One of the most common questions I’m asked by newcomers to dropshipping is whether you should build a new store from scratch or buy an existing one.  I began my own e-commerce journey by purchasing a store. In the years since, I have built and bought stores and I have coached students who have adopted […]

Some years ago, I decided to quit my full-time teaching job and start a career as a travel writer. When my colleagues heard this, they were supportive but curious about how I would make it happen. I fielded numerous questions about how I would be able to afford all the travel to exotic overseas destinations, […]

An online business can be a great way to earn some additional income to subsidize your pension, or gain the ability to retire early and travel the world. The most important factor when considering an online business is ease of operation. Just how many hours a day is it going to take? I began my […]

Dropshipping is a way for store owners to sell and send physical goods to customers without the need to warehouse inventory.  Here’s the dropshipping process simplified in five steps:  1. Your customer visits your online store and places an order. 2. Your store processes the order and sends it to your third-party supplier automatically. 3. Your supplier receives […]

In 2004, at age 48, after living in New York City my entire life, I made a decision to move to Paris with my longtime partner. Prior to our move, I was a successful chef, caterer, and business owner in New York for 20 years, and my partner was a high-profile art director in the […]

Sometimes you find yourself so deep in the weeds you don’t realize no one can see you. Which I realized last week in a conversation with a friend. She lost her job in June—a nice job, sixty grand a year, a fine salary living as a single person in South Louisiana. She’ll be 61 later […]

Who you are—the interests that define you—is valuable. If, for instance, you search online for “lime-green porcelain gardening sheers,” there’s a maker of lime-green porcelain gardening sheers somewhere in the world eager to pay for information on you so that it can market to you through Google ads and Facebook ads and other online venues. […]

With the rise of remote working, it’s now possible for many more people to perform their roles from literally anywhere in the world there’s a decent internet connection. So why not from Italy? This beautiful country has everything you need to work online, including high-quality broadband. Plus, the cost of living is lower than many […]

If you’ve worked as a bus driver all your life and at age 55, let’s say, a global pandemic vaporizes your job because, well, public transit demand collapses…are you employable online? This question popped into my mind while reading this in a Motley Fool story:  Older workers whose jobs aren’t conducive to telecommuting may not […]

For freelancer Maggie Montanaro, France has been an integral part of life since childhood.  As the daughter of a high school French teacher, the Ohio native visited France a few times during her mother’s school trips. Maggie would go on to study French and spend more and more time there. She participated in a study […]

Karin van Mierlo’s love affair with Lisbon started the moment she set foot in it.  “It’s a beautiful place,” she says. “I love it all: the narrow, hilly, winding streets, wide-open riverbank vistas, breathtaking beaches, and landscapes. I live just outside the city center in a residential area with big apartment buildings. Some are beautifully […]

This much is true: COVID-19 has not been kind to older workers.  May unemployment data showed the jobless rate among 55+ workers approaching 12%. That’s one of the highest jobless rates for any age cohort. Worse, the rise was explosive and dramatic in its speed. You can see in this chart just how fast the […]