🌍 Welcome to the Nomadic Side Hustle Strategies
If you’re new here, hello! Every Friday I share one side hustle you can run from anywhere in the world with a laptop and wifi, so you can fund a life of travel after 50.
Each one covers what it is, why it suits us over-50s, what it costs, how to get started and what you can realistically earn. There’s also a downloadable PDF guide that goes into the nitty gritty: your first 30 days, AI shortcuts, free courses and everything you need to get started.
If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know they’ve had a little break (well actually quite a long break), while life, travel and This Big World got in the way.
But they’re back, every Friday from now on, each with a refreshed PDF and a brand new AI section to help you work smarter.
Missed the earlier ones? They’re all waiting for you here: Side Hustle Guides.
And I wanted to kick off with one I really believe in right now.
Social Media Isn’t Just For The Kids
Have you noticed who’s turning up on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram lately? More and more of us!
People in their 50s, 60s and beyond are starting channels, sharing what they know and building audiences, and it turns out there’s a big appetite for people who’ve lived a bit.
Here’s why I think that’s only going to grow. The internet is filling up with AI-written posts, AI images and AI videos, and people can feel it. The more polished and samey everything gets, the more we crave something real: a face, a story, a bit of humour and judgement.
Humanity is about to become the most valuable thing on social media.
That’s where we come in.
Why I Pay a VA (and why AI hasn’t replaced her)
My VA, Michelle, looks after a huge chunk of my social media. She makes my Pinterest images, creates my graphics, and posts my videos on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
She’s even been using AI to make product videos for my travel cards that I’ve been testing on Meta Ads. One of them is working really well!
Here’s what I love though. When AI came along, Michelle didn’t panic. She learned the tools and now she creates more, in less time, and keeps teaching herself the next thing.
Could I replace her with AI? Honestly, no. I’d still have to sit there writing all the prompts, checking everything and posting it myself. What I pay for is someone who takes the whole job off my plate and does it well.
🤖 So Has AI Killed This Side Hustle?
Quite the opposite. AI can write a caption in three seconds. What it can’t do is know which caption suits a 62-year-old florist’s customers, spot the comment that needs a proper human reply, or notice that the posts with her face in them always do better.
Business owners don’t want another tool to learn. They want a reliable person who uses the tools and gets results.
A social media manager who’s good with AI can look after twice as many clients in the same hours.
👩💼 Why This Suits You In Your 50s & Beyond
You’ve been a customer for 30-odd years, so you already know how to talk to one.
Plenty of small businesses are run by people our age, and they’d much rather hire someone who gets their customers than a 22-year-old who speaks only in trends.
And if you already love scrolling Instagram or watching YouTube, you’re halfway there. This is a side hustle where enjoying social media is a qualification.
All you need is a laptop, wifi and one or two platforms you enjoy using.
👀 What I Look For When I Hire Someone To Do My Social Media
They keep learning. The platforms change every few months, and so do the tools.
They use AI to do more, not to hand me more work. I don’t want prompts, I want finished posts.
They take it off my plate completely. Planning, creating, posting, the lot.
They think for themselves. They use my website, my photos and what I’m already posting to come up with campaign ideas, then go ahead and create them without waiting to be asked.
They’re reliable, brilliant at communicating and need very little managing. If I’m spending more time briefing someone than I’d spend doing my own social media, it isn’t working.
Here’s what’s waiting for paid members below:
What you can realistically earn
What it really costs and how much time it takes
The 3 steps to landing your first clients
My AI shortcuts, with a prompt you can copy and paste
A fast-start checklist for this week
The full PDF guide, with sample packages and prices, a message you can copy to land your first client, and a 30-day plan
Not a paid member yet? Upgrade to get this strategy, a new one every Friday and everything in The Backpack.
