This post may contain affiliate links.
Do you want to be home with your babies, but need to figure out a way to make it work from a financial standpoint? This post will show you how I make money from home online!
Raise your hand if talking about money makes you a little bit uncomfortable! Writing this post is definitely out of my comfort zone, but this is probably the most common question that I am asked. In 2019 I left my full time classroom teaching job for a job I love even more, being full time mom. However, I cringe a little bit when I tell people that I am a stay at home mom because that really isn’t the truth. I work my tail off running my online business, I’m just able to do it at home with EK under my desk trying to unplug things. It’s so hard, but it’s such a blessing to not miss out on this special time with her.
When it became public knowledge that I was leaving the classroom to be home with my baby, many of the comments from coworkers and friends broke my heart. There are SO many mamas out there want to be home with their babies, but aren’t able to because of finances. If staying home with your kids isn’t your thing, I totally get that too! It’s definitely not for everyone, but I hate that it isn’t a choice for many families. This post isn’t meant to serve as an income report of anything like that, but I want to give you some ideas for making money online using a website (like me) and show you how I am able to make money while being at home with my little love. Here are a few ways that I make money from home:
Selling online products
Online products have exploded over the past few years and the industry is only expected to increase! I love that you can make a great product one time and sell it over and over and over…
The first online product that I sell is printable teaching resources for educators and parents using a website called Teachers Pay Teachers. I actually started selling on the website back in 2011 when I was student teaching! The website has changed and grown so much since then! I absolutely love this website and what it has done for so many teachers. Forever, teachers have created their own materials and this website has given them a way to monetize their work while literally helping educators around the globe. These are a few of the online products that I sell:
How to Make Lemonade Craft and Writing
This year I have also expanded my online products to include courses. My first course Ready, Set, Kindergarten is available now! This course was created to help parents prepare their children for Kindergarten. It contains checklists, videos of information for parents and printable resources. You can peek inside my course HERE or even download some freebies for your preschooler HERE.
You can create a course too! I really believe that everyone has a special skill that they could turn into a course. Can you knit? Do you know how to feed a family of 4 for less than $50 a week? Do you know how to start a homestead? There is something that you can teach others how to do! Turn that knowledge into an online course! There are many platforms for hosting course, but I use Kajabi. It required NO coding (cue the praise hands) and was SO user friendly! If you are interested in creating a course, use this link to start your free trial!
Blogging
Sometimes I feel like blogging gets a bad name. I actually started my blog back in 2011 under the name Yeehaw! Teaching in Texas and at the time blogging was totally like an online journal. I literally wrote things like this:
“Happy Saturday! It’s such a beautiful weekend! Sunny and 87 degrees! I wish I was feeling better. I must have picked up a little bug or something from the kids this week. I’m feeling achy, tired and light headed. Not a fun way to spend a beautiful weekend!”
At the time many people read blogs daily and it’s just not like that anymore! Today, blogs are more like websites with articles of information. Chances are, you won’t have a ton of success and readers if you just post a play by play of your life and leave it on internet and wait for people to find it. Blogs take promoting and need traffic to be successful. Here are some of the ways I help people to find my website:
- Pinterest: This is truly the number one way I drive traffic to my website! Tailwind is an amazing tool to make pinning easier too!
- Email: I regularly send emails to my email list letting them know about new content and posts on my website. I have used various email marketing companies over the years, but I currently use FloDesk. It makes it SO easy for me to create beautiful, on brand emails! It’s a newer option, but I can’t say enough good things about it. You can click HERE to sign up for FloDesk and save 50% on you subscription cost each month.
If you want to start a blog or website. I recommend purchasing a domain name through Blue Host. There are a lot of services out there that do this, but I like Blue Host because it’s affordable, integrates easily with Word Press and I have had good luck with their customer service team.
If the thought of designed a website makes you want to pull your hair out or you just want things set up the right way from the start, I highly recommend working with a web designer. Jumping Jax Designs created this website and they are my go to people! Click HERE to learn more about how they can help!
After your blog or website is created, you have to create content that people need and that they are searching for. My best advice is to create tons of content and use it across multiple platforms and see what your audience likes, then create more of that! I also am a firm believer in GIVE, GIVE, GIVE! I give away TONS of content for free! Content takes time to build and create, but it can be used across multiple platforms and referenced for forever!
Here are some of the most popular posts on my website:
Once you have a blog or website set up, here are a few ways to make money using it:
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are great because it’s basically just recommending products you love to friends, just online! When people click on your affiliate link and purchase something, you make a commission from the sale. People purchasing through your link pay any extra so it’s a win-win for everyone! The commission is usually not very much, but it can add up quickly. Different companies handle affiliate links and marketing differently, so definitely do some research! Here are a few affiliate marketing programs that I am part of:
Share a Sale: This is a great place to start your affiliate marketing journey! You can apply with different merchants to help promote their products.
Amazon Affiliates: Let’s just be honest Amazon has everything! You can post links of Amazon products or even create an Amazon storefront to keep everything in one place!
Reward Style: This whole thing confused me for a long time! Reward Style is the back end of the popular LikeToKnowIt app. It is super helpful for keeping your links organized and sharing items from a picture in one place. I can share a picture of EK’s play room and link the furniture, my favorite puzzle organizer and craft storage all in one spot! If you need a referral to join, please let me know!
Referral Programs
Referral programs pay you when you refer someone else to their program. It’s like affiliate marketing, but you benefit when someone signs up for something. Just like with affiliate links, I only share programs that I use myself! Here are are few referral programs that I am part of:
Rakuten: For months I had been seeing commercials for Rakuten, but I didn’t have time to look into it more because #newmom. But after a friend was talking about all the money she was getting back from it, I decided to check it out. It seriously couldn’t be any easier. Just go to their site and create an account. Then they have an extension that you can install on your browser and every time you go to a shopping website (Hello Amazon.com!) it pops up and tells you what their cash back deal is. You just click activate and shop like usual! Then you get cash back. It’s seriously SO simple and takes no time! I kick myself for not doing it sooner. You can go HERE to sign up and get $10 bonus with your first $25 purchase!
Walmart Grocery: We started picking up groceries from Walmart when I was pregnant with EK and have been doing it since! You can click HERE to save $10 off your first order from Walmart Grocery!
Sponsored Posts
I really don’t do these often unless I really LOVE a product or a message, but many people do and make money this way, especially on social media. Sometimes companies will come across your account and approach you about doing a sponsored post or if there is a company you want to work with, you can always reach out to them as well. There are also influencer marketing agencies that connect bloggers and influencers to brands.
Ads
Once you start getting enough traffic to your website, you can apply with various ad agencies to earn money! Google Ad Sense is a great place to start, or you can also specifically choose ads from different companies to feature on your website that your audience would be interested in!
I hope this post showed you how I make money from home online and inspired you to think about doing the same! If you have any more questions, send them my way!
