What it Means to Be a Work At Home Mom

When I first became a mom, I worked outside the home at a B&B and would bring Princess to my sister's house while I worked.  Then, I was offered a babysitting job a few mornings a week by a friend and jumped at the chance since it would un-officially turn me into a stay-at-home mom.  I say un-official because I took my kids to her house instead of the other way around, but it was good enough for me!  Then, I started my boutique in August, 2010 and became a work-at-home mom.

Having been in all three mom "situations" (working mom, stay-at-home-mom, and work-at-home-mom), I can say that being a WAHM mom has been the hardest for me.  When I worked outside the home, I could leave my work at work, plus no one was at my house messing it up while I was working.  When I was a SAHM, I was able to do my housecleaning and errands in the morning, relax during naptime, and play with the kids the rest of the day.  However, being a WAHM means that I'm always working or thinking about the work I need to do, the kids are home all day to make messes for me to clean up, and I'm constantly trying to simultaneously parent while working.

Here's what my day usually looks like:
I wake up with Star and feed her breakfast.  When she's done, I turn on the computer and start answering emails, checking on my websites, updating listings, writing, etc.  The older two kids wake up and I stop to feed them breakfast, then it's back to the computer.
Around 9:30, I'm done with computer work and ready to start housecleaning, but wait!  Another customer has a question about a custom order and I need to check availability of fabric and search for it online so I can order it and get started on the custom order right away.  Meanwhile, the kids start fighting over a toy or someone throws a tantrum.  When I'm done on the computer again, it's time to run to town for errands such as buying groceries, mailing packages, etc.
Back home and back to housecleaning around 11.  Whoops, never mind, I've got to start lunch for the kids and Hubby, if he's home that day.  I feed the kids again, clean up the kitchen, and lay them down for naps.  Lunchtime for me usually consists of a few wolfed down bites of food while I check emails again. 
During naptime, I check my order list and work on any outstanding orders.
Around 3, the kids get up and I realize that I still haven't started any laundry or done much housecleaning except for a quick clean-up of the kitchen after lunch.  But now it's time to feed Star again and give the big kids a snack.  After snack, I get back to work with my sewing even though I'm interrupted every 3.8 minutes to deal with the kids.
This continues until suppertime at which point, it's back into the kitchen to make supper for the kids and feed them.  After supper it's baths and bedtime.  After I put the kids to bed, I get back to work.  You would think that since they're in bed, I'd have time to work un-interrupted, but Little Man fights sleep tooth and nail, and Star usually wakes up once after she goes to bed and needs to be soothed back to sleep.  Around 8:30, I start supper for Hubby and me.  Hubby gets home between 9 and 10:30 and we eat together.  I spend some time talking to him about the day unless there's a rush order I need to finish, in which case, he watches tv by himself while I sit right behind the couch at my sewing machine so he can't hear the tv.
Then it's finally time to go to bed so I can get up the next morning and do it all over again.
 
Keep in mind that if I'm babysitting that day, all of the stuff I would usually do in the morning gets pushed back until after lunch.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I love love LOVE my job and wouldn't change it for the world!  Here's the thing that bothers me...many people assume that because I'm home all day, that it means I'm free to pack the kids up for an activity or do a favor for them.

I'm not.

Just because I'm at home does not mean that I'm not working.  I may not punch a time clock, but my job is still important to me and my family.  My sewing is not just a hobby, it is a business with real customers who pay real money and who deserve quality customer service.

I found some shirts on Pinterest that I need to add to my wardrobe: 

Source: zazzle.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: cafepress.com via Hannah on Pinterest

So next time your WAHM friend says she can't make it to playgroup because she has to work, don't think she's just trying to get out of it.  She really does have to work.  At her job.  Or when she complains that she's so tired that she can't even see straight, don't ask her why she doesn't go to bed earlier or rest when the kids nap, because those are her prime work hours.  Instead, offer to take her kids for a few hours occasionally or do a babysitting swap.  Give her encouragement and tell her that, even though this is incredibly hard, she can do it.  Take her work seriously, and please, please, please, don't tell her that it's nice she has a little hobby to keep her busy. I've been told this before and it really kind of makes me want to tap into my crazy scary lady side. 
 
After all, no matter what kind of mom we each are, we all struggle sometimes.  Can we please just support each other here?


Thanks so much for visiting Supermommy!...Or Not.  I'd love for you to like me on facebook" and follow me on Twitter! 
    

WAHM-Part 3

The children's boutique world can be pretty competitive.  I've found a few other boutique owners who were willing to share tips on how they built their business, and I greatly appreciated their time and help.  It can be hard when you're just starting out.  When I opened my boutique, I thought, "This won't be too hard, you just make stuff and sell it."  Wrong.  There is SO much more to running your own business than just the products.

