About

susan at work on her blog

I started Blogging Beyond Retirement because I realized that for people our age, the tech is usually the only thing standing in the way.

I am not some polished influencer or a 20-year-old guru. I am a mother and a professional who has been reinventing herself for decades. I figured it out the hard way so you don’t have to. Whether you want to share your voice or build a side income, we are going to make this doable and keep it fun.

Hi, I’m Susan

I have been working since I was about 12 years old. It started with paper routes and babysitting, then moved into dishwashing and serving during high school. Hard work has been my baseline for as long as I can remember.

For a long time, my main job was raising my boys. I stayed home with them until my oldest was 14 and my youngest was 11. That is when I decided to go back to college. After I graduated, I found myself back in the world I knew best: hospitality management. It was fast, loud, and hands-on. It definitely wasn’t “tech.”

But at 51, I decided I wanted something different. I took a leap into blogging and building things online.

I didn’t have a tech background, and I definitely didn’t have all the answers. I started with a laptop and a lot of questions. Over the last 15 years, I have been doing this online stuff every single day. I didn’t just “start a blog”, I got into the guts of it and learned how things actually work.

I have spent a long time in the trenches:

  • Niche Sites: I have built sites from scratch and made a decent amount of money with Pinterest, Affiliate marketing, AdSense, and Amazon.
  • Services: I have been a VA, managed local SEO for clients, and ghostwritten published books.
  • The Tech: I taught myself how to build websites, write emails that actually get opened, and create content that ranks.
  • Reselling: I do Ebay on the side as well. I used to do FBA but found I like Ebay much better.

I am telling you this because if I can figure this out, so can you. I have worn every hat, from delivering papers as a kid to dealing with the latest Google “helpful content” updates.

I know what it feels like to be frustrated by a tech hurdle, but I also know the win of seeing that first bit of income hit your account.