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For the Housewife - Stay at Home Mom (SAHM)     
Here's the latest entries in our Change Our Name Game:
Support Services Family Division - Nancy Family Manager - Heidi Potts, Domesticated Goddess - Dee White D.E.A.D. (Domestic Engineering And Directing) - Ashley Solomon I home school kids - Allison Smithson Chief Family Engineer - Tina
Calculator - Should your spouse work, too?
Author: Michele Schermerhorn
Gone are the days when a woman had to choose a career or her
family. The Internet has changed everything! Now any woman can
run her own successful online business while staying home with
her children.
Imagine! You arise in the morning while the children are still
asleep. Starting that pot of coffee, you start your computer.
You have SALES! You begin the processing of the sales that came
in overnight by way of your company’s website. That’s right!
YOUR company. As the children stir, you set your computer to
“standby”, make their breakfast, and see them off safely to
school. You’re also there when they get home from school.
How can you live that dream? There are three key factors for you
to be a successful online business owner and stay at home mom.
They are determination, profitable products, and marketing
skills. Do you have what it takes? Let’s see.
Determination
Of the three critical components, only “determination” can’t be
taught. Not everyone is suited to be an astronaut or a truck
driver. And, not everyone is suited to run one’s own business.
Determination is a single-minded drive that moves one beyond the
minor setbacks of the learning curve. If you tend to start but
never finish projects, an online business is not for you.
An online business takes staying power, much like motherhood.
You can do anything you set your mind to and win. You are
tackling the most difficult job in the world right now –
motherhood. So, how do you find profitable products for your
home-based business?
Profitable Products
Many people have tried their hand at online sales through eBay.
Maybe you have too. After many unsuccessful attempts at finding
products they can sell for a profit, they give up. Finding
profitable products can be learned but there are tricks of the
trade.
Knowing this, many people get sucked into paying some “eBay
guru” thousands of dollars to do it for them. Unfortunately,
they find out quickly that they have to find the products
themselves. An individual who wants their own online business
needs to find their own products. But how?
Depending upon your financial situation, there are six proven
ways to find profitable products to sell online. They start with
those requiring no investment and end with those requiring
thousands of dollars of investment capital. Regardless of the
price of the product, the higher the investment, the lower the
unit cost of the products. The lower the unit cost of the
products, the higher the profit margin. The higher the profit
margin, the more money the company makes.
Many people attempt to start an online sales business at the
bottom of the product acquisition food chain, with dropshipping.
Dropshipping requires little or no initial investment. With
dropshipping, you sell someone else’s product. When you sell the
product, you pay the supplier to drop-ship the product to your
customer with the fee coming out of your profits. Typically, the
profit associated with dropshipping is very small or
non-existent.
A better alternative for those people with little money to
invest is consignment selling. Consignment selling is where you
sell someone else’s product, but you collect a fee of between
10% and 25% of the final sale price. Sounds good, right? It is
but it takes a person who is a real self-starter and can
negotiate with people. Family, friends, neighbors, local
crafters, local businesses without a web presence are all
candidates for consignment sales.
With your profits from consignment sales, you can move on to
acquiring bulk and surplus products. Working with surplus
brokers requires some initiative and internet surfing skills.
There are hundreds of surplus brokers on the internet. Choosing
the right one is a problem and requires some research skills.
However, the profit margins are higher on surplus goods than the
other two techniques discussed above. For instance, a Janome
Memory Craft sewing machine was acquired at surplus for $99.00
and sold on eBay for $430.00, a very nice profit.
In addition to the three product acquisition methods discussed
above, the biggest profit margins and more reliable supply of
products is achieved by working with wholesalers or importers.
Working with wholesalers, they require you have a legal business
and a resale certificate from your state’s taxation board.
Working with imported goods is more difficult. If you attempt to
go directly to the source in China, as a novice, you can lose a
great deal of money very fast. Consider working with a reputable
customs broker if you choose to acquire product in this way.
All of these acquisition skills can be learned; but without
determination, you will not succeed.
Once you have acquired your product, marketing skills are needed
to successfully sell your product.
