If you’re looking for work at home and flexible job ideas and tips, head to the working from home section.

When deciding to take the plunge and become a work at home mum, it is essential to be realistic and consider the drawbacks. Working at home is not necessarily the best choice for all women and nor is it without complications and drawbacks.

It is important to consider whether you have the right type of personality for surviving as a WAHM. Depending on the job you decide upon it can be a very lonely career move.

The age of your children will also affect the decision you make. If you have very young children then you will need to think about how you will fit working around their routines and needs. Organisation and routines will be crucial to ensure success. It will also be important to get other family members on board with your decision to work at home.

Depending on the work at home job you have chosen you will need to find out whether there are any costs involved and whether you can meet them. It will be important to look at insurance requirements, equipment needed and whether there are any laws in place that relate to building usage if you decide to work in your own home.

Working at home, regardless of which type of job you decide upon, requires self-motivation as well as self-discipline. Many jobs will allow you to decide your own hours. Again routines and organisation will help you develop successful working practices.

Achieving a successful work-life balance can be really hard when you are a work at home mum. The distinction between work and home is blurred, especially if you are working for yourself as say, a blogger or an online store owner. To ensure that boundaries are not blurred and that you do not burn yourself out, set out a routine including proper work hours and try to stick to it.

Distractions can be a real drawback. From children to telephones and helpful friends wanting to stop by for a chat and cup of coffee. Again, if you have set a routine and work schedule in place then it should be fairly easy to ensure that friends and family will know when you are working and when you are available. For those times when it is an emergency and they really need you to drop everything and come now, use a safe word that will signal it is a ‘real’ emergency.

Finances can be a drawback as depending what type of job you chose it may be that pay is not received on a schedule similar to that from when you were employed outside the home. You will also be required to keep all financial records yourself and to submit a tax return. Creating a book-keeping system is essential.

Whilst there are drawbacks to being a work at home mum, there are many women who manage the transition successfully and build a new career. There are drawbacks to every career move but when weighed against the advantages you should be able to see whether it is a viable option for you.

There are many women who decide to work from home after having a child. Instead of letting a stranger in a daycare center look after their baby day after day while they work, mothers would rather stay home and take care of their children themselves.

Thus, they become work at home mums. Finding a job from home is a lot easier than you might think. However, it requires a great deal of time management skills.There are many tricks that you can use to help manage your time better as a mum working from home. Here are a few:

Work During Nap Time

If your son or daughter has a certain time each day that they take their nap, make the most of it. Use that time for work, getting as much done as you can. It may be one of the only uninterrupted times you have throughout the day. Also, work while they are sleeping still, either at night or early in the morning.

Plan Your Day

When working from home, it is important to plan out the day. You want to make sure that you have time not only for work, but your kids as well. Set up certain times throughout the day for playtime and activities with your kids, and other times where the children can have some alone time to play while you work.Keep a To-Do List

Having a to-do list handy is one of the best ways to manage your time. Whenever you get an assignment or have something to do for work, write it down for the correct day on your list. Be sure to also specify the time it is due. You can then estimate exactly which things need to be done first, and how much time you have for each of them.

By planning out your day, keeping a list of things to do, and working while your kids sleep, you will be able to manage your time much better as a working mum from home. You will have the best of both worlds, still being able to work and earn an income, but also being able to be with your babies.

Whether you are a WAHM from Australia, New Zealand, UK, US and Canada, or anywhere else in the world, you can find a job that allows you to get the time with your children that you both deserve.

My work gives me the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life—from high-powered executives to work-at-home professionals. One thing I found in common among these people is the desire to land a “dream job.”

But what is a “dream job?” Is this being promoted to manager, wearing a nice suit? Is this managing your own business? Or earning so much money you can retire and not do anything?

We all have ideas of what a dream job is but I believe that there are two important values a person must possess to make sure that he finds his dream job.

Where’s the passion?

Passion is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a strong liking or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.” Passion is what fueled artists to create masterpieces, directors to make movies, engineers and scientists to invent.

Therapists, psychologists and career counselors often say that you must have passion in what you do. Whether you’re a hotel staff in charge of housekeeping, a writer for a magazine, or an admin assistant, you must have a strong liking to what you do.

Are you committed?

Passion, however, is nothing if you are not committed. Commitment is the art of following through and finishing what you must do.

Whatever your job is, you will sometimes face challenges that will make you feel like giving up. People will try to put you down, spread lies about you, or just plain discourage you. On some days, projects won’t go well and it would feel as if the universe is conspiring against you.

It is during these hard times when you must not lose sight of what you are doing. Commitment is understanding that these challenges will pass and that you must stay focused.

But I have bills to pay and mouths to feed!

Yes, the reality is that we have families to feed and bills to pay. While it may be easy for some to pursue a career that they are passionate about, many people don’t have the time and luxury for it. A person may have a very strong interest in writing but never finished Journalism in college. Or a taxi driver may have a talent for singing but can’t pursue it because he has limited options.