Where to sell/ market:

Facebook
I started out selling on a fan page on Facebook.  I've seen some pages that have a zillion random photo albums which can really confuse people.  This will deter customers from browsing, which is not what you want.  Treat the photo albums like a catalog.  Put each type of product in an album and make sure to go through the albums periodically to "clean them up."

I recommend going to "edit page" and working your way down the list on the left hand side.  Fill in as much information as you can.  Be sure to choose a username (ex: www.facebook.com/annaliesbabyboutique) to make it easier to direct people to your page.

Keep your eyes open for giveaways that you can enter one of your products in.  Generally speaking, people will have to like your fan page to enter to win so it's a good way to get your numbers and traffic up on your page. 

The good thing about using Facebook is that it's easy to network.  The bad thing is that people can't search for the type of products you sell on Facebook.  They basically have to stumble on your page.  However, it is definitely a good marketing tool and a great way to interact with your customers.  There are a multitude of free promotional pages on Facebook that you can utilize to get your name out.  Here's some of the ones I use.  Make sure you read each page's rules before advertising.  Some of these pages also have websites you can register on.
USA Proud Shoutouts
The Craft Show
Trendy Links
The WAHM Hub
marketmommies
Handmade Show and Tell
Made in the USA-A Boutique Collection
Top Mom Shoppes
WAHM Pages
Hot Mama Network
Mama Made USA-Products made by WAHM's
Mommy Link-Promote Your Page
The Mom Shoppe

Ecrater
Facebook rules state that you can't actually sell on Facebook, but can direct customers to an outside site to purchase from which is why I also started a site on ecrater.  Ecrater is free, and anyone can sell whatever they like on the site.  It's easy to set up and use.  The only downside to it is that not many people have heard of it, so your traffic may not be very high. 

Twitter
Set up a twitter account for your business and link it to your facebook fan page so your activity on your page will be sent out as tweets.

Etsy
Most people have heard of Etsy which means that there's a lot of traffic on the site.  Everything you need to know about making your shop on Etsy successful can be found here.

Blog
Start a blog to help advertise your business.  I use blogger for mine.  This is also essential if you plan to have any giveaways on your Facebook page as there are some strict rules about giveaways and promotions on Facebook.  If you're caught breaking the rules, Facebook will close your page down.  NOT a good thing to have to rebuild from the ground up!  Here's a link to the current Facebook rules. 


How to Sell/Market:

Pictures

• Use models whenever you can.  There are a ton of boutique modeling sites on Facebook that connect boutiques with models. One of my favorites are Little Diamond Models. 
• If you can't get a model, invest in a good mannequin.  These can be found on Ebay for reasonable prices.
• Take pictures using natural light-NO fluorescent!
• Take pictures against a plain white background or a natural setting.  Outdoors is the best, but you can also create a "photo studio" indoors with a white sheet and natural lighting.  
• Use a photo editing software such as picmonkey to edit pictures and add watermarks.
• Show as much detail as you can.  Get closeups and faraway shots.  Try all different angles.  If you haven't already, invest in a decent digital camera so you can take a ton of shots and then choose the best ones.

Choose your products

• Be unique, think outside the box.  If you make the same thing as everyone else does, what's going to bring the customers to you versus someone else?
• Find what you're good at and specialize in it.  I tested a lot of products before realizing that my niche is boutique style children's clothing and accessories.  Don't spread yourself too thin, some people told me that they were overwhelmed with all the selection I had at first.  Also, the more variety of products you have, the more stock you're going to have to have on hand which means more money up front and overall.
• Brand yourself.  Get business cards, address labels, etc.  At Vistaprint, you can get business cards, t-shirts, address labels, bags, banners, car magnets etc. for the price of shipping as long as you watch for their specials.  Get labels or hang tags for your products so people will know where they bought them from and come back for more.  Labels also make merchandise look more professional.

Marketing and Advertising

•  Find your target market (my target market is moms with kids ages NB-8 years)
• Set your pricing to reflect your target market.  Don't underprice as people will undervalue your work and won't buy from you.  Don't overprice as obviously this will also deter customers.  Do a google or etsy search on the type of product you're trying to price to see what others are charging for it.  My rule of thumb is to not be the lowest or the highest priced.  Don't forget to take into account the cost of your materials and time.  For more information on pricing, go here.
• Always keep business cards in your purse to hand out to people.  When I go out, I sometimes put my kids in clothing I've made and then when people compliment their outfits, I hand them a business card (or to up the cute factor, have your kids hand them out :)  Hand out business cards everywhere you go, put several in packages you're shipping, if you do craft shows, hand them out to everyone who stops by your table. 
• Advertise at daycares, homeschool coops, mom forums (on many of them, you can add a "signature" which will automatically be added with your post.  Use your website as your signature), review blogs, parenting groups, facebook, twitter, etsy teams, etc. 