Marketing Skills
Two people with exactly the same product for sale will not
experience the same success. The one who wins will have superior
marketing skills. Marketing skills include the ability to find
customers and then motivate them to buy your particular product.
Marketing starts with identifying the particular customer you
will sell to. You do not sell a skateboard to a 13 year old with
the same conversation you sell that same skateboard to his
mother, or grandparents. Marketing requires you get into the
mindset of your customer in such a way that you start to think
like them. Without knowing their motivations and concerns, you
will never sell them anything. Great marketing is targeted to a
specific group of people.
After a thorough understanding of your customer is achieved, you
need then to design your offer in a way that appeals to them and
encourages them to buy now. All of these skills can be learned
and must be learned to run a successful business, online or not.
With a great offer in hand, you need to find customers. Where
does your targeted group of customers hang out? What do they
read? Where do they go on the internet? You must get your offer
in front of their eyes. They won’t find you.
There are literally hundreds of methods for communicating your
marketing message online and via traditional methods, like
advertising. The only ones that will work will be those that
find your target market. You can send marketing messages all day
without success. If your potential customer is tuned into some
other location, you’ll miss them.
Marketing skills can be learned. Acquiring profitable products
can be learned. But both of these critical skills rest on a
foundation of determination. Can you teach an old dog new
tricks? Certainly! If the “old dog” is determined to learn.
Conclusion
An online business is not for everyone. However, it can be your
way to stay home with the children and still bring in a nice
salary. Never again will you have to miss that first step or
first word. Never again will you miss a child’s recital because
you couldn’t get away from work. Never again will you sweat
making your next house payment. Ready? GO!
About the author:
Michele Schermerhorn has over 30 years experience in the
business world and over 12 years running her own successful
online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute
Inc. (www.obinstitute.com) and regularly conducts free online
seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create
Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.
Home Discount Shopping/Coupons Shopping Entertainment Education Health/Nutrition For the Love of Mommy For most of you being a mother is one of the most wonderful and rewarding experiences that you will have in your life. It can also be a time when you feel lost and out of touch with who you are outside of being a “mommy”. Maintaining an identity outside of your children is vitally important, not just for you, but for your family as well. So here are ten strategies that not only keep you connected with you, but also have the added bonus of being an important life skill to teach your children. 1. Be present- Often when we spend time with our children we are thinking about the things that we should be doing or we multi task and we are not really present with them. Then, when we are not with them, we feel guilty. Make the decision that when you spend time with your child to just be there for them, enjoy them, listen to them, and focus on them 100%. Spending this type of quality time with your child will lessen the guilt and help you focus on other activities with the same 100% attention. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to focus on and enjoy the moment. 2. Take care of yourself- This is a big one for most women since we get so busy caring for others we tend to forget about ourselves. Define what taking care of yourself means to you and develop a schedule to do it. Keep tweaking your schedule until you are actually fitting taking care of yourself into the day. Taking care of yourself helps to replenish your spirit, it helps you to relax, and it helps you to feel good about yourself. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime. 3. Connect with you partner- It is so easy to get wrapped up in the kids and in everyday life that you forget about your relationship with your partner. Connect with your partner as often as you can, make a point to sit down over coffee on a Sunday morning and just talk about anything and everything, but the kids. It can be silly or profound, just make sure you connect with each other as a couple. Added Bonus: Teaches your child how to maintain a healthy relationship. 4. Get involved- Get involved in some activity that is only for you. It can be work, volunteering, a class, or a book club. Just get involved in some regular activity where you are not a wife or a mommy, you are just you. Added Bonus: Encourages your child to participate in outside activities. 5. Have meaningful conversations- Sometimes when you have children your day gets so caught up with “kid stuff” that you can’t remember the last time you had a meaningful adult conversation. Have you ever felt frustrated, aggravated and on edge and then gone out to a long dinner with a friend and felt like a new woman at the end of the night? That is why it is important to have meaningful conversations. Added Bonus: Teaches your child to get their needs met by more than one person. 