Photo by Matti Piiroinen

One of the very first things I did after buying a website was to hire a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is a person you contract to do administrative and other tasks for you. You never have to meet face to face. Virtual assistants perform tasks in their own home offices using their own equipment.

I hired a virtual assistant because, as a new website owner, I was completely overwhelmed with what needed to be done so I could start earning money from the site. At that point, I was getting very little sleep (for various reasons) and was stressed out. Besides, my virtual assistant knew much more about website maintenance and promotion than I did. One thing I learned from office work is to outsource tasks that you are not good at.

Was it a wise decision to hire a virtual assistant before I even started making any money from the site?

I think so. Not only did my virtual assistant complete the task faster than I could have (while I caught up on sleep and tended to my family). She also gave me advice on how to improve the site’s profitability. Sure, I ended up spending much more for the site than I had expected. But in the long run, it’s worth while.

The bottom line is, now that the site is more profitable, it will take me less time to recover my investment — including the virtual assistant’s fees — than if I had done the work myself.

Too bad we cannot predict the impact of hiring a virtual assistant to our profits!

Photo by Steven Orr

I lost a client the other night.

I was heart-broken. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Not only did I lament the loss of income - she had been my steadiest and biggest client. Worst of all, I feared that she had been unhappy with my work.

Because of this experience, I resolved to do three things from now on:

1. Make sure that I make my clients happy by over-delivering.

This is something I have learned from Jimmy Brown, a top Internet marketer and one of the few whom I pay to learn from. Jimmy sells his products and services for reasonable prices while other successful Internet marketers charge an arm and a leg. Yet Jimmy always, always gives you much more than you expect. Even his free e-courses and e-books provide valuable information.

From now on I resolve to give my clients at least 100% of my effort — more, if I can manage it. I will only submit work that I am proud of. I will under-promise and over-deliver and always surprise my client by doing a little bit more to help them succeed with their business goals.

2. Diversify my income sources.

Investment experts tell us to do this all the time: diversify, diversify. I took a risk by relying on that one client too much. Sometimes it just happens that one client will give you more work more often than others. That’s fine. However, you should still be actively seeking other clients, or at least giving yourself exposure for potential clients to find you. Freelance switch has a list of 101 ways to find new clients.

3. Explore ways to earn passive income.

I’ve started getting into this by acquiring a niche website, natural-moms.com. It’s a mature website with lots of content. Even though I haven’t done anything yet to promote it, it’s been getting quite a steady number of daily visitors and some daily income. With the help of my online mompreneurs support group, Mom Masterminds, I’m learning how to boost the income of natural-moms.com.

If I get good enough at Internet marketing, I plan to phase out my freelance writing services. Why? Because as much as I love to write, freelancing only earns you money while you’re working. On the other hand, with Internet marketing, your work keeps earning money even while you’re sleeping or on vacation. Jimmy Brown earns a six-figure income through Internet marketing and he only works 3 hours a day. It’s not about being greedy and lazy; it’s about knowing how to “work smart”.

So there you have it. Another life experience, another lesson learned. When I was still feeling down about losing a writing project, I heard my mentor’s voice in my head saying, “when a door closes, another one opens.” I can’t wait to see which door will open next.

Home Office Productivity

Increasing Productivity with “Getting Things Done” and “Zen to Done”

With my home businesses taking off, I found myself pulling out my favorite productivity and organization resources: David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (aka GTD) and Leo Babauta’s “Zen to Done”.

Both are related. Leo’s Ebook takes off from GTD and makes improvements on it.

I credit GTD for enabling me, in my last few weeks at the office, to clear my physical and Email inboxes and finally organize my cubicle. My colleagues couldn’t believe that my desk and shelves were all clear, with plenty of free space in my cabinets. Too bad I was weeks away from leaving my work. It was good, though, for the person who was to take my place. Imagine, all the necessary files were neatly organized alphabetically within arm’s reach!

