I’m going to be real with you right out of the gate.

Getting older as a content creator is a tricky beast. I struggle with it every day. I’ve let it stop me — not for long, but it’s stopped me. I’ve changed how I do things because I don’t want to see my aging face on camera. That’s just the honest truth.

And yet.

Right now, there is a boom happening for creators over 50. The biggest opportunity we’ve ever had to make money online. And if you’re sitting this one out because you don’t want to get on camera or you think your time has passed — I need you to hear this.

The Over-50 Creator Is Who Brands Want

QVC. Remember QVC? My grandmother watched that. You’d call in with a credit card, order something off the TV, wait a few weeks for it to arrive. That was social shopping before social shopping was a thing.

QVC is now a shop on TikTok.

And here’s how it works: any creator with an approved TikTok shop affiliate account can promote their products. Sometimes you get the product for free. Sometimes you buy it. Sometimes you already own it. You post a video, put a link in, and if it sells, you get a commission — around 15% these days.

In 2023 the commissions were stupid good. They figured that out fast. But here’s the kicker — brands will actually put their own ad budget behind your video. They promote it, people buy, and you still get the commission.

Laura Geller makes makeup for mature skin. I’ve made a couple thousand dollars in commissions in the last six to eight weeks off one little makeup duo she sells. Over the holidays, I made $5,000 in one day off her makeup palettes. Then $5,000 the next day. I’ve had $47,000 months on TikTok.

I’m not saying it’s easy. Most of your videos will go nowhere. But then one gets picked up, a brand throws ad dollars at it, and suddenly you’re doing well.

Why 50 to 70 Is the Sweet Spot

Brands love this age group. The 50-to-70 window is where people still have income — they’re working, running businesses, have disposable cash — and their kids aren’t at home anymore. Things lighten up.

And Gen X and the boomers represent some of the highest spending power of any demographic. Brands know this.

On YouTube, I’m seeing creators in this space pull 20,000 to 25,000 views per video — just talking about their lives. Their dating life. Their health. Their garden. Their barbecue.

There’s a woman in her 70s who sits on the same couch every single week and tells stories. Her kids visiting. Her crush. Her doctor’s appointment. Every video. 20,000 to 25,000 views.

You don’t need a million views to make money. At 20,000 views you have brand deals, ad revenue, digital products, memberships — YouTube even has a built-in membership system where subscribers pay to access exclusive content.

There’s also a guy who sits in front of a forest — I don’t even know if it’s his backyard — and just tells stories about retirement and living slowly. Consistent views. Consistent income. Phone on a tripod, wireless mic for sound. That’s it.

The Part Nobody Likes to Talk About

Here’s what I didn’t see coming. Between 45 and 50, after my divorce, I had this whole glow-up. Lost 50 pounds. Changed my hair. Walked into my real estate conference after a couple years away and people who had known me for a decade didn’t recognize me. That was my best run physically, maybe ever.

And then right when I got good — gravity showed up.

More wrinkles. The neck. The skin elasticity thing. And suddenly I’m telling my older brother, dude, I just don’t want to get on camera.

I don’t even want to put on makeup because I don’t want to see what’s happening to my face.

I know. In real life, people tell me I look great. Today I went to the airport for my Global Entry appointment, did my hair with the Dyson Airwrap, did my makeup, felt good. Made a little video walking through the airport. I could see men checking me out. I’m fine. This is fine.

Then I got home to film a quick product review for a lip gloss. Opened the camera. Shut it down. Made it faceless instead.

The camera is unforgiving. I don’t know if you can relate. That’s just where I am.

What I do know is that the mean comments are the worst part. I posted a video on one of my channels — “I’m 54 and here’s why I’m not dating” — and within 15 minutes someone commented: Yeah, you’re not dating, of course, because you’re 54. Don’t kid yourself.

I was crushed. I went in and made every video on that channel private. Almost deleted the whole thing.

I’ve been on YouTube since it started. I was on the web the second AOL said “you’ve got mail.” I’ve done tutorials, travel, fashion, beauty, selfies, talking heads — I am comfortable on camera.

Put 10,000 people in a room and a stage in front of me, no problem. But watching yourself age is brutal. I can’t imagine how the celebrities feel. The Charlie’s Angels photo crossed my feed recently and my first thought was how cool it must feel to reunite like that — and then I read the comments and thought, I would not put myself through that.

People are cruel. But they’re cruel to young creators too — about their weight, their acne, their hair. It’s the world we live in. I think I’m just hypersensitive to it because I genuinely struggle with watching what’s happening to my face.