For practical reasons, people get jobs that allow them to pay the bills. I will not argue with the wisdom behind that decision. What I can give is advice to love (or, at the very least, like) what you do, regardless of what kind of job you have.

Loving or liking what you do allows you to have a reason to stay with your job and not feel bored. It gives you the strength to wake everyday to do the same thing over and over again.

And if you have some free time at the end of the day, you can pursue what you really love as a hobby—painting, blogging, or singing. And who knows your hobbies might just give you the opportunity to pursue what you are really passionate about.

How about you? Are you doing what you love to do?

The Internet has opened up new employment horizons for industrious WAHMs. Unfortunately, there are many misleading “opportunities” and outright scams lurking among the data entry genuine jobs.

You’re looking for: Data entry work. Watch out for: CAPTCHA jobs. These “jobs” are often advertised as data entry positions. In reality, you’ll be circumventing automated robot detection systems by decoding CAPTCHAs: distorted images of text which computers often can’t read but which humans can. This enables the automated creation of online accounts by spammers and cyber criminals. Remuneration is always low while targets are kept impossibly high; even after decoding thousands of CAPTCHAs, you might never see a dollar in earnings.

There are hundreds of claimed non-scam online jobs that turn out to be nothing but a money grab. After learning this the hard way you begin to lose your trust in perspective online jobs all over the internet though they may not actually be scams. However I’m here to tell you how to tell the difference between trustworthy and untrustworthy jobs online from home.

The first step is to research the company you’re looking into applying for. If you are offered the job without an application, formal interview or simple discussion with the employer there’s a chance this is a scam.

If they ask for money or credit card information, it is fraud.

If you are promised a high salary for very little work or if you are asked to cash a cheque and forward money to a third party, then it may be a fake job posting.

When seeing these posts online you must always remember to research the job before applying, ask employment agencies if it is a scam.

There are also many websites to tell you which are scams and which are not.

Remember never to give away credit information, social security numbers, or any personal, confidential information until you have thoroughly investigated the company you are interested in. 

People who decide to work from home have to be especially vigilant not to get taken in by scams. Here are five tips to avoid getting caught out.

Never pay any money up front. This can be for equipment costs, training, or any other expenses. A real company will not charge you any money. Occasionally a company will require you to pay for your own training period, but this money will be deducted from your first few wages.

Be wary of jobs that offer ridiculous wages. If a company is offering you way more for a job than you would ever have expected to get, then the chances are it isn’t legitimate.

Does the website offer testimonials? If a website has fantastic reviews from the people who work from home for that company, it’s a scam. Testimonials are used to sell things.

By the same taken, will the company provide references if asked. If you send them an email explain you are naturally cautious because of scammers, and ask for a reference, a genuine company will be able to provide several. And they won’t be as blatantly written as a testimonial.

If you’re still wary, but you haven’t found a reason not to trust them, try checking the whois website. This is a directory based site that lists who owns which domain name and what company is what.

Trust your instincts. If you think something seems wrong, chances are it is. For more advice about scams, head to Scam Alerts.

The Internet has made it very easy for scam artists to trick people into all sorts of things and “work from home scams” have been popping up all over the place. While this does mean you should be more cautious when looking for work from home opportunities, you certainly shouldn’t avoid working from home altogether. There are plenty of excellent and legitimate opportunities out there. It’s all about knowing the warning signs and spotting them before you get sucked in.

Take this advice on how to spot a scam and where to find legitimate opportunities and to avoid becoming a victim of a scam.

How Are Scams Conducted?

Most commonly, work from home scams are advertised through emails, advertisements and billboards or through social networking. They generally require you to pay for something upfront before you can start the job and, once you have transferred the money, they give you nothing and become uncontactable.

How to Spot a Scam

Here are some telltale signs, common with many scams that are out there:

• No legitimate business name: If you see an employment opportunity advertised or someone contacts you directly, the first thing to do is look for a business name.  If there is only a person’s name, no business number and no licensing (ABN, ACN, Pty Ltd or similar), proceed with caution.
• No online presence:  The majority of work from home opportunities are web-based so there is simply no excuse for a business without a website. Likewise, most businesses are engaged with social networking so you can search for the business name on Google and see what comes up. If there is no online presence whatsoever, start to ask more questions.
• Unrecognisable sources:  Where did you receive the offer?  If you receive a job advertisement via email that is not from a source you recognise, immediately be wary. Similarly, direct messages on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter from an unknown source should generally be ignored, as they are not real job opportunities.
• Vague description of job and pay:  Any advertisement that only very vaguely spells out the pay and job requirements is a possible scam. If a selection criteria is not present and a CV not requested, there is little chance this is a real job opportunity.
• Requests for Money:  No real job will ask you to transfer money to them to start up. Alarm bells should ring the second anyone asks you for funds for registration, a start-up kit or for any other reason.