GTD boils down to a system with 5 stages:

1. collecting - take in whatever needs your attention usually through an Email inbox and a physical inbox
2. processing - if something can be done in 2 minutes or less, then do it; otherwise, move on to the next phase
3. organizing - if something can’t be done now, then delegate it, file it under “waiting for” (if you need somebody else’s action before you can work on it) or file it under “next actions”. items that are not actionable are either thrown, put in a “someday/maybe” folder or filed in properly labeled folders that are alphabetically arranged
4. reviewing - go over your “next actions” list daily, weekly and several times a year
5. doing - do it

The above is an over-simplification of GTD, but that is the essence. It relies on lists and filing in folders, which works very well for me!

Zen to Done introduces the concept of routines and emphasizes the “doing” part. I had a problem with GTD not even mentioning routines. For a work at home Mom, routines are very important but you don’t want to put them in your “next actions” list every day!

In a way, Zen to Done tries to simplify GTD. It advocates for only one list of To Do’s, instead of GTD’s one list for every context (home, office, telephone, outside, etc). Zen to Done also recommends identifying only 1-3 Most Important Tasks for the day and the week. However, work at home Moms have probably at least 6 Most Important Tasks each day, 3 for the home/family and 3 for the home business.

Zen to Done also gives plenty of tips and tools for motivating yourself to get working. These are very useful, especially if you’re prone to procrastinating.

If I don’t follow the system I’ve designed based on these two books, I get overwhelmed and get little done. I feel anxious, as if my energies are scattered all over the place. But if I just stick to the plan, then my Most Important Tasks are taken care of, and I actually have enough energy and presence of mind to move on to the other items on my to-do list.

I would love to see Getting Things Done and Zen to Done reworked for a work at home Mom like me. Who knows? Maybe one of these days I’ll do it myself. Ok, that’s the first thing that’s going in my “Someday” list!

Interested in these resources? Click here to find out more and order:

Zen to Done Ebook by Leo Babauta

Photo by Dano

It’s been five months since I left my office job to become a stay at home and work at home Mom. Since then I’ve become a freelance writer and an Internet marketer. I only experienced significant milestones in my work at home opportunities recently when I joined an online group of other online Mompreneurs, Mom Masterminds.

Benefits of Joining an Online Mastermind Group

At first, I hesitated joining Mom Masterminds because of the monthly subscription fee. I figure I would give it three months and, if I didn’t at least earn back the monthly fee, then I would unsubscribe. I’m glad that I finally decided to invest in my own education and networking with other work at home Moms. Here are the results I’ve had after two weeks of being a Mom Masterminds member:

• the number of my clients has increased significantly
• I have made more than the monthly membership fee
• I now have my very first niche site (more on that on another blog post)

But there’s more. I have enjoyed the following less tangible benefits:

• everything I need and want to learn about Internet marketing is at my fingertips - at no added cost
• I have had my most pressing questions answered by moms who know what I’m going through and have “been there, done that” (no more advice from men who are not primary child care givers)
• I no longer feel overwhelmed by everything I need to learn and do

What is Mom Masterminds?

It is an exclusive online group of Internet Mompreneurs who give each other advice and support. There are two mentors in the group, Kelly McKausey and Lynette Chandler, both successful work at home Moms and experts in Internet marketing. Kelly is an expert at website management and marketing, while Lynette is a technie who explains the technical side of Internet business. The other members include retailers with Internet stores, other Internet marketers, and freelance virtual assistants and writers.

Mom Masterminds has a learning center filled with text, audio and video resources on every topic about Internet marketing and productivity for work at home Moms. Members can also barter with each other, support each other’s sites, provide special offers, and find joint venture partners.

Click here to learn more about Mom Masterminds.

If you are interested, I urge you to join now because Mom Masterminds will have 2 changes effective August 8:

1. The “Graduate” program will no longer be available. If you join now, you’ll graduate after 18 months. That means you will no longer have to pay the monthly fee but you’ll be a Mom Masterminds member for life!

