Protecting Your Work at Home Time & Space

As a work at home mom with young children, my writing time is limited and I have to make the most of the hours I have allotted to my online efforts. I've found that I am able to be most productive when my writing schedule is clearly set, family members are aware, and I make every effort to protect my work time and space -- and you should, too. It will make all the difference in your success or failure as an online writer or internet marketer.

 The first objective is to set a schedule for your work hours. Determine what's practical, keeping in mind your ideal time of day (are you a morning bird or does your brain function best at night?) and family schedules. For my situation, it works best for me to work from 5:30-8 a.m. three days a week. I also get some additional work time on other mornings if I'm up early and the kids are sleeping, but three days out of the week, my husband is "on-call" for the kids in the early hours, supervises morning routines and gives them breakfast as I finish up my writing time.

Make sure family members (down to the little ones!) are aware of your planned writing/ working time. Conversely, be fully present for them when you aren't working, minimizing computer time when it's not productive, and your kids will be more respectful of your set work hours.

You'll find that even with a set schedule and plan, you'll need to make an effort almost daily to protect your work at home time and desk/ office area from intrusion, distraction and even your own laziness. To that end, remind family members as needed that you're working, and you'll be able to talk/ help in 10 minutes, an hour -- at your designated stop time. Do not answer the phone while you're doing your work. Do not check your email unless you need something specific for the task at hand.

Keep your work desk neat as a pin -- you will find yourself much more productive when you have a clean, ordered space that feels professional. 

Avoiding distractions online -- unnecessary email checking, reading news or forums unrelated to your work at home daily tasks, and other time-wasting traps -- is crucial for your success. Keep yourself on track by writing a short list of items you need to accomplish at your next work session, after finishing the day's tasks and while everything is fresh in your mind.

I keep my daily tasks list in a notebook stored in my top desk drawer. Each morning, I take it out and keep it by my computer as I work, reminding me of what's next and giving me the satisfaction of checking off items I've accomplished.

How do you protect your work at home time and space to increase your writing income?

Work at Home Jobs for Moms Part 1: Re-Selling Stuff

There are many work at home jobs for moms that require little to no overhead, do not involve finding people to sell under you or host selling parties, and can be enjoyable as well as profitable. As a work at home mom who makes in the neighborhood of $3,000 a month primarily from my computer, I have several years' experiences and many ventures from which to draw on in order to share this knowledge with you.

I've earned money selling items on eBay, reselling kids' clothes at consignment sales, grading English papers from home, mystery shopping, forum posting, writing articles for hire, freelance editing, writing content articles, blogging, publishing websites, ebook writing and affiliate marketing. Two things I don't do, and refuse to do, are "paid surveys" and any type of multilevel marketing, whether it's selling makeup or microfiber cloths or kids' educational toys or kitchen gadgets at home parties -- no thanks.

It's very, very hard to build a passive income from multilevel marketing -- the cards are stacked against you. Conversely, it's actually quite possible -- with hard effort and some skills -- to make a significant income from home with a job you will enjoy and hours you choose.

Since I currently earn the bulk of my income through online sources, I'll focus on those methods in the future posts in this series. However, I first want to note several great sources for side income, especially since these can be used to build capital for  funding and growing an online business.

Work at Home Jobs for Moms:  Reselling Used Stuff


You can buy and re-sell kids clothes, home goods, collectibles and the like while working from home. This works best if you have a good sorting and storage area, such as garage or basement space, that you can use just for this purpose. as you'd assume, the key is to buy things very cheaply and to resell them for more.

eBay Selling
Don't dismiss eBay auction selling as impossible, overcrowded or not worth the time. If you find good items to resell, you can make money -- possibly even lots of money-- every week through online auctions. When I was first a stay at home mom, I built up a small eBay business and earned a few hundred dollars on the site every month, sometimes more. I simply bought things for a little and sold them for more. For example, I found a new Calvin Klein duvet at a thrift store for $5 and resold it for $60. A lamp I paid $2 for sold for $20 plus shipping, and there were many items like this where I was able to turn a  few dollars into more. Some work at home moms make a full time income selling on eBay, and most got their start finding used things to re-sell.

Good sources for items to resell include yard sales, consignment stores, Craigslist, giveaway bags from friends and family, clothing salvage stores such as Gabriel Brothers and Rugged Warehouse, discount places like Ollie's and Big Lots, and your own attic and basement.

A friend and fellow blogger, Suzanne, has tons of advice, information and free resources on making money from home with eBay at her eBay Selling Coach blog. If you have an eye for things that would sell well, or would like to develop one, check it out. Suzanne discusses ebay niches, eBay success stories -- like a thrift store find of vintage sewing patterns for 76 cents that sold for $75 on eBay -- and she is all around the best eBay blogger I've ever read.

