 |
When people ask me what I do, my first response is always “I am a stay-at-home mom”, however if I step back and think for a minute, I realize this is a very poor description of what I do. In addition, I am a wife, I have two home-based businesses, I am a medical transcriptionist, a crafter, a home cook, and blogger. (Not to mention the 5,000 other irons I have in the fire.) I will say that being a stay-at-home wife and mother is definitely my number one job, but that isn’t all that defines me.
In today’s society, a woman’s role can be a confusing one. Are we expected to work? Are we expected to stay-at-home with the children? Are we expected to be a housewife? Cook? Clean? Truthfully, we are expected to do ALL of these things. We feel the pressure from every direction to be everything to everyone at all times. It’s confusing!
When I worked full-time, I dreamed of giving up work to have babies and stay home. When I was pregnant with my first child, I was working as a hairdresser in a local beauty shop. I loved what I was doing, but as the end of my pregnancy was creeping up on me, I just couldn’t shake the idea of wanting to become a stay-at-home mother. I decided that I would do whatever it took for me to achieve this goal. I wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and be the one to feed my kids breakfast, play with them, teach them, and discipline them, etc.
A few months of pushing a stroller around our block, which was the highlight of the day, led me back to working part-time. I know had promised my husband that once I was a stay-at-home mom, I would be happier; I would major in diaper changes and making casseroles. However, I will be the first to admit that I am the number one offender of the “fickle mind of a woman”. As women, once we get what we want, it makes us yearn for what we had, or what we have yet to attain.
I have had conversations with working women who are seemingly unhappy. They only want to stay at home and raise their kids and be good housewives, but financial pressures force them into having to work. However, I can also sit down and talk with my friends who are stay-at-home moms, and they seem unhappy too. They long for the “grown-up world” and the talk of things other than potty training and how to hide veggies in your child’s food.
So how do we find balance? I decided that the best option for me was to have my cake, and eat it too, figuratively speaking, of course. I had to be Supermom, as well as bring home the bacon (or bacon bit). It didn’t really matter how much, as long as I was contributing something financially. Contributing financially, even a small portion, helped me feel happier. It helped me feel the freedom I yearned for. I had the luxury of staying at home and raising our children, as well as working from home. It was just the best of both worlds for me.
There is something to be said about feeling valued, and that is what I felt after starting my home business. I am definitely not saying that there is anything wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, but after sitting around talking with my mommy friends who were over for play-dates, I quickly realized that most stay-at-home moms feel undervalued and underappreciated. While we can’t change anyone else’s view of us, we can change how we view ourselves, and if working helps us feel valued, then we should do it, but without sacrificing all of the precious moments that we want to share with our families. It really is the best of both worlds!
Amber Barber is a wife and stay-at-home mother to two children. She was born and raised in Paris and attended The Criswell College and Allied Business School. She works as a Medical Transcriptionist and is an Independent Consultant for Scentsy, as well as mark. Cosmetics. If you are interested in becoming a consultant, you can contact Amber at 903.272.9421 or amber_barber@suddenlink.net. You can also follow her blog at www.olivegypsy.com
Are you looking to work from home? If so, before making that decision, one should look at several factors:
1. Am I willing to devote the time for the business to bring me the results I want?
2. What am I good at?
3. How much time and money do I want/have to invest?
4. What kind of training and support will I get from the company?
5. Is this a BBB company?
6. What is their compensation plan?
7. Do I believe in the product/services the company offers?
8. Is this something I can do?
Before deciding on a business, look at the company’s background. What is their reputation?
Once you decide on a company, it is important that you keep your name/business/product out there. The more someone sees your name, eventually they will say “I believe I will look into this? What is this? Maybe this is something for me!” Look at your market area. Do I have a warm market? If your customer base likes your product/service, they will tell others. Be consistent.
Marketing a business is easier now because of computers. Use it. Websites, face book message boards are good resources as well as business cards, flyers, publications and newspapers.
