various places of business and gathers information to complete a form as to their experience.  The form can usually be completed online and generally doesn't take much time.  For example, you might be assigned to a fast food restaurant.  You would report on the attitude of the employees, the cleanliness and general condition of the restaurant and the service in general.  You might be asked to describe the signs and ads that you see.  If you are interested in learning more about mystery or secret shopper programs, check out this website.
http://c901fnx34hb09yffp2r7-g4e8e.hop.clickbank.net/