6. Read- Who has time to read? We all do. It doesn’t have to be a long time, and reading is a great way to be intellectually stimulated. It exposes us to different subjects and new ideas, even when it is a light and fluffy read. Staying intellectually stimulated is important because it keeps us in touch with what we find exciting and gets those brain cells snapping. . Added Bonus: Teaches your child to seek out and appreciate knowledge. 7. Take time for just you- Make sure you get some get some quality time for just you. It can be anything you want from spending time with a friend, to getting a manicure, or just being by yourself. Just do something that is only for you, it will fill you up and refresh you. You will feel like a new woman after you are done. . Added Bonus: Encourages your child to be independent. 8. Remember that you have needs too- We have needs, and it is our responsibility to get them met. If you’re feeling frustrated, or unappreciated, instead of walking around feeling angry and misunderstood, figure out a way to get those needs met. Talk about them, ask for support, and be specific. And remember most people can’t read minds so you have to communicate with them to get those needs met. Added Bonus: Teaches your child how to effectively meet their own needs. 9. Give yourself permission- Why do we feel like bad mothers for wanting to do something for ourselves? Every woman who I have ever talked to that wants to express an unhappiness about being a mother feels the need to qualify it by saying “Well, of course I love my child more than anything in the world but…”. Of course you do, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be unhappy about the way something is going or how you feel. This is how you feel right now, there is nothing wrong with that, you’re a normal mother. Give yourself permission to feel the way you do and do something for yourself to feel better. Even if that means stepping back from your child for a couple of hours. . Added Bonus: Teaches your child to recognize and healthily deal with their emotions. 10. Be a role model- When you ask most parents what they want most for their children they say that they want them to be happy and successful contributing adults. The very best way to ensure that comes true for your child is to be a role model. If you want your child to be confident, get their needs met, be sure of who they are, and happy with their life, just remember that they learn that from you. . Added Bonus: Teaches your child to act with integrity. Being a mother in today’s modern world is tricky business. We are bombarded all day long with messages of what makes a “good mother”. Just forget all that, and be true to you. Being joyful, present, and authentically you is the very best gift you can give to yourself and your child. About the author: Jen Ottolino is a Personal Coach who works with individuals to eliminate blocks to success. She partners with people to actively attract the life they know they deserve, but haven’t quite managed to achieve. You can visit her website at http://coachjen.com and discover articles, tips, and strategies designed to enhance your life purpose. She also publishes the bite sized weekly newsletter Little gems to subscribe send an email littlegems@coachjen.com?subject=subscribe.
A few years ago, after the birth of our second child, my husband and I were trying to decide whether or not it would be possible for me to stay home.
At first we thought that since we were just about breaking even, there was no way we could ever make it happen. But when we decided to actually put pen to paper and calculate our bottom line with and without my salary, we were quite surprised.
What we found was that it was actually costing us to have both of us working.
While that may not be the case for everyone, you may find that the second salary brings in much, much less than you think it does.
According to Jan MacGregor, a financial consultant and former analyst, “There are people out there who are expecting to be able to meet their bills better (after they re-enter the work force) and never realize they are either working for a loss or for something like $4,000 a year (after expenses).”
That may seem hard to believe, but if you consider the many “hidden” expenses of a two-income household it is often the case. There are, of course, the obvious expenses such as child care and commuting costs. Some of the hidden expenses are the money spent on lunches, more take-out and convenience food for dinner, dry cleaning bills professional clothing. There can be higher medical costs due to increased exposure to illnesses for children who are in daycare.
Many families hire a housekeeper or gardener to keep up on the household work that they don’t have the time to do.
A significant factor is your taxable income. A second salary can push your taxable income into a higher tax bracket.
While the tax issue in and of itself does not eat up the entire second salary, when you add in all the other expenses of a two income family, you might find that it’s not worth it to have both parents working.
Here is a link to MacGregor’s cost of living chart that uses a second salary of $40,000 as an example: Cost Of Living Chart
If you are considering having one parent stay at home, the best thing to do is to actually calculate your income and expenses, taking into consideration the difference in taxation. You may find that you can in fact afford to stay home with your kids. Sharon Davis is the owner of 2Work-At-Home.Com and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it was like to have spare time. To subscribe to her free ezine, Click Here |
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Can You Afford To Stay Home?