Been in a non-internet business before ??

[Lumos]

Yes, that is a real question:
Have you been in a non-internet business before ??

I have (several in fact) and can tell you that MMO and IM resemble offline business in name only.

IRL you see actual people 1 way or another and there's loads of info to gain about them and what they want/need when they are right there with you - vs. MMO where you must depend mostly upon words in some form and here's a 'secret' for you:
Maybe ~80% of people SUCK at verbal communications !!

So lots of it has to be guesswork, really.

Then there's the usual complexity of MMO;
The need to somehow weave together a handful or so of different tools and make those connections actually work together correctly to produce a good, useful, usable result.

Of course there are great advantages which make MMO attractive - you boss yourself, don't HAVE to deal with folks in person, can have location independence, and so on - BUT:
If the rent is due in 3 days and you ain't got it yet, depending upon guesswork may not offer the comfort of having the paycheck from a j-o-b (dirty word, I know !!).

There's also the HUGE 'getting started' part of things...
IRL you either buy an existing and already profitable biz, or you get a place and a bunch of stuff and make one yourself.

For starting off in MMO there seems to be about a zillion added variables, and all of it shifts like the winds on a stormy day !!

The biggest MMO tripping point that I've seen so far ??
What's your niche ?!?

Pretend for a minute that you are good at working with OSes (like me) - oops.
Sorry, that is not applicable to MMO.
So how about making homemade kombucha then...nope, not too likely to sell anything very much in that niche...'cuz there's already bunches of stuff about it which is easily found.

Like I said, loads of variables to add in with your heaping servings of guesswork !!

Have some notion of getting an honest pay for your honest work in MMO ??
Sure, if you have a way to blog about stuff that folks NEED to know about and keep an interest in, you may be able to hang on long enough to get some affiliate commisions and maybe even build a list besides.

Perhaps you prefer to be busy much of the time ??
Then maybe CPA will hit the spot for you.

Of course CPA comes with hurdles to get past, most likely will require buying stuff to get started, and seems to always come with some thrilling risks as well.

Comparing those 2 avenues quickly=>
Blogging is way simpler than any CPA method that I've yet found - they all seem to be loaded with heavy duty twists.

Which exactly brings me to...simplicity.
All during my almost 4 years as a member here that has always been my desired goal and destination in wanting to get started into MMO.

Its a good thing for me that I still have a small amount of work from my last business and a partner who brings home a regular check, because I haven't yet nailed down anything reasonably simple that brought with it the sense that it would produce a decent return as compared with the amount of work needed to get into it.

And finally I'm going to add in some personal stuff here because I already know there are other folks here at BBHF who have things in common with me.
(I've been open about stuff here before and got snarked at by several younger folks who had no way of relating, so they got nasty instead...)

1st - I'm retirement aged without any pension or benefits to collect on;
2nd - Put bluntly, I'm considered a 'cripple' with physical challenges 365 days/year and that is the short way of putting it;
3rd - My 20+ year current expertise is actually hands-on technical (non-coding) work with a side of extreme health measures;
4th - I've no fears of either real work or learning new stuff;
5th - Being older means I've had plenty of time to assess my own skills and abilities - so I know me along with what I can and cannot do; pretty d*mn well.
6th - I'm NOT seeking some pushbutton thing here to grab megabux with !!

So I know that there are entire areas which I'd only mak a mess of - like website design - sure, I can make stuff - but it'll look like shit that nobody would want (think 1998...).

Does all what I've said here make me a 'master excuse maker' like a certain mr. snarky man has inferred publicly ??

I think not and frankly the ONLY living person I need to satisfy is MYSELF in such matters.

Here's another crazy bad example for anyone still reading:
Put a gallon can of paint and a roller and brushes in my shaky hands and tell me to paint something simple like a plank floor - then watch me make a terrible mess of it.

Seems to me that other folks here who also happen to be heading for their 70th year will also WELL know what they can and cannot do reasonably well.

Lastly for this thread's 1st post:
Don't EVEN get me started on the whole 'TAKE MASSIVE ACTION' baloney !!

When I was ~30 and still bringing home plenty of $$ I might have spent lots of $$ and my off times trying to do exactly that - but being more than double that age means taking a better look for lots of good reasons.

The great thing is that I also don't need as much, so getting a nice, simple start at MMO and reaching the 1st $100 return would be HUGE for me.

I'm happy to leave the chasing of fancy houses, cars, boats etc. all to the younger folks.

Thanks for reading all of that !!

[Kaiser Soze]

@smithnowt
Hey Amigo :)

Being that you're of retirement age you must have lots of family I'm assuming?
Children, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc...

There's an opportunity right now that is very far from saturated, actually it's not even peaked yet and probably won't for some time to come.

I truly think it's an evergreen industry and it's kind of how I got started making my online money back in 2002, ...kind of.

I approached my friends and family to see if there was any interest in my retouching their family photos.
I made a small profit off it for a while until I learned myself how to really take advantage of using PhotoShop.
You actually know my story already so I won't reiterate all the details here.

My point is why not approach your friends and family members and ask them if you could create a calendar using their photos?
Or put their kid's pics on a coffee mug that they can look at while at work?
Or on a set of coasters in their home.

Don't like your kids? Ok, do people's pets, lol.

There are lots of different ways a person could take advantage of the very innovative companies that are out there now willing to work with folks.

I have a friend in my home city who is doing this right now.
She has zero design skills, doesn't know how any photo editors work, and doesn't need to.

Family Photography Printing is getting huge right now.
If people could just see the full potential in this one area alone they would see that there is literally a huge pile of cash right in front of them.

All they have to do is this...

1-Find family/friends/pets photos on Facebook or anywhere.
2-Ask which of them is their favorites, at least a dozen, preferably up to 20 images.
3-Create a calendar. Who wouldn't want to see a different family photo every month, or their pet photos?
4-Use a local service to print out the calendar, like this one...

Code:

https://www.colorincprolab.com/family

If your not living near your family you can use a Print Drop-shipper like this one to deliver your goods,

Code:

https://www.printful.com/

5-Whatever it costs you to create the calendar you charge double that.
6-Make a lot of cash!

I truly hope this helps you :)

[osmanal2]

Like your story about yourself in IM journey. But life is short, KISS. Enjoy your life and be happy always and keep your health in good condition. Cheers, legend.

[Lumos]

Greetings Kaiser Soze and thanks for making such a superb and thoughtful suggestion !!

Also:
Your very generous efforts at helping members here are highly commendable.

Regarding this old guy as it relates with your reply's suggestion:
Truth be told my original family started dying off rapidly when I was very young and there's literally none left anymore except (I think ??) for my brother who moved far away and sort of vanished - but that was years ago already.

Aside of that I've really become mostly a hermit and my partner is the youngest of her lot who have recently been dying off of age and related infirmities as well.
(When 2 hermits get together as a couple, are they hermits anymore ??)

This is why I've been interested in doing something simple that is internet only to meet my own small needs.

Again=> Sincerest Thanks for your contribution here !!
(+Rep also, of course.)