How Easy is it Exactly to be a Work at Home Mom (WAHM)?
Author: Allie, Ramblings of a WAHM
I am a Work at Home Mom or “WAHM”. Ever heard of her? She is usually an entrepreneur. Or we like to be called “mompreneurs”. We have decided to make a living from home.
Many WAHM’s have home based careers in sales. They sell offline and in the new economy they sell online also through blogs or service sites.
I am the next stage of WAHM. I am strictly online. I can be called an affiliate marketer or social media marketer. But I like to call myself a Business Blogger. My main business surrounds my blog, Ramblings of a WAHM, where I actually write about becoming an online WAHM.
Online Blogging WAHM
5 AM. I’m up, getting ready for the day as a WAHM. Yes, my day starts this early. Before the kids get up I need to be showered, dressed and ready, make lunches and eat. And don’t forget the much needed coffee. 7 AM is magic time, I wake up my sleeping kids. For the next hour it is mayhem in the house, and I only have 2 children. Then 8 AM is my “mom business” time.
My “mom business” is my online blog. Well, it is much more than that. I have a business that revolves around my blog. I have worked for the last year to build a business in which affiliate sales, social networking, guest blogging and online marketing have taken over my life between 8 AM and 3 PM. And might I add, this is not easy.
I started a blog in September 2010. I thought it would be simple. Sure, technically starting a blog is simple but to find readers and maintain your blog is difficult. Sure, it is easy to write but writing about the same subject can get monotonous. Sure, social media and commenting on other blogs is fun but you will need to do it every day.
Beginning to work online with the goal of bringing in an income, especially as a mom with limited hours, feels at times a losing battle. The job itself can be very enjoyable and rewarding. I have made great online friends. I have learned business and marketing skills I did not have last year. And I can write- a lot. But, I have to be honest, even the best marketer, business person or writer struggles with gaining that first relevant check to pay an electric bill. And to achieve this with limited hours is the challenge many WAHM’s face.
Business Blogging is Hard Work
When I began this venture I had hopes of online stardom and riches. The blogging pros like Darren Rowse, Pat Flynn and Chris Garrett warned that most bloggers fizzle out after 6 months, I ignored them. I knew I would make it past that. Why?
Many bloggers quit after 6 months because, frankly, it can take 2 years to start making a decent living. I am fortunate, I come from a Stay at Home Mom situation. I did not quit a job and lose income to go online. Any earnings I have are actually helpful to our family. We are not suffering from a job lose. (We are fortunate.)
Blogging can get lonely and monotonous. I recently learned a very valuable lesson, be very social online. Branch out and make friends, business partners or simple relationships with others for help, encouragement and just plain sanity. A blog is the same subject, day in day out, and this can get boring. Having a way out with others can not only open new doors but keep you happy with in your ventures.
And lastly, this is a business, you get what you give. If you put in 100% you will start to make your goals. Give 50% and maybe you will. Give less effort, quit now. Sure there are times a business blog simply fails even after you give it your all and that is what a business risks are all about. But your odds are much better when you are well informed and give it your all.
Many bloggers do not view online income as a business therefore do not realize all the hard work that needs to go into it.
Making Money?
So, do I make money after a year? Yes and no. I do when I concentrate and make affiliate sales. If you have been in sales you know they do not come easy and can be sporadic.
Yet, this is not the only avenue of online income. Someday I would love to sell ad space on my blog, create my own product or simply consult. And that is only the beginning. I can say, with a lot of work, knowledge and time, a person can achieve a great online income.
And how about being a WAHM?
I find the challenges I face in terms of being a WAHM can mostly be my limited hours. If I have a deadline, do not schedule out my work hours accordingly and then must finish work while my children are home, this proves to be a huge challenge. The main reason I chose to work from home is, one, no commute, and, two, I can be home for my kids. When kids clash with work, kids win. This means possible lost deadlines and less money.
But, honestly, what mother, father, commuter or business owner does not have challenges in their personal life? Sure, I work from home. I get distracted by family, friends and even the TV at times. But I love what I do and would not trade it in for a commute or a boss. I am the boss and I am in charge of my own destiny, and my household.
Take Away
My advice, and the advice of many business online professionals, is to keep your job until your online income takes off. It is an online business. As I get deeper into this journey I find it is not unlike offline businesses. One must become knowledgeable in business and marketing, be willing to take risks and most of all know your field.
3 PM. It is “mom” time and I need to get the kids.
Hey Allie. Thanks for this post. I’m thinking of growing my blog plus start a second blog so I can start preparing for when I go on my next maternity leave, in a year’s time or so. I thought best to start early! Your points are very useful for what I’m trying to achieve. Thanks a lot. xx
Rhonda,
I wish you best of luck. I took a gander at your blog and you seem to be heading in the right direction. The blog you have now is vibrant and filled with great content. I’m sure your new one will be just as great.