Kids' Seasonal Consignment Sales
I sell used children's clothing, toys and furniture at semi-annual sales held in my area and make about $200-$500 per season for what amounts to a few hours' work sorting, cleaning, tagging, and  delivering my items. The money lets me splurge on new things for my kids and have extra money to spend on their birthday and Christmas gifts. If you get serious about it, you can earn thousands of dollars per sale (assuming you're selling at a sizable sale in a good area).

ConsignmentMommies is a great website and offers some key advice on top-selling kids' items and how to maximize your consignment profits. When you can source items very cheaply and resell them for great used-item prices, you'll do well. They have an extensive listing of consignment sales by state, too.
(By the way, if you are looking for affordable kids' clothing and don't have local consignments sales, you can also swap kids' clothes online for free at Thred-Up.)

 Consignment Stores
Despite the recessionary economy of the past year, or perhaps in part because of it, one of the new businesses that opened up in my hometown was a consignment store in the town's main shopping center. They accept everything from home goods to furniture to ladies' clothing to kids' toys. While the store/ consignor split isn't the best (they keep 60% of the sale price) it is an easy way to make extra money, using the same sources listed above for re-selling on eBay. for me, the consignment store is the least favorable selling option and used mainly for heavy items, home goods that wouldn't do well on eBay, and kids' clothes only in between the seasonal sales.

There are many work at home jobs for moms, and I'll discuss more -- especially online ones -- in future posts. My favorite ways to earn money form my computer involve residual income and being paid over and over for the same work. But as you can see, reselling things can be a great way to get started earning money from home. 


Have you made money selling on eBay or via consignment? What's your best re-selling success story?

Avoiding Burnout as a WAHM

Burnout is something I've rarely experienced -- over the past few years as a work at home mom, I've always had more motivation, inspiration and creativity than I had time to write. The only trouble for me was finding the time to get everything done that I hoped to accomplish in a given day.

Motivation was always easy to come by -- most of the time, we really needed my income to help make ends meet. So even when I found writing eHow articles tedious, seeing my daily earnings increase every week was enough reason for me to keep at it. This success inspired me to write my ebook guide, which has also been more successful than I had imagined, and I was rewarded by my readers' feedback.

Over the past couple months' I've experienced something different -- only slightly less time for writing, but much less motivation for writing, especially content articles, even on topics I previously enjoyed.

More enjoyable writing projects, such as my niche sites and blogs, haven't been immune to my little "burnout" interlude. It's been a month since I posted on this blog -- and for that I apologize! I am blessed to have so many faithful readers, and I really appreciate your comments on my previous post about the death of my aunt -- thank you.

I think my burnout was triggered by my decision to enter a contest for Demand Studios writers, in which the top writer wins a MacBook computer. On top of my other projects, I started writing several DS revenue share articles each day, on their titles, including topics that needed excessive research. I wasn't enjoying the writing process, and since I honestly don't need a new computer right now, the motivation didn't keep me going long.

After taking a break for a couple weeks (and boy do I love residual income, the money keeps coming in even when I'm not working!) I am back on top of my game, catching up with blogs, creating a new niche site, and outlining my next ebook. I'm thankful that I'm my own boss -- I might have been fired otherwise. I'm only half joking.

My plan for avoiding burnout in the future:

• Have a variety of projects going at the same time. If one is causing stress, put it on the back burner (groan) for a few days, but keep going with the rest.
• Write several blog posts in advance for each blog so in times of creative-less stupor, keeping the blog current is a cinch.
  
• Stay inspired by making new goals when you've reached current ones. I met my original income goal some time ago, and knowing that I'm not at my ideal income yet is a good reminder for what I'm working to accomplish.
  
• Get out and have fun. Sometimes as work at home moms, we're so busy with work, house, kids and spouses to have a date night or solo afternoon on the town. Do it at least a couple times a month -- it's so important.
  

Have you experienced burnout? How did you get over it?

Burnout photo by Henry S.

My eHow Earnings eBook is Done!

I finished and published my first eBook!

How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com: Residual Income for Web Content Writers

is now available at Lulu.com.

Five people have already purchased the book, and I hope they have found it helpful. I wish I'd had the information in there a year ago when I first began my online writing career. Writing for eHow.com has been a huge motivator for me to work toward building passive income streams.

For me, passive income is pure gold ... I keep earning money long after I've completed the work. This is great as a work at home mom, because it allows me to spend more time with the kids when they need me.

Working on an eBook

I made the plunge--I started writing my own eBook.