2. Some premium learning resources will be removed. Right now, you will find learning materials that are being sold outside Mom Masterminds at a cost, but they’re free for Mom Masterminds members. These will be removed on August 8 and we’ll have to purchase them separately. I’ve been busy downloading these resources before they’re gone because I know they’re expensive!

The monthly fee will be lower ($24.97 per month) beginning August 8 because of these changes.

If you are serious about becoming a work at home Mom through an Internet-based business, whether you want to sell products or services, then I Mom Masterminds will be valuable to you, too.

Click here to join Mom Masterminds.

If you don’t think that Mom Masterminds is for you, I suggest you find another mastermind or similar group to support you. There are plenty of mastermind groups online. Whatever your niche, interests or business goals are, I’m sure you’ll find a group of like-minded people who can help you succeed in your home business.

Related Articles:

Recommended Work at Home Resources

A Freelance Writer’s Blueprint for Handling Rejection

Since I embarked on my freelance writing career, I have experienced rejection more often than I have received acceptance. Now I have been a professional long enough and have worked with enough tough bosses that I can take criticism — including harsh criticism — and not get crushed. After 19 years of working in various offices, I now have a pretty tough skin.

However, I don’t just let rejection slide over me. I gnaw on it and suck the juices out of it. No, I’m not a masochist. I am a person who makes the most of every situation and tries to learn something from every experience, even one that’s as unpalatable as rejection. You might be surprised to know that rejection can be a positive thing in your freelancing career.

How should a freelance writer deal with rejection? Here is my own personal blueprint for handling rejection.

Expect rejection.

I’m not being a negative thinker here. All I mean is that you should accept rejection as a normal part of a freelance writer’s life. Even the best, most successful writers have been rejected at one time. Yes, including Dr. Seuss himself. Do you think you’re better than the rest of them? If you expect rejection, then you’re less likely to take it personally. Rejection will not defeat you.

Recognize and accept your disappointment.

There will be lots of times when you feel that you’ve written the perfect article for a publication, or made an irresistible bid for a project, or that you’re the perfect fit for a writing job — and yet your services were rejected. Admit it, you’re totally bummed! And it’s the perfectly healthy way to feel. Allow yourself to feel bad about it. Treat yourself to a chocolate cupcake and a latte while nursing your wounds. But don’t stay there too long. You need to move on.

Analyze what you did wrong.

Go back to the article you submitted, your bid proposal, or your application letter and resume. What could have gone wrong? Was the article not suitable to the publication you submitted it to? Was your bid too high? Perhaps the application letter had a typo? Maybe your resume does not differentiate you enough from other freelance writers, or show off your best qualities? Or maybe you did everything correctly but they simply liked somebody else. It is possible that it was not your fault.

Brainstorm ways you could do better.

Even if your rejection was probably not your fault, note how you could do better next time. Could you do more research on the target publication? Could you offer an additional service — at no added cost — that your competitors might not be able to do? Could you improve your resume so that it reflects what you do best? Would you like to test-run your article, project bid, cover letter and resume to a trusted friend and see what they think of it? You might be surprised with what you learn.

Try and try again.

Now that you have a list of ways to improve how you get new clients or writing jobs, go and do them! Test your new knowledge just to see if the little tweaks you thought of give you better results. If you think you’re too raw to expose yourself again, then try again out of curiosity: will it work this time? Remember what Lisa Simpson used to say, “I’ll keep asking because you might say yes on the 99th time”? This is how people succeed: they try until they succeed.

Rejection is a painful, humiliating experience that’s enough to undermine any professional’s self-confidence and desire to persist. But as with any form of suffering, rejection can help you become a better writer, a better freelancer, and an all-around better person.

