Joan’s Boomer Blog

Today’s guest post is by Lauren Bailey and the topic is sex, baby boomers and healthy aging.

Anti-aging facial creams and a nutritious diet may help keep the wrinkles away and help keep your body in shape, but according to health experts, the real secret behind the fountain of youth may be found in the boudoir.

According to recent study conducted by HealthyWomen, a national independent organization that is dedicated to women empowerment and education, having sex at least four times a week can make couples appear 10 years younger than their actual age. Of course, the problem remains at the fact that most women have sex out of obligatory duty not pleasure, and thus don’t want have sex as often. But intercourse four times a week has many health advantages that can keep you looking younger and living longer.

Why is this exactly? Health experts say that sex causes you to release adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine-three chemicals that work to fight against aging factors such as depression and stress. They also activate the production of a special growth hormone that is specifically designed to block the absorption of free radicals in the air such as pollution and smoke that can cause deep wrinkles.

Lastly the three chemicals released during sex have also been linked to help ward of cardiovascular diseases, fight high blood pressure and improve renal function-all factors that can contribute to a longer, healthier life. But if you are not married and choose to use “casual sex” as an age-stopper, don’t forget about the importance of protection.

According to another study, there is an alarming number of baby boomers who do not engage in safe sex practices-especially among Caucasians. The study, which was commissioned by Indiana University, surveyed the sexual habits of 5, 865 people ranging between the ages of 14 to 94 and concluded that a majority of those over the age of 50 had unprotected casual sex-91% of men did not use condoms when having intercourse with a casual acquaintance, and 70% didn’t use condoms when having sex with someone they’d just met. While women on the other hand were a bit more careful, a good chunk still did not use protection.

Experts say that this behavior can partly be contributed to the fact that most baby boomers dive-into the dating market after years of having unprotected sex with a spouse and thus think that having unprotected sex with others is safe. But remember: no matter how old you are, sexually transmitted diseases are still a serious issue.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.

Create Retirement Income with Affiliate Marketing

Have you ever thought about starting your own blog or website, dreaming of piles of cash you could earn?

The Super Affiliate Handbook

Perhaps you already have a blog and you’ve considered affiliate marketing as a way to bring in extra income. Rosalind Gardener’s ebook, The Super Affiliate Handbook, describes how she made nearly $500,000 a year with affiliate marketing. Will everyone have this type of success if they read her book? No, they won’t. But if you are new to affiliate marketing, this book can give you all the basics you need to send you on your way.

I bought this handbook because, although I’ve had my own blogs and websites for several years, and I do have affiliate products on them, I’m certainly not making $500,000 a year. I was hoping I could take my business to the next level with The Super Affiliate Handbook’s information.

So let me begin by saying, after I read the handbook, I asked for a refund (and got it promptly and pleasantly). I did decide, however, that I wanted to promote this book because I think if you are just starting out in affiliate marketing, or if you are considering it for extra income, or if you’re really struggling and wondering why you aren’t making more money as an affiliate, this book will save you time and frustration. It does contain valuable tips and I have to say, if I’d read it starting out, I would probably be much more successful now.

Rosalind’s clear, concise style is very easy to read and understand, even if you’re new to affiliate marketing and building an internet business. Her focus is on choosing affiliate programs carefully, building simple but professional sites, writing compelling text and building trust from your visitors. As an ebook, it is available for instant download too.

So what does the Super Affiliate Handbook cover?

• Overview of affiliate marketing and the many ways you can earn money with it
• How to set up your own website or blog - include everything from how to choose a domain name to how to install a Wordpress blog and design tips.
• Search engine optimization tips and how to add valuable content to your site.
• Then - detailed, step by step information about how to monetize your site. Where to find affiliate programs, how to choose the right ones for your site, how to set up accounts and install the ads on your site.
• Mistakes and how to avoid them-I have to admit I was doing some of these and promptly changed course!
• How to write reviews to sell products and other sales tools.
• 31 ways to promote your website - traffic equals sales and earnings.
• How to organize, manage and grow your business.

The Super Affiliate handbook makes it very clear that you have to get the details right first time, every time – which is how she’s generating over $1,000 a day in affiliate income.

This book isn’t about magic tricks or get rich quick schemes. What you will find is a detailed and precise process that has worked for the author, and it could make all the difference for you.

