Work from home ideas for DW

[Bettis]

So my wife and I have a 9 month old that she is the SAHM for.  I work normal 8-5 M-F and a few months ago she went back to her doggy daycare job for 8.5 hrs every Saturday while I'm with our son.  It brings in about $90 per week but she'd like to have a flexible work from home job so she can make money during the week.  She has tried making craft type things to sell on Etsy but can't seem to even get any page views.  Any ideas of what to look for and tips to know that it isn't a scam?  She was thinking of stuff like data entry or... well we can't think of anything else hence the post.

[kpd905]

Leapforce and Lionbridge are sites that pay you to rate websites for the search engines.  They both pay around $14/hour.

[letired]

I recently stumbled across a website with the scammy title of http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com/, but it actually seems legit. I've signed up with a few of their online suggestions, and gotten paid! So far so good!

I think the Etsy store thing takes a lot of time to build up, not unlike blogging, which is why I haven't started on yet. Also, I know that some successful Etsy sellers run blogs as a way to publicize their wares. There are probably a ton of other online resources that are way more helpful than me!

[justajane]

What about selling things on ebay? Is there a niche market that she knows a lot about? I know a SAHM who sells a certain item on ebay and makes ca. 20K a year doing it part-time. That might be incredibly lucky, but that type of job is about finding a product that people want and finding a way to get it cheaper locally or elsewhere on the interwebs and turning it around. I knew another guy who bought old saxophones, cleaned them, and sold them for a major profit. 

[melluvia]

I agree with selling on ebay. Or in-home daycare (that's what I do now). Check with your state as every state has digferent rules on watching kids. The problem with a lot of work from home jobs for SAHMs is they don't want the kids to make noise while she's on a call. That will immediately get you fired. So that eliminates a lot of work from home jobs unfortunately. Other ideas that could be possible for a SAHM: family photographer in the evenings after you get home or working as a hotel desk clerk in the evenings. Maybe pet sitting at other people's homes (like feeding/walking their pet).

[justajane]

Other ideas that could be possible for a SAHM: family photographer in the evenings

Yes, if she has a good eye, I know a ton of SAHMs who do wedding and family photography and do very well.

I have thought for myself in the future that there is a good market for after school care and/or summer care for children. This might not be possible with younger kids around, but a lot of places don't have good after school programs. If you could pick a child up or meet them at the bus, help them get their homework done and feed them a snack, you could make some easy(ish) income. 

And how many Mustachians have posted about how hard it is to coordinate their summer child care? Imagine if you could take 2-3 kids in for a couple of weeks in the summer. You could probably charge $75 or more (depending on the market) per kid per week.

[HairyUpperLip]

my wife has been hoping to find a decent wfh job but hasn't had any luck  yet

[Bettis]

Thank you for the ideas.  I helped her apply to Leapforce and take the test but I guess it takes a little while to find out if she is "hired".  Lionbridge would be the next step.

I think she's given up on Etsy but Ebay is my thing so thank you for reminding me to get off my ass and sell some of my old video games, records, dvds, etc.  I've done well in the past and still have a bunch of stuff.

The photography idea is good because she's always taking pictures(albeit with an old smartphone) but I assume we would have to purchase an SLR.  Not out of the question but with money being tight, we'd rather not invest hundreds in something that may just collect dust.  Her camera is just a regular old point and shoot that might be 7 or 8 MP with little to no optical zoom.

Afterschool/summer care could work but she was a bit leery because of having the baby and two good sized dogs.  We've done babysitting for our neighbor but never asked for payment because it didn't feel right, especially since he'll let us borrow tools and stuff to help us out.

We'll check out the scammy looking website tonight but it does raise red flags in my head.

I think ultimately, I just need to sell more stuff and cut expenses more to really make things work.  I've been meaning to do a case study.  I just need to organize my tracking sheets and let you guys punch away :)

[justajane]

The best legitimate site for telecommuting and freelance jobs is Flex Jobs. It costs $40 yearly to access all in the information, but you can regularly find coupon codes that drop this to $20. This is where I found my first freelance writing gig. You can search just telecommuting, just part-time, etc. It's a good resource.

Craigslist isn't the best place to find freelance WAHM jobs, but I did find one once that was legit. I probably made 5K total from that job.

Unless you have a specific skill or niche, working at home doesn't tend to be super lucrative, but then again you're not paying for childcare either. It will be supplemental at best. My husband still makes around 90% of our income. But when I started, he still made 99% of our income, so my income streams are getting better.

