Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

This is a continuation of the Cross Blog Conversation I am having with Cindi Matthews from Moomettesgram’s Musing.  In my first post I talked about doing something you have a passion for and why I am passionate about being a WAHM.  Cindi responded that she loves to research and she has since she was a child.  She calls herself a wanna-be Librarian :) She uses her research skills as a paralegal and went back to college in her 40’s.  Awesome!  Cindi always believes in having a Plan B.  Both of her daughters are proud of her hard work.  And Lil Moomette is her granddaughter’s nickname, hence Cindi is Moomettesgram!

Cindi has asked me:

Do you have a personal growth timeline set up?  Where do you see yourself, career wise in 5 years?  10 years?  Do you have a Plan B in place if your work-at-home dreams don’t come to fruition?  Do you expect or foresee yourself taking any steps, formal education-wise to effect any changes if your current plans fall through?

Oh Cindi, you do not know the can of worms you have just opened!  Being new to the whole WAHM community has really excited me and has changed my focus.  I have a website where I focus on makeup tutorials, and although I get a fair amount of traffic, it is not the money maker I thought it would be, so I am planning on letting that go and focusing on other areas.  I really want to do something in the WAHM area, and a mommy blog and creating some info products, which I am figuring out now.  It hurts my head :)

Right now, my personal growth that needs to be done, is what a lot of new WAHMs have to figure out, WordPress, an autoresponder, getting traffic to the blogs, etc.  I am going through the resources at Mom Masterminds – there is so much to learn in the Resource Center!  I would like to learn all of that before the baby comes (4-6 weeks).  I also did my first podcast interview on WAHM Talk Radio this week, which was really fun and a big learning curve. I love to learn and research (I totally get the research thing Cindi and I would have loved to be a librarian too) so I have been in my glory.  I cuddle up with the WordPress for Dummies Version 2 book at night.  Like most new WAHMs I am still in the researching and learning phase, but quickly moving over to the action phase.

In 5 years …. wow 2014!!  Does that not seem crazy?  OK I will be 40 … I see myself working from home creating my own fun projects (info products, membership sites, web apps, etc.) and also helping hubby out with his.  He has a ton of ideas, so we work on some stuff together and other stuff separately.  He would also be working from home.  I would like to be giving back in some way to the community, maybe taking on interns or coaching newbies or something to give other people a head start.  Kelly has given all of us interns a wonderful opportunity and I would like to do the same for others one day when I am successful.    In 5 years I would definitely want to be self-sufficient should I ever need to be.

In 10 years – I would say more of the same with some nice vacations thrown in there!  I am not sure if it is a male/female thing, but I am content to make enough money to be comfortable and have some savings while hubby wants to take over the world.  If he succeeds at global domination, I will still want to do my own thing from home, doing what I am passionate about, what fulfills me and what makes money.  My daughter will be 10, so I want to inspire her to work hard and go after her won dreams.

Do I have a Plan B?  Not really.  Like a lot of WAHMs I have a health issue that makes working at an office or during normal business hours not possible.  Sometimes I take a lot of meds and I am very sleepy.  Sometimes I have to rush to the hospital.  My health is sketchy and I cannot depend on my body anymore.  Finding out so many other WAHMs have serious health issues has really helped me deal with all of this.  In order to have a job, I will have to work from home.  Of course that doesn’t mean I have to work for myself, and perhaps I can find a good work at home job.  I guess that is my Plan B.

Formal education is not really my thing, I did 2 years of university, but I learn much better on my own.  I don’t think I even realized my particular learning style until I was in my late 20s and I am pretty sure I have some sort of ADD.  Focus is a big issue for me.  I would really like to learn Graphic Design and if I could find a reputable online place to learn it, I would love to take courses.  I should have taken Graphic Design at college, I was accepted to a program, but I wanted to move out, so I went to university a few hours away.  That was smart for my sanity, but not for my career!  If anyone can help point me to a Graphics Program, that would be fantastic.

I have already mentioned how helpful Mom Masterminds is to us new WAHMs and ones who have been doing it for a while.  The resource section is chock full of fantastic information and there is always someone (or 2 or 5) on the forums ready to answer a question.  I also really enjoy WAHM Talk Radio Podcasts, Profitable Mommy Blogging (blog and podcast), Internet Marketing This Week Podcast and Alice Seba’s Sweetie Saturday Report Club.

Cindi – What resources (free and paid) on the internet have helped you the most with your online business?  How have they changed your business?  What is the best advice you have received that has helped propel your business forward?