They used to say, everybody has at least one good book in them. Nowadays, that has probably been amended to “everybody has at least one good blog in them.” If you’d like to take a passion of yours and turn it into profits to fund your retirement, the the Super Affiliate Handbook is a great place to start.

Learn more about The Super Affiliate Handbook

Book Review Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a 6 Figure Income

Recently I saw this list of bloggers’ salaries which is topped by Markus Frind with over $3,600,000! Never heard of him? Markus Frind owns a free dating website called PlentyofFish.com. I think every blogger dreams of making a six figure salary, just like nearly every actor dreams of winning an Oscar - But how do you begin?

There are millions of bloggers out there today, writing away, wondering why the big bucks eluded them. What are they doing wrong and what could they do better?

What is your level of blogging expertise? Are you:

• blogging as a hobby and not making a dime
• Are you facing retirement and looking for supplemental income?
• Are you unemployed and really need to start generating income?
• Are you in a job you don’t care for and would like to start a blog as a part or full time venture?
• Do you already have a blog that generates income but you would like that blog to make more?

Wherever you are in your blogging career, ProBlogger can help guide you to a higher level.

Authors Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett cover:

• How to choose a (profitable) subject for your blog
• How to handle the technical parts of blogging
• Different ways to generate income with your blog
• How to evaluate your blog’s success
• How to keep your content fresh and interesting to readers
• How to use your blog to generate income indirectly

ProBlogger offers a complete how-to on blogging from from two top-performing bloggers. If you’re one of thousands of aspiring bloggers who launch new blogs every day hoping to boost their income or someone who already has a blog, you can benefit from ProBlogger’s advice. Without solid advice from experts, most will fail. This best-selling guide, (more…)

When you retire, you may need some extra retirement income and what better way to make it than doing

One of my most recent beaded creations.

what you love? Turning a hobby into retirement income may seem like a good way to go and there are many ways you can go about it.

Retirement gives us lots of time, hopefully, to pursue those hobbies we’ve picked up over the years. But after you’ve knitted a dozen scarves, made a bunch of woodworking do-dads or turned your beautiful photos into posters, what do you do with all of them? Everybody in my family now has a knitted scarf and hat so turning my passion for knitting into profit might be the next step.

Keep in Mind:

1.  If you want to turn a hobby into a business, once your hobby becomes “work” it may not seem like as much fun.

I used to have a passion for bead work and created some beautiful (if I do say so) pieces. I worked in a bead store and taught classes and soon I was sitting at a booth at a craft fair selling my wares. Production work isn’t like beadiing, or doing any craft, for fun. If you’re going to do a craft fair, for instance, you need a certain amount of stock. Your wrists and hands begin to hurt, your shoulders have knots in them and your eyes are burning. Not so much fun.

2.  If you are going to rely in any way on the money you make from your hobby, realize that you still have to spend money for supplies, entries into craft fairs, etc, so your profit margin may not be that big.

I spent more than I ever made, I think, on beads, yarn, etc, for any hobby I tried to turn into a business. If you have a real passion for your hobby, you’re likely to spend more. The flip side of this, of course, is that if you want a real business and you make some money, you can deduct many of your supplies on your taxes.

If you’re still sure you want to turn your hobby into an income producing business. Here are some steps to take.

Start by Assessing:

1. What is your skill level? – Whatever your hobby, can you make them quickly, in quantities and make your product look professional?

2. How much time do you want to devote? Making enough items for a craft fair, for instance, is very time-consuming. If you decide to create a website or online store, you also have to devote time to that as well.

Next:

1. Find a Niche market – Rather than trying to be all things to all people, it’s easier to make a profit if you cater to one niche, or group of people, and be specific. Take knitting, for instance. You could make your pieces from organic yarn. You could stick to baby clothes or blankets. You could specialize in prayer shawls or knit only with hand painted, hand dyed yarns.

Specialize in knitted baby hats

Knitting examples are easy for me because that’s what I love doing but if you are a photographer you could specialize in nature photography, scenery, animals, cute puppies, whatever. If you do woodworking, you could specialize in wooden toys, fancy shelves or cradles.If you make candles, you could make only soy or natural fragrances.