Most important – have fun!
Martha Harrison is part of Work At Home United, an award winning 21 year old company with an impeccable record with the Better Business Bureau and a top notch compensation plan. The company manufactures and distributes over 350 environmentally safe products. She works from home with a computer and telephone. To find out more about how her business works, go to Martha’s website www.workinghappyathome.net
Lets face it…Who wouldn’t want to work from home? Doesn’t making money in your pj’s or always being able to make your child’s baseball game sound wonderful? Of course it does! Especially now that unemployment is at it’s highest in years and the economy is on a downward slope. Now is the perfect time to take that leap of faith and go for your dream of working from home. Below is a list of top at home businesses with little or no start up capital, so you will be making money in no time.
Technical Support
There are many people out there that need to put their “technical skills” to good use! The jobs for computer support technicians is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations in the next ten years. You can even design a website and have step-by-step videos that people can purchase directly for common technical problems.
Telephone Operator
Did you know that when you call to order from a catalog or from the TV that the person you are talking to could very well be sitting at home in flannel pants and house shoes? Most of these large companies hire independent contractors that take calls from their couch. One thing to think about though is they are usually paid by the minute, and don’t pay for the time you spend waiting on calls. Also, you can probably forget this idea if you have kids at home during the day since they tend to be so noisy. This has been known to pay $9-$15 dollars an hour.
Independent Consultant
These opportunities normally come at a fairly cheap price (usually around $100-$150) to get up and going. We have all seen the ladies driving the pink Cadilliac’s and know they must have sold tons of Mary Kay makeup! These companies offer wonderful incentives and reasonable (if any) quotas to meet. There have been many that are on the rise including Scentsy and Vault Denim.
Dog Walker/Sitter
Yes, I said it, dog walker. Even thought the economy is in a downfall, people are still paying good money to take care of their pets. Pet owners just don’t have the time to walk them or even groom them anymore so they need someone else to do it for them. You could also become a “pet sitter” for clients if they go away on business for a few days. Makes a much better alternative than a kennel.
Ebay Seller
Everyone is trying to make more money these days, so why not help them sell their unwanted stuff, and make yourself some cash as well? Make yourself some business cards and flyers and let everyone know you will do all the “hard” work for them, they just pay you commission.
Crafts
I have seen tons of this the last few months. People are creating their own Etsy stores and Facebook page for their homemade items and selling them. Many are also making a Facebook page and doing a “comment game” sale. They make a large inventory, post pictures of the items, and the first person to comment and say they want it, gets it! They use paypal or money order and the item is shipped to their door! Genius!
Tutor
Get in touch with your local schools and see if any students need tutoring in their home. You will probably need to have a background check and you may even be able to run an ad in your local paper. There are also websites that are looking for online tutors that will pay around $10-$15 an hour.
Medical Transcription
You will need training or schooling for this, but they usually start out at $10 an hour and go up to $20 an hour. But, it can be very difficult at times. You will use head phones to listen to dictation from doctors that have been known to eat, slur while dictating, or have difficult accents.
Blogging
This is still a fairly new but quickly growing business. There are countless people blogging about products and running ads through their sites and making up to six-figures a year! You give a review of a product you are promoting and then provide a link to a product you are blogging about. You can earn from $5 a post up to $20 a post.
All in all, you want to do something that you feel passionate about. You could start you business on the side, and see how it grows. You want to be excited and enthusiastic about what you are selling. And be careful and do extensive research before diving in. Hopefully, in no time, you will be sitting at home, making money in your pj’s.
Cassidy Offutt is a wife and stay at home mother to 3 children. She was born and raised in Paris and attended Paris Junior College and received her License in Cosmetology in 2002. She is an active leader in her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop and volunteers in her church nursery. If you are interested in hosting a party or becoming a consultant for Vault Denim, you can contact Cassidy at 903.669.9540 or cassidyoffutt@vaultdenim.com
follow: RSS