Most Popular Pages

In Part 1, in Steps 1 and 2, we discuss the pros and cons of some of the
approaches to “work outside the home” that you’ve probably looked at as a
mom. We then consider some of the more common ways of earning income at home, both online and offline, which you may have considered, and see how they compare with what we’re doing.
In Step 3, we give an overview of building a content-rich website and show
you why it’s such a good option for you as a WAHM. We demonstrate, in
detail, how a website can give you the flexibility and income you want, while at the same time providing you with a creative and satisfying ongoing enterprise that lets you reach beyond being “just Mom”.
Step 4 is the nitty-gritty section. This is where we explain how the Site Build It! system of website-building functions. It’s broken down into four easy stages, and we talk you through each one to give you a thorough understanding of the process.
In Part 2 – we love Part 2 - you’ll find three of our favorite Case Studies, stories of real moms like you, who are building profitable websites today and making a great success of it. They tell you, in their own words, how their sites are working for them, how much time they put in, how much money they make and their plans for the future.

You could go back to your old job, part-time, or even full-time. But it’s hard to cope with the pressures, it’s exhausting, it means arranging childcare and, just maybe, it doesn’t give you the same buzz as it did ‘before kids’.

We’d go to baby showers in conference rooms at lunchtime and mood was sombre at best because all the moms knew we’d be back to 70-hour weeks 6 weeks after delivery. Kristin

Another option? You could get a job for $10 an hour, working in an office or serving food. You’d have a low-pressure job that brings in some useful cash.

But take that path, and where are you, this time next year... in two years... in five?

Answer:

* still earning $10 per hour, doing work you likely don’t love.

* still earning only when you work.

Work now/pay now provides an instant money-fix. But there’s little or no progression. And that $10 an hour is quickly spent.

Like us, you've probably discovered that once you're a mom, working outside the home has major drawbacks. So perhaps you’ve explored the options for working at home, instead.

1.2 Working At Home - Offline

What kind of work could fit alongside all the domestic and childcare tasks you do? Where’s the work you can be paid for?

Here are some of the offline possibilities that WAHMs we talked to have tried:

•Service businesses

Sell your knowledge, skills and experience.

• You offer your expertise or skills for an hourly rate or a flat fee.

Examples: consulting, bookeeping, medical transcription.

Downside: You need to fund training and equipment, find clients, and work when, and possibly where, it suits them, rather than you.

I trained to be a medical transcriptionist at night, and after six months, began transcribing weeknights. I would sign on each night, praying there was enough work to meet my desired income level. I had to work one weekend a month, and if the kids were sick, or I couldn’t work, I had to find a substitute. Working 1-5 hours a night, I earned around $500 a month. Cate

• Open your own business at home. Examples: in-home hair or beauty salon, children’s daycare facility.

Downside: Your home might need alterations. You work when clients want your services, rather than at the best hours for you. You fund your own training, equipment and insurance, and you either take the wear and tear on your home or rent premises.

I’m a WAHM with 2 little boys, one who just started kindergarten. I used to run a hairdressing salon out of my house. I worked in the evenings when my husband was home, but guess what, we never saw each other, and we rarely were together as a family… the four of us. Michelle

•Sales businesses

You create or purchase products and re-sell them for a profit.

• Make your own product

Crafts, quilts, baked goods, etc., which you market at craft fairs, kiosks in local stores. The list is endless.

Downside: You can sell only as much as you can make, unless you outsource. Selling could take up as much, or more, of your time as making the goods.

• Catalog sales

There are many catalog companies, with Avon one of the most well-known. You drop off catalogs to customers, pick up orders and deliver products.

Downside: You spend hours traveling between customers and may be required to work evenings/weekends.

• Network Marketing: Multi-level Marketing (MLM)

Melaleuca, Herbalife and Amway are well-known companies. You sign up as an independent representative and buy a supply of goods. Your “upline” is the person who brought you into the business, and you become their “downline”. You make money when you sell the products you buy from the company. Uplines earn commissions on their downlines’ sales, so you must recruit other sales people to expand your own downline.

Downside: You must train and/or strongly encourage your downlines to get results. Products are usually expensive, and you might need to store stock. These jobs involve inconvenient hours and travel, plus you have deadlines, hours that suit others and fluctuating income. You also need an extensive personal network, and must feel comfortable selling goods to people you don’t know.

• Network Marketing: Party plans

You purchase a starter kit, from which you sell make-up, jewelry, kids’ toys, kitchen utensils, etc., for companies like Tupperware and Usborne Books.