4. Research your market – Who is your competition and how do they manage their businesses? Visit some craft fairs and see if you can spot a niche that needs to be filled and talk to others who are doing what you want to do. Crafters are generally very helpful and nice people. Try to find a  niche that is popular but where the competition is less.

5.  Decide HOW you will sell your product. Are you willing and able to spend your weekends holding down the fort at your craft fair table? Are you willing to travel to get to craft fairs? You can also sell with a website such as Etsy.com or Artfire.com. Setting up an online store is free on these sites which feature only handcrafted items. They just take a small percentage on what you sell. Keep in mind too that people are paying through pay pal usually and pay pal also takes a percentage of your profits so price accordingly.

6. Once you decide on just what you will make, set up a plan and choose some goals - How much money would you like to make? Just enough to pay for your own materials? Enough to pay for one of the household bills or give you some money for that extra trip? It’s important to know the purpose for your hobby business.

Other Ways to Profit from Your Hobby

Write about Your Hobby

Even if you don’t get into production, you can still profit from your hobby. One way is to create a blog or website and put some affiliate ads on it. You can talk about books or products you like or don’t like and if giving a good recommendation, sell it via the Amazon.com affiliate program or a google adsense account, or find your own companies to represent.

If you would like to create a for profit blog, I can highly recommend the program The Niche Blogger. The Niche Blogger is a subscription site so you can set up your blog, or blogs, and then cancel anytime. The Niche Blogger takes you from step one, day one, through the entire process of creating a self-hosted wordpress blog. A blog like this will only cost you about $10 a year to keep online.

The Niche Blogger can help you choose a niche topic for your hobby as well so it is most likely to be profitable.

Write an ebook About Your Hobby

If you’ve been doing your hobby for a while, or you’ve gotten into a good niche, you probably have a lot of expertise in that area. Consider writing an ebook that will help others enjoy the same passion for the hobby that you do. The Niche Blogger program does into exactly how to create an ebook and market it, I think around month 4-5 of the program.

Teach Classes

If you’d like interacting with others and sharing your hobby, contact your local craft store, like Michaels or Joanns, or your local hobby store. Find out if they have a need for a teacher or there is a special technique that they don’t currently offer, that you could teach.

You can also create podcasts and teach online (again, this is covered in The Niche Blogger Program)

Other Resources for Starting a Craft Business

How to Create an Etsy Store to sell your knitting online

How to Create An Artfire Store to make money knitting.

If you’re interested in knitting for profit, Liz Raad has written a terrific ebook on Knitting for Profit. Liz also has a helpful newsletter for those wanting to learn how to make a living from knitting and sign up is free.

The Savvy Crafters Guide To Success: Turn Your Crafts Into A Career

Another good resource for turning any type of hobby into income is Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Money with Your Hobby which takes you from A to Z.

If you want to turn your hobby into retirement income, realize that there will be work involved in making it successful. However, the fact that you are able to spend your days focusing on your passion, makes it different than any other “job.” You’ll have fun and probably make a lot of new friends along the way.

The New Year is almost here and it could be time to start a new business sideline to make some quick money or even start a whole new career. Baby Boomers all need extra income so they can retire in style. Other reasons for needing quick money might be that a car that breaks down, or you’d like to start traveling or maybe just pay off some bills and provide basic household needs. Whatever reasons you might need money fast, here are a few ways to use the Internet to get that flow of cash into your bank account.

The Internet can provide anyone unlimited, legitimate opportunities to make money online. Choosing your money making method is the first step to earning an online income. Many of these online income opportunities require having your own blog or website, which I can also show you is easy, and inexpensive, to do.

Method #1 — Provide a Service to Businesses

One way to make money using the Internet is to provide a service online to businesses. There are many out there that are looking for people to drive traffic to their websites by posting on forums or on blogs or to write articles for them.

This is a good option if you have studied a little bit about Internet marketing and know how to do these things. You’ll probably earn a fee per hour or per job depending on how you make arrangements.

Method #2 — Affiliate Marketing

Many companies spend a lot of money on advertising. Part of this advertising budget includes paying affiliates to send traffic to their website. You can sign up for free with product or service, receive your affiliate links, which include banners, and post it on your blog or website, use it as your signature in emails and forums or simply let your friends know about these products. You are then paid a commission for any purchases made.

Many companies with affiliate programs are well known to you, such as Amazon.com and Google. Many pay immediately through pay pal so you get your money quickly.

