Technology
Simple steps to build your own website: A beginner’s guide
Remember when you were young and dreamed of opening up that store one day or starting that business? For many retirees, there is no time like the present. Many retired people still like to keep themselves active and busy, and what better way to do that than realizing a passion you’ve always had? For some people, this may seem like a daunting task, but the internet has made it much easier to open up shop from the comfort of your home. And the start-up costs are also much more affordable than doing it the brick-and-mortar way.
Still, opening a store online, whether you’d describe yourself as tech-savvy or not, can be challenging if you don’t know the correct steps to take. The good news is that today, we’re going to walk you through it all in this beginner’s guide to building an online presence and finally pursuing that post-retirement passion project (that could also earn you some bucks).
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A woman doing yoga on her laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
1) Choose your passion project
Deciding what to sell is the first step in setting up an online store. Perhaps you’ve already known the answer to this for a long time, and that’s what inspired the store in the first place. But if you’re not quite sure, consider your expertise, interests and what’s in demand in the market.
For retirees, it’s often beneficial to choose products or services that align with your passions or past experiences, as it’s not just something you’re interested in but, by now, you’re likely already an expert in it, too. And, being an expert in your niche will help you establish yourself as a trusted authority in the industry, which is something that potential customers look for.
And, it’s not just products you can sell; you can also sell services like coaching or consulting or even create a blog that can be monetized. The options are endless, but it’s important to have some direction before you get started.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
A woman working on her laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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2) Identify your target audience
Knowing what you want to sell is one thing, but knowing who to sell it to is another. Understanding who your potential customers are is essential for effective marketing and product development. Therefore, take some time to research and understand your target demographic. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests and purchasing behavior. A good idea is to start off in your own community.
If you know anyone who would be interested, talk to them and see who they can connect you with. You can even create a research survey to get feedback on your audience and what they are looking for. In fact, some people do this step first if they are not sure what to sell but are certain they want to start an online store.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
A couple conversing and looking at their tablet (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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3) Ideas for online stores and businesses you can create
When it comes to doing your passion project online, the options are endless. But if you’re not sure, there are various types of online stores you can establish to cater to diverse needs and preferences. Start with an idea that you are passionate about. Below are some examples:
E-commerce store: This is the most common type of online store, where you can sell physical products ranging from clothing and electronics to groceries and furniture.
Digital products store: If you specialize in creating digital goods such as e-books, software, music or online courses, you can set up a digital products store to distribute your creations.
Subscription box service: Subscription-based businesses are gaining popularity, offering curated boxes of products delivered to customers’ doorstep on a recurring basis. Examples include beauty boxes, snack boxes and pet subscription services.
Marketplace platform: Instead of selling your own products, you can create a marketplace platform where multiple vendors can list and sell their items. Etsy and eBay are prime examples of successful marketplace platforms.
Service-based store: Beyond physical and digital products, you can offer various services through an online store, such as consulting, tutoring, freelance services or event planning.
Dropshipping store: With dropshipping, you can sell products without holding inventory. When a customer makes a purchase, the order is fulfilled by a third-party supplier who ships the product directly to the customer.
Print-on-demand store: This model allows you to sell custom-designed merchandise, such as T-shirts, mugs and phone cases, without the need for inventory. Products are created and shipped on demand.
Membership-based store: Create a store where customers pay a membership fee to access exclusive products, discounts or content. This model fosters customer loyalty and recurring revenue.
Blog: Combine content creation with e-commerce by creating a blog where you share valuable information or insights related to your niche, such as health and exercise, and integrate it with an online store to sell related products or services.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
A group of people exercising (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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4) Choose a website builder
Selecting the right website builder is crucial if you are looking to set up an online store. A good website builder should have a user-friendly interface and customizable templates, making it accessible even to those who aren’t tech-savvy. Look for a platform that requires no coding knowledge and offers a variety of professionally designed templates that can be easily customized to create a unique and visually appealing website for your online store.
Additionally, the website builder should offer built-in e-commerce features, making it easy to manage inventory, process payments and track orders all in one place. Before you start building your online store, you’ll need to select a plan that best suits your needs and budget. Many website builders offer a range of plans, from free options with basic features to premium plans with advanced e-commerce capabilities.