Packaging and Shipping

• Be sure your packaging looks professional.  Wrap your products neatly in tissue paper, add a handwritten note to thank the customer for their order, etc.  People remember the little details.  
• For more information on how to ship your products, go here.  

Keeping Records 

•  Save all of your receipts for supplies, keep track of mileage to the post office, stores, etc.  Ask your tax preparer for advice on what you can and can't write off as a business expense on your taxes.
• Keep records of your orders in the order they're received so you don't forget anything.  This will also serve as a record of your income.  I use googledocs so I can access the records from any computer and don't have to worry about files getting deleted on my computer.
  

Other helpful links:
How to Create a QR Code
How to Schedule Posts On Facebook
How to Make Your Blog Post "Pinnable"

If you have any questions, you can email me at annaliesbabyboutique@yahoo.com.


Thanks so much for visiting Supermommy!...Or Not.  Please take a moment to "like" me on facebook"!  

 

WAHM-Part 2

In July of 2010, I realized that I could start my own page on Facebook and use it as a platform for selling things I made.  I shared my excitement with my older sister, and talked her into starting this business venture with me.  It was agreed that we would each pay for half the supplies, get half the profits, and do half the work.  She had an old sewing machine that a relative had given to her, and so we set it up and got to work trying to figure out how to run it.  She had never touched a sewing machine before, and I hadn't used one since I made a wrap skirt for myself while staying with my grandma during high school.  We soon realized that the sewing machine was too old and didn't work properly anymore (thus the relative no longer wanting it).  Not to be deterred, we decided that we'd just sew everything by hand until we could afford a new sewing machine.  The first thing I made was a pillowcase dress for Princess.  It took me 2 straight days of handstitching, but it turned out pretty cute.  I made a kerchief to match and we were in business.

I opened our Facebook page in the beginning of August, 2010 and we dubbed it Annalie's Baby Boutique.  We came up with the name by combining our names together (Hannah + Leah = Annalie) and by playing around with my daughter's name a little.  Thanks to some friends who spread the word about our new venture, the page was soon gaining fans rapidly.  The most exciting moment came when I was scrolling through the list of fans and realized we had our first fan who was not an acquaintance or a relative! 

We dove into the boutique head first, making shopping trips to JoAnn Fabrics and cutting out fabric like two scissor crazed maniacs.  We started out making pillowcase dresses, baby washcloths, burp cloths, snuggle taggies, and a few other miscellaneous products.  Before we knew it, the orders were rolling in...to the tune of approximately less than 1 a week.  Hey, it was a start! 

We knew that handstitching all our products wasn't exactly time efficient so I asked around and ended up borrowing my mother-in-law's sewing machine.  It was around 50 years old, very heavy, and the bobbin winder didn't work.  I used it for several weeks, teaching myself to thread the machine by watching videos on youtube.com.  And then, I moved it from the kitchen table to a small area I'd created behind the couch in the living room to be my sewing "room".  And somehow, the wiring went out during the short 4 yard move.  It was time to go shopping for my own sewing machine.  I ended up buying a Babylock Natalie edition...a $400.00 machine that was on sale for $200.  I love it and it was worth every penny of the 50% off price.

My sister soon dropped out of the business.  She still helped me out with cutting fabric or watching my kids when I needed to get a lot of work done, but by October, it was MY boutique.  The profit was all mine and *gulp* the expenses were all mine.  I continued to add new products to the boutique and began branching out on the internet.  I opened a shop on ecrater.com because the price was right (ecrater is completely free :).   I knew several other boutique owners who used it and they seemed to be doing pretty well.  I started a Twitter account and linked it up to my Facebook page.  I started advertising on Facebook pages that specialize in helping small boutiques out (look for a complete list in WAHM-Part 3).  I ordered free business cards and other business merchandise at Vistaprint.com.  I signed up for craft shows and expos.  I worked hard at promoting my boutique and it was worth it.  I found out that you can't just sit there and expect people to find you, you have to go out and find them.

At some point, my products began changing.  As I tried out different ideas, I soon came to realize what I enjoyed making the most.  My boutique evolved from selling baby items to boutique style clothing for girls AND boys.  Most boutiques only sell girl clothing, but since I have a little boy too, I felt I needed to include boys in the picture. 

