work at home

Entertaining Small Children When Working From Home
By Jamie Jefferson

Working at home with children can be a challenge. But with a little planning and some creative ideas, you can get your work done while still raising happy, healthy kids. Here are some tips for keeping the kids entertained while you get some work done.

1. Know your limits.

Before you start trying to cram as much work in during your child's waking hours, be realistic about how much work you can get done. While it's reasonable that you'll be able to spend a few hours working each day during naptime or while your child's attention is otherwise engaged, it's not realistic to expect that you can get a solid block of time each day. You can save yourself a lot of trouble and frustration by not booking too much work during any given day. Understand that you may need to do the bulk of your work while your children are sleeping. If you must get work done during the day, you can use these ideas to keep both you and your child happy.

2. Get your child involved in your work.

Preschoolers love imitating mommy. You can use this to your advantage when you need to get some work done. Set up a small desk next to yours with some quiet toys, modeling clay or even a play computer. When you need a half hour or so to work, you can have your child sit next to you and "work" too. This way, your children will feel involved and may allow you to work longer than if you were trying to keep them away.

3. Do Some Building projects.

Small children normally aren't very focused, but they can be when it comes to playing with blocks and other kinds of building toys. Even children as young as 18 months old will spend a lot of time building with blocks, and that can give you some time to work. Create a play space in front of your desk with a building surface and a lot of blocks.

4. Put on an Educational DVD.

There are dozens of educational videos out there that can capture your child's attention so you can work. Whether you have a baby who will respond to a visit to the petting zoo set to classical music or a preschooler who enjoys watching Sesame Street, DVDs can be a life saver for a work at home mom. They are invaluable when you have to take a call from a client or need to give your full attention to a project. Make sure to limit their TV time to one hour a day. As long as you don't rely on the DVDs too much, they can be an asset to your working life.

One of the most important keys to working at home with kids is to spend time enjoying their company. If you spend the whole day stressed out about work, all the money that you make at your work at home job won't be worth it. Plan out work time and play time with your children so that everyone's needs are met.

An eBay Scam Review
By Leah Daane and Jeff Daane

Stay at home moms are looking for opportunities to earn an income while being home with their children. With so many options out there, what is right for the needs and desires of a stay at home mom? From my experience selling on eBay, Inc. I can tell you that it definitely wasn't one of the work at home mom jobs that I was looking for!

eBay has become an enormous online marketplace and has offered another outlet to many people as they make money on from home. This can be a very successful business for those who are able to put the "run around" time into it. For me it was a different story. It was not difficult to learn how to make money on eBay however, while it was a great place for me to get rid of our extra stuff around the house, making a true business out of it was a difficult task while having my children with me. My intentions for a home-based business opportunity were to be able to be home with my kids, interacting with them, teaching them, and going on fun day trips. What I found when selling on eBay is that this was not possible.

I needed to find products to sell on eBay. My options were to make something or go buy something that I felt would definitely resell for a high enough price to make me a profit. So I chose to find items to sell on eBay and began my search. Let me tell you, these were not the kind of "fun day trips" with the kids that I was so looking forward to. Dragging my kids around all day in search of items to sell was, to say the least, not fun for me or them.

"Say cheese!" No, no, girls... not you! Yep, that was me trying to scoot my girls out of the eye of the lens as I snapped pic after pic of lifeless pants, sweaters, pajamas, and shoes. I would much rather have been snapping pictures of my girls and I on our latest adventure. So after taking pictures of the items, there is the uploading of photos, item descriptions, and completing your listings. Then the sending of the invoices and my favorite... taking one of many weekly trips to the post office with toddlers in tow! Now, my children are quite well behaved and no nonsense is tolerated in our home but this is just absurd to ask toddlers to stand patiently in line a handful of times each week while Mom drags bags of packages to ship for minimal profit! A child's day should be filled with more than price scrutinizing shopping trips, photo shoots with no kids allowed, and standing in queue where it isn't just the postal employees who have gone postal!

Was the actual process in itself easy? Yes, definitely. eBay makes the whole selling process very easy for anyone. The only tough thing is finding items that you will actually make a significant profit on once listing fees, final value fees, shipping fees, and Paypal fees (if that is your payment method of choice) have all applied. My reason for saying bye-bye to eBay had nothing to do with the business opportunity they had to offer except that it just did not work well for the hopes I had for my family especially for the small profit I was seeing. Let's face it, with eBay I was just taking my girls to work with me when all I wanted was to be with them and maybe fit work in while they nap or are in bed for the night.

So, as I talked with my brother one night he asked about my eBay sales. As I began telling him of my minimal profit of $5-$10 per item, he interrupted with, "Leah, you HAVE to learn what I am doing. I have been making 5 figures every month". Wow, at least $10,000 each month? That was all it took for me to dive head first into researching that opportunity and end my eBay adventure!

