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4 steps to create a successful blog after 60

<p>There’s no better time than retirement to try new things, and one hobby that’s taking off with retirees around the world is blogging – and why not? Who better than over-60s to share a wealth of experience and knowledge? Whether you want to make some money online or simply exercise your creative muscles, creating a blog is a fantastic way to do so. If you’ve always loved to write and share your thoughts with others, just follow these four easy steps and you’ll be on your way to success in no time.</p> <p><strong>1. Prepare</strong></p> <p>First of all, you need to think of something to write about. While many people use their blog as a sort of online diary, simply talking about what’s going on in their lives, it’s best if you have a point of difference. Say, for example, you travel a lot. Why not share some of your best memories and the tips you’ve learnt along with some photos you’ve taken? Or, if you’re more into baking, share your wisdom and beloved recipes with the rest of the world. A good rule of thumb is to just think about what you like to do and read or hear about – your blog will never last if you’re not passionate about your subject matter.</p> <p><strong>2. Choose a website</strong></p> <p>So you’ve got your idea, now it’s time to start putting it into practice. There are numerous platforms you can use to set up your blog, but by far the most popular (and most user-friendly) are <a href="https://wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wordpress</span></strong></a> and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Blogger</span></strong></a>. They’re completely free and offer a ton of great features and opportunities to earn advertising revenue. Setting up your blog is pretty straight forward, but finding a username (that’s the part that goes before .wordpress.com or .blogspot.com) can be difficult, so try to stick to something descriptive (for example “greynomads” for travel bloggers).</p> <p><strong>3. Write</strong></p> <p>Now for the hard part. You’ve got your idea, you’ve got your blog set up, and now it’s time to write that all-important first post. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself as you can always go back and delete or edit posts should you make a mistake. Blogs are all about showing your personality and writing in a conversational style – that is, pretend you’re writing to someone rather than an abstract group of internet users – and that means using all the slang, colloquialisms and emojis you like!</p> <p><strong>4. Promote</strong></p> <p>If you’re creating your blog just for yourself or to share snippets of your life with selected friends or family, you can probably ignore this step, but if you want to be a serious blogger, marketing needs to be a priority. We’re not talking TV ads or radio spots, marketing a blog is all about social media. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Click here</span></strong></a> for an easy, step-by-step guide to setting up a Facebook page for your website. Invite your Facebook friends and family to “like” your page or share it with others, as this will organically increase the number of people coming to read your blog. Plus, you can always promote your blog’s Facebook page with some very cheap (often as little as $5) advertising options. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Click here</span></strong></a> to learn more about advertising on Facebook.</p> <p>Good luck!</p> <p>Tell us in the comments below, have you started a blog before? What tips would you have for first-timers?</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/08/i-became-an-author-at-64/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>I became an author at 64</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/08/break-out-of-your-comfort-zone-in-retirement/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Why everyone should break out of their comfort zone in retirement</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/07/reawaken-your-creativity-in-retirement/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Reawaken your creativity in retirement</strong></em></span></a></p>

Retirement Life

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6 inspiring travel blogs for seniors

<p>Travel blogs are a great way to get inspired for our own adventures around the world. We’ve taken a look at six inspiring travel blogs written by seniors for seniors. You may already be familiar with a couple of these through previous articles we’ve posted.   </p> <p>If you’re looking for advice, ideas or inspiration for your own around the world adventure (or even just a good read) you can’t do much better than these six travel blogs.</p> <p><strong>1. Senior Nomads</strong></p> <p>A simple suggestion from their daughter has turned into an epic, adventurous, around the world and still-continuing journey for Michael and Debbie Campbell. To cut costs this intrepid couple stay in <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/?af=61160407&amp;c=apac_au_over60_guest" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Airbnbs</span></strong></a>, and provide useful information about this and every place they visit in their fun, informative blog. To visit the Senior Nomads blog, <a href="http://seniornomads.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">click here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>2. Global Travellers</strong></p> <p>In four and a half years of travel, Elizabeth Grey and her husband Gary driven a caravan around the world, <strong><a href="http://globalrvtravellers.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">visiting almost 50 countries in the process</span></a></strong>. The aptly-named Global Travellers details the adventures of these intrepid seniors who are currently travelling around Australia. Richly-detailed, Global Travellers is quite a fun read, <a href="http://globalrvtravellers.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">available here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>3. The Gypsy Nesters</strong></p> <p>Another blog about a couple who have decided to use their twilight years as an opportunity to roam around the world. The Gypsy Nesters showcases a couple roaming around the globe, untethered from the responsibilities that tie so many of us down. Regularly updated and full of fun information, the Gypsy Nesters is <a href="http://www.gypsynester.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">available here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>4. Boomeresque</strong></p> <p>Put together by Suzanne, an intrepid traveller who describes herself as a “recovering-lawyer”, Boomeresque is quite a fun take on the blog form. Suzanne keeps blog posts irreverent and fun, hilariously referencing to her husband as Mr Excitement. Suzanne also welcomes lively reader engagement. You can find <a href="http://www.boomeresque.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Boomeresque here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>5. Glamour Granny Travels</strong></p> <p>Inka Piegsa-Quischotte is the Glamour Granny, a freelance travel writer who created her blog with a view to provide inspiration for baby boomers around the world who would like to embark up travels but don’t quite know where to start. Her witty, entertaining posts are always full of fun information. You can read <a href="http://www.glamourgrannytravels.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Glamour Granny Travels here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>6. Women on the Road</strong></p> <p>Offering practical, ethical and fun advice, Women on the Road’s author Leyla created her blog with an aim to inspire readers with stories and advice from a lifetime of travel. Well-travelled and a gifted writer, Leyla is a great source of experience and is just the sort of person you’d like to talk to before going overseas. Read <a href="http://www.women-on-the-road.com/about.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Women on the Road here</span></strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/travel/international-travel/2016/01/how-i-drove-a-motorhome-around-the-world/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>When I retired I drove a motorhome around the world</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/international-travel/2015/11/becoming-a-travel-blogger/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>7 reasons to become a travel blogger</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/travel/domestic-travel/2015/12/walking-the-heysen-tail/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>How I walked the 1,200km Heysen Trail</em></span></strong></a></p>