[stephan]

The best would be if she considers what she likes to do and what she is good doing at. Then let her try to see related jobs either online or just in the town when you are living if she can do it from home (i.e. if she was good at knitting, she can do it from home)

[Scandium]

Photography is very expensive to get into ($5k-10k at least if doing weddings), very difficult, and extremely competitive. Everyone with and SLR think they can take good pictures (they can't). I would not bother.

I've heard that most of eBay, and etsy as well, is now dominated by Chinese stores underpricing everyone? Maybe if you find something specific to flip it can work, but running a straight stores doesn't sound lucrative

[chubbybunny]

I saw the comment about doggy daycare and had to post my referral code for rover.com.   We make anywhere from $75 up to $300/week house sitting for dogs.  I work from home, but don't have time to drive to other peoples' houses.  It is really fun extra money and not that much work.

http://refer.rover.com/v2/share/6164323674923993489

[justajane]

Photography is very expensive to get into ($5k-10k at least if doing weddings), very difficult, and extremely competitive. Everyone with and SLR think they can take good pictures (they can't). I would not bother.

I doubt the threshold (5-10K) is that high for amateur photographers. You have to undercut the people charging 2-5K for a wedding package. Charge $500 for the day and include all digital rights. Done. You don't need the printing equipment that way, just software. I would have been all over that if the amateur had demonstrated that they had a good eye. I wanted to print the photos myself anyway.

Charge $100 or less for an hour photo session with kids. Semi-professionals in my cheaper area charge $200+/hr. Crazy!

The OP's wife might have no interest in this, but if it wasn't a valid part-time gig, I doubt all us SAHMs would know lots of moms who do it.

Whatever you do, don't go the MLM route. It's not worth alienating your friends, even if you do make a little cash.

[Scandium]

Photography is very expensive to get into ($5k-10k at least if doing weddings), very difficult, and extremely competitive. Everyone with and SLR think they can take good pictures (they can't). I would not bother.

I doubt the threshold (5-10K) is that high for amateur photographers. You have to undercut the people charging 2-5K for a wedding package. Charge $500 for the day and include all digital rights. Done. You don't need the printing equipment that way, just software. I would have been all over that if the amateur had demonstrated that they had a good eye. I wanted to print the photos myself anyway.

Charge $100 or less for an hour photo session with kids. Semi-professionals in my cheaper area charge $200+/hr. Crazy!

The OP's wife might have no interest in this, but if it wasn't a valid part-time gig, I doubt all us SAHMs would know lots of moms who do it.

Whatever you do, don't go the MLM route. It's not worth alienating your friends, even if you do make a little cash.

OK. You can get a used 5DII for maybe $1,500. A couple flashes and an extra camera. At least two f/2.8 lenses at $1,000 each. So maybe just under $5k then. Even if you don't print the photos you have to process them all. A decent PC and some adobe software isn't cheap either.

Yeah we interviewed half a dozen wedding photogs that charged $1000-2000. And a few seemed like "just got my SLR" people. They all sucked. Pictures were all over-processed crap. So we didn't hire them. That's zero income. But they all had this level of equipment so you'd need that to compete. I hang out in some photo forums and very few there encourage anyone to try to get into the business because "I like to take pictures". There are people with extreme talent who can't make any money on it.

And weddings are a toooon of work. easily a 12 hour day, and then several full days processing pictures.

[justajane]

And weddings are a toooon of work. easily a 12 hour day, and then several full days processing pictures.

That's true. It's easy when you freelance to calculate your hourly wage higher than it actually is. You have to find the clients, woo them, travel to the wedding, take pictures, then process the photos and field any questions later. Plus there's the webpage or Facebook page to manage, etc.

 

[Bettis]

Thanks, in case you haven't noticed, I've been venting/freaking out in a case study thread.  I think what we were looking for is easy cash without the 12 hr days, setting up blogs, facebook, etc which usually doesn't happen because money takes work.  We have way more issues with spending so I think I'm just gonna sell more on Ebay (How about pets, can I sell them there? :-P) and brute force my way to some more money while clearing out some space.

[dudde_devaru]

Thanks, in case you haven't noticed, I've been venting/freaking out in a case study thread.  I think what we were looking for is easy cash without the 12 hr days, setting up blogs, facebook, etc which usually doesn't happen because money takes work.  We have way more issues with spending so I think I'm just gonna sell more on Ebay (How about pets, can I sell them there? :-P) and brute force my way to some more money while clearing out some space.

Is Fleabay still a worthy platform to sell? Heard of many stories where in small business owners suffer loss because some greedy buyer will report to PayPal claiming he never got the item or some issue. PP will refund the buyer and take the money back from the seller! Just heard and seen in many other 'deal discussion' websites.
And with the shipping, fees etc. Is it really a money maker?

