How Professional Moms Work From Home

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There are many professional moms working from home, as they have chosen to stay home with children while they are young, or just because they are tired of the rat-race of working for someone else, or some reason in between. These may be moms who had very high profile tech positions or simply ladies that had the drive to make it working at home because it was just that important to them. Today I want to celebrate and offer tips to these moms who are already working from home and making it, as well as the moms that are just starting out or thinking about taking the plunge.

The Freelancer

This type of mom works for herself, but does work for others on an as needed or ongoing basis. She could be a writer, marketing assistant, blogger, tech guru, etc. This is how many moms start out working from home, professionally. There is more than one way to get started and work as a freelancer, here are a few:

• Content Mills

These are sites that clients and writers join, the clients post what they are looking for in content and the writers chose the jobs they want to take. Usually the pay is based on your track record, you have to work your way up to better paying projects. Typically, these pay very poorly but if you are really into writing and want to get started this is a good choice. It is pretty easy and quick to work your way up to top pay if you write articles all day and get good reviews from the clients.

The companies take a percentage or some type of fee from either the client or the writer or sometimes both, to cover their overhead for the site. Payments are usually electronic and maybe weekly, bi-weekly or monthly a few actually let you take a draw when you choose if your balance is at a certain amount.

• Freelance websites
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These sites are similar to content mills as far as freelancers and clients both join and post projects or bid on said projects. The difference is the bidding and that you have direct contact with the client. Payments are available once the client approves the work and releases the escrow. Some sites hold your payment 7-10 days after the client has paid. If the monies are held in escrow (paid but pending approval) there should not be an additional waiting period. These sites also have fees, usually to both the client and the freelancer. Sometimes there is a membership requirement, but almost always there is a free option with limited options.

These sites can be very good options for freelance income. In order to have steady income you usually have to belong to several sites and spend time regularly bidding on projects. When work is slow it can become a full time job searching and bidding on projects. Many times you will find repeat clients that will request you directly, this is a definite goal.

• Market yourself/private clients

Many at home moms are either lucky enough to be professionally established and have brought clients home with them, or they are tech savvy in finding their own private clients from home. Finding private clients is great, it allows you to deal directly with the client and avoid the fees and overhead of using freelance sites and content mills. You may also get busy enough that you need to hire other freelancers or specialized freelancers using Clockspot is a great way to manage contracted staff remotely.