Are you looking for online business ideas for stay-at-home moms because you happen to be one? Awesome! It shows you want to do something extra to help your family.
Even if you are a working mom with a day job, this article is for you too. You may have less time than a stay-at-home mom, but you still have a need for a side hustle to bring in some extra income.
If you have tried to find out a good answer already, I feel you probably are more confused than ever. The chances are people have tried to show you so many options, with good intentions I am sure, but that could lead to analysis paralysis. I am only going to make two recommendations.
- Selling other people’s products and earning a commission. This is commonly called affiliate marketing.
- Selling your own products that are digitally based. A common term for this is eCommerce.
But first, let’s see if one or more of the following reasons for starting any online business appeal to you.
Great Reasons For A Mom To Start An Online Business
Flexibility
You want a way to balance work and family life. Starting an online business will allow you to work from home and set your own hours.
Financial Stability
An online business can provide you with a source of additional income, allowing you to contribute financially to your household’s budget creating financial stability and added security.
Pursuing A Passion
Perhaps you have a passion or hobby you would like to turn into a business. Starting an online business can provide the opportunity to turn that passion into a lucrative career.
Career Growth
You may have taken a break from the workforce to focus on your family. But starting an online business can provide you with the opportunity to grow your career and develop new skills.
Fulfillment
Starting an online business can provide you with a sense of personal fulfillment, as you work towards a goal that is both financially and emotionally rewarding.
Work From Anywhere
An online business allows you to work from anywhere, giving you the freedom to travel and work from different locations, without sacrificing momentum.
What do you think? Can you relate to one or more of the reasons I listed above? Perhaps you have another reason that is totally different. If you do, please let me know in the comments section below.
In this next section, I will provide an overview of affiliate marketing that I consider the best online opportunity. Is that OK with you? Following the discussion on affiliate marketing, I will address the second option of developing your own digital products and selling them online. Let’s get to it then.
Affiliate Marketing – Selling Other People’s Products
Affiliate marketing is a business where you become an affiliate of another company and refer customers to their products through your own website using affiliate links that these companies give you. When these customers make a purchase, the company sends you a commission. The following graphic will help to make this clear.
You’re probably thinking what products of other companies can you recommend and why? Good question. This is a good time to discuss how to approach this step.
The best way to hone in on what kind of products to recommend is to ask yourself this question. What are your passions? What do you enjoy doing the most? I’ll list a few below to give you an idea of what I mean. That should help you brainstorm and come up with one or more things you are passionate about
- Personal Care
- Health and Fitness
- Pets
- Music
- Travel
- Photography
- Babies
- Teaching
- Cooking
- Crafts
Do you get the idea? Each one of these has products and services that people are searching for to meet a need or solve a problem. No matter what you are passionate about, there are companies that make products and services that have affiliate programs. You can become an affiliate and help make recommendations that can result in sales and commissions for yourself.
Can you see yourself relating to any of the categories in this list? Is there something different that grabs you? Please share what that is in the comments section below if you would like to discuss more about it.
9 Steps To Create An Affiliate Marketing Business Online
It is really not complicated to set up your own lucrative affiliate marketing business. Here are 8 steps you need to do in the order listed to make this all work for you.
Step 1 – Choose A Niche
Choose a product or service that you are passionate about and knowledgeable about. This will make it easier for you to promote the product to others and build a following.
Step 2 – Research Affiliate Programs
Look for affiliate programs related to your niche, and sign up for one or several of them. Make sure to choose programs with a good reputation and that offer attractive commissions.
Step 3 – Build A Website
Create a website to blog and promote your affiliate products. Make sure it is professional and visually appealing, and include useful information and resources related to your niche.
Step 4 – Create Content
Write blog posts, create videos, or produce other types of content that promote your affiliate products and provide value to your audience. Help them to meet a burning need or solve a compelling problem using the products in your niche
Step 5 – Utilize Social Media
Use social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin, to promote your website blog posts and reach a wider audience. Start off by focusing and succeeding on one before branching out into the others. Choose the one you like best and have the most experience to start. Do not use your personal page for promotion. Create a business page instead.
Step 6 – Optimize Your Website
Make sure your website is optimized for search engines so that it can rank well in search results and attract more traffic. The follow on to this task is to use free offers to your visitors in exchange for their email addresses.
Step 7 – Email Marketing
Once you have succeeded in collecting emails, start building rapport using an opt-in email marketing program.
Step 8 – Track Your Results
Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track your website traffic, conversions, and performance, so you can see what’s working and make improvements as needed.
Step 9 – Keep Learning
Stay up-to-date with the latest affiliate marketing trends and strategies, and continuously improve your skills to maximize your earning potential. You can find your own sources to learn the skills you need to apply in building your online business. Or you can check out my recommended platform provided below.
What Next
I have given you a lot to think about. If you put your heart into your business and do the right things on a consistent basis, you cannot fail. You must have a strong desire to help others in the niche you choose. Without this, you will not succeed. If so, then I highly recommend you learn more details about affiliate marketing.
What if there was a place you could go to find everything you needed not only to learn these skills but also to be trained by hugely successful experts who learned their skills on this very same platform?
