Side Hustles For Stay At Home Moms – Part 2 – This is the continuation of the article discussing how stay at home moms can expand their side hustle to a full time income.

Now you’re embarking on a journey that’s not just about making ends meet – it’s about turning your everyday into extraordinary.

As we dive into the second part of our exploration in “Side Hustles For Stay at Home Moms,” get ready to unlock more secrets to life-changing transformations.

We left off talking about how to advertise to local businesses, and how you can also optimize your site for local search results.

This gives you an edge over the competitors who don’t have the insight into optimizing their business on Google and other search engines.

Some companies have gone so far as to advertise by making viral videos on social media apps like TikTok or YouTube.

With these video platforms being such a large social media hub for consumers, it’s not very hard to reach a broad audience.

Get The attention of People in Your Area

When you get tons of views, you’ll get the attention of some of the people in your area – especially if optimized for local search keyword phrases. From there, you have a good chance of getting in the door with a few clients.

You have to go about advertising a bit differently when you’re trying to market your online business. You wouldn’t do too well with physical marketing, because your ideal clients are going to be all over the world.

SEO is going to be an importance factor, and you’ll rank higher, quicker if you can target longtail keyword phrases. Engage in a mix of both on page and off page SEO and leverage content marketing to build traffic to your domain.

You’re also going to want to market yourself in forums with those who might be able to utilize your services, using a signature file that links to your page if possible. You can also use targeted online paid advertising to reach the same audience.

Be Helpful to People in the Forums

You should avoid blatantly promotions of yourself in forums and on social media groups too much early on, because you don’t want to form a bad reputation for yourself.

If you’re always spamming forum threads with your services but don’t even have time to help others or attend to all of the service requests, people may get sick of you.

If you offer a solid service, some online communities will spread the word by mouth for you.

It’s not uncommon for reputations to grow, especially in tightly knit circles. However, you have to offer a consistent, top quality service.

Targeted paid advertising is a means of getting customers that specifically need your services.

The only downsides to it are the learning curve and the costs. In order for it to be most effective, you need to learn how to do it correctly.

That means you zero in on the perfect audience and learn how to keep to a strict budget. Every platform that offers targeted advertising has different systems that they use when it comes to how you run the ads to begin with.

How Your Ads Are Shown

Most have a bidding system where they will show your ads to the audience you choose in the timeframe and frequency that you prefer. If you put a maximum budget of $1,000 a day, that means the system is going to find a way to spend that entire budget, so only put what you can afford.

There might be some platforms like forums that allow you to buy an ad space for a period of time, like an entire month, for a set fee.

But even then, you need to be tracking the return on your investment to ensure it’s paying off for you.

The systems they use for targeting are also different depending on the platform you’re using. Different platforms collect different data on their users, so what might be available for you to target on one platform may be different on another.

For example, not all platforms allow you to target based on interests. Those that do would allow you to target your ads towards people who like learning about web design, for example.

Be Informed About the Forum Rules

Other platforms allow you to target your ads based on things like location or age. This can help immensely for in-person businesses, especially those that need very specific clientele.

One helpful method you can use in targeted advertising is targeting what’s called a “lookalike” audience, also known as a mirror audience. By feeding it a list of various clients you already have on that platform, it will target similar clients to those.

Something to consider when running targeted ads or online ads in general is your cost per click. This is a simple formula that determines how much you’re going to pay based on how many clicks you receive, which is important if you’re on a tight budget.

Different websites have different average costs per click, and this might influence your decision making, depending on your budget. Some, like LinkedIn, are significantly higher than others, but are also much more business oriented.

If you’re able to market yourself correctly, you’ll be able to get ahead of the competition without having to wait for your SEO strategy to take root effectively.

Obviously, the more people know that your company exists and that the service you’re providing is available, the more you’ll attract a larger customer base.

Use a Podcast to Promote Your Business

Depending on the type of side hustle you are trying to build an business in, you might even want to start a podcast to spread the word about your services. For example, you could start a podcast about lawn care, Internet marketing, meal planning, and more.

While some of the individuals listening to your show will want to take the do-it-yourself route, others will love that you are an expert sharing advice and want to hire you to take care of their lawn, help them start an online business, or create a specialized meal plan for them.

You also want to make sure that you are building a list so that you can promote your services to your target audience. This is especially important if you have an online side hustle.

However, even if your business is offline, you can build a list of clients that you market to via email whenever you have a special discount or availability in your schedule.

As you build your client base with satisfied customers, you want to solicit testimonials that you can use as social proof on your website and in your social media profiles.

This lets others know you’re a reliable person, and helps you build your business base.

 

Build a Safety Net and Budget For Expenses Before You Make the Leap

 

One of the main concerns everyone has when switching from a traditional career to an entrepreneurial business is the financial aspect. You’re going from a guaranteed income to a potentially inconsistent one.

