Working from home with kids in tow: 3 Business Ideas to get you earning an income from home

A Guest Post from Kellie Dawson

I'm trying something new this week - I have a guest blogger, Kellie Dawson! Check it out and tell me what you think...

“How can I earn an income working from home?” This is the question I see asked more than any other single question in online Mom groups.

The motivation for wanting a work from home income is almost always the same: Moms want to be able to work from home so that they can spend more time with their kids. Some moms are on maternity leave and dreading going back to work, some have gone back to work and are missing out on all the little things that they want to be there for (the first steps, the kindergarten shows, the school trips).

A few years ago, this was me. I went back to work part time when my youngest was one, and full time when he was almost two. To start with I found it kind of liberating to be working again, but once I was working full time, I realized that the work-life juggle was not all it was cut out to be. I often worked late, I sometimes worked in the weekends, and the kids were in daycare for 10+ hours every week day.

The kids were tired, hubby and I were stressed, and every time the kids got sick it was a juggle trying to see which of us could stay home to care for them. We knew that had change our lifestyle, and that meant that one of us had to work from home. We decided that would be me.

The only trouble was, I didn’t know what I would do! There were so many options available, and it was quite hard to determine what one would be right for me. So, what did I do? I started trying these different options out for myself.

I eventually settled on the one technique that worked best for me to earn from home and then focused my attention on creating a reliable income using that method. Once I had done that and it was working really well for me, I started thinking about those other moms I had seen in Facebook groups asking how they could work from home. Now that I had achieved my goal of working from home, I realized that the next thing I needed to do was to get the message out to those other moms that they too can do this work from home gig!

It took me a good few years of trial and error to work out what the best work from home option was for me, and I really wanted to help other moms to work through that process so much faster. I figured that one of the best ways to do that was to let moms know the process that I went through and what I learned along the way.

In this post today I am going to run you really quickly through a few of the different options that you can use to create a work from home income for yourself from home while raising a family. At the end of the article, I’ll also provide you with a link to download my new eBook which runs through seven of the different work from home options I explored in loads of detail and with real life examples from moms working from home using these methods.

1. Start your own blog

I used to think that blogs were just a way of sharing helpful hints, recipes and parenting advice online, but I had no idea that there was a way to actually make money from them. Then I learned about monetization!

Monetization is how you take your blog from a hobby to a work from home income. Common forms of blog monetization are paid advertising placements, product endorsements and affiliate commissions. I won’t got into those here, but blog monetization is something you should explore if you think blogging might be for you!

If you are thinking of creating your own blog, consider starting out on one of the free website platforms (such as Wix) so you can feel your way into it without spending a lot of money setting up a website. Create yourself a Facebook page or group, invite your friends and family and start sharing.

One of the other great things about a blog is that it works in really nicely with some of the other options such as creating a YouTube channel or launching a product-based business. Once you have that audience, the sky is the limit!

2. Starting your own YouTube Channel

While I was slogging away in my old job, I read an article about a lady who had made millions of dollars on YouTube videoing herself opening childrens’ surprise eggs. I was flabbergasted. At this point I had spent months researching different options for working from home and opening surprise eggs in front of an iPhone was not anywhere on my list of options! I started to research how YouTube might work for me.

What I discovered is that there is actually more to making money on YouTube than meets the eye. It is not as simple as recording any old thing and putting it on YouTube. Needless to say, my knitting videos didn’t make me a fortune, but if you create the right content that solves someone’s pain point then creating YouTube videos is a genuine way to make a money.

To be able make money on YouTube you need to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers and a minimum of 4000 watch hours in the previous 12 months. Once you reach these targets and complete the relevant paperwork in your YouTube account, you can qualify to receive payments for each watch of your videos.

To date, I have not yet reached the targets so I am not able to give you exact details for the amount of money you are likely to make from your YouTube channel, but the best estimate I could find was that you could receive between $1-$5 per 1000 views of your videos. This doesn’t sound like much, but all you need is to get a few viral videos out there and you’ll be away laughing.

3. Create your own freelance business

Freelancing is probably not the first thing that came into your mind when you first started looking for options to work from home. In fact, I’ve noticed that a lot of Mamas think freelancing is something that is limited to people who do graphic design or website work, but this is not the case. Freelancing is simply taking the skills you already have and using those skills to create an income for yourself.

Take me for example. In my old job I worked as a lawyer. When I left my job, I thought that was the end of my legal career. Then I was approached to see whether I could help out with some legal support work from home. I did not have to work as a lawyer to do this, but I was able to use the skills that I already had to provide assistance doing research and other similar work that enabled me to get paid for my time. There are just so many jobs where you can do exactly the same.

For me freelancing has been by far the easiest way to earn a good solid income working from home. It has provided me with so much more flexibility than my old job ever could. I've been able to go to the kindergarten shows and the school assemblies, I stay home when the kids are sick, and I earn an hourly rate that is at least double what I was earning in my old job.

If you think freelancing might be the right work from home business for you, or if you want to know more about any of the options I have mentioned today remember to download my 7 Ways to Work from Home eBook. In there I go through in detail each of the seven examples and provide case studies from real moms who are using these methods to earn an income from home.

About the Author: Kellie Dawson is a Mama Mentor, helping mums like you to find ways to freelance from home using the skills they already have. Kellie has two little boys aged 4 and 6, and it was her desire to be there for her boys that led her to quit her corporate job and build a work from home business. You can connect with Kellie on her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thefreelancemama or check out her blog and other resources at www.thefreelancemama.com