Hey, frens. I was talking to a relative I hadn't seen in a very long time. She is now retired but having worked mostly in sales doesn't have a good retirement scheme. She wants to continue working, but needs to do so from home and asked if I knew of anything she could do. I really don't. Do any of you have any suggestions for something a nice, reliable lady could do? She didn't finish college so she doesn't have a degree, but she's sharp and gets things done. With so many employers needing dependable help, surely there must be something for her. Please post any ideas you have. Thanks!
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There are all sorts of opportunities, but most of those jobs have a swathe of people from all over the world competing for them, so immediately we run into the necessity of innovation, to stand out from the crowd.
You say she was into sales, and the 'working from home' directive suggests she wants to avoid actually handling packages and trips to the post-office, or meeting with couriers. If she doesn't mind the packaging part, try re-selling, so- source interesting or necessary things and re-sell them. You can do this by finding a bulk source, or gathering up a collection from other sites. I suggest being specific, so not just books, but crime novels, or, not just clothes, but women's luxury brands, etc. However, this will eventually take up a spare room > garage > rented premises. Also there is a lot of competition for this sort of thing. I am thinking of Ebay, Etsy etc. There are sellers out there that have 10s of thousands of listings. When we were running a business like that we had an average of 30 listings, but it only just broke even.
Then there is the option of drop shipping, or merchandise that is branded in her store ( as many Youtubers are now doing). I'd recommend Shopify for this, having had experience with their one-month free subscription. - this requires at least a month familiarising oneself with the coding (most of which is a copypasta, but requires research). Remember that this is not the only site, and one will need supporting blogs, forum activity, social media etc.
Does she have marketing skills?
Online marketing involves incorporating social media, video-making, white background photography, email lists etc. These days, people are rather immune to advertising, so one has to be more creative via product placement in videos that are genuinely interesting.
Perhaps she can team up with someone who is good at the video/social media aspect and handle the administrative side of things?
Thank you for all the suggestions! You know, she is a kindly person and I bet she would be great at having a YT discussion / advice channel. It's just that I/m sure she doesn't currently have the tech skills, but if she could team up with someone who has those skills, she would be good at the 'on camera' stuff, I think. I don't know if I could convince her of that though, lol. She's rather self effacing. The suggestion of resales is interesting because I bet she'd take to that. Finding that specific niche is good advice.
Thank you for all your input here.
If she is good at cooking, then maybe that is a way forward. Once she gets over the hurdle of camera shyness, which is easy if one is doing something, the real view into someone's kitchen is what Youtube is all about. There are some simple rules to get good lighting, and high-quality photography, but some peeps started with a cell-phone, so it can improve over time.
Also, youtube is pretty easy to use, just follow the instructions.
I imagine a cooking channel might well be fun, and can happen everyday.