I ran a party plan business for two-and-a-half years. I recruited a team of 3 or 4 and usually earned around $400-$800 a month. I didn’t like having to keep track of inventory, constantly delivering product, hounding people to set up parties, and then having to go out at night and lug all my stuff in and out of customers’ homes, especially in the dead of winter. Cate

You take orders at parties held in customers’ homes, and also deliver products. You earn by re-selling the company’s goods and making commissions on sales made by your downlines.

Downside: You may work difficult hours, as most parties are in the evenings or on weekends.

Please don’t misunderstand us…

We are not disparaging the hard-working moms out there who are making money at all of these work-from-home options. We admire their energy and determination, and some certainly do thrive. (And if you love the work you're currently doing, stay with us, because we're going to show you how you can get more leads, more sales, build a larger client base and downline... without leaving home.)

But we wonder how many moms fall by the wayside sooner or later, discouraged by all that these jobs demand of them in return for payment that is seldom generous, and limited long-term prospects.

We speak from hard-earned experience, and we came to the conclusion that somehow, somewhere, there had to be a better way to earn money.

And that’s why we – like you – went looking for other, more family-friendly ways to earn.

Step 2: Going Online

We turned to the Internet in search of flexible work to do at home. After all, the Net’s an amazing place, where women often feel very comfortable.

But start looking for online work and you are bombarded! The Internet is jam-packed with get-rich-quick scams, “failsafe” offers, “foolproof” money-makers, seductive “experts”. The clamour on the Web is deafening. Some of that noise is highly, dangerously persuasive.

It’s easy, very easy, to end up confused and anxious. It’s even easier to lose two very precious things – money and time.

I kept on researching and researching... until I got so tired with all the hype and gurus who only wanted me to buy more stuff. I even bought into one of those $999 - $3,000 e-marketing courses. I took a hard look at these and gave up demanded refund - (as they are all about selling me more stuff). Ann

2.1 Potential Online Income-Generators

Within the resounding racket on the Web, you’ll come across some common possibilities, that you might have tried, or thought about trying. We found out the hard way, that while some do have potential, others are total time-wasters and all have drawbacks.

• Telecommuting

With a good telecommuting job, you can earn a reasonable salary doing work like data entry, typing, or customer service calls. Doesn’t it sound perfect to be able to work from home, while your kids crawl around next to you?

But…(there’s always a “but,” isn’t there?)…

* Hordes of people are chasing a handful of legitimate telecommuting jobs.

* Wages are typically less than you’d earn at an outside job.

* Work hours are often inflexible.

* If you’re sick, on vacation, or can’t work for any reason, you don’t get paid.

* You still have a boss!


• Taking surveys, reading emails or surfing the Web

Perhaps you’ve stumbled across sites offering to pay you to complete surveys for market research, read ads via email or surf the Web.

Beware! Some of these programs do pay money. But the amount is minuscule and the task so time-consuming, all you’ll end up with is pocket change. If you need a reliable source of income that takes on more of your family’s financial burden, look elsewhere.

As for autosurfing programs, where you get paid to surf to sites in order to enhance their visitor numbers, be doubly careful! These companies ask you for money, then pay you “interest” in return for visiting websites. These are pyramid schemes. Invest only money you can afford to lose - and who can afford that?

What’s more, if you’re living outside the US or Canada, you may already know how difficult it is to work these types of online opportunities. Companies often restrict their employees to North America, making it even more challenging for “mums” living in places like Europe, South Africa or Australia to find realistic money-making opportunities.

• Auctions

Maybe you’ve tried eBay – we have. Its explosive success has allowed moms across the globe to stay home and make money.

But… (Aha! You knew that was coming, didn’t you?)…

* Sales are seasonal. You buy product off-season, so you may have girls’ swimsuits cluttering up your garage for months before you unload them.

* Competition. Unless you find that secret stash, you’re fighting everyone else for sales.

* Fees. Both eBay and Paypal take a chunk out of your hard-earned money.

* Finding reliable dropshippers who sell unique items at low prices is tough.

And again, if you’re not working, you don’t get paid.

Those are just a few of the job possibilities you’ll come across on the Internet. Some are scarcely worth considering, and there are disadvantages to them all.

But there is one common-sense approach that you may have never considered. We’ll tell you about it in a moment. But first…

2.2 Time to Reflect…

Take a moment to think over your own experiences. If you like, write down here or in a notebook the jobs you’ve had since you’ve been a mom. Think about those jobs. How well did they work, for you and your family?

What was difficult about them? What is it that you’re looking for? What is it that would make work more manageable for you?