Related website:

Rejection Collection: The Writer’s and Artist’s On-line Source for Misery, Commiseration and Inspiration

If you liked this post, please share it with others by clicking on one or all of the buttons below. I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Web Hosting

Blue Host - It’s the only one I’ve tried so I can’t compare it with anything else. I chose it because it was recommended by a few Internet marketers I was following, and it had all the features I was looking for: unlimited domain hosting, good price, pay through Paypal, etc.

Copywriting

Total Package - I wish I could afford the course, but I can’t so I only read the blog. It’s enough to teach me a lot of things that I didn’t learn in university as a communication major. Clayton Makepeace really knows about copywriting!

Red Hot Copy - I was attracted to Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero because, like me, she dreamed of leaving her office job and working from home because she just knew that it was the best for her children. Her copywriting course is also top-notch. Just get what you can afford.

Freelancing

E-lance - A good source for freelancing jobs, or a place to find freelancers. In the Elance University, you’ll learn things like how to create your online profile and bid for projects. Monthly fee is $9.

Freelanceswitch - Good for finding freelancing jobs and advice for freelancers. For $7 a month, you get access to freelance job offers.

Shelancers - A membership site for female freelancers. For $10 monthly, you get listed in a directory of freelancers and numerous resources.

Internet Marketing

Jimmy Brown - Just about the only Internet Marketer who has earned my trust. I don’t know exactly why but before Jimmy, I never paid for anything! He preaches and practices over-delivering. You always get more than what you pay for. Jimmy has resources about anything IM-related that you could possibly want to learn about.

Mom Masterminds - A mastermind group for work at home Moms. I love interacting with other Moms who are striving to achieve work-life balance through Internet marketing. Tons of resources here, as well as practical advice and coaching from a very lively forum.

5 Tips to Increase Blog Monetization

Today, I listened to an audio recording of an Internet marketing coach critiquing a work at home Mom’s blog. The coach, Carrie Lauth, was giving the blog owner tips on how to make more money with her blog.

I took down some notes and synthesized them, and now I’d like to share them with you. I myself was surprised to learn a few new things. I’ve been blogging for about a year now - not for money primarily - and I’ve been hungrily reading and studying about blogging.

Anyway, here in no particular order are the main lessons I learned from Carrie’s blog critique (with some of my comments in parentheses):

1. Add affiliate recommendations where they would naturally fit in your blog post. For example, when mentioning a book, include an Amazon affiliate link. You don’t necessarily have to say that you recommend that book, but simply add a hyperlink to it or to a related E-book or other affiliate product. (I agree that affiliate links should appear where appropriate but I don’t agree with linking to a product that I do not personally recommend)
2. Post affiliate links to products that your readers would be interested in. In other words, don’t place affiliate links to everything you’re involved in. Choose only those that would be meaningful to your readers. Place other affiliate products that are not directly relevant to your readers on a separate page entitled, “Recommended” or “Resources” or something similar. Write a short paragraph about each affiliate product.
3. Use sidebar buttons wisely because this is prime space in your blog. Google Adsense should be above the fold. Include an opt-in box so readers can easily keep receiving your content. Use only appropriate hyperlinks depending on your target audience and the blog’s purpose. It’s a great idea to have a button with the html code for linking to the blog, so others can link to you without asking for permission. (Wish I knew how to add that html code button!)
4. Google ads perform better when the background color of the ads is the same color as the background of the blog text. Making the Google ad url color blue might be better than another color, because Internet users automatically associate blue with clickable links. (Now this I didn’t know!)
5. Use your blog content to make other money-making products. For example, put together the content of several blog posts into a book. Or develop one blog post into a short report that you can sell for $5 to $7. Capitalize on your own expertise to produce and sell information products. (This advice I love!)

These are my notes from only half of Carrie’s website critique. You can listen to the entire critique at Carrie’s blog.

Listen and learn!

Related article:

Seven ways to make money on the Internet - no scams!

If you liked this article, please share it with others by clicking the buttons below. Thank you!

Share on Facebook

Stumble It!

