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5 Ways to Create an Income From Home (Whilst Raising a Family)
This article is not about 75 ways to create an income or 45 ideas of how to create a side hustle from home because I know as a busy mum you don’ t have time to go through 75 ways, or 45 or even 25. But if I could show you 5 solid ways that you can learn about how to make some money from home, would you be interested?
Can you make money passively from home legitimately?
Whichever stage you are at in your life, if you are looking for a legitimate way in which you can do some real work.
Put in the hours and earn some money, all whilst being at home, then you will want to read on.
I have researched this for you because I have made mistakes when I first started online.
I chased a shiny object or two or more and have learned through the school of hard knocks and shiny objects.
I have learned how to pick courses, products and work out what is good and well not so good out there online.
Disclaimer* Of course you should always do your own due diligence and check out anything before you decide to part with your hard-earned cash. And warning if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is and I would stay away.
I have tried to find courses that have a low start-up cost as I know that money will probably be tight and you will need to first see if this is right for you.
Can you be a stay-at-home parent and create an income from home?
Today the internet has opened up so many different ways in which the way the world works.
During the pandemic, we saw how quickly the world adapted to working from home.
Suddenly Zoom became an everyday word for individuals.
Many of whom, had never attended an online meeting before.
One thing you can be sure of is that the online world and online retail are going to continue growing.
And remote working is going to become a given in the future.
Perhaps you will have the option to keep your current job but also work flexibly from home.
Well done to you if you have managed to find yourself in this position.
Whatever your situation, it can be hard trying to juggle having an income and being a parent as well?
Parenting is Hard!!! But so is creating an income from home …
Parenting is the most important job that you will ever do!! Let’ s be real here, it is definitely a FULL-TIME gig.
One in which the terms and conditions can be so harsh, no one would willingly sign up to it if they were asked to agree to those conditions beforehand.
But parents do.
Over and over again.
When parents are raising their kids, they get few breaks, work long hours with no pay.
Their reward however can never be bought with any amount of money.
Parents get back what money can’ t ever buy.
Love and Joy. Moments that are to be cherished as they only happen once.
That hug from little Ellie or when Alfie brings home that adorable first family picture he drew.
There’ s no doubt that being a parent is hard.
But it is also so worthwhile.
It’ s not easy being a parent and a working mum.
If you have had no choice and had to return to work.
Then you are probably juggling your family and a job.
That is difficult! I know because I have been there.
Trying to find the right balance.
Especially on those off days, you know when your little one is unwell yet there is a full inbox waiting for you to deal with at work.
You feel torn on those days and wonder if there is another way to do this.
Do You Suffer from Mum Guilt?
But what if you haven’ t got a lot of options.
And now it is time to go back into the office. You have to return to “normal ”.
It is back to leaving your baby or toddler at daycare once again.
This is hard and you are wondering if there is an alternative?
That’ s where this can help you.
Maybe you are on maternity leave and are due to return to the workplace. You’ ve been surviving on less than you are used to. That sucks.
Or maybe you have chosen the option to remain home until your little one has started school, perhaps living off the one salary. Counting the pennies and stretching where you can.
The downside of being a stay-at-home parent is that it can be difficult to sometimes make ends meet.
Maybe you have looked for alternatives and come unstuck.
If so then you may have some doubts. Wondering if ordinary mums can really do this?
Maybe you thought that
Only influencers can earn a living online (myth)
If you are thinking that you have to be well-known and famous to create an income online, then you would be wrong.
We have all seen the influencers who have built huge followings with their YouTube Channels and Tik Tok channels.
Well done to them.
But they have had to work hard at that.
It took daily commitment to filming and editing. Uploading fresh content that people are searching for.
Now don’ t worry I am not suggesting that this is what you need to do.
I hate being behind a camera myself, I’ m an introvert at heart.
There is a basic formula about how they have been successful online.
Let me spell it out for you, whilst we are being frank and open.
Online success comes about by providing value and information that people want to know about and are searching for.
I know you are thinking that sounds too simple.
Let me explain.
You don’ t walk into the chemist wanting to buy fruit and veggies. Right?
You go to the right store to pick up the particular product you are searching for.
It works pretty much the same online.
You have to have the right offer, that people are searching for, then they will come to your store to get what they want.
Okay, so there may be some new skills you will have to learn.
Just like the store owner setting up his physical store would have needed to learn new skills to do that too.
The concepts are the same, just online.
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information*
Let’ s get started and look at the
Top 5 Solid Ways to Create an Income for Stay at Home Parents
Blogging
Building Niche Websites
Affiliate Marketing
Freelancing
Create a Side Hustle
- 1 Blogging
If you are new to working online, then I believe that starting with blogging is an excellent way to start.
Yes, there will be new skills you will need to learn if you want to set up a blog the correct way.
This would be the same with anything new that you do, you will need to learn some skills.