Consider factors such as storage, bandwidth and the number of products you plan to sell when choosing a plan. If you’re just starting out, you may want to start with a basic plan and upgrade as your business grows. With flexible pricing options, you can easily scale up your plan as needed to accommodate your growing online store.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
Father and son looking at tablet (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
5) Pick a website name, domain name, hosting provider
Choosing the right name and domain for your online store is crucial as it’s the first thing customers will see and remember about your brand. Your name should be catchy, memorable and reflective of your brand identity. When selecting a domain, try to keep it simple and easy to spell to ensure that potential customers can easily find and remember your website.
You can use various domain search tools to check the availability of your desired domain name and explore different options until you find the perfect match for your online store. While some platforms offer free domains, upgrading to a premium plan often allows you to connect your own domain and remove any platform-specific branding from your URL.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
6) Design your website for success
Now, it’s time to start designing your website. There are many platforms that offer a wide range of professionally designed templates that you can customize to create a unique and visually appealing online store. Choose a template that best fits your brand identity and industry, then use the platform’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor to customize it to your liking.
Add your logo, change colors and fonts and rearrange elements to create a website that reflects your brand personality and effectively showcases your products or services. A good tip is to start off simple; you can always add to your design as you go.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
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7) Decide on what pages to include on your site
When building your online store, blog or business, you’ll want to have useful pages on your website. This not only helps people find your website, but once they are there, it gives them all the information they need.
Common pages for an online store include a home page, product or service pages, an “about us” page, a contact page and a blog (unless, of course, this is the focus of your site, in which case the blog page may be the home page). Generally speaking, the fewer steps it takes for someone to engage in a call to action the better.
You may also want to consider adding pages for shipping and return policies, FAQs and customer testimonials to build trust and credibility with your audience, as well as a privacy policy, disclaimer, regulatory compliance and other legal notices.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
Illustration of various pages to use on your site (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
8) Familiarize yourself with SEO to stand out
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a buzzword that you may have heard going around. SEO is essential for driving organic traffic to your online store and improving your visibility in search engine results. You can optimize your website for search engines by adding relevant keywords to your content, optimizing your meta tags and descriptions, and improving your site’s loading speed and mobile responsiveness. Many website builders offer built-in SEO tools and guides to help you optimize your website for search engines and improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
Illustration of search engine optimization on a laptop (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
9) Consider email marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool for engaging with your audience, promoting your products or services and driving sales for your online store. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. If you already have email contacts, consider reaching out to them to tell them about your project. Most people want to support their friends and family with their pursuits, even if it’s just by spreading the word.
Otherwise, in order to collect more emails, consider offering a discount or incentive in exchange for signing up for your email list to encourage visitors to subscribe, like an e-book or a downloadable such as a brochure. Then use an email marketing platform to design and send professional-looking emails that direct them to products, services or blog posts on your website.
Get my picks for the best website builders to easily set up.
A couple looking at a tablet (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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What else to consider
The above are some of the most common steps to opening an online store, but it will look different for everyone. There may be steps you skip and steps you add, and some good advice is to perhaps talk to other retirees you know who have already done it. Maybe they have some suggestions, especially if there’s anything they can share that they wish they had known before they started down that path.
When launching a website, you have a variety of choices to suit your specific needs, whether you’re seeking simplicity, customization or advanced features. Explore these top website builders to find the perfect fit for your online presence: Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify and WordPress. Learn more about these options by clicking here.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Starting an online shop or launching a website for your passion project might seem a little overwhelming, but many of these sites have wizards, resources and customer support teams that can help. Once you get started, you’ll be on your way to running your online store or project while enjoying your retirement.
Have you started an online store or blog? What was your experience? If you haven’t, is it something you would consider? Why or why not? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
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Technology
Meta is reportedly working on smart glasses that would be recording all the time
Meta might be the next company to make an always-on AI wearable. The company is working on prototype “super sensing” always-aware smart glasses that could continuously record audio and snap photos “every few seconds,” according to the Financial Times. The wearer could then ask Meta AI about the captured audio and images.
However, the images and audio might not be directly available to the user. Here’s how the FT describes one way the glasses could use the data:
In one proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, the metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta’s AI to query, which proponents argue would have fewer privacy implications.
But currently, Meta is planning for the LED recording indicator to remain off in “super sensing” mode, the FT reports. In a July 2025 whitepaper, the company said that it would reserve the LED indicator for “active capture” scenarios where the user is saving photos or videos, and leave it off during “AI Feature” use — such as scanning a menu — to avoid users becoming too used to the indicator. (If the indicator was on during the “super sensing” mode, it might also be harder to know when the glasses are actually recording video.)