Yes, there is such a platform based in Canada called Wealthy Affiliate. They have been creating hugely successful affiliate marketing entrepreneurs since 2005. The initial cost to learn about this platform is surprisingly low. It’s free!
I am not kidding. If you like what you see and experience, you can become a paid member for a fair subscription price. You can see the details after you sign up. The reason why I am not showing price details is this.
Over the years prices have risen. However, once you join, the price you sign up for never changes as long as you maintain your subscription.
There is no risk to see how you can start your affiliate marketing business before you decide to get more deeply involved. I wrote a review about Wealthy Affiliate that you can access by clicking the link below:
What Is Wealthy Affiliate About
The next thing is to find a niche that is perfect for you. I wrote an article that provides tips on this very subject. Click this link to read it: How To Choose A Niche In Affiliate Marketing That Shows Your Passion! If you find this helpful, please make a comment in the discussion area of that post. Thanks!
Now let’s review the basics of how to create your own digital products and one of the best ways to market them online.
eCommerce – Selling Your Own Products
The product you decide to sell can be physical or digital. I want to recommend sticking with digital for the moment are the reasons below.
- Potential to make more profits
- Easier to distribute compared to physical products
- You can enlist other affiliate marketers to sell this product for you
- Instead of handling the business of selling personally, you can use affiliate networks like Clickbank to do this
- Since there are no manufacturing costs, you can afford to give hefty commissions to help achieve more sales
What Kinds Of Digital Products Can You Create
There are no limits to the categories you can cover. If you have expertise or skill in any specific area, you can create a course on that to market. Here is a short list for you to consider:
- Courses
- eBooks
- Research & Data developed by you that could help others
- Software Programs
- Tutorials and Guides
- Recipes
- Apps
- Coaching materials
If you have other ideas please tell me about them in the comments section below. Once you have your product created, there is assistance to help you market it to a large audience.
Affiliate Networks To Sell Your Digital Product
When you create your own digital product, you have the option of using an affiliate network company to help you sell it. Here is how this works in general terms.
You join an affiliate network company like Clickbank as a vendor. Each company has its own terms and conditions you will need to read and accept. Once you get past that stage, you follow their procedure to list your product(s) on their marketplace. By then you should have created a website that provides details about your digital product that should include as a minimum the following:
- A brief description of the product.
- What kinds of problems does it solve, if any? Emphasize the benefits to the user.
- How much memory is necessary to use it?
- Examples of your product in use. Provide a demo if possible.
- How can the buyer contact you if they experience any problems using it?
- Testimonials of other users.
- If this is a new product, include comments from people you know who have tried it out.
- What does it cost?
- Disclaimers if any.
- Provide a reduced capability product for free to try out before a purchase needs to be made for the full version.
The cost to join an affiliate network as a vendor can vary depending on the network. Some affiliate networks charge a one-time setup fee, while others may charge a monthly fee or take a percentage of each sale made through the network.
Some affiliate networks, like ClickBank, offer different pricing options depending on the services and features vendors want to use. In general, the cost to join an affiliate network as a vendor can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per year.
It’s important to research and compare different affiliate networks to find the one that best fits your budget and business needs.
Short List Of 10 Affiliate Network Companies
To help you with your research, I have listed 10 companies below. Click the link to each of the companies to check them out yourself. They each have their own specialties that you should review to find out which one will work best for you.
It’s quite exciting learning how you can market your own digital product in a very efficient and cost-effective manner. Here you are at the other end of the process where thousands of affiliates whose niche aligns with your product can market it for you. For an affiliate fee of course.
The commissions you decide to pay are totally up to you. It all starts off with the price you set for your product. Here is a tip. Do not pay out less than 30% in commissions. The higher the percentage, the chances are more affiliates will apply to market your product.
Individuals who sign up to market other people’s products are called Publishers, also known as affiliates. If you are marketing your own product, you will be known as the Advertiser also known as the vendor or merchant.
- Clickbank
- ShareASale
- CJ Affiliate
- Rakuten Advertising
- JVZoo
- Warrior Plus
- Digistore24
- TradeDoubler
- Avantgate Affiliate Network
- FlexOffers
There are many more affiliate networks in the business of affiliate marketing. You can do your own research to find out who they are.
Note that all these companies offer products that you can also make money through the process of affiliate marketing as I have outlined above. Check those out while you are on their sites.
When Is The Right Time To Join An Affiliate Network
If you decide to enter the business of affiliate marketing to market products from others, I highly recommend you wait until your website has built reasonable traffic before filling in the application form.
The right time to sell your own product will depend on when you have a product that works. Review the process I have listed above and complete those steps before applying to join as a Vendor or advertiser.
This is your business and you have the freedom to go in any direction you choose. However, you don’t have to do this alone. Help is available online. One option is to draw on the wealth of experience of other entrepreneurs who have done this on Wealthy Affiliate and learn from them.
Conclusion
Although I am addressing this article to stay-at-home moms, a mom with children and a day job can also create an affiliate marketing business as a side hustle. Time management will be a critical factor to fit in periods where you can focus on your business activities.