My biggest tip is that you will need to enter the blogging space with the right mindset.
That is if you want to build something solid.
You will need to get back to basics and learn new skills just like an apprentice learning the tricks of their new trade.
Once you have these basics, you would have learned some lifelong skills that will help you in every aspect online.
These basics like how to start a blog and grow it will allow you to branch out into other areas of the online world.
I like to think of it as dipping your toe in the words, so to speak.
Here’ s Why Blogging is the Best Place to Get Started
If you are still not sure that a blog is a place to start,
I talked about all the reasons why it still is, you can read more about that here.
Maybe you are even wondering whether other moms are making any money with blogging.
Then you will want to read about some remarkable mums who have built blogs whilst their babies slept.
You read that right, whilst their babies slept. (hats off to them)
You can read about them in Best Mom Blogs to follow.
If you love writing and have a creative side, then you will love blogging.
If you are more of a video person, then you can do the same thing using YouTube.
The concept is the same.
It is about creating content in a certain niche, that either is informational, explains, or shows with a how-to.
How Do Blogs Make Money?
Bloggers make money by building their websites around a topic, also called a niche, which will interest their readers.
People come to their site and read their content.
If they like what they read, they come back for more.
This is called traffic. As your blog grows in interest you keep getting more traffic.
The more traffic you get search engines like Google start to watch you and may decide if you have some authority.
Search engines will then want to show your content to people when they are searching for that topic.
When you are getting lots of traffic you will be able to monetize your site.
Want to know more about how you can start your blog and earn money whilst being a stay-at-home mom.
You can get started and get your blog set up today.
You can use my handy
>>How to Start Your Blog — Step by step guide
You may also want to read
Still wondering which niche to go into
Once you are up and ready with your blog, you will want to get started with the all-important first blog post
Want to learn more about how to make money with your blog.
If you want to get started blogging then this is the course I recommend.
It is low cost and you get literally everything to get you started and grow your blog traffic.
This is the Ready Get Set for Traffic Course.
You can read more about the course here.
- 2 Building Niche Websites
Once you have gained some skills in blogging and how to set up a blog.
I think that the best way for a newcomer to really build their blog into something worthwhile is to create niche websites.
A niche site is a website that specifically talks about one topic or things related to that one topic.
For example, a website about how to get your baby to sleep.
There are plenty of parents out there that are looking for that secret.
Maybe you have learned some methods or ways that will help.
Maybe you even took a course or have some old-fashioned mama advice that was handed down.
You can share this information with other mums.
It doesn’ t always have to be related to mum stuff either.
Maybe you have other skills or interests that you want to talk about.
Some skills that you have. Did you play a musical instrument?
Maybe you know how to play the clarinet and want to talk about this.
You can write a lot of topics about the clarinet. Your blog could extend to talking about other woodwind instruments.
Then you can find clarinets that you can promote on your site.
With a niche website, you learn how to review clarinets through your own experience and through doing research.
Just think about it when you want to buy something what is the first thing you do?
You look for other reviews.
You want to know if it is a good investment.
Will that product last.
Will it be worth your money and should you buy it?
What do you do?
You read reviews.
If you find a good website that talks about how to get your baby to sleep or which clarinet to buy.
This will help you to make your decision and you will be happy.
Maybe you even go on to buy what has been recommended.
If you find the product that you are looking for and the website answers your questions, you might buy through their affiliate link earning that person a commission.
This may sound simple. But there is a lot to think about when building a niche website.
There will be many skills that you will need to learn.
You will need to know how to choose your niche, how to set up your niche site, and how to make money with it.
This is the course that I recommend if you want to know how to build niche websites the right way.
It is the course that I took and where I learned to do what I am doing now.
You can see my full review here How to Build A Niche Website The Right Way — Recommended Training.
3 Affiliate Marketing
The great part about affiliate marketing is that you do not have to have a product of your own to sell.
This is great if you are a beginner because you sell other products that are already created.
There is obviously a skill to doing this and there is a learning curve to making affiliate marketing work.
I am not suggesting that you can just go out there and become an affiliate marketer.
You will find that those who have been successful at affiliate marketing have been doing this for a while.
Most have had failures before they became successful and learned the skills they needed.
There is a lot to learn when starting with affiliate marketing.
Skills that you will need to develop.
You will need to gain a specific skill set if you want to be successful at affiliate marketing.
Think of learning an online skill online, in the same way as that of gaining a skill set in the real world.
You don’ t become a teacher by saying you are one. You go to university and learn how to teach.
You don’ t become a nurse just by calling yourself one. You go to medical school and do a lot of learning.
Many think they can just call themselves an affiliate marketer without having a clue about what it takes to build a successful affiliate business.
This is where they go wrong.
That is why I think it is best to learn from those who have been there.