Travel Tips

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The best looks from the Advance Style blog

<p>Back in 2008, Ari Seth Cohen began photographing the most stylish women to grace the streets of New York City – but with one caveat, he decided to focus exclusively on the older set: ladies and gentleman in their 60s, 70s and beyond. It may have been considered a bold move at the time, but as evidenced by the explosive popularity of his blog Advanced Style since those early years, Cohen was tapping into a repository of sartorial wisdom that can only come with age. His pictures, but more importantly the ladies behind the photos, showcased an age-defying beauty, grace and of course, style, that challenged conceptions about ageing. The photos became so popular Advanced Style was turned into both a book and a documentary. It just goes to show that over-60s are the real style-setters! From big accessories to even bigger personalities, here’s a collection of our favourite fashionable moments from the Advanced Style blog.</p> <p>To find more information, <a href="http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>visit the Advance Style website here</strong></span></a>. </p> <p><strong><em>Related links:</em></strong></p> <p><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/beauty-style/2015/12/senior-style-instagrams-to-follow/">5 senior style instagrams you shuld follow</a></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/beauty-style/2015/11/ways-to-style-short-hair/">12 age-defying ways to style short hair</a></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/beauty-style/2015/11/common-beauty-myths/">7 beauty myths to stop believing</a></strong></em></p>

Beauty & Style

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Become a successful blogger

<p><span>Whether you’ve got a business and want to get the word out or you’re simply passionate about a topic and want to share it, starting a blog is the way to do it. Setting up a blog can be straightforward but creating a successful one is a bit more difficult. When we use the word success we don’t necessarily mean an internationally acclaimed blog but simply one that has a readership and a growing audience that keeps coming back for more. So how do you go about making your blog stand out among the rest? These easy-to-follow tips will help get you on the right track.</span></p> <p><strong>Do what you love</strong></p> <p>Choose a topic that you are genuinely passionate about and knowledgeable in. This will not only mean that you’ll want to update your blog but your passion will come through in your writing and that’s what readers – or more specifically repeat readers – respond well to.</p> <p><strong>Write good content</strong></p> <p>What you write is the most important factor in the success of your blog. Readers appreciate consistently high-quality content. Make sure you proofread all of your articles to ensure there are no typos or grammatical errors. It’s also a good idea to double-check any facts and quotes you include too.</p> <p><strong>Update regularly and consistently</strong></p> <p>In order to build a readership, you need to update your blog regularly and consistently. Readers always want more content and they like to know when it’s coming. A common mistake for a first-time blogger is to enthusiastically post at the beginning but then post infrequently after that. Decide how often you can realistically blog and stick to it! Your readers will love you for it and keep coming back.  </p> <p><strong>Be part of the community</strong></p> <p>Now that you’re a blogger you are part of the blogging community. Embrace it because not only can you learn from your fellow bloggers but also they can help you by recommending your posts or blog to others – but keep in mind they only do this when they like what you give them. It’s also a good idea to comment regularly on other blogs you’re interested in and respond to comments on your blog as this all helps to make you a visible part of different conversations and contributes to a strong online presence.</p> <p><strong>Market your blog</strong></p> <div> <p>Unfortunately, simply creating a blog and writing good content will not always guarantee you a successful blog. You need to get the word out there. Market your blog so people know who you are and what your blog is all about. You can do this in a number of ways such as networking with other bloggers, guest blogging for other successful blogs and getting them to link back to your blog, and then of course being active on social media is another way to get the word out there. </p> </div>

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