A Stay at Home Mom's Guide - How to Bring in Real Cash From Home
In today's times where the cost of quality child care has sky rocketed and the job market has plummeted, more and more moms are choosing to leave the rat race in order to stay at home and care for their children. After all, what's the point of getting up at 6am and commuting five days a week to a job that only pays $400 a week and hand over $300 of that to a day care? It doesn't take a math genius and a blackboard filled with equations to figure that one out. The one thing that most moms just can't seem to figure out, is how they can bring in a little money each month in the scarce amount of free time that they have. For a lot of families, even a little bit of money can make a huge difference. Unfortunately the search for legitimate work from home opportunities often leads down a path of scams and multi-level-marketing sales pitches; which only serve to discourage moms and further waste their precious time. I'm here to tell you that if you look in the right places and listen to the right people, there are indeed legitimate opportunities out there. As an experienced stay-at-home mom of three children, I have spent years and countless amounts of time and energy finding the opportunities that I'm about to reveal to you. Most women already are aware of companies like Avon, Tupperware, Party Lite, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc., however, most women are turned off at the mention of their names because they think they have to beg their friends and family to buy the products to earn any money. In the past, that would have been true. Many of these companies offer a fairly low start up investment and also include a free website to base your sales out of. With a little knowledge about promoting that website, you very well may never need to hold a product party or sell not one thing to a member of your family. If you decide to try this route, I suggest frequenting online mom forums or online communities. You can advertise your website simply by creating a signature line with your website's address on your profile. Each time you post in a forum, you're getting FREE advertising for your online storefront! If you are a bit more aggressive, you can try listing your products on online free classified sites such as craigslist and fijiji. Even if the thought of face to face sales turns you stomach, these companies offer a great opportunity for bringing in extra money every month without knocking on your neighbors' doors. If you are familiar with the basics of eBay or even craigslist, there are quite a few opportunities to make extra money from home here too. If you frequent either of these sites, you'll soon learn that there is a very high demand for baby items, baby and children's clothes, and certain toys from makers like Little Tykes. I made quite a decent income simply from visiting thrift and resale shops in my area and finding baby and children's clothes that were still new with the tags on for $3 or less. The same could be done at yard sales too or better yet, on seasonal clearance racks at stores like Gymboree, Children's Place, Gap, etc. You can quickly gauge which brands of baby and children's clothing are selling on eBay by doing a search and seeing what percentage of each brand have bids and by taking a look at the winning bid amounts. Be sure to do your homework BEFORE you go shopping though. You need to know what is selling and what isn't and for how much, otherwise you could just be wasting your precious time. Another great way to earn money from home is to list your talents on a site like elance.com. Elance.com is a website for people who wish to do freelance work from home. This website is an absolute GOLDMINE of legitimate work from home opportunities for anyone who is willing to work. Of course, the more you have to offer, the more you will be in demand. You can offer services as a virtual assistant, customer service rep, data entry, answering telephones, event planning, web design, programming, typing, etc. The list is way too large to list here. All you need to do is visit elance and create a profile, you can list your skills, job history, references, and you can even take skills tests to verify certain skill sets. You can then bid on jobs that have been listed by people and companies needing help. Even if you feel like you don't have very much time at all to make extra cash, there are more opportunities than you can imagine. One of my favorites is to list yourself on the databases of market research companies. A quick online search of market research companies in your area will give you a list of the companies and their websites. You can simply visit these websites and find where or how you can get listed in their database. Once you do, you'll likely receive phone calls or emails of market research opportunities for which you qualify. These opportunities are usually quick, fun things that require a bare minimum of your time and a quick opportunity for a nice amount of cash. I once picked up a free six pack of diet soda and took it home. Once I drank them, I completed an online 20 second survey that made me $25.00. Another time I did a diaper study and earned $120.00. It was easy money and I was smiling all the way home. The more databases that you can put yourself into, the more opportunities you'll have for quick cash. I always recommend to any stay-at-home mom, that they frequent online mom websites and communities as often as possible. Not only are you able to stay connected to the "real world", but these sites offer an array of hidden opportunities to not only save money but to make it as well, IF you know where to look. For example, just by visiting forums on these mom sites you'll soon learn what the needs are in your area and you can then begin to offer services to fill those needs. Often times one of the biggest needs is child care. If you're willing to care for another child every day, or even infrequently this is ALWAYS an opportunity for money. If this type of thing interests you, you can always list yourself as a caregiver on websites such as Care.com. This is a website that connects caregivers to people needing care for seniors, babies, children, and pets. You can create a profile for free or pay a little bit of money to get a background check listed for yourself, again making yourself more "in demand" and appealing to those looking for help. By no means are these the only ways of bringing in extra cash. These are simply a few that I have found to be the most appealing. You can choose to do only one of these, or some combination of any or all of them. I hope these ideas have given you new-found hope or even inspired you to find your own way of making money from home. You can indeed have the best of both worlds, being available for your children as well as contributing to your household income.Kyra Brandbury has been a freelance writer for over ten years and mother of three. She is currently working on a new blog for stay at home moms that wish to work from home, [http://www.momshavedreamstoo.blogspot.com]Stay At Home Mompreneurs. Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Stay-at-Home-Moms-Guide---How-to-Bring-in-Real-Cash-From-Home&id=3837364] A Stay at Home Mom's Guide - How to Bring in Real Cash From HomeComments [1]