Your journey is definitely on a good start.
~Allie
Hi Allie,
I can really relate to your story because I’m a work-at-home-mom, too, during the last two years. I’ve learned a lot about online marketing and find that there’s still so much to learn.
Some of the most valuable things I’ve learned from my journey include:
1. you have to really know what you want in life when you start building an online business (i.e. not just making money or quitting your day job), something that makes you feel excited and passionate;
2. you need to know your strength and use it on your online business;
3. learn the essential strategies from a good teacher or coach (i.e. choosing a niche or topic, creating valuable content, promoting your site, monetizing your site, etc.);
4. follow an action guide;
5. stay focused; and
6. just do it and don’t think too much about it
You are awesome, will be visiting your blog.
To your success in your journey!
Janus,
You lay out a list I feel I need to print in order to keep me on track. These are such great tips!
I think where many newbies, and that includes me when it comes to internet business and marketing, go wrong is finding that mentor and/or learning the strategies from a good coach. There are so many out there that claim to be great and legitimate but really are not. It takes a lot to trust someone.
Thanks for your tips! I think they will come in handy for me.
~Allie
Hey Allie,
See I followed you around everywhere! 🙂
Like I said, I recent;y started working from home, but my blog ain’t the business. I do freelance writing. I keep wondering how people make money through blogs; many have told me that the services they have to offer is far more effective in bringing in the money than blogging itself. Yes, affiliate marketing helps, but I really haven’t tried any of it as yet.
I started blogging just for fun and that is what I am still doing… having fun! 🙂 It must be so tough doing it while being a mommy! My sister has two little ones ( 5 and 3) and she tells me that it becomes days before she actually checks her emails! I am so proud that you do so much! You are awesome!
Hajra,
Are you stalking me? Am I one of your Google alerts? LOL.
Working from home (or any kind of work for a mom) is really hard to juggle but you get the hang of it. I feel more for the moms that have really little children that do not understand if mommy is on a conference call or trying to do her accounting and can’t stop to help get juice. That can really be hard.
My kids are 13 and 11, they are pretty self sufficient. As a matter of fact, they don’t want me around half the time, lol. Don’t get me wrong my family comes first. I stop working at around 3:30 when they get home. I may sneak in some online time in between but when they are home, they are priority.
Thank you Hajra! Now if I can just make those millions that dazzling site said I would! LOL.
When I start making better money, I’ll write more about it. When the contest is over I will be concentrating more on income at my blog.
~Allie
Thank you for sharing, I should study from you. Being a Home Mom is very challenging. Yes, the time is most vital to us. Especially you have to take care of your children at the same time you have to put enough time on your business. Once I had this kind of experience for a while, I often bothered by my family although they have do their best not to interrupt me.
Sophia,
Working at home can be a challenge at times. I caught myself last night sneaking in some online time while my kids were getting ready for bed, just so I could reply to comments and tweet.
The pressure to stay up on things can be overwhelming at times but that is the compromise we make so we can stay home with our kids. When I find they are “distracting” me, I simply tell myself that they are the reason I work in this way.
I can say, as they get older they require less attention from you. For instance, they can get their own snacks or they are over their friend’s house. When they are small a mom (or dad) does not have that luxury and building a business is more of a challenge. When they are small they mentally and physically drain you. As they age, the physical strain is not so prevalent as the mental, lol.
Good luck in your journey. And have great holidays!
~Allie
I really do wish these blogs had a ‘Like’ button. Can you tell that I have been on Facebook for just too long?! 😉 Anyways, I find that you are very advanced for only starting your blog in 09/2010, so that is a testament to your commitment to learning all there is to know, and staying motivated. I think it is particularly exceptional due to the fact that your blog does not simply cater to consumers, but rather other bloggers. You had to have developed a swift level of expertise in order to put out content that would be of interest to those that are already savvy about blogging and making an income online. Plus your website itself indicates a good grasp on technology (something that I wish that I had more of). These factors say a lot in my humble opinion. Keep doing what you are doing! 🙂
This comment’s obviously for Allie, but just to say we didn’t have a ‘Like’ button as I thought we had enough ‘sharing’ buttons already,
… but I’ve added a ‘Like’ button just for you!! 😉 The position is perhaps not ideal so I might change that but there will be a like button all the same,
now over to you Allie…
Thanks so much, Alan!
I wasn’t just talking about your blog, but some other blogs do not have it either. After I wrote that, I wondered if they might opt out purposely, to encourage more real conversation via comments, versus just a lazy “click.”