Start making a list. Ours begins like this….

* instant time off whenever we need it, when the kids are sick, or in a school play, or on vacation…

* extra money for the family budget…

* work that’s creative, fun and fulfilling…

What’s on your list? Write down all of your thoughts.

You have just started your WAHM wish-list. It’s a powerful blueprint. Read on to find out about a common-sense approach that could help make those wishes come true.

Step 3: Build a Web Business Via a Theme-Based Content Site

3.1 Building an Information-Rich Website

Yes, an information-rich website is the common-sense approach that each of us found in our own way. It solves so many of our work-at-home dilemmas.

And the best part? It doesn’t matter if you’re starting from scratch, or are currently building a business. It can work for you, too.

Building a site based on information allows you to create your own income-earning opportunity. There’s no boss, no clock to punch and potentially you can make money 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s yours, and it has that vital flexibility you need.

The nature of website building is such that I can stop or take a break at any point and carry on when time allows. I can work in my pyjamas and fuzzy slippers and switch from work mode to mommy/caretaker to silly dance partner whenever the mood strikes. And I’m here to answer all my kids’ questions, kiss their boo-boo’s and hear their newest words or discoveries. It’s a beautiful thing. Michelle

Each of us started out by building just one Website. Now, we’re moving on to build more – and more! But these aren’t just any websites.

The best way to explain a theme-based content site is by asking you to think about how you surf the Web. You loathe badly organized sites, flashing banners “shouting” at you, messy sites stuffed with ads, or information that’s way off the theme. Whether it’s recipes, parenting tips, travel deals, or gardening advice, you want information, right? Easy to find, clear, and lots of it!

You want solutions to your problems, jokes to make you giggle, art ideas for keeping kids busy on a rainy day. Info, info and more info. If you don’t find the answer in a click or two, you’re gone and on to the next site. When you do find a site that delivers, you bookmark it, send it on to friends and family members, and go back time and again, because it’s such a great resource.

Those are the kinds of websites we build.

With billions of pages on the Internet, we’ve learned the importance of standing out from the crowd (and what a huge crowd it is!). We know now that the best way to keep people coming back for more is to build a site filled with engaging and original information, with solutions to our visitors’ problems or wishes, and all the facts they’re looking for.

We call that information “Content”, and it’s content that wins the day hands down in the drive to create successful websites.

This common-sense method of building a website can work for you to leverage your results if you already have a service business, or sell a product (your own, or one sourced from a manufacturer). We’ll explain more about this in Step 4.5.

But you don’t need to have a physical product or service to sell. A content-rich site can also allow you to earn money as an “infopreneur””. That means, you provide free information, and earn money through advertising and/or commissions. Or, you can package your information digitally and sell it as an e-book or e-course, using completely automated systems. Again, we’ll provide more details in Step 4.5.

We WAHMs are a committed bunch, and knowing I could earn income from something based on my passion… and do it in my own time… that’s really the ultimate situation. By the way, I just stopped taking clients and have replaced that with income from my site and freelance work that has come my way through the international exposure my site has given me. Michelle

Whatever route is best for you, there are dozens of ways you can earn money from your site, so that while your visitors get the content they love, you earn the income you need.

It’s win/win.

We’ll tell you how we build our sites in Step 4. But first, you may be wondering, “What exactly is it that would make building an information-rich Website such a great choice for me?”

3.2 Enjoying Total Flexibility, And Making Good Use of Precious Time

For us, it’s because a website fits in so beautifully with our priorities. After all, how many times have you considered a work prospect, then passed it by because it didn’t fit with your life as a mom? The start was too early, holidays were inflexible, office was too far away, you had to work evenings, the pay wouldn’t cover the cost of childcare – we could go on… and on...

The bottom line? You’re a mom. Flexibility is crucial. You want work that you can readily drop when the baby’s been up teething all night or your child’s suddenly ill and can’t go to school.

When you have truly flexible work, you needn’t panic. You can handle whatever your day throws at you.

At the same time, when you are working, you want every moment you spend to count. Like us, you’re already juggling a thousand things a day. Don’t you just hate wasting a moment of your valuable time? So you need a job that rewards you, even on days when you can only give it 15 minutes.

Building our information-based websites gives us that flexibility, and that satisfying use of time.

Think about it. You can skip the commute and head straight for your computer when kids are asleep or at school. Whenever you can squeeze some time into your schedule – early morning, late at night, on weekends – you can access the Internet and make progress on your website.