You will most likely carve out pockets of time in the evenings when your kids are in bed, and at weekends. The more time you can devote to your business, the faster it will grow. It will be up to you to create the right balance between caring for your family, your day job, and your business.
May I suggest discussing what your business is about with your spouse, and your kids that includes the benefits to them of you bringing in extra money for the home? What’s in it for them can encourage a great deal of understanding and cooperation. This discussion could also be a good idea even if you are a stay-at-home mom.
It is exciting to start something new, let alone a business of your own. Just think what an extra $1000 a month can do for your family. Since this business can work for you 24/7, even while you are sleeping, you can decide how much you would really like to earn and set a working schedule to help you achieve it.
If you do have a day job, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could replace your salary with the earnings of your business so that you can transition to being a stay-at-home mom?
One More Thing
I would love to keep you informed about new developments in Affiliate Marketing. Please join my network by filling in the form below. If you do, I will give you a free eBook that will help you enormously in building your online business in more ways you can imagine. It is the iconic book called Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Hi Edwin, This is a great article that gives advice to Stay At Home Moms, for how to get started in the online world. Your writing style is engaging and keeps the readers attention all the way through. The two options you give – Affiliate Marketing and E-Commerce (to sell your own products) – are great opportunities for anyone working from home. There is such a lot of useful information crammed into the article that I thought, perhaps, it would make two separate blog posts without too much trouble. Perhaps even a series of the ways to make money online. Anyway, great advice, thank you. Jenni.
Hi Jenni,
Wonderful! I loved your suggestion. Perhaps I could break this up into three articles. The first one could be a brief introduction to both opportunities. Then the next two expand each of them more thoroughly. I will remember this option for future articles that discuss more than one option to get into the online business.
Cheers.
Edwin
A very long post I must say, but rich in information not only for stay-home moms like me but also for working parents who want to augment their income.
I quit my 9-5 job more than 3 years ago when I found out that I was going to be a mom, for the first time. It was not an easy decision not only because I loved my job but it was also because we had bills to pay. Looking back, I know I made the right decision because I was able to prepare for the arrival of our bundle of joy.
But now that my son is a little over 2 years old, I am looking to start a business that I can manage while taking care of my son at home. I have friends who are doing affiliate marketing but I am hesitant to try because I have no idea how to do it. Thank you for sharing these guidelines on how to start an affiliate marketing business and a list of affiliate network companies to partner with.
I have a couple of questions in regard to affiliate marketing and eCommerce. Would it be possible to make money without a website? I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos saying that you do not have to go into the hassle of creating a website in order to promote and sell other people’s products. Also, if I want to do eCommerce, do I have to have my own products or can I sell other people’s products?
Hi Alice,
Thanks for your introspective comments. It sounds to me like you had your priorities right when you quit your job to care for your newborn son. Although your son still needs a lot of hands-on care, he is at that age when you can carve out moments of time when he is sleeping to work on your business.
You asked some great questions. May I ask why do you think it is a hassle to create a website? Wealthy Affiliate and WordPress make that very easy. It is important to connect with your customers to provide great service. You do this by finding out in advance what problems to solve and where the products or services in your niche can do a great job.
The two most successful ways to do this are through a blogging website and a YouTube Channel. Wealthy Affiliate has classes by experts on how to do both. Alternate means is to use social media to connect with prospects. However, you will need to go into detail on how you are going to help them and the only way is using one on one contact via Direct Message. This will create challenges in serving a lot of people which you will need to do in order to make sales.
Hence, I urge you to learn how to use a personal website to help your customers.
Regarding eCommerce, you can sell other people’s products that are listed on the affiliate networks. If you do this, it will be as an affiliate (Publisher) and not a vendor (Advertiser).
If you have further questions please get back to me,
Edwin
I have been involved in affiliate marketing since retirement. Although I am not a staff at home mom, I am at home. My wife, who has also retired has established an online business of her own revolving around the work she did before retired. For both of these businesses, the list of things need that you provided is essential. I would hope that anyone who reads this article takes advantage of the advice you offer and move toward one type of online business your describe or another. I wish we had seen this kind of article when we retired.
Thank you sincerely for your critical comment. When I retired I also wish I had come across affiliate marketing back in 2011. It is easy to set up but requires expert guidance, tools, and mentorship. Wealthy Affiliate provides all of this and then some.
In the end, it doesn’t matter where you develop the expertise, As long as you are prepared to learn and do the work.
Great to hear from you.
Cheers.
Edwin
This article is helpful for stay-at-home moms! It talks about ways to start a business from home which I am currently doing since I am a person with disability.
I like the ideas, like working with companies to sell stuff and making art or crafts to sell. And I envy those people who can broaden their oppurtunities to tap into the varieties of working from home. So for moms who are still young, this article has tips on how to get started and it links to other resources.
Hello Raymond,
Thanks for your insightful comments. Glad you felt that my post can be helpful to young moms. I wish you all the success in the world as you pursue your dreams. In spite of your disability. You can do it.
Cheers.
Edwin