Top 7 Tips For Stay at Home Moms and Dads to Earn Online
By Haze Spehar

I used to get up every morning, get my kids ready for school or the babysitter, and then try and get myself ready for work. I could only work minimum wage jobs, so I was making about a dollar or two an hour, after childcare, gas, uniforms, etc. You know what I mean. I often wondered why I was even going to work, I was losing quality time with my children. Do you know that heart-wrenching feeling you get when your babysitter tells you that your baby took his first step? Or said his first word? I know it all too well, and that is why I made it a point to be able to work from home, so I could be here to watch my children grow.

I am not going to tell you it's easy, or you're going to get rich in a day or week. That is not humanly possible. Well, maybe if you hit the lottery it would be, but let's be realistic here. I don't know your current situation, but I have told you mine. I assume you are struggling with the same issues that I was. You have to work to pay the bills, but you want to be a mom or dad to your kids, too. And, after paying everyone else, there was barely any money left for bills. I am about to tell you a few things that may change your life, and make you much, much happier!

#1: Work at home Parenting: You DO have to set special time aside for work, and work alone. If your kids are in school, that would be the perfect time. If you have very young children, a good time would be nap time, and bedtime. Although you're going to be tired yourself, stay up for an extra hour or two. It is well worth it.

#2: Keep all of your work papers organized, and in an out-of-reach place. I didn't do this when I started, and it was a disaster! I wrote notes and ideas in a notebook that I kept at my computer, and when I tried to look up something, there was scribble all over the place. I bought a 3-ring binder, and put it on top of my fridge. Ever since, it has been smooth sailing!

#3: If you are thinking of having your own business, make sure to tell your customers that you have children. This will make things much smoother. When I started, I never even thought of telling anyone. A few of my customers were getting annoyed because I would be trying to talk to them, but they couldn't hear me over my kids! (you know that even when your kids are out of the room, and behaving, as soon as you pick up that telephone, it sound like world war 3 started in your house!) After I started to tell my customers that I had children, and I apologized for any inconvenience BEFORE I spoke with the customer, I didn't get anymore bad reactions from them.

#4: There are lots of ways to make money online, and I have found that I can make more money from just working on my computer than I was when I went to work at a brick-and-mortar store. And it's all mine! No gas, uniforms, babysitters, etc. Not to mention that since I have no college education, I can't have a 'career', I can only work at fast-food places. Which, you may already know, REALLY wears you down fast. Then you have to come home and take care of your kids, and try to get in a whole day's work in about an hour. It just doesn't work. There are so many choices for you online: paid surveys, affiliate marketing, online auctions, and more!

#5: Research: You HAVE to research all of your different options before you start working online. Read what other people have to say about certain fields. What works for one person doesn't work for everyone.

#6: Keep with it. When I first started, it was hard. I didn't have a balance between my home life and my work-at-home life. You have to find your own way to even these out, or you're going to go crazy. The way I do it is I get up, get the kids off to school, come home and work online for an hour or two. Then I do some housework, get the kids from school, eat dinner, and when they are done with their homework, when they are watching tv, I usually have an hour then. If not, it's no big deal, I spend an hour or two online after they go to bed.

#7 Do what you love, and love what you do. This is so very, very important. Work is work. But when you find something that interests you, you are so much better at it. You are more devoted to it, you are willing to learn more about it, and it won't feel so much like work. You have to be excited about earning an income online, it is very easy to just say 'I don't feel like working today.' But that one day leads to the next, and so on, then when it is payday and you have a check for 0.00, you're going to wonder why. I know, I've done it!

So now you have an idea of what it would be like to work from home. It is still work, but YOU are the boss, and YOU keep your money. No babysitters to pay, no uniforms or career clothes to buy, heck-you can work in your PJ's all day! I have done that many times myself. You have to have the strength to hang in there when the going gets tough, because it will. But it will also get better, and probably much better than you had imagined. So now, find something you love, and get to it! In a month from now, you can tell me how much nicer life is, and less strenuous!

There ARE legitimate ways to make money from home, some easier than others. And different types of programs will work for different people. But NOTHING will work unless YOU actually SIT DOWN and DO IT. The easiest of all are paid surveys and affiliate marketing Start now and start making money this week, or wait and regret the fact that you haven't started earlier!

PS) Paid surveys very rarely bring in enough money for a substantial income, but they DO bring in extra money. With Affiliate marketing (don't let those words scare you, it's really not that hard!), the income potential is enormous. I have friends that are millionaires, and I also have friends that make a few hundred dollars a month, and are happy with that.