Maybe those who made some mistakes along the way, course-corrected, and have learned how to make affiliate marketing work.
Want to know more on how to make money with Affiliate Marketing then you want to read this deep dive post which covers course from free to low cost and more.
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information*
If you are ready to get started with Affiliate Marketing then this is the course I suggest
Affiliate Marketing for bloggers
In this training, you will learn
How to write blog posts that make sales
With case studies, you will learn how to make those posts turn into cash.
You will learn 7 types of money-making posts
Learn how to STAND OUT and WHERE to put your affiliate links.
You will also learn how to create an email list and how to make money from your list.
Selling by email is an art form and you will learn how to craft emails for the most effect.
If you are not ready to invest in training then there are lots of free affiliate marketing information available on YouTube.
If you are new to affiliate marketing you may not know where to start or who to follow.
Here are the 3 affiliate marketers who I have followed and provided so much value for free in their you tube training.(so good I almost don’ t want to share).
- Darrel Wilson
- Hogan Chia
- WP Eagle
Darrel does not offer any paid training. Anything you find online from him is free. I came across him when I was first learning how to Divi . He shows you from scratch how to do this but he also shows you how to build an affiliate marketing website from the beginning. Darell can talk real fast, and you may have to stop and start his videos to follow his steps, but he knows his stuff and shares lots of free and valuable information.
He shows you step by step how to set up your affiliate marketing website. He literally has hours and hours of free content.
What you will learn is
Step 1: Niche Selection, Domain & Hosting
Step 2: Create Website using Elementor
Step 3: Sign up for Amazon
Step 4: Optimisation & SEO
Step 5 — Insiders Tips
If you are still looking for a place to get started then you cannot go wrong with Darrel Willsons’ Free affiliate marketing training.
Hogan Chua
I came across this young affiliate marketer who has figured out how affiliate marketing works.
He simply wants to share for free what he has learned.
He breaks down getting started with affiliate marketing with an easy-to-follow plan, showing you exactly what you need to do.
He sets this out in a 7 day or steps plan:
Day 1: Keyword Research & Competition Research
Day 2: Product Research & Testing
Day 3: Writing Blog Posts/Catchy Titles/Sub Headings/ Images
Day 4: Just Write
Day 5: Editing
Day 6: Working with images, videos & affiliate links
Day 7: Add content to WordPress, publish and SEO Optimise
Here’ s his training
He offers value and seems genuine in wanting to help those just getting started.
WP Eagle
If you have a crazy sense of humour then you will love Alex Copper who is behind the face of WP Eagle. He has a zany way of doing things and tries to keep his training engaging and fun and of course FREE. He simply wants to teach you what he is teaching. WP Eagle has been successful in setting up affiliate niche websites from which he makes money.
Here’ s one of WP Eagle Affiliate Trainings.
You may be wondering how these guys are making money if they are not selling their training courses. Well, it is down to affiliate marketing, no le less. During their training, they will invite you to use their affiliate links to purchase domains, hosting, or other products that you may use to build the website. They are very open about this and have all the disclosure. When you buy from their link then they get a commission. If you bought hosting, then they get a recurring commission.
They don’ t need to sell their training if they can offer lots of free content that teach and people buy through their affiliate links.
However, if after watching those, you are still a bit unsure, maybe you need a paid-for course that will break down how to do affiliate marketing the right way.
4 Become a Freelancer with Skills You Already Know
Maybe blogging or affiliate marketing is not for you.
In this case, you should consider alternatives.
What other skills or passions do you have?
I love writing and maybe you do too.
If not, maybe you have other skills that you can use to freelance.
Whether this is editing, graphic design, illustration?
You can use the skills that you have already to create an income from home.
Just because you are a stay-at-home mom doesn’ t mean you don’ t already have skills.
What work did you do before you had your family?
What hobbies and interests do you or did you have?
Many forgot that they already were writers, photographers, graphic designer, proofreaders, turn your admin skills into becoming a Virtual Assistant or Social Media Assistants.
You can literally turn any skill that you have into an income when you do it the right way.
My go-to resource for moms that want to stay home and do this is
The Work from Home School with Caitlin Pyle.
Work from home school starts with your skills.
It helps you to refine and freelance those skills to create an income.
Caitlin Pyle herself had skills in proofreading, after a change to her working life, she was able to turn this into a full-time income from home.
She now teaches others how to turn skills that they have already into an income.
Find out more about Work From Home School.
If you want to know more about Freelancing
If you are a writer and want to freelance your writing skills, then Write Your Way to 1K by Elna Cain is the place to get started.
I wrote all about this course, You can read my review here.
Another useful resource is She Means Business by Carrie Green I wrote about in that post.
If you have a more entrepreneurial mindset but have skills that you want to turn into a viable business, then She Means Business is the place to go.When you join the membership, you will get access to bundles of training that you will need to use to build up your business.