What to Do if You’re Still Unsure

If you’ve gone through all the steps and the business checks out, but you’re still feeling unsure, just try to get in contact with the owner. If you’re worried about only having online contact, mention you would like to discuss the opportunity over the phone and would like a contact number. Any legitimate business owner seeking an employee will happily oblige and you will be able to enter the opportunity with your mind at ease.

Make an informed choice and do your research. Keep up to date with the latest scams, visit Scamwatch,the ACCC  Fido and Behind MLM.

Remember there are no get-rich-quick schemes and beware of job offers that require you to pay an upfront fee and beware of products or schemes that claim to guarantee income or winnings

Treat working from home like any other position, don’t let people ask too much of you for too little and be aware of your rights. All it takes is a little bit of caution and you will find the opportunities are endless. 

You may have seen ads like these online or in the paper. “Single Mum Makes $1045 Stuffing Envelopes from Home!” “Legitimate Envelope Stuffing Jobs — Earn $20 Per Hour Without Leaving the House!”

These advertisements conjure up a simple part-time job that’s perfect for WAHMs. After all, companies need to send out letters all the time, don’t they? Someone must stuff all those envelopes. Obviously, the promised income is marketing hyperbole — but surely it’s not unreasonable to imagine making an extra ten or twenty a week.

Sadly, you won’t even make that. This work-from-home scam is older than the Internet. The scammer posts an ad offering envelope stuffing work; for more information, respondents must send a stamped addressed envelope. The information always concerns an expensive “starter kit” or “business plan”.

Once they have your money, you’ll discover that the “business plan” is as follows: post a similar ad to the one that you answered, using the stamped addressed envelopes people send you to try and swindle them in the same way you’ve been swindled. Technically, you’re stuffing envelopes. It’s as simple as it is cruel.

In fact, companies almost never use outworkers for this kind of task. Letters are typically placed in envelopes by machines. Companies sometimes hire temps to help with very large volumes of mail, but these people work on-site and are recruited through conventional channels.

There’s one rare exception. Hand-addressed envelopes are more likely to be opened than printed envelopes; some marketing companies use these to send out promotional materials. It’s just conceivable that homeworkers might be engaged to hand-address these letters. This would be unusual, however — and the homeworkers certainly wouldn’t have to pay a fee.

Stay away from this.

More and more mums are thinking of quitting their jobs and starting a home-based business. Although job security and a regular wage makes a huge difference, many mums feel that it is not as rewarding or fulfilling. After all, the trade-off is usually less time for yourself and with your family.

Not everyone though has the guts to make the transition from a corporate job to setting up your own business. To be honest, working at home is not as easy as it sounds. You have to be financially, emotionally and mentally prepared before you go into this. So, here are a few tips that should help you start on the right track.

1. You have to love what you do.

A big part of succeeding in one’s business is in loving what you do. You must have the passion for it. Passion will motivate you to achieve your goals and objectives, and would allow you to remain committed with your business. It is the same feeling that will motivate you to get out of your bed in the morning and do what needs to be done.

2. Keep it all together.

When you work at home, it can sometimes be difficult to draw the line between stuff you have to do in your office and chores you have to finish inside the house. Set order and discipline and devise a strategy that should keep these two separate at all times

For instance, even if you have a home-based business, set your work time well. If it’s after five, perhaps it’s time to call it a day and attend to the home. If it’s the weekend, try not to do any work or business related tasks.  Schedule deliveries only on weekday mornings, or meet with clients during proper business hours.

If you can’t keep work and home tasks separate, you will wear yourself out by spreading yourself too thin.

3. Expand your network.

Most home-based businesses are small-scale ventures but never underestimate its potential to grow. Don’t be cooped up in your home, hoping clients and potential business partners will come. Socialize with your friends and see if they can give you business leads. Social networking sites are also a great venue to build your network and a great tool for opening up a new potential market.

4. Seek help when needed.

Birth pains, adjustments and problems are normal when starting a business. If you find that you need some expert advice, tap into your network and don’t be embarrassed to ask for help.

You may have a friend who works as an accountant and can help get your books in order. Or your husband knows a lawyer who can give pro-bono work to look into your IP and Trademarks. Your cousin may be a Journalism or English major who can help in doing copywriting work for your website.

Starting a home-based business is not easy but with the right knowledge and deep commitment, it may just be the best decision that you’ve ever made. 

More and more mums are thinking of quitting their jobs and starting a home-based business. Although job security and a regular wage makes a huge difference, many mums feel that it is not as rewarding or fulfilling. After all, the trade-off is usually less time for yourself and with your family.