In January, I started my own website... and found out how much work that is.  I also realized that, while having your own website is a good thing, you're really on your own there.  On Ecrater and Facebook, I was one of many sellers and so people were more likely to stumble on my shop.  At this point, my website badly needs a makeover, but I just don't have 87 free hours to make it happen.

Since I started my boutique, people had been suggesting that I start a shop on Etsy.  I checked it out and was intimidated by the impressive photography and the professional feel to the shops already on Etsy.  I definitely wasn't at that level yet and didn't feel as if I could compete on Etsy.  Finally, in April, 2011, I bit the bullet and I went for it.  And I'm so glad I did.  It's been a great way to get more people to stop by my boutique, and I'm at a level professionally that it works well for me. 

So here I am today...my business is growing slowly but surely and I'm loving every minute of it (most of the time).  I was planning to put all my tips and advice in this post, but apparently I'm too longwinded, lol.  Look for all that WAHM-Part 3 which will be posted sometime in the next few days.

WAHM-Part 1

Oh, did I say a while back that I was going to be sure to post at least once a week from now on?  And it's been 21 days since I last darkened the door of my blog?  Oops.  Well, here I am.

I'm a WAHM mom.  Sort of.  I also babysit outside the home, but I take my kidlets with me so I'm not giving up any time with them.

I used to work part-time at a B&B and the library, but I was miserable dropping my precious little girl off at my sister's house everyday instead of being with her myself.  My sister would send me text and picture messages throughout the day to tell/show me what Princess was up to, but it wasn't the same. 

I was getting more and more depressed about working outside the home because I've always felt that my place was at home caring for my children and husband.  Sounds 50's, I know, but that's what I wanted.  For those of you who think that staying at home to be a wife and mother mean you're not accomplishing anything with your life...I happen to believe that raising future functioning mature responsible adults is a HUGE deal.  And a LOT of work.  I have hobbies, but at this season of my life, my family is my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.  Someday when the kidlets are grown and moved out *sob* I'll be able to focus on those hobbies more and cultivate new ones.

Oooookay.  Back on track here.  One day I went to talk to my Pastor's wife because I was so depressed about my job situation.
I said, "If God really loves me and wants what's best for me, why isn't He enabling me to stay home with the baby that HE blessed me with?!?"
She said, "Maybe God is trying to teach you to be content no matter what."
I said, *Gulp* "Wow."

Because it had just hit me like a ton of bricks.  I'm one of those pessimistic, the world hates me, my life kinda stinks people.  I'm never quite happy with what I have and being thankful is something I really need to work on.  I went home, did some serious time on my knees and came up realizing that she was right.  And somehow, admitting my lack of thankfulness to God and asking forgiveness changed my outlook.  I still wasn't crazy about the job situation and my boss wasn't any nicer, but it didn't bother me like before.  Less than two weeks later, I got a call from someone I knew from an ECFE class I took Princess to.  She was looking for someone to babysit her two children in her home and was willing to pay enough that I would be able to quit my job at the B&B.  I told her I'd talk to Hubby about it and let her know.  When I hung up the phone, I started crying because I couldn't believe how quickly God had provided for me when I changed my attitude.  Hubby was all for the change and so, I called her back and said "YES!" 

I've always been crafty (in more ways than one, my siblings would say).  When I was little, I designed and made clothes for my dolls and once, for my little sister.  Since my mom doesn't like sewing or crafts, I was self-taught (aka used the wrong techniques, end product didn't turn out well, etc.) But it was a start and that desire to create things never left me.  After Princess was born, I found myself drooling over custom made baby things that you couldn't buy at wal-mart and thinking, "I could make this."  But I wanted to do more than just make a few things for my own baby, I wanted to make enough to sell!  I wanted to make unique baby items that other mommies could enjoy and use too.  But I didn't have a sewing machine and I had no idea how I could market my products.  Then, one day, everything changed.  I clicked on a sidebar ad on Facebook for Listia.  While browsing the auctions there, I came across a taggie blanket made with adorable blue and brown guitar print flannel.  I fell in love with it and...lost the auction.  Which led me to follow the link to the seller's website to see if I could buy one directly from her.  I was surprised to be directed to her Facebook page and was really surprised when I realized that one could actually operate an online store of sorts on Facebook (disclaimer: Facebook rules state that an individual or business cannot actually sell products on Facebook due to liability issues, but can post products and direct potential customers to a website to purchase.)

I'm going to stop now before this post gets too long.  Check back for WAHM-Part 2 to hear the rest of my story and to get tips on how to start your own WAHM business!