July!

Yet another month has passed. I guess I shouldn't be surprised any more, as my monthly posts are turning out to be the norm for me. I'm sure it is just the busyness of the summer. When it's cold and dark outside, I'll find more time to sit down and actually blog. Right now, time spent at my computer equates to work, so it's hard to sit and blog for fun. You know?

Speaking of work, do you remember that goal I set of making $20,000 in a year working from home in a business that I created? Well, I am on track for that goal. Mid-year earnings show I should meet my goal by the end of the year.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do to create some extra income, and I wanted to make sure the work tapped into my creativity. It has been a great year and a half creating blog designs for people around the world. I have met some really nice people, and have only had a couple of encounters that have made me uncomfortable.

Out of the hundreds of designs I have done, only two clients have been dissatisfied. That is not bad customer service, in my opinion. And, I think the only reason why I wasn't able to make them 100% happy is because they didn't have a clear vision of their own and we just couldn't meld our styles.

I am working on creating a balance between work and family, and I am getting close to having it all worked out. I listen to a podcast (Focus on the Family) and one of the very first shows I listened to was about women working from home and raising a family, too. The guest of that podcast was talking directly to me. The advice she said was spend equal time between the two. Literally.

So, if I spend two hours a day working, I will spend two hours playing with my kids. Time devoted solely to them with no distractions.

The guest also said that any ill-gained money will not stick around. Meaning, if you neglect the family to make money, the money will be gone. It will disappear.

The last thing that really stuck out to me is when the guest mentioned that God wants me to succeed. Especially since I want to stay home, but still earn a small income. I thought that was interesting, but I see how it is true, too. There has been many instances where inspiration has come to me when I felt 'stuck' in a project. I often fall asleep stumped, but the answer will come to me in the middle of the night, or after a full night of rest.

And, speaking of sleep. I've been making an effort to retire to bed early and rise early. I try to get my exercise in early in the morning, followed by an hour or more of uninterrupted work time (which I don't count into the equal amount of time since the children are not awake yet). It has been working out great so far.

So, if you are a stay at home mom and you are wondering what you can do to earn a little bit of money, the first thing you'll want to do is give yourself a skills/interests survey. Take time to write down what you like to do and what your talents are. Write down what you'd like to learn how to do (you can always teach yourself new skills...I had to teach myself how to write code and design principles.) Once you know what you want to do, don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Things don't happen over night, and it takes time to build up your product/clientele. Just be true to you and be proud of what you do and who you are.