Meta is also discussing if it would use the captured data for training its AI models. It may also bring the “super sensing” features to glasses it has already released, the FT says.
“While we don’t comment on internal prototypes, we’re committed to getting our glasses right because they need to be loved by both people wearing them and those around them,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold says in a statement to The Verge. Arnold also notes that “Our approach has been to develop new technologies that will help people throughout their day, with privacy built in from the ground up.”
Meta hasn’t been shy about some type of always-aware glasses being a possibility. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, said that he was “really excited to see the glasses evolve from being able to answer questions to being able to be a personal agent that’s with you all day long, helping you remember things and achieve your goals.” In a March blog post about new Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the company wrote that “with ongoing software updates, Meta AI on glasses will transition from something you have to prompt with a question each time, to a more continuous, in-the-moment assistant that can help throughout the day.”
Technology
Get a $30 credit when you reserve Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy phones
Even though they haven’t been officially announced yet, Samsung is giving you a chance to save some cash when you preorder what we’re expecting to be the brand’s updated Galaxy Z Fold phones. The next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on July 22nd, 2026, and features the tagline “A new shape unfolds.” In addition to seeing updated versions of the existing Flip and Fold form factors, we anticipate the debut of a new, wider foldable phone. If you register your interest ahead of time and end up preordering one of the new phones shortly after they’re announced, Samsung will give you a $30 store credit at checkout.
There are some caveats to this offer. You have to use the credit when you preorder the phone. No saving it for later. Also, the credit can’t be applied to the cost of the phone either, so you’ll have to put it towards the cost of accessories or extra services. Samsung specifically calls out that select Galaxy rings, earbuds, watches, and tablets are eligible, or you can use it to help pay for Samsung Care Plus.
There are no downsides to registering your interest, so if you think you might be interested in buying one of the upcoming phones, it’s worth filling out the form. As long as you use the same email during checkout, the credit will be automatically applied.
Technology
Apple AI security update proves hackers move fast
Anthropic’s new AI model raises alarms over safety, cybersecurity concerns
Matt Shumer, co-founder and CEO of OthersideAI, details Anthropic’s new AI model, Mythos, on ‘The Sunday Briefing’. The model’s “emergent capabilities” to find software vulnerabilities autonomously raised alarms, prompting Anthropic to restrict public access. Shumer explains the proactive move of granting major companies and the US government early access to Mythos for cyber defense, anticipating future threats to critical infrastructure and national security.
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A security update rarely feels dramatic. You see the alert, promise yourself you will install it later and then go right back to whatever you were doing. This time, Apple is giving you a stronger reason to pay attention.
Apple released iOS 26.5.2, iPadOS 26.5.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 on June 29, 2026. The updates include security fixes for vulnerabilities tied to the kernel, WebKit and WebRTC. Apple says these fixes were first made available through the iOS 26.6, iPadOS 26.6 and macOS Tahoe 26.6 betas before being pushed out early to everyone.
That is the part that should make you pause. Apple usually rolls many security fixes into larger software updates. This time, the company moved faster.
AI IS NOW POWERING CYBERATTACKS, MICROSOFT WARNS
Apple pushed out security fixes early because AI can help hackers study software flaws faster. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Why Apple released this AI security update early
Apple reportedly accelerated the updates because artificial intelligence can help speed the creation of malicious hacking tools. Once a fix appears in a beta, attackers may be able to study it, reverse-engineer the weakness and move faster than before.
Apple said there was no evidence that the newly patched vulnerabilities had been exploited. Still, the company wanted to shrink the time between when fixes were first visible and when they reached your devices.
That is a major shift. It suggests Apple sees AI as a force that changes the timing of security. A flaw that once gave defenders more breathing room may now become a race.
What Apple fixed in iOS 26.5.2
Apple’s iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2 notes list fixes for iPhone 11 and later, along with several supported iPad models. The security content includes kernel vulnerabilities that could let an app crash the system, corrupt kernel memory or leak sensitive kernel state.
The update also fixes multiple WebKit issues. WebKit powers Safari and web content inside many apps. Some of these flaws involved malicious web content that could lead to crashes, memory corruption, data leaks or sandbox escapes.
Apple also fixed WebRTC issues that could be triggered by malicious web content and lead to Safari or process crashes.
For Mac, Apple lists macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 as the current release. If your Mac runs macOS Sonoma or macOS Sequoia, Apple also lists Safari 26.5.2 as a June 29, 2026, security release.