I didn't start writing because of all the hype about about eBooks and insane profits. No, this eBook came to me, I promise.

After fielding dozens of private messages and forum questions about online earnings and how to make money writing online, I decided to put it all together in a book. So that's what I'm working on -- an eBook on freelance online writing. it's actually more specific than that, but I won't spill the beans till it's ready. I'm hoping it will be fast to write so I can get back to my other writing projects.

I'm also hoping that an eBook will increase both my passive income and my writing income bottom line. I've had a successful work at home experience so far and would be thrilled to increase income, especially given the rising costs of everything.

I'm using some of the resources at All Freelance Writing's 14-Day eBook Challenge. While the challenge was months ago, the information is very timely for me.

I'll document my progress and eBook marketing ideas here, so check back for more posts on my eBook.

Writers Research Group: Great for New Freelance Writers

I no longer write for Writers' Research Group, and yet I recommend them to newbies trying to land their first online writing gigs. In general, I think the drawbacks of writing for any content company outweigh the benefits for established freelance writers. However, writing for a content company can be a godsend for a new freelancer and a great way to learn the ropes of online writing.

Writers' Research Group is essentially a middle man, contracting with new and established websites for writing and editing services, which they then outsource to freelance writers. The writers are not employees, but independent contractors. Writer's Research Group has its own small staff, including the company founders, and hires freelance editors as well as the writers.

Because of the overhead involved, writers make less per article writing through the contracting company than if they wrote directly for the websites. For example, if Writer's Research Group is paid $25 per article, they may pay their contracted writers $10 apiece. And yet, there are no employee benefits, such as health care or 401ks, because writers are essentially sub-contractors.

Another aspect to consider is the non-compete clause in Writers' Research Group's contract. If you write for them, you can't write for any of their clients within a one-year period after you end your contract.

Since there is an initial difficulty in establishing a good client base, new freelance writers might consider working for WRG. It's a great way to gain experience and learn the ropes of online writing. And you're virtually guaranteed steady work (even more than you can handle) when they are writing for a large contract.

However, if you have experience as a writer, I'd recommend looking elsewhere or consider writing directly for the websites. Case in point: I make $30 per article that I write for a new health-related site; Writers' Research Group writers are paid $10 each article. An article I would have sold to Writers' Research Group for $11 has earned over $150 on eHow. I've flown the coop, and I'm not looking back.

Freelance Writing Jobs: Persistence, Patience Pay Off

I landed two new freelance writing jobs during the past week, in addition to the blogging opportunity I wrote about. One is for a soon-to-be launched health-oriented website, and the company pays $30 per 450-word article. Since I am passionate about nutrition and fitness, I am thrilled with this gig. I got my first assignment of 10 articles last week and have completed eight. Since I already know these general topics, the material comes easily to me.

But if I hadn't been patient and persistent, I would probably be writing these same articles at $10 each. Here's the story.

A few months ago, I decided not to continue writing for a client (I'll call them Group W) because of a non-compete clause in the renewal contract. Just as I was tapering off my work on one website with Group W, they announced a new, large contract for another website, the one on health-related topics (I'll call it e-alive.com). Oooh, I wanted in on that gig! But I realized that if Group W was paying us writers $10 per article, they were receiving more than that for the articles from e-alive.com. Why not get the full amount by writing directly for e-alive.com? Also, I couldn't get past Group W's contract, which would not allow me to write for any of their contracted clients (such as eHow, e-alive.com, etc.) within a year of ceasing my work with them.

I decided to apply directly to the company behind the new website instead of writing for my Group A, much in the same way that I decided to write directly for eHow instead of the content company. Over a month went by before I heard from e-alive.com's parent company, but last week I received an email. the editor told me they received my application, were satisfied with my credentials and offered me ongoing work: when I finish my first set, I'll be assigned 10 more titles.

So you see, persistence and patience pay off. That's why I put the little turtle in this post, as a reminder. Set your goals, and work toward them. One of my goals is to write for myself and increase my passive income. While there is no passive, long-term income potential with this gig, I did cut out the middle man and increased my profits more than 100% in doing so.

The kicker? Some of the contracted writers at Group W still haven't received their approval for the health-related article gig at e-alive.com. While I had to be patient to get this gig on my own, I may not have gotten it yet if I'd stuck with Group W.

What are your writing goals? What keeps you motivated to achieve them?

Does Blogging Make Money?

Are you wondering, does blogging make money? The short answer is yes. But the reality is that only a small percentage of blogs are successful. There are many gems in a large mountain of ordinary rocks, and some of those gems do quite well.