I begged, borrowed and stole every spare moment to build my site (still do). If you are determined and it’s what you really want and it turns you on, you will do it. Patricia

You can start slowly – all of us did. If your family is very young, you might have just a couple of hours a week to spare. That’s enough to get you started. And as your children grow you’ll have a few more hours to spend, developing your site, slowly and steadily.

When I began with SBI!, I had two children aged 1 and 3, and life seemed fairly manageable. I spent about eight hours per week building my site. Then I turned around and discovered that I had a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old - and I was pregnant.

Life seemed a lot busier, and I found only an hour or two per week for my site. Now I have a baby, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old and life is chock full. I spend less than half an hour per week on my site (usually typing with one hand while nursing the baby!)

But in every season of my momming, SBI! keeps chugging along, doing its magic. Traffic keeps building and my subscriber list keeps growing. When I'm ready to jump back in again, my site will be healthier than when I set it down months ago. Ellen

A content-filled Website grows as your babies grow. A well-planned site continues to attract visitors, earning income. If you need time out – a day, a week, or a bigger block of time, when a new baby arrives, for instance – your site carries on, growing in the background, until you can return to it.

After a while your work becomes a part of your family’s dynamics. It’s something you do alongside raising your children, an on-going project not just for yourself, but also for your family and for their future. As your children get older, you might even choose to involve them, too.

A useful add-on to that flexibility is a Website’s total move-ability. You can work on it, wherever you end up in the world.

The great thing for me is that it doesn’t matter where I am. We’ve lived in four different houses over the last year and so long as I have a connection to the Internet I can carry on building my sites. Nor does it matter which country I’m in

– my sites, at least, remain where they are, and have become my homes incyberspace! Claire

Building our own websites has given us a measure of independence that no other work opportunity we’ve ever come across can offer. It could do the same for you.

3.3 Earning the Income You Need

As a mom, you work hard for your family.

Yes, you may have a partner who shares the load, and that helps. But we know how many hours you’re putting in, because that’s what we do, too.

We know that when you’re not soothing babies, playing with toddlers, driving kids around, helping with school work, you’re doing laundry, shopping, cooking – all the myriad tasks that go into keeping a home and family running smoothly.

The reward? It’s in the deep satisfaction of seeing your children happy and growing. You’re there to share day-to-day life with them, find your toddler’s lost cuddly, help with your 10-year-old’s project, sympathise with your teenager’s broken heart.

But there’s one thing you don’t get in return for all those hours of loving labour.

Money.

Money – who earns it, who spends it, what it means – raises a whole bunch of questions for moms. We like earning. It empowers us in many different ways. But we love raising our kids, too. Like you, we want to do both.

Many mums that I chat to feel torn between the desire to be there for their children and the desire for more control and independence. Annabel

Maybe you’re not interested in earning a whole lot of money right now. If you’ve chosen to take time out of the job market, chances are you can manage on your family income – but a bit more would probably be welcome.

Or maybe you need funds now. Perhaps you’re a single parent, struggling to make ends meet, or your partner has taken a pay cut and it’s up to you to bring home the difference.

Whatever your financial situation today, take a moment to stop and think.

How would you like to find an earning source that took up only the time you could comfortably offer? One that could give you a small income fairly soon – and had the potential to g-r-o-w spectacularly and consistently in the future?

Imagine if that work began to bring in money. Not much to start with, but a steady trickle, that gradually turned to a stream.

Money that came in, not just during your working hours, but during the many more hours that you spend tending to your family. Money that came in while you slept… or while you went on vacation. Money that still came in, if you needed time off.

I am happy for the people who are supporting their families with their online income, but that's not me. I won't have time for several years, probably, to devote enough time to my site for that to happen.

But right now, I am making several hundred dollars per month! Am I planning to one day make significant money with my site? Definitely. In the meantime, am I delighted with $300+ per month passive income? Absolutely! Ellen

Suppose that as long as you carried on chipping away, bit by bit, you were rewarded with a stream of income that kept on growing and continued to come in far, far into the future. What if it grew into a passive source of income that only required a small amount of upkeep?

What would that mean to you?

In time, you could dump the $10-an-hour job. Or ease yourself out of a full- or part-time job that pays, but makes colossal demands on your time and energy, and leaves you worn to a frazzle. You could pull back on the party plan or the medical transcription. Or focus your net-based efforts into a more satisfying and rewarding direction.

That’s what developing a content-filled website could give you.

Make no mistake. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. There is no promise about money this week, or money without work... steady, focused work.

As to how much you can earn, there’s no easy ballpark answer there, either. The amount varies, and depends on many factors. Everyone’s experience is different.