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Social Networks for Moms

October 20, 2008 By

This article is Part 1 of a series and was written by Christina Lemmey, Editor of Moms Talk News and owner of Multimedia VA.

Working from home has many advantages, including no commute, no work wardrobe, and no extra childcare costs. Many work at home moms believe the juggling act between balancing work and family is well worth the savings they experience, whether they own their own businesses, telecommute, or sell direct sales products.

However, one aspect of working from home that is often forgotten about is the social aspect. How many Computer at BMI Business Lounge at London-Heathrow
times did you “stand by the water cooler” talking about the most recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy? Or did you take a 10 minute break every hour and chat with your best friend about your weekend plans? Even the most quiet employee in a traditional office has the opportunity to interact with other adults and make friends but it’s quite a bit different when working from home.

Many work at home moms (as well as stay at home moms) have gravitated toward the multitude of social networking sites that have popped up over the last few years. A social network essentially is a website where you can set up a profile page describing your interests or business and then link to other profiles or friends. Many of these are meant for business networking and some are meant for social networking. No matter which networking you’re looking for, you have many choices on the internet.
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Filed Under: Home Business & Telecommuting Tagged With: , ,

Stay at Home Moms: Turn Your Knowledge Into Extra Money

June 16, 2008 By

Did you know that internet marketers need your first-hand experience — and may be willing to pay you for writing simple articles about it?

That’s right. Other moms are earning money for writing about their favorite topics and their life experience. These moms are called ghostwriters. If you enjoy writing, you too can be paid to write from home, with your little ones right there beside you.

This brief glimpse into the world of ghostwriting will help you determine whether this home based career may be a good fit for you.

A Career for Moms, With or Without a Degree

The main requirement for being a great ghostwriter is that you enjoy writing. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been paid to write in the past, and you do not need a degree.

You will, however, need some guidance to get started. An inexpensive guide to ghostwriting can walk you step by step into your new career. To help you earn money more quickly, be sure your course or guide includes a forum so you can have your questions answered by seasoned ghostwriters.

Internet Marketers Need Your Knowledge and Skills

Right now, there’s a huge market for great ghostwriters online. As more and more internet marketers set up shop online, the demand for great ghostwriters increases as well.

You see, internet marketers are happy to pay others to write for them. It saves them time and energy. It frees them up to work on other important projects, because you’re taking care of writing the content they need.

You may be asked to write articles, or even ebooks or reports. You can choose what you’re comfortable with.

Share Your Experience, and Get Paid For It

You can specialize in writing for a niche you may know and love. Actually, it’s more profitable for you if you specialize. This will make you a valuable writer. It will also allow you to price yourself well.

You may not realize it, but you are already an expert. As a stay at home mom, you specialize in children. Parenting. Getting kids to eat healthy (and enjoying it!) Family finance, because you’ve learned to get by on much less.

You may have gained special knowledge from personal challenges like attention deficit disorder, or how to stop other kids from bullying your kids. Any of these topics are likely near and dear to your heart.

Now it’s up to you to let your light shine — and be paid to share your gifts with those who need them.

Article by: Do you want to learn more about ghostwriting as a home based business? I’ve put together a free report on ghostwriting for profit, ‘Ghostwriting as a Career for Introverts.’ Darlene Arechederra shares fun and unique career ideas with moms who want to earn extra money from home.

Filed Under: Stay At Home Moms Tagged With: , , ,

Telecommuting – Five Ways to Find Your Next Job

June 2, 2008 By

The trend of telecommuting is on the rise as employers begin to see the savings involved in both gas and office space. With gas prices at an all-time high, many Americans are looking for ways to do less driving and more companies than ever before are offering telecommuting options to their current employees and searching for at-home employees to fill open positions. The question for the job seeker is now how to find these opportunities. Below are five methods you can use to find a telecommuting position.

First, check your local newspaper. When I began my search for an at-home career, I found my first employer through the Classified Ads section of our hometown paper. I was wary at first, but after thoroughly researching the company through means such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB), visiting the corporate office and meeting some of their current employees I found the company to be legitimate.

Second, search online using website such as Monster.com and Dice.com. However, listings found online must be researched carefully to avoid the scams that abound on the Internet. There are also websites that will you allow to do job research in your own community. One such website is Craigslist.com on which you can choose a city and then refine your search with keywords such as “telecommute.”

Posting your resume on websites such as Hotjobs.com is a third way to locate at work-at-home job. Putting your resume online can bring employers to you, depending on your skills and qualifications. Another bonus of an online resume is that you can easily direct prospective employers to view it. It also makes life a bit simpler when applying for jobs, because you can attach your online resume instead of typing out your job history, qualifications, and so on, each time you apply for a job.