Photo by Paul Keleher

How to Get More Work Done in Less Time

Work at home moms have limited time and energy in which to do our work. We often have to squeeze our work time during nap and bedtimes, or when all the children have gone to school. And even then we still have household chores and other family responsibilities to contend with. Therefore, we need to maximize our productivity. Not only do we need to get as much work done as we can. We also have to do as much HIGH-QUALITY work as we can during the limited time that we do work.

Try these 10 tips to rev up your productivity:

1. TV diet - Watching TV puts the brain in a passive mode and hampers creative thought. TV also tends to make women feel inadequate, probably as a result of seeing all those impossibly thin women. Watch TV in moderation for entertainment, but keep your brain in tip-top shape by limiting the amount of time you do it. One hour a day is more than enough. No, it doesn’t count as research!

2. Exercise - Getting your muscles moving and fresh oxygen circulating in your body will help keep your mind alert and active. Exercise is good for both your body and your brain. Adequate exercise also helps us sleep better at night. More on that later.

3. Sunshine - Scientists have made us afraid of sunshine but the truth is, we need a little of it every day. Lack of exposure to daylight is one of the causes of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of depression that commonly occurs in winter when people do not get any sunshine at all. Lack of sunshine depresses our emotions and zaps our energy, which in turn can limit our productivity. So as much as weather permits, get at least 10 minutes of sunshine a day — wear sunscreen of course.

4. Nature - Nature has a natural order and beauty that is beyond our human capacity to conceive of. If you need inspiration or a brilliant idea about anything, look to nature for answers. Contemplate a flower, the sky or even something you cannot see, such as the wind or the sound of birds.

5. Prayer - Prayer or, if you’re not a believer, meditation enables the brain to quiet down and focus. It helps improve our ability to concentrate, which is essential to our productivity. Prayer and/or meditation also calms our emotions, leaving our minds free to think and create.

6. Distraction - Sometimes the solution to our problem unfolds when we’re preoccupied with something totally unrelated. If you find yourself stuck or blocked, take a 15-minute break and do something else. Read a magazine, bake a cake, play tag with the kids — anything to get your mind off your work. When you get back to it, you’ll be surprised with the fresh insights you have.

7. Caffeine - Caffeine stimulates the brain and keeps us alert. If you’re feeling sluggish, a little caffeine may be all you need to jump-start your productivity. The important word here is “a little”. Getting addicted to caffeine will hamper your productivity in the long run. Why? Because it makes you dependent on an external thing to get any work done.

8. Sleep - Lack of sleep turns our brains into mush. The sleep-deprived brain requires much more time and energy to focus, concentrate and generate new ideas. In addition, lack of sleep makes us crabby — not the ideal state to be in when we want maximum productivity. So if you’ve been sleep deprived make time to sleep longer or take a power nap while your children nap. Staying up all night to work will back-fire on you eventually.

9. Free association - Sometimes our brain edits itself too rigorously, making it near impossible to think effectively and creatively. Quiet your inner editor by doing free association exercises. Begin by writing down a word and then the next word that pops into your brain, and then the next, and so on and so forth. Or go through the alphabet and list down the first word you think of when you get to each letter. Take note of the first words that come to you; don’t try to think only of words that relate to your current work or problem.

10. Routine - Work at home Moms usually squeeze work into those odd hours of the day when we have “free” time. However, try to have some set time periods — around the same time every day — when you do the same type of work. I’m talking about consistency rather than rigidity. Doing the same type of work at about the same time every day trains our brains to be warmed up and ready to go at predictable periods of the day.

The best way to keep our productivity up is to take care of our bodies and work with the natural rhythms of our minds. Forcing our bodies and brains to work to the point of or beyond exhaustion will harm the quantity and quality of our work rather than enhance it. Take good care of yourself and you’ll produce high-quality work in less time.

Related article:

20 Productivity Tips for Work at Home Moms with Young Children

If you liked this article, would you please let others know about it? Thank you!

