Nickole Prack of Stayin’ Home and Lovin’ It

Name: Nickole Prack

Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a work at home Mom with two beautiful boys, Collin who is 3, and Liam who is 1. They are the highlight of my life.

What is your business name and web address:
Stayin’ Home and Lovin’ It http://NickoleWorkingFromHome.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
I wanted to be the one to raise my children. I also want to work toward bringing my husband home within the next year and help us to be financially free.

Tell us a little about your business:
I work in referral marketing. I get paid to tell others about the wonderful products that my company offers. There is no selling, inventory, collections, or delivery. It’s the best home business I have ever looked into, and become part of.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women:
All you have to do to succeed is to keep trying, and never give up.

What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Message boards

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
I bought some leads from a certain coop and called a woman who lived in South Carolina. I only call people if they request information from me, I would never call someone who didn’t request. The woman was so incredibly rude to me that I lost confidence and really just felt like giving up. After talking to my support group, I discovered that someone who is in another state and whom I will never talk to again, can have no direct effect on my life unless I let them. So now I just move on and say, “NEXT!”

Terry An of Sticker This Sticker That

Name: Terry An

Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a mom of 2 teens and a 9 year-old, who is my helper and best supporter of my new internet business, and a wife of a man who is a great dad.

What is your business name and web address:
Sticker This Sticker That at http://www.stickerthisstickerthat.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
I was listening to Dr. Laura Schlessinger who is a popular radio pesonality and she strongly supports WAHMS and their efforts to find work that allows them to stay home with the kids. I never knew there was an option besides going to work full time to support the family, and she pointed me in the right direction…internet business. I still have to work but am striving to be a 100% WAHM.

Tell us a little about your business:
There are many people who struggle with what to buy a child for birthdays and holidays. They have to spend many hours at the mall and toy store trying to decide what to buy and whether if the gift would be age appropriate and whether if the parents would appreciate the gift or not.

We offer an alternative to the one-time traditional gift by sending “new” stickers & crafts to the child’s mailbox. Personalized with a message from the sender, the child love it because each month a gift will be waiting for them in the mailbox, and parents love it because it encourages the child’s creativity and to use their imagination.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women:
I want other women to know that there is a great resource of WAHMS in the internet community who can help them achieve their dream of eventually becoming a WAHM. I am still working at it and hope to achieve that dream soon. I wish I had know about this great opportunity when my kids were younger.

What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
My site has been through many changes since it’s inception in March, 2005. I have done some advertising, banner rotations and being listed in WAHM directories, but I think the most exposure comes from joining networks such as the Ryze and Mompack.

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
I have not run across a bad experience yet. All the people I have met have been honest and generous with me. I hope that continues, but if I do run across such an experience, I know there is a resource of women out there who will help me through it.

Sonya T of The Tooth Faerie

Name: Sonya T

Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a SAHM to a 2 yr old and also trying to make extra cash seeing as my husband is going to be layed off soon. I make Tooth Fairy pillows and more and also am opening up a graphics site.

What is your business name and web address:
The Tooth Faerie www.the-tooth-faerie.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
My little girl. I always knew I wanted to home school her and be at home with her.

Tell us a little about your business:
Tooth Fairy pillows with a personal touch and also recycled paper for cards or scrapbook items.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women :
It will take quite a bit of time to get any real business kicked off and alot of trial and error.

What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
As of now I have only had my business up for about 3 months. The best way I have had sales is moms on Mom Boards out there

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
Time frames. Make sure if you have a special order available make sure they know time frames may get changed. And always stay in contact with your customers.

To Hire Or Not To Hire-The Babysitter Dilemma

If you work at home you may need to weigh the benefits against the possible pitfalls of hiring a babysitter. Each situation carries its own unique set of pros and cons. If relatives do not live nearby and you have to resort to outside help, potential strangers, to care for your children part of the day, please be thorough in your choices.

Mom’s who work from home and are assessing the possibility of hiring a babysitter can approach the dilemma from various angles. The schedule, a potential babysitter may need to adhere to can be more flexible when you work from home. The need for a babysitter is usually as important in this situation as if you work out of the house.

Work at home mom’s can use a babysitter to carry the bulk of the day so that productivity in the business side of life is not “stop and start.” Getting in the groove of work and going with the flow for a solid five hours or more constitutes a productive day. Stopping periodically to answer the phone, address the kids dilemmas, or make lunch for everyone can be distracting.

Whether you work from a home-based business or leave each day to work outside the home, the dilemma of hiring a babysitter has part to do with the trust factor and part to do with the guilt factor. There are many horror stories of people who abuse children. There are also millions of loving and nurturing individuals whose goal in life is to provide safe and secure babysitting services for people like you.