My sister lets her hair go gray. She’s proud of every wrinkle. She’s over there happily being a grandma and that’s her whole thing. I respect it. I’m over here still putting on cute clothes and trying to be attractive when I go out. Also elastic waistbands. Because something happens after 50 and we all know it.

What I Did Instead of Quitting

I was at MozCon years ago. A woman with gray hair got up on stage to talk about local SEO and — I’m embarrassed to admit this — I was in my 40s already and I still discredited her in my head. Is this old school? Is she embarrassed?

Then I got worried about the same thing happening to me. I teach tech. I teach website building and sales funnels and Pinterest and AI and app building. Was I aging out of my own space?

So instead of fighting it, I embraced it. I changed my focus to serve mature creators. I niched down. I resisted it at first — I know better than to resist niching, I know it makes you more money, but I was scared it would limit me. I was scared to say “over 50” and have people click away.

The opposite happened.

When I post about the creator opportunity for people over 50, it goes viral on Substack. The algorithm rewards me for it.

It’s a less competitive space — there aren’t that many over-50 creators who actually want to be on YouTube. That’s an advantage. Less competition, high demand, audiences that are loyal and engaged and actually want to be there.

I get people messaging me all the time: “Lori, I’m 47, do I qualify?” “I still have a high schooler at home, can I be in the club?” They’re trying to inch their way in. I tell them — come on. You can be 22 and come along. I just know you probably won’t.

You Have Lived Long Enough to Get Paid to Exist

That’s what I keep telling people. You are old enough to get paid just for being you. No fancy editing. No studio setup. Phone on a tripod, wireless mic, press record, tell your story.

Right now, I love Substack because I can be invisible. Pajamas, coffee, write. I love my blog, my Pinterest. My faceless videos actually outperform my on-camera ones — crazy, but true.

I make multiple six figures with my affiliate marketing , content creation, and my coaching program. (not to brag, but to inform)

So I’m probably not putting myself through another growth phase that requires me to be this vulnerable.

But I’m doing this podcast. And I’m doing it because I keep telling people the opportunity is real, and I need to walk the walk.

There has never been a better time to be over 50 and making money online. We used to be washed up by now. That’s done.

Show up. Talk like you talk. Be who you are. The algorithm will find your people. And the people who don’t get you weren’t going to show up anyway.

I’m a real-time creator. I do what I teach. I share what I live.

That’s what this is.

If you’d like to learn more, come coach with my group and me at BallenAcademy.com

Not just because it’s my first international trip. Not just because I’m turning 55 in August. But because of everything I had to become to get here.

This week’s episode is that story.

Where I’m starting from

At 50, I was freshly divorced, a brand-new empty nester, and building a house from the ground up — without a penny from my marriage. I’d spent the years between my divorce and my daughter leaving for college completely locked in: rebuilding my credit, getting debt-free, supporting her financially on my own, and making sure she could go to the college she wanted without taking on debt.

That was the whole plan. Survive. Stabilize. Launch her.

I did it. And then I was standing in this beautiful new house, totally alone, with no idea who I actually was anymore.

I used to be afraid of everything

I got married at 21 to someone ten years older than me who controlled the money, chose the cars, and decided when we could take vacations. I got an allowance. I didn’t drive for years.

I didn’t have many friends outside of our life together. I stayed scared and small for a long time — not because he forced me, but because somewhere along the way, that just became who I was.

I grew out of it slowly. And honestly, that growing is part of what ended the marriage.

The truck that changed everything

One of my favorite stories — and I tell it in the episode — is how I got my first car. I’d been saving cash in an envelope, dollar by dollar, for years. I had a red Ford Sport Track on my vision board.

When someone messaged me that the exact truck was for sale in Arizona, I held a real estate training event I literally called The Get the Truck Event, made the money, drove to Arizona, and drove that truck home.

That was the first time I really understood what it felt like to want something and go get it myself.

The Alaska spark

In 2017, I borrowed my brother’s credit card to take my 13-year-old daughter on an Alaska cruise. I was white-knuckling it to the airport, barely holding it together.

But I figured it out — step by step — and I spent that week on a balcony watching whales, releasing 25 years of who I used to be.

That trip lit a fire in me. I wanted more. I just wasn’t ready yet.

Learning to travel alone

For a few years, I kept taking people with me on trips and paying for everything. And every single time, I’d wear myself out trying to adapt — not being too much, not being too loud, not wanting things they didn’t want. By the last day I was always exhausted and resentful, even though I was the one who planned the whole thing.

