5 Self-Employed Jobs for Stay At Home Moms
Women are starting 1,821 new businesses every day – and many of them are mompreneurs looking to bring in extra income while they raise their families. If you’re looking for jobs for stay at home moms (SAHM), here are five potential businesses you can run from home.
#1: Blogging
If you’re passionate about a certain subject and you have good writing skills, blogging may be your ticket to steady, passive income.
How much can I make?
The best bloggers in every niche can make a lot of money (think: six-figures), but this is rare. Problogger found that 53% of bloggers looking to monetize their platforms make $100 or less each month. 47% make more than $100 monthly, while 13% make at least five figures!
Keep in mind that blog revenue increases as your audience grows. You’ll need about 10,000 monthly pageviews to bring in $100 every month.
How do I get started?
CodeinWP has a comprehensive list of tips for blogger beginners, but here are the basics:
Find your niche. Choose a topic that (a) you’re interested in and (b) has money-making potential. Recommended genres include:
Personal finance
Health / Fitness
Travel
Product reviews
Beauty / Fashion
Lifestyle
Least profitable categories include music, politics, cooking, and home improvement.
Set up your blog. Pick a domain name and choose a platform (many bloggers use WordPress).
Check out the competition. Find out what makes your competitors popular, and strategize how you plan to stand out. Buzzsumo is a great tool for finding popular content, topics, and influencers.
Produce quality content. The more traffic you bring to your blog, the more you earn! Create high-quality posts with images that can be shared on platforms like Pinterest.
Start to monetize your blog. Once you start to grow your audience, you can start generating income. Popular ways to bring home the bacon include:
Offering unique services and products, such as courses and e-books
Signing up for Google’s ad network: GoogleAdsense
Using affiliate marketing (e.g. Amazon) to earn commissions when your readers buy certain products/services
Securing sponsors who will pay for content that promotes their products/services
#2: Freelance Writing
Businesses often hire freelance writers to produce content for their websites and blogs. Content writing is an excellent job option for SAHMs. You can write in your spare time, and, as you grow your clientele, easily choose just how busy you want to be!
How much can I make?
As you start writing, you may only make $0.01 per word. However, as you build your portfolio and hone your skills, you can earn $1.00 per word (or even more!).
How do I get started?
If you’re ready to start typing, here’s how to kick off your writing career:
Refine your writing skills. Constantly look for reading and writing opportunities, even if they’re personal writing projects. The more you write, the more your skills will improve – and the more content you’ll have to show potential clients.
Build your portfolio. To land a writing gig, you’ll need proof you can get the job done. Start collecting samples of your writing. Don’t have much to work with? Look for blogs that take free content submissions and write a few pieces for them!
Inside tip → Step up your professional game by hosting your portfolio on your own website! Services like Wix or WordPress can get you up and running for free.
Get ready to track projects. Missing deadlines or forgetting to bill a client can hurt your up-and-coming freelance business. Project management services like Trello and Clockify help you stay on top of your projects and client information.
Start pitching clients. Once you’re ready to write professionally, it’s time to seek out potential clients! Writer Elna Cain lists 50 ways to find your first job, including:
Networking with family, friends, past coworkers, and local businesses
Cold pitching businesses you’d like to work with (make sure you follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn, first!)
Search job boards like ProBlogger
#3: Home Daycare
Another job for stay at home moms? Well, as a SAHM, you’re already a pro at caring for children – and you can turn that into a business! Licensed daycare providers are self-employed workers who offer child care right at home.
How much can I make?
How much you make as a daycare operator depends on how many children your state will let you care for, but it can certainly be a profitable business. On average, daycare providers average around $28,000 per year.
How do I get started?
To kick off a daycare business, you’ll need to:
Have a high school diploma. You’ll need to have at least a GED to get rolling. Bonus points if you have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in childhood education!
Secure your child care license. Licensing and registration processes vary by state, but you’ll likely need to pay a fee, attend orientation, confirm your home-ownership (or rental) status, and get up to date on immunization requirements.
Pass a home inspection. Depending on your state, your home will need to meet specific requirements that ensure it is a safe, clean place for childcare. These may include things like additional smoke alarms or fenced-in yards.
Get proper training. Most states require daycare operators to be certified in First Aid and CPR. The Red Cross can help you find local courses. If you’re interested in advancing your understanding of childhood nutrition, childcare operations, and more, you can also enroll in an online Childcare Management certification program.
Find potential clients! Consider joining local Facebook groups or networking with family and friends to find parents that need daycare. As your business grows, you can potentially grow your earning potential by hiring assistants and adding additional children.
#4: Remote Customer Service
Many companies hire remote representatives to answer customer questions. As a customer service rep, you can use your people skills right from your home office!
How much can I make?
Remote customer service salaries range from $9 - $20 per hour.
How do I get started?
Before hopping on the phones, you’ll need to:
Have a high school diploma. Some companies also require prior customer service experience.
Make sure you have the right equipment. You’ll need a computer, high-speed internet, and a quiet space where you can work. Companies will likely provide necessary technical equipment, like a headset.
Find job opportunities. Start look for remote opportunities with big name brands like:
#5: Online Teaching
If you have a background in teaching and are looking for a job for stay at home moms, bring your skills to the virtual world! As people turn to the internet for affordable learning opportunities, more and more colleges and online education programs are hiring remote instructors.
How much can I make?
Online teaching salaries vary based on the field, employer, and type of work involved (e.g. if you create the curriculum). As a reference point, the online instructor service Get Educated pays its online college instructors $1,500 - $2,500 per semester.
How do I get started?
To launch your online teaching career, you’ll need to:
Decide what type of teaching you’d like to do. Explore job opportunities on resources like K12, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Get Educated.
Have the proper experience and education. Depending on the teaching opportunity, you may need certain expertise, certification, or degrees. To become an online ESL teacher, for example, you’ll need TEFL certification. Alternatively, services like Preply don’t require certification and let you tutor students in fields you’re passionate about.
Set up your home office. To be a great online teacher, you’ll need the right setup. Make sure you have quality internet, a computer, and a headset.
For more jobs for stay at home moms, check out this extensive list from TheSelfEmployed.Com. Once your self-employed business is up-and-running, don’t forget to track your expenses and earnings on the free Stride Tax app.