Small Business Boomers

I have been writing for a long time, non-fiction, business articles and books.  I did some children’s stories, back when my children were young, but I’ve never been really motivated to write fiction…until now.  Maybe you have to be more mature, more “lived in” to write fiction.

One of the entrants in the “50 things you can do at 50″ Contest got me thinking more about writing.  She said, If you’ve ever had the writing bug (like me), enter a short fiction, short non-fiction, or poetry contest. There are many out there and most entrants are younger, so our perspective is a bit more unique and anyway, they say to write what you know, and look how much we now know!

Her thoughts really hit me.   So I want to talk about writing as a career for Baby Boomers.  Before you say, “I can’t write,” consider these possible writing jobs:

1.  Blogging – Find a subject you are passionate about, as I have, set up a blog-site and start writing about it.  Or find someone else who is blogging on the subject and see if you can team up with that person.

2.   Local newspapers – Talk to your local newspaper and see if they need content writers.  Maybe you can write a regular column about a subject of interest to locals – what’s new at the library, gardening tips for the locality, what’s happening in your area.  Ask if you can cover the news for a small fee.  See what they need and what you can do.

3.  PR Writing/Marketing for Local Businesses – Small businesses in your area need help getting the word out about their products and services.  If you can write and distribute press releases, you can be a huge help.  You may be able to trade services.

4.  Travel writing.  As I wrote about a while back, baby boomers are great travelers.  If you enjoy traveling and writing about your travels, find a market, through a blog or local publication or for a travel agency or service.

5.   Write a How-To, put it in an e-book.  Take your career experiences and tell others what you have learned.  Write an e-book that can be downloaded for a fee.  (You’ll need to set up a web page to do your selling.)

6. Writing memoirs.  Write your own memoirs, put them in an e-book and sell them online.  Or find someone who has had an interesting life and write his/her story.

7. Newsletter or E-newsletter writing for businesses.  If you have expertise in a subject, you can write a newsletter or online newsletter.  Sell your content to businesses so they can add to and customize the information.

My ideas came from Mary Emma Allen’s Home Biz Notes blog.  I’m betting you can think of others.  Next, Baby Boomer Stephen King’s advice for budding writers.

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