Work from home, Mom!
We like it that way!

The reaction is usually a mixture: surprise, curiosity and "I'd like that too!"

Which makes me think: maybe if more moms knew about the home based opportunities available and how to find the ones that suit their situation, they would have more options and control over how they work.

Why Moms Love Work From Home Opportunities

At the core is your strong desire to be physically available and present for your children, the most important people in your life right now. To accomplish this, you need freedom and flexibility in the way you work. A work from home career makes this possible.

Work From Home Ideas

Do you have access to a computer from home (preferable, but not necessary)?

If you answered yes, you are ready to go to work at home.

No computer? No worries. Let me show you how it is possible to work from home without a computer.

Back to working from home with a computer...

How about offering companies your clerical or administrative skills for hire by doing typing work from home or data entry work from home. You could even be someone's virtual assistant. I remember having a career coach who used a virtual assistant to take care of the administrative side of her coaching practice so she could spend more time putting her coaching passion and gift to work.

You can work from home doing surveys.

Medical billing, transcription work and telemarketing can all be done from home.

PS. Beware envelope stuffing work from home schemes. There are better ways to make money.

How To Stay Scam Free When You Work At Home

The Internet is a mine of opportunity as well as a minefield of potential scams. Every time someone invents something useful, someone else comes up with a scheme to make a quick buck, thus spoiling the market for everyone else.

You have to be very diligent and learn to develop a healthy skepticism for what you read online, especially if you are asked to give away personal details or to buy a product or service TODAY that will help you to Get Rich Quick. (You do know there is no such thing as Get Rich Quick, right?)

A good way to test any online work from home opportunity is to ask yourself if you would say yes if a real person were talking to you face to face about it.

The Internet removes one of the barriers to selling, which is the need for two parties to be physically present. That can be a good thing because it lets the seller reach out to more people without having to meet them one by one.

But therein also lies the danger.

When you (the buyer) cannot see or hear the other person, you can only rely on what is written on the seller's website or sales page. Sometimes, that is all you get, which makes the communication all one-way.

So you need to ask yourself a few smart questions:

• Is there enough information on the website or sales page for me to make an informed choice?
• If I have more questions, is there someone I can contact to get some answers?
• Who is the person behind the website (or is there even one)?
• Is there a money-back guarantee?
• How hard is it to get back my money? You want to know how many hoops you have to jump through before you get back your money. A credible company would be confident enough about its product or service to offer you a no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Here's an example of the kind of company you want to do business with. Take a look at its Money-Back Satisfaction and Success Guarantee to see what I mean.

How To Find Legitimate Work From Home Jobs

The same rules apply as when you are looking for a "regular" job.

Remember: just as you are assessing others, they are assessing you too, so make sure you shine!

• Investigate potential employers.

Employers check you out before they hire you. Why shouldn't you check them out too?

Look at their history, their mission statement, their vision, their HR philosophy. Do they fit with your values and life purpose?

If a company's website is made up of more sales hype than information that is helpful and beneficial to the reader, ask yourself if this is the sort of organization you want to be affiliated with. Remember, you are known by the "company" you keep.

If values morals and ethics are important to you, take these criteria into account. For example, does the company practise corporate philanthropy? Are they actively involved in giving back to the community?

Who do you know who might know something about the company?

• Keep your career change resume and CV current.
• Be interview-ready.

If a potential employer were to phone you today, can you confidently communicate what you are bringing to the table?

How do your transferable skills, unique strengths, weaknesses, life goals and qualifications translate into 1st grade skills that fit the employer's HR needs?

• Be realistic about your expectations.

When you are starting out, it is natural to be budget-conscious and to try and get as much as you can for free. However, not everything that is free is valuable. We like freebies, but at the same time, we tend to treat them with less respect than something we have paid a lot of money for.

There are some generous companies and individuals that offer high quality products for free (lucky for you and me!), but most everything else comes at a cost, either upfront or down the track.

• Network with like-minded others.

  Being a solo mumpreneur for the first time can be scary and lonely. There's so much to learn, especially if you're not from a business background or you are launching into an area that's completely new to you.

  One way to beat the feeling of isolation and negativity is to connect with other mums like you. On the internet, you can find websites, forums and social networking groups started by stay home mums and mums who work from home.

  On Facebook alone, I recently discovered Support A WAHP, The Mummy Tree - Grow Your Business Here and MWWAH (Mums Who Work At Home).

  This is a great way to find and connect with other mums in business. The groups are run by passionate, web-savvy ladies who along with their members are a great source of up-to-the-minute help, information, and ideas. Need a smart way to advertise your product or service? Need a job or a shout-out for your new business? Social networking is definitely one of the best ways.

  When joining a group like this, I encourage you to make it a two-way interaction so everybody gains. Try to give more than you receive. Pay it forward as your business grows and your knowledge and confidence increase. You can't go wrong observing the Golden Rule: Do to others as you would want others to do to you.

More Work From Home Ideas

If you are thinking of going solo and working for yourself, read on for the best work from home careers.

• Join a network marketing home based business.

Network marketing (also called multi-level marketing or MLM) is a low-cost way to become a business owner.

To gain a better idea of what network marketing is all about and the risks it involves, I invite you to jump to this page: Tips On Network Marketing.



• Start a work from home online business.
1. Sell products through your website.

Think hard goods and information products that people can easily download: ebooks, software, mp3 recordings.





2. Sell a service online.

Suppose you are a qualified translator and you have recently settled in a new country. Here's a free work from home idea for you. While waiting to hear from prospective employers, why not be proactive and set up a translation website? Done properly, it will have a wider reach and net you more clients than your local Yellow Pages.

And I'm not making up this scenario. Watch this video to see how Clint did exactly what I just described.

Whether you want this stream of income to eventually replace your full time day job is entirely up to you.

3. Promote other people's products and services.

Every time someone buys a product from a company you are affiliated with through your unique referral link, you get paid a commission. This is called affiliate marketing.

If your concern is that you don't have a product or service of your own to offer, affiliate marketing takes care of this concern, which makes it one of the best work at home jobs.

To get started, you have to join an affiliate marketing network program, which is usually free to join.

Here is an example of an affiliate program; it has been hailed "the best affiliate program on the Net". A good program should disclose upfront how much commission you can expect to receive per sale and if there is a minimum amount of sales you must achieve before you receive your commission check.



4. Be an infopreneur.

An infopreneur is simply someone whose business is publishing information about anything that other people want. If you love researching and sharing what you discover, you could easily turn this into a full time or part time work from home career.

Even if you're not interested in making money now, it's still a highly effective way to boost your professional profile while sharing your knowledge. More and more companies are now using social networking sites to recruit suitable candidates. Who knows, using the Internet creatively might even land you your new dream career!

The Ultimate WAHM Resource

If the thought of becoming a work-at-home-mom (WAHM) inspires you, intrigues you or you just want to find out what life is like for those who are already WAHMs, you can't miss this fabulous resource...WAHM-It! The Master's Course.

This easy-to-read e-book is written by four WAHMs who know what they are writing about and who in their combined experience can tell you all you want to know about the rewards and especially what it will take to achieve the same.

Click here to read the PDF in your browser, or right-click to download it.

Go to Home Computer Work for ideas on how to work from home if you don't have a PC

Go to Tips for Network Marketing if you want to learn more about MLM

Return from Work From Home Careers to Career Change Confidence