5 Ways To Make Money From Home As A Mum

Today I’m sharing with you some simple ways to make money from home, which will both give you time flexibility as well as income.

But before, I’ll share about my experience in this area and my personal testimony as a Christian mama. If that’s not relevant for you, just use the table of contents to skip down to the 5 ways to make money from home.

My story

So before I became a mum in 2014, I was a freelance translator and English teacher, but while I did the translation work from home, I also worked at different companies teaching English as a foreign language.

When I became pregnant, however, I really felt I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum and I knew that teaching outside the home would no longer be an option.

So when Abby was around one, and I had a little more availability, I started working from home as a private English tutor (and later I started doing some freelance translation work too). This was really useful for that particular stage in our life as a family because my husband’s income was quite low back then.

As time went by and I got pregnant again, I really felt the need to cut down on my work hours. By God’s grace when we made that decision, Luís, my husband, got a pay rise, and for the next few years, (except in the first few months after having my second) I just did a couple of hours a week of teaching (from home).

Excepting one or two seasons where I did some translation work from home, that was my work life for the next few years.

Fast forward to 2020. My lessons and translation work had dried up and I was at home with the kids during the national lockdown.

Onde day, as a consequence of a Christian motherhood ministry I was involved in, I felt led by God to start writing my book Unique.

A few weeks later I also got an ongoing freelance translation project whereby I was to translate 2 articles a week for a big health website in Brazil.

So in a matter of weeks, I was suddenly working from home, and getting a steadier income.

Fast forward another year and a half, and my kids are all full-time at school and I’m completely home-based with my work (although in effect I do go out and work in coffee shops, the park and the library in the mornings!).

I love it! I have:

💻 a flexible time-table – I work early mornings, most weekday evenings, and during the day from about 9.00 to 3.00

💻 the option to work from anywhere (bathroom, bedroom, library, café!) 😂

💻 the availability to get my kids from school and be with them for a couple of hours before dinner

If this sounds good to you, come and find out some great ways you can make money from home.

5 Ways to Make Money From Home As a Mum

Here go 5 fantastic ways to make money from home, all of which I have experience with.

Online teaching

I would say your best bet with online teaching is to either teach English as a foreign language or do some school tutoring in the subjects you excelled at when you were younger.

Now if you want to work for a company, please be aware that they may require specific qualifications, but fortunately, this is not always the case.

For instance, for English language tutoring, there’s a platform called Cambly, in which the only requirements are that you are a native speaker.

Another option is for you to do private tutoring. Last year I did English tutoring with a girl and we did all the lessons via Skype.

Designing and Selling Merchandise on Etsy / Shopify / Amazon

Are you good at creating and/or designing merchandise (whether physical or digital)? Nowadays opening a store on Etsy or Shopify and registering at a POD service is very easy.

Obviously, success isn’t guaranteed if you don’t have a marketing strategy in place. But if you are patient and learn the business and what sells and what doesn’t, you may get a good business running.

I’m currently in the journal making business on Amazon and yes, it takes persistence, learning from mistakes and time!! But I believe that as I learn the business, I will eventually get some steady income.

If you’re interested in low-content books I recommend you check out Paul Marles who explores how to make money on Amazon’s KDP platform.

Blogging

Ok, so I’ll give you my experience here. This takes time. And you need SEO knowledge too. But if you’re patient and keep working at it you can turn a blog into a source of income.

So, how does it work?

Well, basically you write articles around keywords that people are searching for on search engines, for instance, “how to make money working from home” and you either a) put adverts up on your blog or b) recommend specific products and or services in your blog post and get a referral sales commission.

To get a commission for linking a product, you also need to register to an affiliate marketing system. I use Amazon Associates, but there are others.

Freelance / Part-time skill work

Are you skilled in any particular area that you could do online or from home? For instance, translation or editing, admin work, content creation, jewellery making, baking?

Look at your skills and experience and see if there’s anything particular that could translate into home-based work either as a self-employed freelancer or part-time working for an employer.

Another option if you’re not particularly qualified in a specific field could be virtual assistant work, such as typing, sending emails, transcription, etc.

Youtube / Podcast

Again it takes persistence to build an audience, but if you think you’d enjoy it, why not? I’ve never tried video content, although I do have the Unique Mums podcast.

The main things to bear in mind are:

• what content would you create?
• who is your audience?
• would you work solo or with a team?
• what’s your long-term strategy?
• how do you plan to make money? (promotion, or advertising)

If you would like to try YouTube, I recommend you check out Mike Winger’s Youtube Tactics. Mike Winger is a pastor and Bible teacher and I love his bible teaching, as well as the quality of his channel and content.

Practical considerations

Now just a few quick questions to keep in mind when choosing what option is best for you.

• how many hours a day/ week can you dedicate to this?
• what hours in the day are best for working without interruptions? (e.g. early mornings, evenings, nap time?)
• how much time do you have to invest in the business and learn?
• do you have any money/resources to invest into the business?
• are you willing to let the income grow with time or do you really need steady income every month starting today?
• are you willing to let go of any perfectionism and learn and grow in the business you want to invest in?

Answering these questions will help you decide the best option for you. For instance, perhaps you need money to pay the bills straight away. In that case, just blogging or selling merchandise will not be the best option. Here I’d recommend you try working for someone else, providing a particular service, such as admin, translation, transcription.

If, on the other hand, you don’t need a steady income straight away, if you have money and time to invest, and you really want to start your own thing, then perhaps creating your own online store, or Youtube channel is the way to go.

Also, please be realistic about the amount of time you actually have to work without distractions. I tell you this as a fellow mum and a friend. When my kids were little I sometimes tried to work when they were around but what ended up happening was that I felt guilty for not giving them my best attention, and then I didn’t give my work my best attention either.

So it’s really important you create a specific timetable where you can work without distractions.

When the kids are on school holidays, for instance, I work when they are in bed: early mornings and evenings and after lunch when they watch a movie. This works well because I can concentrate and also be disciplined so that I’m not working when it’s focused time with them.

Conclusion

There are many work-from-home options. To choose the best one for you and your family take into account your particular skills, availability, and circumstances. Like any job, be realistic and know that it won’t always be easy, but pray that God would lead you to the best He has for you, and trust that He will enable you.

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