[Scandium]

Thanks, in case you haven't noticed, I've been venting/freaking out in a case study thread.  I think what we were looking for is easy cash without the 12 hr days, setting up blogs, facebook, etc which usually doesn't happen because money takes work.  We have way more issues with spending so I think I'm just gonna sell more on Ebay (How about pets, can I sell them there? :-P) and brute force my way to some more money while clearing out some space.

Unfortunately the prudes at ebay won't let you sell animals, organs, children, bodyparts, or sexual services on their site. Bummer. You'll have to find some other way.

But yeah, making money takes time, especially now that anyone can reach everyone via the internet. You're competing against the world, not just the people on your street. That's why it's almost impossible do find profitable opportunities anymore.

[Bettis]

With Ebay, it's essentially a 15% cut they take away (10 from Ebay, 3 or so from Paypal) plus if you want to get more bidders, free shipping is a must with any small stuff.  I sell things that I have accumulated over the years so I can do okay.  If you buy with the hope of flipping, it takes a lot of knowledge in whatever niche you are going for.  My niche was baseball cards but unfortunately, they're worth jack so those are mostly going to be tossed while I concentrate on the old Nintendo and Sega games I no longer have time to play.

[cloudsail]

Depending on where you live, and whether or not your wife has good fashion sense, she can apply to be a remote stylist for Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com/careers

[MayDay]

I think you have to be realistic about how much someone can get done while also being responsible for a baby.  The baby might nap 2 hours a day.  Personally, my H and I alsways needed half that napping time to just zone out on the pleasure of not being responsible for the tiny creature and being able to finally read/poop/etc in peace.  So that leaves 1 hour of uninterrupted work time. 

Another possibility is to work opposite you, so that you don;t have childcare.  I considered, for example, taking a breakfast waitressing job that went from 5-9 am.  A neighbor would have watched our kids from 8-9am for free (we were good friends, and it wasn't every day).  The other option is a night or weekend job.  But you guys already have some high stress right now, and never having down time will not help with that!

That is why many SAHP's end up doing childcare.  It doesn't require concentration or quiet, and you can get your household responsibilities taken care of.  The best bet is to find someone who wants part time care, so she still has a day or 2 a week to be able to schedule dr. appointments, car service, etc.  My best childcare situation was to watch a boy who was the same age as my daughter.  They were on the same schedule, it was 1 day a week so I wasn't overwhelmed, and we spent half of the day going on walks in the double stroller to the park, library, or grocery store to keep them busy. 

Finally, she does doggie daycare currently.  Can she develop a private dog walking clientele?  Can she walk a dog or 2 while pushing your baby in the stroller?  Sure it might not be as time efficient as walking 5 dogs at once, but babies love stroller walks anyway, so might as well walk a dog or 2 while you are doing it!  Same with doing vacation doggie/cat care.  She could bring the baby along to do daily visits when people are OOT.

[catccc]

I concur with others that she should leverage her experience working with dogs to figure something out.  My sister used to walk dogs in college and it was decent money.  Not sure what your area is like, but if there are DINKS with dogs around, chances are they'd be willing to pay for her services.  Or in home pet care while people are away.  Boarding can get really expensive, and many pets prefer to be in their familiar home. 

[expectopatronum]

OK. You can get a used 5DII for maybe $1,500. A couple flashes and an extra camera. At least two f/2.8 lenses at $1,000 each. So maybe just under $5k then. Even if you don't print the photos you have to process them all. A decent PC and some adobe software isn't cheap either.

Yeah we interviewed half a dozen wedding photogs that charged $1000-2000. And a few seemed like "just got my SLR" people. They all sucked. Pictures were all over-processed crap. So we didn't hire them. That's zero income. But they all had this level of equipment so you'd need that to compete. I hang out in some photo forums and very few there encourage anyone to try to get into the business because "I like to take pictures". There are people with extreme talent who can't make any money on it.

And weddings are a toooon of work. easily a 12 hour day, and then several full days processing pictures.

+1. I think a SAHM who could shoot weddings would be a superwoman! The young wedding photographer we hired ($1600, all digital rights, 8 hours) was awesome, but weddings were a labor of love. It takes weeks to edit that many photos and by working the wedding industry, you sacrifice Saturdays (so, 50% of the days I get with my husband).

But a side hustle - say a cheap $40-50/session type deal, if you already have a nice camera and basic editing software - could be a great gig. That's actually how she funded her business - taking senior portraits for friends at university. Take baby photos, family photos, etc and limit the # of photos per session up front. This can be a great deal for people with young friends who are looking for portraits, but not willing to shell out $200/session on it. It also has the advantage of word-of-mouth marketing versus trying to advertise to total strangers.