Save This Page on del.icio.us

Share on Facebook

Stumble It!

Photo by Peasap

How to Create a Top-Notch Freelance Writer Online Portfolio

One of the first pieces of advice I received from other work at home Moms when I told them about my venture into freelance writing was to put up an online portfolio.

I knew it made sense. Who isn’t on the web nowadays? And what better way to showcase one’s work, attract possible clients, and generate assignments than an effective website?

Although I was sold on the idea, it took me at least a week before I finally sat down and began creating my freelance writer online portfolio. I was clueless about how to begin. However, I knew that it had to be done, so I began by registering a domain. That was easy because I decided to use my own name instead of a business name (which I would have had to register with the government first).

Actually writing the content of my website took another few days. I read Internet articles about the topic. I looked at other freelance writers’ online portfolios. After a few days, I started writing the pages for my website. I scanned samples of my work and uploaded them. I signed up for a free contact form to give my readers a way to contact me without splattering my email address on the Internet.

Since then, I have revised my website almost a dozen times! Every day, I learn something new about marketing my services and I use it to tweak my website. My first draft was stiff, plain and a bit lifeless. I felt embarrassed about selling myself and worried that the copy was too hard-sell. I still make changes every day so it’s a work in progress.

If you’re planning to put up your own online portfolio, here in no particular order are some of the best advice I’ve gathered these past few weeks (of course, whether I’ve applied all of them to my own portfolio is another matter):

1. Pay for web hosting.

Resist the temptation to get a free or dirt-cheap online portfolio. The lay-outs are usually terrible and you have limited control over the content. Besides, having your own website shows that you are a professional who is serious about this freelancing business. Isn’t www.yourname.com more impessive than www.freewebsite.com/yourname?

2. Know whom you are targeting.

Identify your niche and focus on it. Something I’ve learned from Shelancers is that those who specialize can charge more than generalists can. Decide on the type of client you want to work for, or the specific assignments you want to do, and build your website around those. Your niche will also help determine which samples you will post.

3. Enable the reader to contact you from every page of the website.

The action you want from your reader is for them to hire you. To do that, the first step is for them to contact you with details of their requirements or expressing a desire to explore the possibility of working with you. Make sure you have a contact page and a link to it on every page of your website. Some freelancers include a telephone number. Think about whether you’re comfortable with this.

4. Showcase your most effective work.

Sure, one of your articles may have been a literary masterpiece, but what impact did it have for your client? What goal did you help them achieve? Was it effective aside from being a good read? Therefore, it is necessary to…

5. Explain your work.

Include a brief background about each work sample: What were its objectives? What results did it generate? Why are you proud of it? How did it help your client?

6. Follow basic principles of sound design.

Although you’re not a designer your website should still be uncluttered, easy to read, with plenty of white space, and easy to navigate. If you’re clueless about setting up your own website, then consider paying for the services of a web designer and web master.

7. Consider how you will get potential clients to your website.

Will it be a “passive” website that people find out about because you gave them the link? Or will it be the type of website that will rank high on search engines allowing potential clients to find you? The latter is better in terms of generating job leads, but will require SEO work. Ultimately, the answer is really up to you.

8. Be clear and assertive about promoting your strengths.

Your website should market your services, so don’t be shy about it! Clearly state how your clients could benefit from your services.

9. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through.

In all likelihood, you will never meet your prospective client face to face, so let them know you as a flesh-and-blood person. Post a flattering photograph of yourself (I’m guilty of not doing this; I don’t have a nice enough picture yet). Place a link to your personal blog.

10. Make sure your portfolio shows you in the best light

I almost didn’t include this because it’s common sense. Make sure your website doesn’t have typos, grammatical errors, distorted graphics, non-working links, and other elements that will portray you as unprofessional and careless.

Your online portfolio is more than your business card on the web. It is your Internet persona, your head hunter, your link to prospective clients. Make sure it works hard for you.

