Websites for Seniors

USA Today published an article on Gray Googlers the weekend of October 26, 2007 where I was part of the article and was interviewed for the associated Tech Talk video podcast. My fifteen minutes of fame.

CBS2 / KCAL9 News taped a follow up newscast on the same subject November 7, 2007. Which added another four minutes of fame

Senior citizens making money on their websites using Google AdSense was the theme of these interviews and seniors were profiled making as little as $5 per month to as much as $120,000 a year.

As a 75 year old senior I fit the profile since my second AdSense check surpassed my Boeing retirement check and did so for the next three years.

My few minutes of fame resulted in about all the email and phone calls I could cope with. How did I do it and how could they do the same? Rather than explain it over and over, I decided to bring up this website to provide some useful information to seniors and others on a continuing basis. Here are some of the subjects I will discuss.

• Scams: Your the target. What are your defenses?
• How to Begin: It may be easier than you think.
• Advantages of Not Making Money: Profit is more than money.
• Making Money : It takes knowledge, time, hard work, and luck.
  

Yes. I still answer the phone and respond to email, but I try to keep it down to ten minutes, and mostly, only if you have read through what is on this website.

Jerrold Foutz, Alta Loma, California, 909-989-o487

Senior Internet Scams

Senior citizens are major targets for scams. These scams involve trying to separate you from your money, and identity theft, where the scammer can clean out your bank and retirement accounts. The Internet makes it easier for scammers, and you have to be constantly alert. Knowledge and vigilance are the major defenses. For knowledge, the #1 website about scams is ScamBusters.org. I highly recommend that you visit it often, or better yet, subscribe to their newsletter. If you search for for seniors on their page you will get about a dozen articles on scams directed at seniors. Worth reading.

Major defenses against Internet scams are:

• Don't open attachments unless you know who they are from
• Don't part with your money unless you are positive you will not be scammed
• Don't give your personal information to anyone over the Internet

Scambusters will provide the knowledge, you have to provide the vigilance.

Exorbitant prices for website design, hosting, and Internet based get-rich-quick schemes are another kind of scam. I've seen enough of this to turn my stomach. The scenario is this. A small business owner (senior or not) wants to establish a web presence, but they know nothing about it. In trying to find some who does and will help them, they seek out a website designer. Sometimes they are lucky. But too many times they hook up with a scammer. The scammer sells them a website costing between $1,000 and $10,000 dollars which does not accomplish the desired purpose. And that is just the tip of the iceberg in their tool kit of separating you from your money. Money thrown away. If you are serious about an on-line business and are willing to spend time in making it a success, your yearly costs should not exceed $300 to $400 a year. If you have some one do part of the work, you should not be paying them more than $25 to $50 an hour. The cost to you for a good website going this way should not exceed about $500 a year. There are exceptions, but get very suspicious if these cost guidelines are exceeded. You may be buying glitter, not success. And if it sounds too good to be true (unlimited pages, unlimited bandwidth, etc.) for the money -- it probably is.