J.D. at Get Rich Slowly now blogs as a full-time occupation as of this month. He worked hard to get his blog up to speed, and a venture he started as a hobby became an excellent source of income over the course of a couple years.

I am a daily reader of Survival Blog by J.W. Rawles, author of Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse. This is another very successful, and apparently lucrative, niche blog. It will soon reach the impressive feat of 3 million visitors, with over 69,000 unique hits each week.

So does blogging make money? Only when certain factors coincide. To be a successful blogger, you'll need to:

• Know basic SEO (search engine optimization) and keyword techniques. I gained this experience writing $10 web content articles for a company that had a contract with a well-known website. There is a plethora of information available; some of the best can be found in the free Site Build It Netwriting Masters Course.
• Find a niche. What is your passion? What do you love to research and write about? What skills do you have? Choose a topic that leaves you room for years of great content, not a passing fad. Findout what people are searching for by using Wordtracker's free tools.
  
• Promote your site. Use social networking, link building and other techniques (check out Copy Blogger for more in-depth traffic-building information).
  
• Monetize your blog with affiliate products, Google adSense and paid sponsors.
  

My own little blogs, Raw Milk Mama and My Work at Home Mom Blog, both in their infant stages, have already earned a few pennies in Google ad sense revenue as well as a few dollars in Amazon commissions.

Following my own advice, I hope to grow them into profitable blogs. I'm not in it for the money, yet, but as an eventual outcome, I'd be pleased.

Increase Productivity: Go for a walk

Keep your sanity and recharge yourself with a daily walk. Just go, even if you have a pile of work that needs your attention and cranky kids who aren't listening. Bundle them up if it's cold, and get outside. The walk will do wonders for you and for them.
Today, the kids and I went on a short hike down our dirt and gravel road. We didn't quite make it to the lake, more because I was unsure about the hike back up a steep hill with a baby on my back than anything else.
The walk provided an opportunity to learn more about our environment, as we watched buzzards circling overhead and I explained that there was a dead animal in the vicinity. We discussed the leaves covering the forest floor, and the melted snow. My 4-year-old son commented on the neighbors' houses as we passed, listing the occupants he knew.
Yes, I left behind papers that needed grading and articles that begged to be written, but I returned with a peaceful spirit and a sleeping baby. The kids, their energy released, were content to play with Legos as I went back to the computer.

Work at Home Schedules: Do they work?

As a work at home mom (WAHM) with two preschoolers and a baby, I know first hand how hard the balancing act can be. And I know how much I need a good work at home schedule. As I type, I have my cranky 8-month-old baby in a carrier on my back. He's been fed and changed and is sleepy. It's time for his nap, but he can't fall asleep because of the noise being generated by his older brother and sister, who are happily sliding down the stairs on a blanket -- harmless enough, except for the loudness factor.

They are happily occupied, so I'd rather not redirect their energies at the moment (that approach has been known to backfire). At 4 and 3, respectively, my son and daughter have each other for constant companions and this works to my advantage--most of the time.

I've tried making work at home schedules. They usually begin with me arising at 5:30 to begin grading English papers for my first work at home job. These perfect work at home schedules also show a two-hour slot where everyone is napping (except me) and I am, in theory, able to get all of my writing done during those magic hours.

But in reality, my kids don't follow my work at home schedule. And if they are up in the middle of the night, I have a hard time following it too. (Why on earth did I set the alarm for 5 a.m.?! Snooze!)

I have learned that I can't force the perfect work at home schedule. Some days, everything clicks and it really happens. But more often than not, I have to fit my work in around children's needs (and they do come first, at least in my book), dinner prep and housekeeping (usually the first thing I let slide). I follow the flow of the day more than try to harness it into my Day Planner. I have a list of objectives, and try to accomplish the most important each day. But as yet, the perfect work at home schedule is not a reality...or maybe, in some way, it is, just not the way I'd expected.

And now the baby has fallen asleep, his head resting against the back of my neck. Time for me to get a few more papers graded. What's on your schedule?

Work from Home Writing eHow Articles

Here's a good side job for work at home writers: eHow. While the upfront pay is nonexistent (payments are made in the month following earnings, and only once $10 or more is due), there is the potential for long-term passive income. Through the Writer's Compensation Program at eHow, writers can earn revenue indefinitely for their articles, according to eHow.

While the specific criteria for earning payment is ambiguous, the more page hits and ad revenue an eHow article generates, the more money the author makes. Writers can track how much each article is earning through their "My Earnings" section of the website.

I wrote my first eHow article (well, the first one under my account) just over a month ago. To date, How to Conceive Twins has earned over $12.

So here's another eHow for you: How to Create Passive Income Writing eHow Articles. Enjoy!