On Wednesday, I shared with you four “in the trenches” tips for making real money as a work-at-home mom (WAHM). In this post, I’ll give you tips five through eight.
5. Don’t underprice yourself.
This is the biggest mistake women make — and one I still struggle with.
Women often underprice themselves for various reasons: they don’t “need” the money, they believe they don’t have the experience to charge higher rates, or they’re afraid they will lose clients if they charge more.
Your prospective clients don’t know your household income and really don’t care how much your husband makes. By pricing yourself too low, you’re essentially saying you have no experience and that you’re not ready to play in the big leagues.
Also, consider only taking gigs that pay well. For instance, I don’t write articles because if I had to subsist on $0.10 a word, I’d be destitute. Instead, I focus on B2B marketing writing for corporate clients.
Is this work sexy? No. Does it come with a byline? No again. Does it pay well and enable you to significantly add to your household income? Yes, indeed. Every freelance profession has project categories that are very lucrative. Find out what they are in your field, pick a few and go after them!
6. Get plenty of rest and exercise.
When you have younger children, you do end up working nights and weekends, which is exhausting. No matter how busy I’ve been, I’ve always made time to exercise and relax. One year I trained for a marathon; now I’m at the gym four days a week lifting weights and doing step class.
I’ve heard mothers say they can’t leave their children at the gym daycare so they don’t go. Yes, you can — and your children will love it. So drop the guilt and do something for yourself.
7. Don’t do housework when you should be working.
As you would with a “real world” job, have set work hours that you adhere to every day. This doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible, only that if your work hours are 8:30 to 3:00, don’t use the first hour sorting laundry and picking up after the children go to school. Leave all that for later — or better yet, get your husband and kids to help in the evenings and on weekends. After all, your time is valuable.
8. Learn to say “No.”
A couple of years ago one of the mom’s at my son’s school called and asked me to stand outside a supermarket and sell raffle tickets for three hours in the afternoon.
I replied, “I can’t do that – I have to work.” She replied, “But you work at home. You have flexibility.”
I wanted to ask, “So did you call any of the working dads and pose this question to them?” Of course she didn’t. As I stated in Tip #1, when you’re a WAHM, people tend to think you’re really watching Oprah and eating bonbons.
To avoid these people, don’t answer your home phone during work hours, and volunteer only for those events that have definite start and stop times.
Trust me, you don’t want to be the “chair” of anything, as such a position will quickly eat into your work time (been there, done that).
Combining parenthood and running a home-based business has been one of the most thrilling, exhausting, and satisfying endeavors I’ve ever encountered.
Although I had my days, I’m glad I stuck with it. I look at my son, who is almost 12, and know working at home was the best thing for both of us.
Ladies: What other advice would you give a new or aspiring freelance mom?
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In addition to providing results-oriented B2B marketing consulting and copywriting, Dianna Huff, Principal of DH Communications, Inc., also offers marketing coaching to consultants. Sign up for her newsletter, The Profitable Consultant, and receive a free report: Achieve Fame & Fortune: 25 Tips for Using Twitter for Business.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
As the often-frazzled mother of six (all grown now, thank you!)I found that being taken seriously by other adults, and teaching the children that “when Mommy is working, she is not to be disturbed” were key to working from home successfully. Of course, with very young children this can take some truly creative time management.
Some bottom-line rules I gave my friends and family included:
1. “Do not disturb Mommy unless it involves blood, smoke or broken bones.” (Again, only works for older children).While I may be here in body, my soul is elsewhere when I am working. Pretend you don’t see me or hear me on the phone. Setting specific hours the kids understand is very helpful. In fact, posting a chart with those hours and calmly discussing your expectations is even better. Then make sure you stick to the hours you’ve set, so your children can transition more happily to the new schedule.
2. “I’ll be here for you when you get home from school.” For school-aged children, work your schedule around theirs, so you can devote your ears and your heart to the things they need from you when they walk in the door after a trying schoolday. For very small children, work out their care for several hours each day. Trading off time with a neighbor or joining a play group is great. Or, simply pay for a babysitter. Before you complain that this is spending money instead of making money, consider that it is actually an investment in your future. You wouldn’t consider freelancing without a computer, right? It’s a necessary investment. So is the opportunity to work without kids screaming in your ears and running underfoot.(By the way, this is incredibly impossible to do.)
3. “I know you don’t think this is a “real” job, but it is paying “real” bills.” People can be highly judgmental, even in today’s supposedly telecommuting-enlightened society. I say “ditto” to everything Dianna expressed about how to ensure people take your job seriously. But you must also take it seriously for this to happen. Don’t make a habit of chatting with friends at 2 pm every day while mentioning how you just threw in a load of clothes and are taking a sec to polish your nails. You’ll undo the last ten weeks of hard work spent convincing them this is a real job.
4. “No, honey, I can’t [drop off your drycleaning], [call the IRS], [get the car washed], etc. today. I have to work.” Put your foot down! Even the adults in your life – especially husbands — need some help understanding that you aren’t surfing the Internet for fun all day. Be open about what you do, [lest some nosy neighbors think your business is porn-related] but draw the line at running errands during your work hours. I always said to my husband and others, “If I worked in a “real” office, you wouldn’t be asking me to do that. Pretend that’s what I do.”