Honestly, your income level depends on YOU. How much you work, the avenue of work you take, etc. And when people laugh at you when you tell them what you're doing, just hang in there.... my husband did, at first. Now he can't stop telling people about what I do!

How to Run Your Home Business When You Have Kids
By Shawn Stoik

Running your business from home is rarely a simple task, especially while raising a family at the same time. Between your children and phone calls and the daily household chores, making it through a regular "work day" can sometimes be a real challenge.

I can tell you from my own personal experience, as a stay-at-home parent, that concentrating on your work while you are working from home, for long periods of time, can sometimes feel impossible. But if you learn to adapt your work habits and environment a bit to accommodate the specific needs of both your work and your children, your productivity will be greatly improved.

There are several things you can do if you have children at home:

First of all, with older children and teenagers, they are the least likely give you any challenge with your home business. As a matter of fact, they can really be a great help in taking care of certain household needs while you are working so that you will have more time to focus and dedicate yourself to your business. Be sure that they understand the importance of your working at home so that you can be near them when they need you and so that you will have money to take care of the house and your family. Give them a reasonable work schedule to keep them busy and be sure they understand to respect you and your work schedule as well.

If you currently have an infant in the home, your circumstances will be different. But thankfully, babies do quite well with schedules and routines. You will not be able to expect them to work around your routine, so you will need to work around theirs. Babies are simple; they eat, poop and play, but what they do the most, thankfully, is sleep! So the smartest time for you to work will be while they are sleeping. If you are able to get them into a predictable routine for eating and sleeping, you will be able to accomplish quite a lot for your home business.

The other age group that you may have at home, may be toddlers. With toddlers, it is also very important to keep them on a basic daily routine for their playing, meals and nap times. Be sure to work these specified times into your work schedule and stick to them. Toddlers do not always respond well to routines, they can be unpredictable and they will need your attention, so be prepared to take hourly breaks to give them the attention and love they need. This will help them to get used to the routine and respect you and your need to work. They will be happy and you will still be able to get a great deal accomplished.

It isn't always easy to work from home when you are a stay at home parent, but it is definitely worth it and so rewarding. You will be able to experience all the joys of being home with your children while still making money and operating a successful at-home business. My online business allows me the privilege of working from home and still being an integral part of the lives of my children and I would never trade that for the world!

Stay at Home Moms - Is Having a Home Business Right For You?
By Shawn Stoik

As a Stay at Home Mom, you probably have quite a busy life, and if you would like to continue to stay at home and still somehow earn a decent living, you may be considering starting a business that you can run from your home. This is really such a great idea because it is a relatively inexpensive and effective way to run a business. But before you make your decision there are some things you will need to consider. Even though operating your business from home can give you greater options and flexibility than an external office based business, running a business from home, and working in the same place as you live will definitely have an impact on your home and family life.

So here are a few key factors you should keep in mind when deciding to run a business from home:

Important Benefits:

For a stay at home mom (or dad) there are obviously many favorable advantages to running your own business from home. It will be completely up to you whether you choose to work full or part time depending on your needs and goals. Most Online Home Businesses will have very low risk, and minor cost investment. You will be able to set yourself up to earn a great income from the comfort of your own home, while having none of the headaches and troubles that finding a premises to rent or a shop front to maintain will cause. If your business is online, you will also have the great advantage of being able to do business all day and all night because of your access to the entire world. You will also be allowed to work at your own comfortable pace that works for you without the common office and workplace distractions. And, of course, one of the main reasons which is likely motivating you to want to work from home is that you will be able to keep your children out of daycare and you will be home and able to be there for your family.

Key Questions you should Ask Yourself:

1. Will you have the full support of your family in running your business from home? Having support from your family members will ensure that you are able to stay committed to your goals and be able to allocate your time and stay prioritized with all of your tasks.

2. Am I good at setting and maintaining priorities? There can be so many distractions when you are attempting to build a business from home: your children, housework, errands etc... To make this work you will need to stay focused and schedule the appropriate times for when things will need to get done.

3. Do I really have the discipline to do what it takes? When you are running a business from home, you won't have a boss to tell you what to do, you will need to be your own boss and be absolutely determined if you want to make this work.

There are so many stay at home moms who have managed to make a great living running their business from home but remember, this is serious. If you treat it like a hobby, then that's probably the kind of income you will make; small, part-time hobby money. Do not procrastinate. You will need to put in hard work and have a positive attitude and work ethic in order to succeed.

For many stay at home moms, having an online home business is a great and profitable choice, but that does not mean it is an easy choice or that it is for everyone. If you are willing to do what it takes and surround yourself with positive mentors, however, you will be doing your family a great favor and reaping the benefits of a home business for years!

Jobs For Stay at Home Moms
By P. Johnson

Online Job Opportunities For Stay At Home Moms
By Tal Fighel