A woman uses a smartphone outside an Apple Store on June 20, 2026, in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Why AI hacking tools change the security race
AI can help legitimate researchers find bugs faster. That is good when the work leads to stronger software and responsible disclosure. However, the same general capability can also help bad actors move faster. A criminal does not need to understand every line of code if an AI tool can help summarize a patch, compare software changes or suggest where a weakness may be hiding.
That is why Apple’s move is important. It shows that big tech companies may need to release security fixes sooner and more often, even when those updates do not include flashy new features. The wider AI world adds pressure here. Frontier AI companies have released or tested systems with stronger coding and cybersecurity capabilities. Some models are available only through limited previews, approved access or extra safeguards because of their potential cyber use.
Similar efforts are also emerging outside the United States. Several international AI labs and security companies now promote models designed to find vulnerabilities, analyze code and assist cyber defense. The takeaway for you isn’t that AI is automatically bad. The real point is speed. Security teams, attackers and AI tools are now moving on a shorter clock.
How to update your iPhone or iPad
Before you update, plug in your device and connect to Wi-Fi. You may also want to back up your iPhone or iPad first.
Then do this: Open Settings > General > Software Update > Download and Install.
After the update finishes, go back to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates. Make sure automatic updates are turned on. Apple also lets your device automatically install system file updates that improve security without changing the full software version. If you do not see the update right away, check again later. Apple releases updates in stages, and your device also needs enough battery and storage.
How to update your Mac
On a Mac, start with a backup. Then click the Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update . Choose Update Now if macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 appears.
Next, check your background update settings. On macOS Tahoe 26 or later, go to Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update . Click the More Info button next to Automatic Updates and make sure Install system data files and security updates is turned on.
If your Mac runs Sonoma or Sequoia, look for Safari 26.5.2 in Software Update as well. That Safari update may be the protection your Mac needs if you are not on Tahoe.
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What this Apple security update means to you
You may see more security updates that feel sudden or small. That can be annoying, especially when you are busy or your device needs to restart.
Still, these updates are becoming more important. Apple is reacting to a world where AI can help shorten the time between a public fix and a possible attack.
So, when your iPhone, iPad or Mac asks you to update, do not treat it like background noise. The update may be closing a door someone else is already trying to find.
Updating your iPhone, iPad and Mac helps close security holes before attackers get more time to exploit them. (Katharina Kausche/picture alliance via Getty Images)
How to stay safe after the Apple security update
Installing the Apple AI security update is the best first move. After that, tighten a few habits that make attacks harder.
1) Keep your apps updated
Your operating system is only part of the security picture. Outdated apps can still create risk, especially if they handle messages, web links, photos, files or account logins. Open the App Store and install available updates regularly.
2) Watch out for suspicious links
Be careful with links in texts, emails and social media messages. WebKit and browser flaws are a reminder that malicious web content can be part of an attack. When in doubt, open the official app or website yourself instead of tapping a link.
3) Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication
Use strong, unique passwords for every account and store them in a password manager. Then turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. If one password gets exposed, you do not want it opening the door to your email, bank or Apple account.
4) Use strong antivirus protection
Use strong antivirus protection on your Mac and other connected devices. It can help catch malicious files, phishing attempts and suspicious activity before they do damage. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at CyberGuy.com.
5) Back up your data regularly
Back up your iPhone, iPad and Mac before problems hit. A recent backup can help you recover faster if an update fails, your device gets stolen or malware locks you out of important files. CyberGuy’s guide to backing up your devices walks you through ways to protect your files using cloud storage, an external drive or both.
6) Use a personal data removal service
Use a personal data removal service to reduce how much of your personal information is floating around online. Data brokers and people-search sites can expose your name, address, phone number and relatives. Scammers can use those details to make phishing messages feel more believable. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting CyberGuy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Apple’s early security release shows how fast the cyber threat landscape is changing. The company says there is no evidence these newly patched flaws were exploited, but it still moved the fixes out before the wider 26.6 release. That tells me the old habit of waiting weeks to update is getting riskier. AI can help defenders, but it can also help criminals study weaknesses faster. My advice is direct: update your Apple devices now, turn on automatic security updates and stop putting off patches that protect the phone and computer you use every day.
Do you think AI will make your devices safer because companies can find flaws faster, or more vulnerable because hackers can move faster too? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
Automatic updates, strong passwords and a personal data removal service can make you a harder target after the update. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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