I've been a work at home mom for about two years now. I've been blogging for the same number of years, too. For me, staying at home + blogging + doing part-time freelance work = the most natural thing.
I began my blog when my son was three months old, which was also when I returned to my work place. (I was a teacher for seven years.) At the time, "mommy blogs" were already well established as an online niche, and I rather liked the idea. So, I followed suit: I blogged about being a new mother, about my home, about new recipes, and even products or services I'd tried. At some point, I even blogged about my dilemma to stay employed or become a work at home mom. From that point on, I learned several things about blogging, most notably that blogging can help moms like me find real, meaningful business or work.
Here's how the path looked like for me.
1. The mommy blog became natural marketing platform for my skills. I'm a freelance writer, so naturally, blogging seemed, well, natural to me. Eventually, as the blog grew, people began to inquire if I provided freelance writing services. Some even invited me to contribute to their publications. And so, what started off as a personal blog on motherhood eventually became a marketing platform for me as a writer. Eventually, I added a Services page to my blog, where people could hire me for various writing jobs.
The take-home point: Moms who can offer value, insights and useful information can do so via a blog. For writers, in particular, a blog can be a digital portfolio of sorts. Use it to market your best abilities.
2. A mommy blog helps you to build a brand. When my blog turned a year old, I started to blog with a theme: To provide inspiration and practical tips for work at home moms. I'd about my lessons in parenting, marriage and working from home, weaving practical steps into these personal experiences so that the blog entries provided more than just a narration of what, when, who and where. By providing a "why", a lesson or take-home point for readers, the blog also became a resource site for like-minded mom-readers — and potential clients. This year, I took the blog's branding a bit further by doing an offline, local event that was a spin-off of the topics I'd written about on the blog. I called the event the "WAHMderful Life Workshop," a series of workshops that is geared at empowering moms who want to work from home while making a home. (We're planning next year's workshops already.)
The take-home point: When you build up your online presence as a brand, you naturally build a network. This network can help connect you with potential clients, even pave the way for non-blog related services that also generate income.
3. A mommy blog helps potential clients place their trust in you. Because a mommy blog has a personal touch to its style, branding and voice, it can be a powerful endorser for family-oriented brands and businesses. In my case, blogging meant writing excellently, because I simply loved writing. I suppose clients (and eventually, advertisers) saw that I wrote well and sent over proposals and pitches for me to consider. Since I started freelance writing (because of the blog), I've written for various parenting, women, healthy and beauty, and work at home publications, both online and offline.
The take-home point: When you write well and authoritatively on your blog; when you write in your voice and brand, then clients see your best work. When you are committed to showcase your best work, potential clients will know that they can count on you to deliver your best when they hire you.
For me, blogging as a work at home mom means being open and honest about my passion for making a living while making a home. I strive to blog regularly, to share stories and to offer value to the blog readers. It’s not an easy job, but because it is my passion, I feel I’m constantly motivated to keep on writing. The money and the earnings are just the icing on top.
Martine de Luna is a wife, mother, freelance writer and speaker, and the author of Dainty Mom: A Mom's Bliss. Read her full bio here, Tweet her here, or say "hello" to her on Facebook.
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