I recently added all those share buttons on my blog, and noticed people immediately starting to use them, so even though I do not get very many comments, I know through those buttons that people are not only reading the posts, but liking them enough to share them. I also have added both a FB “share” and “Like” button to accommodate what I consider to be 2 different types of people. Originally the “Like” button was just that– just to indicate as a form of feedback that you like a particular post. Now we consider it almost more of a share button, because of Facebook’s increasing integration with the rest of the Internet. Either way, I have included both buttons just in case. 🙂 Those that are shy or more private individuals may not be as likely to click a “share” button.
Thanks so much again for accommodating my simple request. It is very kind of you.
Enjoy your weekend!
Ah, well you easily could have been talking about mine as I didn’t have a ‘Like’ button ;-). I haven’t thought about it for a while actually so kind of liked getting the comment, and it fits with Allie’s recent (great) post on commenting. The reason I took it off was in case I was over doing it with the share icons (which I still may be but I thought the ones I have look quite cool and are relatively discrete at the end of the post) – particularly I thought people may be getting tired of the ‘like’ button appearing everywhere.
That was my theory with the ‘Like’ button before reading allies post and your comment above – Allies post persuaded me more that I should click the ‘tweet’ button more particularly (thanks Allie) to mix up the content via Twitter – that works for me because it can’t possibly be spammy/intrusive/too much because frequent comments in twitter seem to be more the way to go than in broader social networks such as facebook & G+.
Anyway’s I’m persuaded, so it’s back for now (though I’m going to try and make it positioned better). p.s. I hope you clicked it! 😉
take care,
Alan
Alan and Jennifer,
When I began blogging I had so many “share” buttons it was simply ridiculous. I narrowed down to Facebook, Twitter, Google + and StumbleUpon. Those seem to be the ones most readers will use to share my stuff. And that is where my readers hang out. If most of your readers are on LinkedIn then put that button. Or Redditt or Digg (does that still exists? Hmm?) You get the point.
When I read Jennifer’s response, though, I immediately thought of comment software like Disqus where readers can like individual comments. I love that system. I just never put it on my blog. I keep things simple.
I never really thought too much about NOT putting share buttons on my blog, but I can see your points. But readers expect the buttons to be there now. It seems a part of blogging. Sure there are bloggers that do not have them, especially to keep their blogs uncluttered. And that is fine also. But if you want more readers and engagement, I believe, they are a necessity. Heck, some bloggers have closed comments all together. I am confused at that BUT, again, it is their blog. Maybe they want feedback via email. Or what they write is simply not up for discussion. Or they really just want to write without anyone else disrupting their message.
Anyhow, I am glad you put the share buttons up, Alan. And Jennifer, I’m going over right now to “like” your posts. 🙂
~Allie
Hmmm … I guess it’s just a case of continuing to try things out and experiment. I am always conscious of trying not to be intrusive and ‘impose’ upon people asking them to share all of the time. I really do think people are sick of ads and ‘like’ buttons but then I hadn’t considered that it’s a personal preference and an easy option vs commenting for some. Looking at it like that and reading Allie’s recent post has kind of changed my mind … for the moment 😉
I never knew that about Disqus – but the thing I don’t like about Disqus is that it looks like you have to log in to leave a comment which could put some people off, whereas standard WP comments you fill out the fields and click submit. I think you can actually just give your name and URL with Disqus but you still have to select that from a drop down and people might miss that. Same goes for Livefyre which I find interesting but unnecessary the way it collects your comments in yet another place…
So the share button stays for a while (I moved it to a topbar because I think it looks & works better there). I really hope people like (pardon the pun) it and use it, but in any case thanks both for persuading me 🙂
Alan,
Thank you for the opportunity to spread my wings to your blog. I hope blogging and life bring you much deserved happiness.
Let me know when I can return the favor.
~Allie
Hey Allie – thank you!!
It’s a great article. You may notice (becauuse I’m new) that you’re the first one to do this using an ID on the site. I do have plenty of other really great guest articles from some very inspiring people (when I say inspiring, you’re included in that list by the way) but to date I had gotten people to send me the content and had posted these along with everything else with a generic ID (‘ltgmonkey’).
I hadn’t realised how before – at first I added a ‘login box’ allowing people to register themselves as contributors but realised that this made me a spam magnet (I got something like 1K new articles overnight!!). Anyways, I’m really glad this has worked so well (also because I really care about the inttegrity of our site & content) and you’ve been a really great guest!!
I hope we get some comments but then also don’t know if you’ll automatically get an email when a comment is submitted on this article (I think you should but I’ll keep a look out and let you know just in case).
re: returning the favour I’m going to start working on something now on online networking as you suggested and you let me know when,
thanks again & take care,
Alan
ooops – integrity