When posting your resume on the web, be sure to create an accurate and impressive representation of your abilities. You don’t want to be wordy when describing past job experience, but you do want to be specific about the roles you’ve held as well as your accomplishments.

A fourth option when looking for at-home employment is to open a phone book and call businesses in your area. For example, if you’re interested in doing administrative work, you might contact churches and small businesses in your area to see if they are looking for office help. Even if they are not currently seeking help, they may know of another business owner who is.

Along those same lines, the fifth way to become a telecommuter is to create your own opportunity. For example, instead of finding a company that will hire you as an administrative assistant from home, consider starting your own business as a Virtual Assistant. You can offer your services to many companies, which can both increase your income potential and allow you the flexibility of deciding which jobs you’d like to accept.

You can also create your own telecommuting position by talking with your current employer about work-at-home possibilities. More and more companies are finding that at-home employees are just as productive as those in the office, if not more. Companies also benefit financially by lessening office space and avoiding the costs of many office supplies. Many companies who are not ready to hire at-home workers will allow their current employees to work one or two days from a home office, so be sure to discuss this option.

The telecommuting field has become highly competitive as more and more people find that working from home is a possibility. Searching for a telecommuting position can be daunting, but by looking in strategic places such as online and in your local newspaper, you’ll have a much better chance. No matter, how you find your telecommuting position, make sure it’s something you would enjoy doing and also something you can make money at.

Article by: Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms. Jill is a contributing author in The Business Mom Guide Book and I’ll Be Home for Christmas and co-author of the upcoming book, Home Based Blessings. Jill has articles published across the web on sites like DrLaura.com and ClubMom.com. Jill and her husband, Allen of CWAHD.com reside in Nebraska with their two children.

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Tips for Minimizing Stress for the Work at Home Mom

May 26, 2008 By

More and more women have found a way to work from home in order to be more available to their families. However, now that they have found jobs or businesses to run, they’re starting to realize that working from home is not as easy as they thought it would be. Separating their work lives from personal lives and family obligations is a major cause of stress and disorganization.

Try these tips if you suffer the stresses of working from home:

1. Separate your work space from your family space. When your work space is your dining room table and this is where your family gathers for each meal, it is increasingly difficult to turn off your brain from work and focus on your family.

Rather than becoming disconnected from your family, try to find an area within your home to have your office so that it won’t interfere with your family life. Some examples of good office space are a spare bedroom, a corner of a finished basement, an attic, or loft space. Even small closets can be outfitted with a small desktop and electrical outlets for your computer. When these are not an option, set up shop in your bedroom to keep it away from the family areas.

2. Stay organized. A messy desk can be a huge distraction when trying to work. Even if you know where everything is on your disorganized desktop, having organized files and a place for everything will help make you more efficient and productive.

To achieve that clutter-free desk, use inexpensive organizing items, such as baskets with separate compartments, to help organize the odds and ends on your desk. You can keep rubber stamps, letters, invoices, pens, pencils, and the like in here. Organization makes finding things much easier, which results in a more relaxed work day.

3. Keep your business phone separate from the family phone line. No matter what your business, you have a certain professional image to uphold. That image could easily be shot if your child answers an important client call or picks up the extension during a conference call. Even if your clients know that you are a work at home mom, they don’t necessarily want to hear the kids when speaking to you.

The same is true for the computer. Ideally, you should have a business-only computer or laptop which is completely separate from the computer the kids use for their games. However, budgets do not always allow for this option. In that case, make sure that your business and job files and documents can’t be easily accessed by anyone but you. This will help prevent the stress of family members stumbling on a client’s important files and accidentally deleting them.

4. Using calendars or planners can help to keep track of business appointments or deadlines and family appointments. No more double booking client meetings or making the kids’ dentist appointments on the same day as a big presentation. There are numerous choices of calendars and planners on the market, both traditional paper and contemporary electronic planners. Try out both and find which solution works best for you.

5. Consider hiring a sitter on days you have a lot of work to do. Being a work at home mom gives you the benefit of controlling your own schedule and having a sitter keeps the kids away from your office. During this quiet time you can focus on your work and it gives your kids a chance to have fun without you feeling guilty or having them unsupervised.

Mixing business with family in the home setting can be a major source of stress. Keeping the business side of your life organized and separate from family is crucial to successfully keeping your stress levels down and your sanity intact. Plenty of moms find that balance of work and family time but it will be different for everyone. Be prepared for some routine changes as you figure out what works best for your own family.

About the Author: Aurelia Williams is a certified life coach and author of Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work And Family an Easy Step-By-Step Guide To Balancing Your Work And Family Time.

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