Oh, and the thing about the porn…actually happened to me! Despite how common the Internet has become, some people still don’t understand what it’s all about. Don’t worry, and don’t fret if others don’t always understand what you do. Just keep doing it, comforted by the knowledge that your freelancing career is putting you lightyears ahead of those who are still stuck in the 9-to-5 grind. By time everyone else catches up, you’ll be an experienced(and wealthy)freelancing pro!
Victoria,
I often had other mothers ask me how I was able to talk on the phone without constantly being interrupted. That is because I trained my son not to interrupt me while I was on my *business* phone (unless the house was on fire). So, when I was on a personal call, I could talk without a problem. Now when I’m on the phone he writes me notes, which I love.
Hi Dianna,
I love that! It’s the “training” part that stymies most Moms. Seems like you found the way that worked beautifully for you and your son. You know how it is for all of us…talking to a client while shushing the kids with popsicles and managing an over-boiling pot of spaghetti (all while hoping the house phone doesn’t ring!)
When I first started out, I was so fearful that a client might “find out” I worked from home. I jumped through hoops and spent money needlessly trying to hide that fact. Only a few years ago, working from home still wasn’t considered professional. Today, everyone is clamoring to have what you and I have had for years, Dianna, which makes it so cool…and I no longer hide my home office status from my clients. They all know where they can find me. It’s one of the things that makes my business unique and so much better able to offer the kind of personal service that is sorely lacking in business relationships today. My clients recognize and appreciate this.
So to all the freelance moms out there who may be reading this, I say don’t let anything hold you back from getting started. You don’t need a fancy address. Technically, you don’t even need a dedicated home office (if that is what’s keeping you from getting going). A computer, a cell phone, maybe paper and pen, and a few quiet hours a day is all you really need to start moving in the right direction. There will be plenty of time for fancy offices later
Victoria,
I am the same as you. I did everything I could to hide the fact that I worked at home.
I have to say, though, now that I’m renting commercial space (as in, an office OUTSIDE of my house), I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner. The quiet is wonderful and going home every evening with the knowledge that my work is not in my home is very freeing.
My friend and I joke that we could start a burned pot collection due to the number of meals we’ve scorched while answering email, hahahahaha.
This is a good post. I think #8 is an important skill to learn. But one of the main reasons I became a freelance instructional designer/copywriter was to create a more flexible schedule. It works out pretty well for me to work during school hours and then sometimes again at night. I have a couple leadership-type positions at my daughter’s school, not because I was pressured into them, but because the schools have no money and they rely heavily on parent participation to succeed. I think of my school grantwriting efforts as pro bono work. Actually, there are quite a few parents who work full-time–men and women–who are also pretty involved in the school.
Dianna,
Fantastic topic. I absolutely agree with your suggestions (although after a bad day care experience at a gym, I need to figure that one out!) I’ve been freelancing for about a year when I quit my full-time job to work from home with my then 6-month old daughter. Here are a few additional tips:
1) Make a commitment: After running around a child all day (I don’t use day care), it can be very tempting to put work aside. However, I have found that it works great to put myself on a schedule. I get up early every day, work during naps, on weekends and two nights during the week. While I change my routine if needed, I make sure I put in the time.
2) Make time for things for yourself: As much as I believe in working hard, I also strongly advocate finding time to do what you enjoy. Spending time with my husband at night, seeing friends or even going for a walk or reading a book does wonders for my sanity.
3) Have a support system. For me, I rely heavily on family, other freelancers and moms. I couldn’t do this without the help of each of these groups.
- Family: My husband is fantastic (I’m thankful for him every day) – he completely understands that I need time to work and does a TON to help. And, while I don’t use day care, my mother-in-law watches my daughter for a few hours a week, which is a godsend.
- Freelancers: I’ve been very fortunate to find a great group of women who are also freelance marketing writers. Not only have we started blogging together, but we trade emails constantly and give each other advice and support; it’s been the best thing that’s happened to me.
- Other moms: I have a group of mom friends who have children the same age as my daughter who I see a few times a week. Even though we don’t “talk shop” they are a huge support to me as they make me feel less crazy.
I’ve never been so tired, but I’ve never loved my job this much (both mom and marketing writer)! I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Michelle,
I agree, the support system is key. I found that having other WAHMs as friends helped quite a bit.
All these are great ideas!
I would like to add a couple that work great for me:
1. Distinctive Ringing on the phone ~ awesome for ignoring the million phone calls that start out with “What cha doin?”, while you are in the middle of a task.
2. Improvise ~always~ you have free hour you didn’t expect, throw in some laundry, get the vacuum out, catch up on your bookkeeping, clean out the old emails, whatever you can fit into that time.
3. Peek at the faces of your children. Getting caught up in being busy is very easy to do, and younger children just don’t really understand. I’ve noticed, if I look away from the screen just for a moment and look into those eyes ~ I’ll know if it’s time to take a break and give them a few minutes, or if it’s just a pass-by mom in the office, make sure she’s still breathing.
4. To avoid the burned dinners, I just say “Honey, will you help keep an eye your supper so I don’t burn it AGAIN while I’m doing this?” lol. Seems to work ok for now.