It is not a step by step as such, but with the resources that you will find, you should be able to build a business using skills that you already have.
- 5 Create a Side Hustle
Still have not found something that catches your attention.
Here are some other ways using side hustles that can help you to create an income from home
I have not used all of these so cannot fully vouch for all of them, you will need to do your own research before you spend any money.
The methods that I talked about above, I have found to be the best for anyone who is looking for ways to supplement the family income and create something more meaningful.
But if you are looking for other side hustle ideas,
then a great place to get started is with Chris Guillebeau Side Hustle School.
He also has a Side Hustle School Podcast that has lots of ideas sharing stories of everyday people who are creating incomes from home.
Using skills or ideas from problems that they have had and created a solution to these.
His book $100 start up is also a great resource to get started with.
If Side Hustle School doesn’ t inspire you then maybe side hustling isn’ t for you.
Here are some other side hustle ideas you may be interested in :
Fiverr- You can offer any kind of service on Fiverr. Many gigs as they are called will start at $5. These will be for simple tasks for example to remove background from a photo. If you have Canva Pro then you can do this easily. The more involved the task the more you can charge for your services on Fiverr. Maybe you can create Pinterest Pins or have graphic designs skills and can make logos easily, you can create a gig. You can start with a low price point but offer other services at a higher price point. Go and take a look and see how some have made six figures incomes from Fiverr. Maybe you can build websites you could offer to build these for higher prices on this platform. Don’ t be put off by the name Fiverr. I often go here to get stuff done like logos. There will be things to learn like how to list your gig for best effect, how to get noticed, and how to get started as the platform has become much busier.You will need to learn to stand out. There is lots of free training on YouTube to show you how to do this.
Printables — If you are a whizz at creating printable or some other hand-crafted items, then try to set up an Etsy store.
If you want to start with Printables, then Suzi Whitford is the person to go to.
Insert video
She gets a buzz talking about creating pintables and she does offer plenty of free stuff when you sign up to her list. She also has several paid courses which will take you that step further and teach you how you can create an income selling pintables if you have this creative flair.
Sell Custom T-Shirts — T-shirt creation has become so big. If you can have ideas for slogans, you can use a graphic designer on Fiverr. Create some slogans and then create your design on places like Tee spring and Zazzle. They will handle all the printing shipping for you. You just enter the slogan and design.
Surveys — You can make money or get offers and credits for filling in surveys. Some have been able to make this method work but personally, I found the process tedious. You have to be eligible and meet the criteria for each survey. For example, if they are looking for moms with two children and you have one, then you can’ t take that survey. You may have started to fill it out and then cannot continue. You get nothing for the time spent on the survey. Surveys can take anything from 15 minutes to an hour to complete. If you have the time and enjoy filling in surveys, then maybe this will work for you.
Mystery Shopping — Again you will not make huge amounts of money with mystery shopping. Essentially you will need to put yourself forward for assignments. This could be reviewing a restaurant, hotel, buying something from a place. You will then need to provide feedback on your experiences as a customer. You will need to be able to write simple feedback and have time to do these as and when they come up. There is no guarantee of how much work you will get. You will receive vouchers or a free night in a hotel or meal. You won’ t make money, but it will maybe be a night out for you.
Reviewing products — this is a bit different from the niche websites I talked about earlier. Here you will receive a product and then you will write a review. This could include unboxing, testing it out, and writing or creating a video of the item. You would need to have some following on your blog, you tube or Instagram to be selected for reviewing products.
Sell Articles for Cash — This is the online version of the garage sale. You can literally sell just about anything online. If you are not using it then sell it. Try to sell on Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Sphock.
Let’s sum up the 5 best ways to create an income for stay at home moms
- Blogging
- Building Niche Websites
- Affiliate Marketing
- Become a Freelancer with Skills You Already Have
- Create a Side Hustle
| Name of Course | Key Features | Price | How To Join |
| Blogging – How to Start a Blog Course | Not ready to fork out huge amounts of cash that’s okay. Start with this quick free guide to starting a blog | FREE | START BLOGGING |
| Niche Websites — Passive Income Geek course | Affordable start-up for beginners to create income-building niche websites. | $299 per annum $97 annual renewal | START A NICHE WEBSITE |
| Freelancing – Write Your Way to 1K | Turn your writing skills into an income. Learn strategies to build your website and marketing your skills | $195 | START FREELANCING |
| Work From Home School | Learn how to turn Freelance Skills into an income from home — Free Webinar will explain how this works | START WORK FROM HOME SCHOOL | |
| Mommy on Purpose Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers | Learn how to use affiliate links in your blogs posts to create an income. | $79 | START AN AFFILIATE MARKETING BLOG |
The Digital Mum spreading the word about the Digital World —
Helping You create the life that you love
Because there is another way!
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information*
Featured image: 123RF