[Scandium]

But a side hustle - say a cheap $40-50/session type deal, if you already have a nice camera and basic editing software - could be a great gig. That's actually how she funded her business - taking senior portraits for friends at university. Take baby photos, family photos, etc and limit the # of photos per session up front. This can be a great deal for people with young friends who are looking for portraits, but not willing to shell out $200/session on it. It also has the advantage of word-of-mouth marketing versus trying to advertise to total strangers.

Maybe. I still don't see how this is doable. Everyone has a smartphone that take "good enough" pictures these days (to most people, I still thin they look like crap), and more and more have cheap DSLRs. So why would they pay for a photographer? And this is what the professionals in the forums in mentioned are saying too. Fewer are willing to pay for photos when they can do ok themselves, the service is getting commoditised, phased out for free to uncle bob with his "big camera", and will probably die out soon.

I have a decent camera and lenses, but I have no illusions that I could make any money on it (except $34 on shutterstock so far..)

[expectopatronum]

I mean, I think it just depends. I think if a 50 year old dude decided to buy $5K in equipment and do this, it wouldn't be profitable. However, I/the 2 photographers I knew have done this simply based on the fact that-

1) My camera only cost ~$600. It was something I bought because I wanted it, not because I thought I could make money. I used very basic editing software that came with my laptop.
2) I was in an environment when people wanted something a little better than iPhone pics, but as college kids, couldn't afford super expensive photography. It was saturated with a constantly renewing pool of engagements, proposals, young families, and seniors - big life moments that people wanted to capture, just not for $200.
3) My friends knew I was into photography, and I was approached by them (not the other way around). It was similar for the other two girls. Incidentally, all 3 of us were in sororities - haha. Then, word of mouth & Facebook did wonders for networking. One girl stayed well-connected with her old high school by recommendations alone and was always shooting senior portraits (guys and girls) as well as portraits (mostly girls) for her friends. As her friends got engaged/married, they called on her. Eventually she built up enough of a portfolio and had enough practice/experience for a stranger (me...) to hire for the wedding. And she did such a great job with it that I just recommended her to a friend of mine that is getting married in January, who is planning on hiring her now.
4) The other girls eventually took it to step 4 where they upgraded their equipment after making enough money. As they gained more experience and their calendars filled up, they were able to charge more and more.

I personally never charged anything as they were always just gifts for friends. The others slowly built it up from a side hustle/hobby into something that generated a little extra cash, and along the way they just practiced...a LOT. I'm definitely not saying, go out and buy a DSLR and try to turn it into a business. The reasons you stated are certainly barriers to doing so profitably. I just know that in the right circumstances (pool of potential clients, basic talent, appropriate pricing to what those people are willing to pay before they resort to DIY, building a reputation) it can be a side thing.

[Bettis]

I think photography is a good idea but there is likely too much overhead in it for her to do.  She has a 5 year old Macbook(not Pro, just regular) that doesn't have any fancy photo software and I have a 6 year old Ubuntu machine because my hard drive crashed and my Windows recovery disk didn't work.

The dog ideas are great so maybe we can do something there.  She would do basic grooming (no haircut, just bath and nails) and get $25 per dog.  One friend with 2 dogs doesn't tend to watch the one not being bathed so naturally it has peed on our couch and carpet.  Good thing we have old shit but it turned her off from grooming.  I think if she took it slow and could only have 1 dog brought to the house at a time, it would work.  We've done very limited dog sitting in our house but we do have 2 others so it does make it a bit difficult.  In others' houses?  Never thought of that.  We do have a neighbor across from us with 2 so if they go on a vacation, we might be able to leverage that.  She doesn't like to accept payment from family or neighbors because they tend to let us borrow things as we need them so it's more of a barter make up situation.  I'll bring up the dog options though and maybe we can figure something out.

[justajane]

Then I must live in a Marvel universe, because I know at least three SAHMs personally who shoot weddings on the week-ends. Sure, it's not ideal, but their husbands, who have normal 8-5s, watch the kids while they spend the day at the wedding.

We just shelled out $75 for about eight sheets of our 13 month old that were taken at his Parent's Day Out program by a national company. They can do that because they make money on volume, but I don't think professional (or professional(ish)) photography is dead or dying. Especially if the photographer has a gift for getting kids to smile naturally, they can make some money. And family photos (esp. if you have lots of kids) are notoriously different to get right. I would pay a decent amount of cash for a good family photo that has all of our kids looking at the camera and smiling appropriately.