Not everyone though has the guts to make the transition from a corporate job to setting up your own business. To be honest, working at home is not as easy as it sounds. You have to be financially, emotionally and mentally prepared before you go into this.

If your interested in buying a business, we occasional have businesses for sale.

There is also a section on business ideas where you can start thinking about how to create your empire.

Congrats to all of you who have just started out running your own business from home!  The journey is exciting, yet rewarding and challenging – but one definitely well worth embarking on.

With quite a few years of experience behind me working from home as an entrepreneur, I’ve dealt  with my fair share of obstacles along the way.  All of which have been valuable for my learning and my success.  One obstacle confronting many people operating a business from home is this:

How to maintain a professional image, even if my business is a home business.

As great as it is to run a business from home, unfortunately the term “home business” can conjure up negative connotations.  The idea that the business may be more of a hobby, or perhaps that because the business is based from home, it’s really only in its infancy and therefore ‘fledgling’.

In reality though, we know that more often than not, this isn’t the case at all.  Home businesses are often every bit as professional in their operations as those based in commercial premises.

So, the million dollar question of how to look professional, even if you’re working from home in your pajamas?

Simple!

• Invest money in professional branding and marketing:  I’m talking here about your logo, your website, your business stationery, your marketing material.  Hire graphic designers, professional web designers and copywriters to make your home business look a million bucks!

• Avoid using the term home business:  You want to look every bit as professional as a business operating out of a commercial premises, so in all of your marketing and correspondence to prospects and customers, give the impression that you are a successful business.

• Answer your phone professionally:  When the phone rings, always ensure you answer it with a professional greeting – just as you would working for a boss in an office.  Answer using words such as, “(Your business name), this is (your name)”.

• If you hire freelancers or contractors who work from home:  If a call  or email comes in, requesting contact with one of these people, advise that the individual is unavailable at the moment and ask that they return the call or email.  This gives the impression that you all work together under the one roof.  It also gives the impression that you run a tight team – just as would be the case if you had an office of employees.

Just four tips…but they’re priceless when it comes to your business image!

See your business as a successful and legitimate business, and ensure that you convey professionalism at every level – from your dealings with prospects and customers, right through to your corporate image and marketing collateral.

By doing these things alone, it’s amazing just how much business you’ll be able to attract – and nobody will have any idea you’re really working from home in your pj’s at all!

Yes we do. You can easily get qualified for your dream job. Have your skills, knowledge and experience certified with a nationally recognised accreditation, a great way to improve your capabilities enhance your career prospects and increase your market value.

Head to the Education & Courses Directory to get started.

Work At Home Mums is an online network for women working from home and for those who would like to. Since 2007, we have been supporting home based professionals.

Work At Home Mums offers you:

• An online network to share & learn from one another.
• Coaching & career resources to help you get your groove back.
• A online jobs board to help you find the perfect job when you are ready. Niche job service for mums.
• Articles and Lifestyle blogs on a variety of subjects related to mums in business, entrepreneurship, leadership, personal branding, interviews with successful women, business resources, career, coaching, lifestyle, family, finance, fashion and relationships and so much more
• Resources to help you find the perfect balance between work, life and family.
• Home based business and franchise opportunities, supporting and inspiring women to create their own career and destiny.
• We’ve assembled a team of WAHM Experts who are here to help you

Thousands of women DO successfully run home based businesses or have successful and fulfilling jobs they work from home. You can too.

Robyn Ridley (me) is the Owner, Editor, Web Wrangler and the brains behind Work At Home Mums.

I am a mother, business owner, blogger, business degree holder, chocolate addict and dual Australian Olympian.

On the Central Coast, NSW

Yes, you can find us here.

Yes, you can find us here. Although lately Twitter is a hot mess so you might not find regular updates.

Yes, you can find us here.

Yes, find us here. 

Yes, follow us here. 

Yes! Watch us here.

There are a variety of banner placements in premium positions throughout the various WAHM Channels.

You will require a professional design  300 x 250 pixels in size.

Please contact WAHM here with the details of your ad or opportunity. If approved, an invoice will be sent which must be paid for before your banner will go live.

Online banner advertising is a great way to build your brand and a very smart way to target job seekers.  Reach passive candidates before they hit the job market because you can introduce your employment brand to them before they consider other job opportunities. It is also an excellent means of promoting your corporate identity to an audience driving traffic to your site.

• To ensure the best user experience to advertise with us, you will require a 300 x 250 size banner and designed to professional standards that match the brand, colours and image of the WAHM site.
• If you need a banner designed please let us know. Additional fees will apply.

We feature full time, part time, casual, job share, work at home jobs, home based business opportunities, telework, self employment, home based franchises and freelance jobs.

Please contact us for more information.

We have a business for sale page where you can advertise any business opportunites for sale.

Please contact us for more information.

We have a full media and advertising kit available outlining all the opportunties on Work At Home Mums. Please contact us to obtain this.