There is one main key to hiring a babysitter, follow your gut feelings. If you feel uneasy about any aspect of the babysitting process or the individual you have hired, bail! It is better to be safe then sorry. Your child(ren) will give you the greatest indication of how successful the relationship is between them and the babysitter. So listen to your kids and if they are too small to have a voice their body language speaks volumes.

The Magic Act-Managing Your Time Before It Vanishes

There is just not enough time in the day. You’ve heard it before and if you are a work at home mom you’ve probably said it several times. You may have even said it several times today. Twenty-four hours seems eternity when you are anticipating a special event, but flies by far too rapidly on a normal day.

There are strategies that will help you manage your time more effectively and efficiently. Schedules have to be made even if you abhor structure. Visualizing the week all at once really creates the necessity to eliminate things you can live without. You may realize your children are involved in too many activities and you can’t be two places at once. That’s right even with all the technology we have clones are still “too controversial.” Sorry moms!

You may have to make a few schedules - one for home, one to keep the home based business rolling along smoothly, and one just for your personal time. The idea of scheduling is to eliminate a lot of clutter and guess work so the fewer schedules you need to adhere to the better your schedule will actually work.

Structuring your chores so that you are not looping around and backtracking like the kid in the Family Circle cartoon is a simple yet monumental achievement. In house chores as well as out of house chores are equally in need of being planned.

Structuring homework, dinner and bed for the kids and doing the same for your major chunks of time is a great way to keep everyone in a rhythm. This is not to say that you can’t deviate from the schedule from time to time. In order to manage time more effectively there should be a structure to the main core of events.

Keeping your home-based business on track and being certain deadlines are met, clients are happy, banking gets done is another reason for a separate business schedule. Incorporating the business life into the personal life is a unique process. This is a challenge for all mothers but holds a unique feature for work at home moms. Being at home and having to be separate from home is a challenge in and of itself. It can be achieved and has been successfully done, so don’t give in to the lack of time. Make time work for you.

Kristine Higginbotham of The Natural Life

Name: Kristine Higginbotham

Tell us a little about yourself:
I have two children ages 2 and 4. I enjoy cooing and going for walks.

What is your business name and web address:
The Natural Life Inc. http://www.thenaturallifestore.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
I do everything I can to help save the environment and life a natural lifestyle. This give me an opportunity to promote cloth diapers and help the environment and be at home with my kids.

Tell us a little about your business:
We offer natural and organic products at affordable prices. We have tie dyed baby and childrens clothing, pre-fold diapers, Fuzzi Bunz Diapers, Organic cotton crib sheets. We also have natural and organic skin care products such as bath products, cold creams, oils and lotions.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women:
Hang in there!

What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Diaperpin.com

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
I read that the best way to start an e-business was through Yahoo Small Business. I started out with them and it was very expensive and confusing. Plus, my website was not that great. I found a WAHM to re-build my website and it is much better and much cheaper!

Too Many Chiefs

When you start w0rking at h0me, you hold the sincere belief that you’re w0rking for yourself, your own b0ss, etc., etc.
Reality check!

You just get more b0sses. Being at h0me is being…available.

Your “spouse” (Whatever you call them, they’re all spouses - See my article entitled Spouses), your kids, your pets, all life forms within a 100 mile radius suddenly have things they’d like you to do.

Go here, pick up this, sponsor that, lead this, fix/build this, play that.

A little different than the old workplace, huh?

“Now, Milquetoast, your next project is…”

“Wait! My turn at b0ss!! Honey, could you just rebuild the kids’ bedroom from scratch today? Thanks!!”

“Yoohoo! The school is counting on you for the festival next week. Shall I put you down for say…50 hours???”

“Dad, Dad!! I found four new clubs and two more sports to join!!!”

“Barroo! Woof! Barrroooooo!!!!” (Beagle-ese, in case you’re not fluent).

And on , and on, and…

BUT…when you w0rk at h0me, you can control your b0sses (somewhat) by letting them all know the schedule YOU need and insisting they abide by it. If you don’t, you’ll have one less b0ss…yourself.

Oh, excuse me…The cat is having litter box issues.

Dan Reinhold is the proud author of “The WAHumor Way: Reality Check, Please!”, the essential primer for everyone starting a home business or even thinking about it. With two boys, a dog, a cat, a rat, a wife and a household to keep together to boot, Dan’s also the editor of WAHumor to hang on to his sanity by showing how insane the work-at-home community can be!

Subscribe quickly at WAHumor@aweber.com You could Win Big!!

Crystal Miller of Enchanted Potions

Name: Crystal Miller

Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m married to a great guy and a wahm to beautiful boys. My business keeps me very busy but when I can sneak a moment away I enjoy going to the fitness gym at the YMCA, staying in the shower an extra few minutes or getting a good Starbucks coffee to spoil myself with. (See, I’m very easy to please!)

What is your business name and web address:
Enchanted Potions www.enchantedpotions.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
Quite a few factors led to the startup of EP but the main reasons are my children, being able to be with them while still contributing financially to the family.