But since the OP has already said this isn't an option for his wife, we are going off topic for him.

[cerebus]

I used to do at home transcription work for overseas clients, that was actually a very lucrative sideline and my hourly rate worked out way higher than my real job. It's horrible work though.

In our household it just has not been possible for the wife to work. We've really struggled with finances in the past and we also tried a lot of things but ultimately while the kids are small they and the household duties are her full time job. She works much harder than I do and we've made ends meet by being badass. The result of having her home is a far more peaceful stable environment and we are really the happiest this way.


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[expectopatronum]

A few more ideas.

- Seamstress. Any skill with sewing? Do you have friends with daughters that need their prom/homecoming/formals/bridesmaid dresses hemmed and/or with basic adjustments? Husbands whose pants need hemming? (Anecdote: Lady who altered my wedding dress started in costume alterations & design, moved into formals, then into weddings, works from home - two kids of school age.)
- Paper goods / design. Less lucrative because of all the resources out there for the average person and the time investment (if they must be hand-assembled), but for example, doing wedding/graduation/birthday invites and announcements.

Sorry, these are more entrepreneurial in nature, just thinking if she maybe had an existing skill to hone that could be tapped, it could turn into a nice little business. Or it could just be extra change every now and then.

If your family travels a lot, a site like eRewards can offer the occasional survey and redemption options for airline points. I've earned about 6,000.

[Scandium]

Then I must live in a Marvel universe, because I know at least three SAHMs personally who shoot weddings on the week-ends. Sure, it's not ideal, but their husbands, who have normal 8-5s, watch the kids while they spend the day at the wedding.

We just shelled out $75 for about eight sheets of our 13 month old that were taken at his Parent's Day Out program by a national company. They can do that because they make money on volume, but I don't think professional (or professional(ish)) photography is dead or dying. Especially if the photographer has a gift for getting kids to smile naturally, they can make some money. And family photos (esp. if you have lots of kids) are notoriously different to get right. I would pay a decent amount of cash for a good family photo that has all of our kids looking at the camera and smiling appropriately.

But since the OP has already said this isn't an option for his wife, we are going off topic for him.

yeah, we paid $16 for one (!) photo from "picture day" at daycare, and it was total garbage! Lighting and composition was worse than if done by grandma without glasses. We're never paying for that again. I'm tempted to go take new ones myself. I've taken what I think are decent photos of our baby, with tripod, off-camera flash and homemade diffuser, but I still don't think anyone would pay for it. Not when they can use their phone and be happy.
But yes this is off-topic now. Sorry.

[Blonde Lawyer]

She could check out Amazon Mturk.  You start out making pretty low money but as you get more HITs under your belt you are eligible for better things.  Basically, there are online tasks posted in a long list and you pick and choose which ones you want to do.  Some could be as basic as taking a 3 minute survey for 50 cents.  Others are transcribing videos for the hearing impaired in 20 second clips.  Each individual job usually pays under $3 but you can do enough of them that they add up.  I do a few hours here and there on the weekend or after work and I average between $10-$20 a day that I work on it.  She can pick it up and put it down as the baby allows.

I absolutely can't imagine washing dogs while watching an infant!

[Bettis]

Never heard of Amazon Mturk but we will definitely check that one out.  Every little bit counts.

Forgot about the infant thing with the dog washing.  When she got pregnant, she stopped doing it and she has only done it a couple of times after having him while I've been able to watch him. 

I'm not sure about sewing although I know she can knit.  That's where she got the Etsy idea.

[Blonde Lawyer]

If she goes the Mturk route, make sure she checks out the scripts too.  Turkopticon lets you see ratings on requesters and tasks so you make sure you aren't going to get screwed out of your money with false rejections.  Turkscraper lets you just see the HITS that meet your criteria so you see the best ones quickly and don't have to wade through pages of crap.  Hit Database helps you keep track of what you have done for who so you don't accidentally do the same task twice and risk rejections. There are some scripts to make the SEO work go faster.

The price requesters have to pay is changing currently so no one knows what will exactly happen with Mturk work.  Some speculate the amount of work is going to drop.  I'm still optimistic since CrowdSurf, the big transcription one has moved exclusively to Mturk.

You need to open an Amazon Payments account (like paypal) and transfer your earnings into that and from there you can transfer to your bank account.

[Roots&Wings]

usertesting.com website tests might be another option. You perform quick (usually short 10-min) test reviews of websites. It's hit or miss though for when the tests get posted and if you meet the screening qualifications, but could be modest side gig and requires virtually no technical expertise.

[Krolik]

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