Related links:

Build a Killer Online Portfolio in 9 Easy Steps.

How to Create an Online Writing Portfolio in 2 Days

How to Build a Portfolio That Gets You The Job

Freelance Writer Online Portfolio: Providing Potential Clients Examples of Your Work Using the Internet

If you found this article useful, please click on one - or more - of the links below. Thank you!

Save This Page on del.icio.us

Share on Facebook
Stumble It!

Photo by [177]

Freelancing writing is an easy and inexpensive home business for a stay at home Mom to set up. According to an article in Yahoo!, it can also be one of the most lucrative. However, many newbies may not be aware that there are start-up costs involved in putting up a freelance writing business.

If you’re thinking of launching a career as freelance writer, here’s a list of 10 items to budget for:

1. Computer, printer, home office supplies - These are basic home office equipment which you probably already have anyway. You’ll also need paper, printer ink, folders and other basic home office supplies.

2. Business name registration - If you want to use a business name other than your own, you may have to pay to have it registered. Consult your local business bureau on the procedure and costs involved.

3. Internet connection - Broadband, please. You’ll need the Internet to market yourself, find clients, do research for your articles, do research on your competitors, network with potential clients … the list is endless.

4. Website hosting and domain registration - Every freelancer needs an online portfolio to help attract clients and show off sample work (here’s mine). Don’t use a free blogging service. It doesn’t look professional and you don’t have enough control. You could also easily lose your website. I use Bluehost and so far I’ve been happy with its reasonable prices, unlimited domains, and ease of use. Caroline Middlebrook has a free E-book on setting up a WordPress site. That’s how I learned. Or you could try Yaro Starak’s video guides. If you’re absolutely clueless about putting up your own website, it might be better to hire somebody to do it for you.

5. Various insurance plans - Depending on what your government and your spouse’s employer provide, you should consider buying: life insurance; basic or extended health insurance; and, disability insurance.

6. Professional services - You’ll need the services of an accountant so you can do your taxes properly. Unless you plan to set up a corporation, you probably won’t need a lawyer. Depending on your capabilities, consider also hiring a web designer and graphic artist.

7. Marketing tools - Aside from your website, you’ll need business cards and a letterhead at the very least. Again, if you have no artistic abilities, hire a professional graphic designer to create these for you and have them printed professionally. Don’t print them at home!

8. Freelancing networks - Consider joining networks and job boards for freelancers, such as Elance. Actually, you can bid for up to 3 jobs a month for free in Elance but to enjoy the full features, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $9. Not bad. I’ve just joined Shelancers, a network of female freelancers. Aside from a directory listing, Shelancers also provides various resources for its members. Although I haven’t gotten a job through Shelancers yet (I’ve only been a member for a couple of days), I have already learned so much. I especially like meeting other stay at home Moms who are trying to balance family and earning an income at home. The best thing is meeting Moms who have succeeded! Besides, I’m tired of getting advice (from men, no doubt) like, “do only one thing at a time.” Don’t they know that multi-tasking is the only way Moms get everything done?

9. Training - No matter how good you already are, you need to keep learning. There are so many ways to make money at home as a freelance writer and you will have to pay to get good advice, guidance and mentoring. Also have a good dictionary, thesaurus and other reference materials.

10. Babysitting - The day will come when working during naps and after bedtime will no longer cut it. And that’s a good thing! Invest in your sanity and productivity by hiring a babysitter, even if for just a couple of hours every day. The more work you get done, the more income you’ll make.

If you’re thinking of starting a career as a freelance writer, remember to include these items in your budget. Other types of freelancing will have similar costs. It isn’t that daunting, and having all these things covered will give you peace of mind.

Related articles:

How to prepare financially for your home business

Home office productivity for Moms of young children

Countdown to being a work at home Mom

If you found this article useful, please click on one of the buttons below. I would really appreciate it!

Save This Page on del.icio.us

Share on Facebook

Stumble It!