At 50, I finally said: I don’t want to keep shrinking myself so other people are comfortable.

So I started small. A solo road trip to California. Then four nights in Santa Barbara alone — whale watching, renting bikes, sitting on restaurant patios with my phone, figuring out evenings by myself.

Then my first solo cruise — an Abraham Hicks workshop cruise, which was perfect because I had built-in community without being locked into anyone. I met great women, went dancing, had my own space when I needed it. After that came a Gen X cruise. Same energy.

What I learned: I love traveling solo. I just love doing it in a group of strangers.

How Ireland happened

A friend mentioned women’s travel groups and something clicked. I searched “women’s solo travel” on Facebook and fell down the best rabbit hole. I found a woman who had traveled solo to over 40 countries — someone whose pace, style, and energy felt right to me. When Ireland showed up on her calendar, less than six months out, with 8–10K steps a day and a single room available, I booked it on the spot.

Ten women. My own room. Ireland. This August.

I’ve wanted to go to Ireland forever. And I’m finally going — on my own terms, as exactly who I am.

Listen to the full episode to hear the Get the Truck story, the full Alaska breakdown, and my honest thoughts on why a women’s-only group was the right call for me.

And if any of this resonates — if you’re somewhere in the middle of your own becoming — I really do want to hear from you.

— Lori

If you’re 50, 60, 70 — even 80 — there has never been a better time to start. I’m watching people build and grow YouTube channels from scratch in their 80s. The over 50 space is booming, and it’s booming in a way that is genuinely accessible. All you need is a smartphone with a camera and a microphone. That’s it. You’re already set up.

What’s working right now for over 50 creators:

YouTube is the biggest opportunity I see. People are just talking — about retiring, traveling, moving abroad, empty nesting, dating again, what they’re cooking. Literally sitting on a couch with a phone on a tripod and telling their story. Those videos are pulling 20,000+ views. Not millions, but consistent, real views from people who are hooked.

And advertisers love our audience. Gen X and Baby Boomers are now the largest generations, and as a group, we have the most disposable income. That means advertisers are paying a premium to reach us — which means higher ad revenue share for creators in this space.

How the money actually works:

* YouTube ad revenue — Once you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, you earn a cut of the ad revenue on your videos. Rates depend on your niche. My tech channel is close to $30 per thousand views. Over 50 lifestyle content can do really well here too.

* Affiliate income — I’m a six-figure affiliate myself. You mention the pans you’re cooking with, drop a link in the description, someone buys — you earn. YouTube Shopping makes this even easier once you’re monetized. You type in a product name, tag it, and it shows up as a card in your video.

* Brand deals — Most creators love them. I personally don’t. I don’t want approvals, I don’t want to answer to anybody. But for those in beauty and fashion, brand deals can add thousands per campaign on top of commissions.

* Channel subscriptions — Offer a live stream once a month just for paid subscribers, or make one of your weekly videos subscriber-only. YouTube splits it with you, but it’s another income stream on top of everything else.

* Digital products — I just put up a 52-page guide. You sell it right from your channel. Living the slow life on a budget? Write the guide. Going through an empty nest transition? Write the guide. Whatever your story is, there’s someone who needs it.

* Merch — Platforms like FourthWall (affiliate Links benefit me at no extra cost to you) let you design it, and they print and ship for you. No inventory. I keep reminding myself I need to do coffee mugs that say “paid to exist.”

* Platform creator funds — Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are all paying creators just for posting. You don’t have to sell anything. Post a Reel or a short video and get paid because they’re running ads on it.

My advice on getting started:

Don’t obsess over monetization thresholds. Just show up and create. My rule — for my coaching clients at Ballen Academy, most of whom are over 50 — is get to 90 pieces of content. Ninety videos, ninety pins, ninety articles. Once you have 90, you have data. You know what people love. And usually something pops off before you even get there.

Post 1–2 times a week on YouTube once you’re established. Early on, post as much as you can to train the algorithm faster.

And if you want to repurpose — use something like Opus Clips (or CapCut, which is free) (affiliate Links benefit me at no extra cost to you) to turn your long videos into short-form clips and push them to TikTok and Instagram automatically. More exposure, same content.

What I’m doing personally:

I got divorced and became an empty nester around the same time. For the first time in my life, I was alone. It was hard at first. Then I settled into it. Now I love it — the freedom, the autonomy, the ability to eat when I want, work out when I want, go to sleep at 8pm or stay up until 2am. Nobody cares. That freedom is the whole thing for me.

And that’s what being an over 50 creator can give you too.