Method #3 — Selling Your Own Information Product

If you are able to quickly create an e-book or other kind of information product, you can make quick money. You can simply drive traffic to your website through Pay Per Click, or by promoting your ebook on blogs and forums and you can start earning money right away.

You can see a common thread among these ways of making quick money is that they are all made possible through blogging.You can blog about your services or make a sales page for your services or ebook. You become an “expert” in your field by posting blog entries, which go up in the search engines. You add articles about the products you are promoting as an affiliate and add a link to the product.

Once you have your blog set up, with all the proper plug-ins to drive traffic to it, the rest is easy. If you know nothing about blogging, or if you’d like to set up a professional blog to help you earn money quickly through many avenues, you need The Niche Blogger Program. The Niche Blogger is a subscription site that takes you day by day through every single step to set up your first blog, then, using the same steps, you can create multiple blogs and begin earning real money fast. It even helps you choose a profitable topic, or several of them.

The Niche Blogger is affordable (in fact it can save you weeks or time and energy trying to figure things out on your own!) and you can cancel once you get your blog up and running. However, besides setting up a blog, The Niche Blogger program also teaches you to write and sell your own ebook, set up an automated email campaign and many other more advanced techniques to get you to where the real money is in blogging.

The program is set up like a blog, with steps to take each day and place for comments so you can get instant feedback if you have questions. There is also a helpful forum where you can get advice and tips.

To create a good retirement income for my husband and myself, I used The Niche Blogger program to set up several very profitable, self-hosted Wordpress blogs, including this one. You too can begin earning quick money on the Internet in 2010, by using The Niche Blogger Program.

Would you like to make money at home using your computer? In the current economy, everybody could use some extra income, or maybe even a new career. Working at home means you can get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and head for your computer to put in a couple hours work. This sort of extra income sounds great and it IS possible for anybody wanting to make money online.

Jumping out of bed, throwing down a cup of coffee and scampering to your car to face bumper to bumper traffic, while trying desperately trying to motivate yourself do do work you don’t like may be something you would love to eliminate from your life. Some of you may be sitting at home with no job to go to and no money coming in.

The good news is that you can make money at home online to supplement or even replace your income. It’s all made possible through blogging!

You probably read blogs on all sorts of subjects all the time. There are literally millions of blogs out there on every conceivable topic which are called niche blogs. They find a niche and fill it, while making money online.

You might think it’s difficult to become a blogger but, with the right help, it’s possible to make a great income online by blogging and change your life for the better.

Instead of sneaking a peek at your favorite blogs during your 9-to-5 job, you can be the one sitting at home and writing these blogs that other people read! You’ll not only be providing great content for people, you’ll also be pulling in some great money that can literally change your life and having fun too.

Getting rid of the doubt that you can do this is going to be an important first step. As long as you are able to compose and send an e-mail, you can be a professional blogger!

What you need to help you learn the art of blogging is a tutorial that will show you step-by-step how to do this. It’s also important to have motivation and encouragement. The absolute best place to get this online is The Niche Blogger.

This membership site is great for the beginning at blogging and also for the intermediate marketer who wants to learn more about how to build a successful, money-making blog. In fact, many of the people who join the membership site are brand-new at blogging and have little computer knowledge.

The good thing is that there is a whole mix of experience levels so you are sure to be able to find help among the community whenever you need it.

The startup cost is incredibly low as well — making sure that those who want to join learn about blogging and making money online to escape their jobs are able to do so. Even if you’re happy with your job, it never hurts to have extra money coming in. Blogging is fun!

You already know that companies spend millions and millions of dollars in order to attract customers. Part of their advertising costs online go to a affiliates. These affiliates place ads on their websites and blogs and their readers often make purchases. When readers make purchases, the blog owner makes money! It’s as simple as that.

All you need to do is have your blog in place, with affiliate ads relating to your content and you can be the one whose links customers buy through.

The main difference between making money at home online and going to a 9-to-5 job is that you are now in business for yourself - a professional blogger.

There is no reason to limit yourself into thinking that you have to stay at a job you don’t like forever. Become your own boss and work at home in your PJs so you can do what you want to do, when you want to do it.

Try The Niche Blogger for FREE! Click Here for a FREE 3 Day Trial and see for yourself what a great blogging program it is.