One Mom's Journey

Wake up.  Change diapers.  Make breakfast. Clean.  Maybe take care of yourself.  Clean again.  Prepare more food. Clean up some more.  Play.  Play some more.  Hubby is home, day is over.

Being an entrepreneur means that after my kids shut down for the night, I usually hit the keyboard at a fierce pace.  Research some content, write some content, sometimes multiples in one night just to try and stay ahead of the game.  Work on my online store, my website, read some awesome Social Media Examiner, then hit the hay.

Networking is a must, and we need to do it one on one.

This routine I just described is pretty typical of a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM) with a small business.  This is why I wanted to focus on some other methods of conducting business.  Networking.  Whether it is a dog walking company, a tutoring business, an online store or a massage therapist - networking is a must, and we need to do it one on one.  Let's step away from using only social marketing and join a local networking group.  Why you ask?

We are seeing more and more women run small businesses.  Why?  I am sure there are many factors that can contribute to this, but some of the biggest factors are women are trying to find a way to balance and juggle and multi-task the whole "mom" gig.

Image courtesy of www.thegospelcoalition.org

It goes something like this:  Get pregnant.  Baby is born.  Fall in love with baby.  Realise you have to go back to work.  Realise the cost of daycare.  Realise that you would rather stay at home.  Realise that household overhead does not allow for this. Figure out a way to make money and raise kids.

Here are some brilliant things moms are doing to stay at home and make money.

1. Run a home daycare.  Depending on your area you can earn between $30-$50 per day per child, and you can take care of your own kids at the same time.
2. Walk a dog Dog walkers believe it or not earn between $15-30 dollars an hour for simply walking a dog.  Walk two to three dogs a day with baby in stroller and you are getting exercise while earning extra money.  Taking in a dog while someone is on vacation can earn you between $30 and $50 dollars a day
3. Direct Marketing  Love to host parties, or socialize and have a great network?  Direct marketing is huge right now. Consider reading more on this with the Flip Flop CEO book.  Great read and really dumbs down the industry on how you can make money while raising a family. 
4. Artsy and Computer Savvy? Consider being a graphic designer. Be a Wix.com pro, or sell photography to iStock.com or shutterstock.com and earn a few extra dollars.  You can even contract your graphic design services via logo submittal online sites and earn loads of extra cash.  You can do this during nap time, or even after kids go to bed.

My toddler had never been exposed to cable television.  We streamed everything via our Boxee Box. Recently, my husband decided he wanted cable so that he could watch sports live.  In comes traditional television for the first time in 4 years.  I had no idea what I was going to experience.

My three year old was watching something on Teletoon (or something like that) and up pops a commercial. Harmless enough; toys, branding, the usual, but this was the first time she had been exposed to this - and what happened next was shocking.  For the first time ever, she started asking for everything she saw on commercials.  Mommy, I want one of those, I want that too.  Can I get that for Christmas?  Can you buy me that?  Everything she saw, whether it was a toy or an item of clothing - she wanted it.

In come self-esteem.  Little did I know that I was doing my daughter a favour by not having traditional commercials polluting her mind.  She had never compared herself to others, she had never disliked her clothing, until now.  I will never forget watching her watch a commercial with a bunch of teenage girls, with their long straight hair, cell phones and high boots walking down the street looking so cool and "typical" television perfection.  She has short and super curly gorgeous hair - now she wanted long and straight hair like them.  Poor thing...what have I done?  What has society done?