While this new change can certainly result in an equal or even higher income as well as a better work life balance, it’s certainly a risk.

In order to mitigate that risk as much as possible, you want to start saving plenty of money.

First and foremost, you want to cut out any unnecessary spending, especially when it comes to high priced things like vacations, moving houses, or getting a new car. Unless it’s for something really necessary, you shouldn’t do it.

Watch Out For Hidden Expenses

If, for example, your car broke down and was no longer usable, you would want to go with the cheapest most reliable option. You can always trade up later on down the line, but for the time being, you’re going to need to save every cent you can.

You need to carefully comb through your bank statements as well and look at what kinds of services you’re not using that you’re paying for. With subscription service models being so popular, there’s probably a few you’ve forgotten about.

Individually, subscription services don’t cost too much, but as they add up, it can save you a decent amount of money per month. If it’s something you need or use frequently, having a couple isn’t going to break the bank.

As you continue to work at your regular job, you’re going to want to start setting aside a specific amount out of every paycheck to put into savings. How much you’re able to set aside depends entirely on your bills and how much you make already.

Prepare For Your Transition

Some people might only be able to set aside 5% of their paycheck, while others might be able to put aside a higher amount like 25-30%. Save as much as you reasonably can while still affording your necessities.

Even if it’s a small amount and you feel like it’ll take forever to save up a safety net and buy the products you need to go fulltime, implement the savings.

You don’t want to transition over to the new career fully and find yourself in a precarious situation. Or you might have to go back to a corporate job because you couldn’t make ends meet during the switch.

This is also the perfect time to begin budgeting for everything you’re going to need to purchase as a business owner.

There are a lot of different expenses that you’ll need to pay for just to start your business, not to mention keeping up with bills in the meantime.

Prepare For Upcoming Expenses

First, you need to figure out what all you’re going to need to pay for or buy to get your new business up and running in the first place.

This might mean buying certain courses or a domain and hosting – or paying business startup fees.

For example, there are fees associated with incorporating, which vary depending on where you live. You may not even want to incorporate, but if you do, you should be ready for the processing fees.

You will also likely be hiring a CPA to help you out with the financial side of your new business.

Research what CPAs are charging in your area so that you can be sure you’ll have enough money to pay them.

There’s also the matter of things like tools and software. These are applicable to any form of business, whether it be online or in person.

With very few exceptions, you will almost always need to buy some supplies of some kind to get your business fully operational.

For an in person business, this might come in the form of actual equipment that you need to have on hand.

A seamstress or tailor might need a sewing machine, and a lawn care company will need things like a good lawn mower.

Equipment Purchases

Major pieces of equipment aren’t cheap, and if you’re making an entire business around it, you want to be sure to get a good one.

Also consider how often you’ll buy any supplies that run out over time, such as thread for the sewing machine or for parts that break and need to be replaced.

Have a realistic plan for how long you think it will take you to get your business off the ground.

If you think it will take six months, plan to have enough saved for six months’ worth of bills and other expenditures.

Having all of the money you need saved up before you transition from a side hustle to a fulltime business is extremely important for a few reasons.

First, you want to be able to fully invest your time into your new line of work without having to worry about finances.

If you’re hung up on still having to earn money, you’ll have to work elsewhere while trying to get another job off the ground. This isn’t easy to pull off, and having such a distraction will make both jobs unnecessarily difficult.

Second, without the money for all of the right resources at the start, you’re going to have a difficult time getting your business off the ground. You need all kinds of tools in order to be efficient in any line of work.

It might take you some significant time to save up all this money, but it is certainly worth it. You want to have the best shot at getting your own business up and running. Without that safety net, you could get yourself into a bad spot very easily.

Build a Financial Cushion

You wouldn’t want to have your business fail and then not have a fulltime job or any money. If you have enough of a cushion to spend plenty of time on your business, you’ll be less stressed, more financially secure, and more likely to succeed.

Also, consider your options when it comes to getting the tools and information that you need. There are many tools online that you can find a freeware version of, or that offer a free plan in addition to their paid levels.

And if you are going to be purchasing tools for offline, you might look for used tools that are in good condition so that you don’t have to buy brand new off the shelf versions. This can help you save a little bit of money in the beginning until you can begin paying for better options.

Don’t forget, not only do you need to have money set aside for your monthly personal living expenses as well as the items you need for your business, but you may also want to have enough set aside for an emergency fund in case there is any kind of urgent situation like a medical event.

When you start to build a business that you own, you want to separate your finances so that you have your personal finances in one bank account, and your business finances in another.

You might be able to find a line of credit to help you with the operational expenses for your business, but make sure you evaluate these opportunities carefully because you don’t want to get into a debt situation looming over you.

 

Side Hustles For Stay At Home Moms – Part 2 is the second part of a 3 part article. Be sure to check out Part 3 HERE.

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