Tell us a little about your business:
My baby, Enchanted Potions grew from my own personal hobby of soap and toiltries making. We’ve grown from making a few simple soaps and lotions to now offering over 100 fragrances and also air fresheners for the home, car or office. We also offer a Direct sales program and are close to our 200th rep!

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women:
The very best advice I can offer is, no matter what type of business you’d like to start or join, make sure it makes you happy. Running any business can be hard work and they’ll be plenty of days that you ask yourself why you do it. It’s important to love what you do so you can talk yourself down from the clock tower so to speak when it gets overwhelming.
What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Word of Mouth always always always. You can place a million ads but they won’t do you any good if you don’t please your customer and have them brag to their friends, family, coworkers etc.

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
Ill Doers. There are lots of people out there who, for whatever reason don’t want you to succeed and you’ll encounter some of them on your climb to success. I’ve learned some of those people do that because they want to open the same kind of business and think if they put you down you’ll go away and they can have more customers (um, okay, lol) Others are just plain mean. You really have to develop a thick skin and learn to let the negative things bounce off. It hurts but you’ll gradually learn to accept constructive criticism and ignore the rest. In short, ignore the naysayers!

Kimberly Vetrano of FUNtastic Letters & Wraps

Name: Kimberly Vetrano

Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m a married mom of two. We live in the suburbs of NYC. My favorite hobbies are photography, writing, jewelry making, soap making and reading.

What is your business name and web address:
FUNtastic Letters & Wraps
http://www.FUNtasticLettersandWraps.com

What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
My family inspired me to start a home business. Living on one income is next to impossible in this day and age.We made the sacrifice of my income in order for me to be a stay at home mom to raise our children. It was the BEST decision we have ever made and I don’t regret it one bit. Being a stay at home mom is the BEST “job” I have ever had. But giving up that second income also meant giving up many of the “little luxuries” in life such as going to the movies, going out to dinner, ordering a pizza and trips to the zoo. To offset that I started a home business. Every penny I make in profit goes to my family so that we can do those little things in life. It’s a wonderful feeling taking your children to the zoo and watching them have a wonderful time knowing that your home business helped to make that happen. It’s all about making memories and giving my family the best that life can offer.

Tell us a little about your business:
My business had gone through a lot of changes over the years. I started my business in May 2003. Initially I sold just personalized candy wrapper and personalized letters to children (such as letters from Santa and the Easter Bunny). But over the years I have added new products and services and did away with products and services. But my niche is really personalized candy wrapping. I totally love what I do and with each order I learn more about my business and myself. I have made some great friends. Some are others who run home businesses. Other friends are actually my customers!
The main focus of my business now is personalized products. Aside from the candy wrappers I also make personalized gift cans, placements, memory/favor books, coloring books and more! Also available are rotating message pens, personalized apparel, gifts and so many other wonderful things. I’m always on the look out for great affordable products and services to offer my customers.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women?
Believe in yourself. I know it’s cliche, but it’s so true. I can’t tell you how many times I sit up late at night thinking to myself that I can’t do this, I can’t run a successful home business. I think it’s do more to stress and frustration more then anything else. Most of the times my orders run perfectly. But every now and then there is a “glitch” along the way and I panic and worry that I’m not providing excellent customer service and I’ll lose business. I still feel that way at times but then I stop myself and I make myself realize that I have been in business for two and a half years now, and my customers keep coming back and just re-reading the wonderful comments customers have sent me makes me realize that I CAN DO THIS and I DO A GOOD JOB and I just need to never stop believing in myself and my abilities.

What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Word of mouth. I get A LOT of business thanks to satisfied customers who recommended me to them. That is why I strive to provide EXCELLENT customer service. When you do your customers will appreciate that and remember you. And that is the best way to get some wonderful word of mouth advertising.

Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
Trying to please people TOO MUCH. I know we need to provide outstanding customer service, but sometimes that can just blow up in your face. To share an example. I had someone contact me looking for a rush job for some wrappers for a Bat Mitzvah. She needed them ASAP. I don’t work on the weekends unless I have to. My family comes first and foremost, but with this order I missed out on a family party to stay home and work on the order for her, coming up with samples, making a million little changes for her and everything. I finally got it to where she wanted it and I sent her an invoice for payment and even though she KNEW my prices, she sent me back an e-mail saying “Never mind” because she found someone who could sell her wrappers for LESS! And I was NOT charging her a rush fee and I worked all weekend on HER order and then she turns around and tells me to forget about it, that she is going someplace else. I wanted to scream!
As a result I have had to put up information on my site about my order procedures so that the same thing doesn’t happen anymore.
To quote the phrase “You can’t please everyone”. If you lose a customer because you won’t bend over backwards for them just move on. There are plenty of other customers out there just waiting for you to provide the service they are looking for.