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There are many stay at home moms who want to contribute to the family financially, NEED to contribute to make ends meet, want to stay connected to their profession, or simply want an outlet during the day when they feel entirely touched out and need more adults in their life. That’s why today I’m going to share how to make money online as a mom.
As somehow who has been working in the online space since 2009, I’ve seen and done quite a bit. The trends come and go, and I’m sure with the direction technology is going – it’s not slowing down any time soon! That’s why I believe the six ways I’ve listed below are great for anyone looking for how to make money online as a mom.
Here are the ways I have made money from home that I believe anyone else can replicate as well –
- Selling printables for teachers and homeschool parents
- Doing Virtual Assistant work
- Coaching others
- Creating courses and ebooks
- Affiliate marketing
- Paid advertising (think ads on this blog)
- and more random small numbers
Let’s go through each one so I can walk you through what has worked for me. Please remember that each person’s online money making journey is unique. Just because something worked for me doesn’t mean it will be the best fit for you. If you’re wanting help deciding what your “thing” will be – you’d be a great candidate for coaching!
Selling Printables
In today’s world, people create printables for just about anything. Tell people to print them in frames for home decor. Create materials for teachers or homeschool parents. Make calendars for busy moms to keep them organized. Honesty – if it’s a printable and you have an idea on to how to create it, you can most likely find or create a market for it!
You can choose to sell on a platform like TeachersPayTeachers.com or Etsy. Or choose to set up your own store on Amazon, Shopify, or WooCommerce. Research the pros and cons of each. TPT takes 20% of every sale. For that they handle all sales tax and a lot of the customer service for me. Etsy hasn’t proven to be as strong of a platform for me (yet!). My own WooCommerce store doesn’t perform super well, but I like to diversify since printables are what bring in over 80% of my annual income.
Virtual Assistance Work
This was what bridged the gap for me back in 2015 when my printable business had not yet taken off, but I needed $550/month to pay for my and my son’s health insurance. I started by charging just $15/hour and worked ten hours a week for one client. Then I got a second, then a third, and it just kept growing until I was making $3,000/month from about ten hours of work each week. (My current rate is $50/hour.)
I have a free five-day email series that will give you the basics I only wish I had when I first started. (White knuckling it is NOT fun, my friends!) Or you can dive in and read this ebook right now to get started on the best foot possible!
Not sure what you could do as a VA? Check out this image below. There are SO MANY options, many of which aren’t even listed. Think about what others are always coming to you to help with. THAT could be what you sell to others to make their lives easier!
Coaching
I love talking business. I love helping people brainstorm. And helping people make money from their passions absolutely LIGHTS.ME.UP. Coaching can be for ANY purpose. I currently coach teacherpreneurs to help them scale their printable business and I coach moms on how to make money from home. In today’s world, you can find a coach for nearly any topic. Some offer groups, some offer memberships, and others do 1:1 – so there’s always a way to find what best meets your personal needs.
While I believe anyone can jump into the coaching space, I do think having an extensive background in what you want to help people with is key. I don’t want coached from a 23 year old who got lucky with a 20 page ebook about something I know nothing about. I want coached by someone who has been in the game longer than me, has more success than me, or can help me get to the next level due to their knowledge.
Courses and Ebooks
Over the course of the last decade, I have created a variety of courses and ebooks to help others learn in the online space. It’s a bit like coaching – but easier to sell in bulk. I currently have a Virtual Assistant ebook and Pin Description crash course. In the past I’ve done an SEO ebook, Pinterest ebook, Tailwind masterclass, and some others.
Personally, I find that updating things to stay current with trends online is not the best use of my time – but I also know there are people making a full-time income (or much more!) from such ventures.
Affiliate Marketing
I’ve been an Amazon affiliate for over ten years now. It’s an easy way to monetize my sites and include links where I can. But I will say that I don’t make much off of it. There are people who make six figures or more a year from affiliate marketing. I’ve just never gotten that into it. Amazon doesn’t pay nearly as well as some of the other affiliate options out there, but they are the most common simply due to ease of use. Generally if you search “partner” or “affiliate” with your favorite brands, you can find a way to share links and get a small commission at no cost to you. It’s a pretty great way to earn somewhat passive income – especially if you already love shopping and sharing your finds!
Paid Advertising
I do not love ads on sites. But I also know the sites often need the ads to keep running. So….I deal with them. Some of my own sites have ads (like this one at the time of publishing), and other sites – like my teacher one – do not because I want any “ads” to point to my own printables. You have to decide if paid ads work with your overall goals. For me it’s a few extra bucks in my account monthly – so it works with VERY little effort.
You can also get paid advertisers to buy space on the side of your blog or for a paid blog post – often called sponsored posts. I get email offers for these weekly, but I almost never take people up on them. It just feels a bit slimy to me, and I want to only showcase things I actually use, like, buy, and trust. Filling up on ads in this manner doesn’t feel right to me. But I know there are bloggers who make a full-time income by this type of paid advertising.
Other Income
I’m sure there are other ways I have made money online. I know I have tried the MLM thing. And while I still love and use some products from MLMs, I personally cannot push them too heavily. The whole “team building” thing isn’t my fave.
I have done some group collaborations where a 5-20 people pool their printables, share with their email lists, and then split the profits. I’ve done it where it was minimal effort and I made over $1k, and I’ve worked my butt off to organize and only made $200. So…..the jury is still out on if I will do that again.
Don’t get me wrong – there are a ton of ways on how to make money online as a mom. What I listed above is what I have done – currently or in the past.
If you’re considering how to make money online as a mom, I hope you found this list helpful. I would LOVE to help you get that new business off the ground! After a decade in the online space, I can save you so much time by skipping the messy parts I wish someone would have helped me through! So let’s talk all things from ideas to SEO, email marketing, social media, and more! Learn more about coaching with me here.
