Best Legitimate Stay At Home Jobs For Moms That Pay Great
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For many, being a stay-at-home job feels like a full-time job in itself. You have to juggle between dozens of tasks.
Between cooking for your family, picking up your kids from school, and doing grocery shopping, you barely have any time for yourself.
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Unfortunately, this full-time job does not come with a full-time paycheck. Due to this, it can be challenging for families that rely on a single income to make ends meet.
Ultimate List Of Money Making Stay At Home Mom Jobs
But it doesn’t have to stay difficult. Now, you can choose from a variety of stay-at-home jobs for moms that pay really well.
The best thing about these roles is that they allow for flexible scheduling to work around childcare.
Below, I explain how to find which stay-at-home job would be best for you. I also give a list of work-from-home jobs you can try as a stay-at-home mom.
Best Stay At Home Mom Jobs
1. Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketers earn commissions by recommending products on their blogs and social media.
I’ve been earning as an affiliate marketer for the past decade, and its the most sun, easiest gigs out there. I started when I was on maternity leave with my baby, and within 6 months I had replaced my previous employment income with affiliate commissions, and never had to return to work!
I wrote a guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing, I highly recommend you read it.
This type of revenue stream is perfect for someone who already is active on social media, YouTube, or has a blog. But if you don’t have profiles yet, you can build your blog/socials as you learn!
2. Social Media Manager
A social media manager is someone who specializes in running clients’ social media platforms. They may strategize with the client about how to effectively promote an upcoming launch using social media or take over the day-to-day accounts.
The best part is that you can do this as an independent freelancer and not be a full-time employee of the company. You get to choose your clients and set your hours which is essential for a working stay-at-home mom.
This is a growing area of expertise as more and more companies realize that they need to start using social media. Even small businesses are hiring social media managers.
This is a job where there truly is no limit to how much you can make. The training above shows you the step-by-step process for becoming a social media manager from finding clients to building your income.
Related: Learn how to become a social media manager without a degree and no experience.
3. Virtual Assistant
The main role of a virtual assistant entails providing administrative support to a company, another individual, or a team.
The main things that you’ll be tasked with involve handling email and sometimes social media, maintaining calendars, arranging meetings and travel, researching, and planning events. Virtual assistant jobs are done remotely, and they’re available on a part-time or full-time basis.
But do they pay well? The average salary for a virtual assistant is $15.64 per hour.
However, there are a couple of things you can do to increase your pay rate.
Ideally, you should learn other skills that give you an edge in the job market. This way, more companies will want to hire you because you offer a lot more.
Additional services that you can offer are:
- Creating landing pages for companies’ websites
- Curating content for the client’s social media accounts
- Managing a blog and brainstorming headlines
- Learn how to become a virtual assistant here.
4. Online Proofreader
Even if you weren’t the best writer in school, you can still become a proofreader. Many companies will hire beginning proofreaders without prior experience.
You must have a willingness to learn and improve your skills. This free online workshop is perfect for learning more about becoming a proofreader for those interested.
There are two main types of proofreading: general proofreading and courtroom transcripts.
You can start improving your proofreading skills in one area and then gain additional experience in the other to make yourself more marketable to clients.
A good thing about proofreading is that there’s generally a deadline to complete a project but it doesn’t matter what hours you work in the day.
This makes proofreading great for spending time with your kids and working during naptimes and evenings, especially if you start your own freelance proofreading business.
5. TikTok Strategist
I know, you’re probably thinking that this isn’t a real job but it actually is! TikTok is one of the fastest-growing apps in the world and Americans are jumping on board.
The field is wide open with this job because TikTok is still in the early adopter phase. What make’s TikTok different is that users are staying on the platform for around 52 minutes a day and listen with the sound up.
With statistics like that, many businesses and brands are flocking to the platform. The key is knowing how to monetize.
This free TikTok guide trains you on everything you need to know about becoming a TikTok creator.
The training covers the basics but also delves deep into the TikTok algorithm, how to get your videos viral using the right hashtags, how to generate business leads, and how to monetize a TikTok channel. Perfect for monetizing your own channel or taking on clients’ channels.
6. Pet Sitter
Pet sitting is a flexible job that can work around your schedule. You can be your own boss and schedule pet sits around nap schedules easily.
A love for animals, responsibility, and reliability are the main traits needed to be a successful pet sitter.
If you need to bring your child along with you, many clients understand if you have your child in a stroller while walking their dog.
Another option would be to only take on cat-sitting clients or weekend pet sits when you’d have other childcare options.
The main thing is interviewing clients and finding animal personalities that will best fit your needs.
If you don’t want to have to do a lot of marketing or administrative work for your pet-sitting business, I recommend using Rover.
I show you how I use Rover to earn over $500 every month as a stay-at-home mom.
7. Freelance Writer
If you love writing then this is a good work-from-home job for moms. As a freelance writer, you’ll write articles for clients either as a ghostwriter or under your name.
In ghostwriting, once your article is written and given to the client, your name will not be attached to it. Some businesses also hire freelance writers to post on their site with an author byline.
If you have a specialty or credential such as a doctor or nutritionist, sites will often pay more for an article with your name attached to it to build credibility with their readers.
8. Blogger
Ask any work-from-home mom blogger and they’ll tell you that blogging is an amazing job. In fact, you can use your experiences as a mom as the incentive for your blog post topics.
There are so many other topics you can blog about. If you’re an expert in financial management, use this as the basis for your contribution. Essentially, cash in on your day-to-day experiences.
Follow my detailed guide for starting a blog and getting paid for it.
An advantage of becoming a blogger is that you don’t need to be an incredible writer to excel. You can use your blog to earn money in other ways.
For instance, you can try affiliate marketing. This involves advertising and selling products through your blog.
For the best outcome, it’s good to focus on affiliate products related to your blog’s theme. For instance, if it’s about parenthood, you can sell baby products.
Blogging is not a job you can do and immediately start earning an income. In fact, if you’ve never had experience running a blog before, there’s a steep learning curve.
You have to learn marketing, copywriting, SEO, graphic creation, and so much more that goes into creating a successful blog empire.
It can often take 6 months or longer for a part-time blog to start earning money. I don’t say this to be discouraging, only so that you can jump with a realistic overview.
Heck, I blog and love it so the more the merrier.
9. Photographer
The great thing about photography is that it can be done anywhere, anytime. You can set all of your work around your daily schedule. If you have the time, you can offer your services for pet or portrait photography.
One well-paying option includes offering product photography services somewhere like Fiverr. The client would either send you the product or factor that into the price. You’d take the product photos according to what they’re looking for.
Another option is selling your pics online. Here’s my guide for how to sell photos online and make money. You could sell your own prints or usage rights for stock photos.
Not a professional photographer? No problem! If you have a lot of candid pics on your cell phone, then check out these apps to sell photos for cash.
10. Virtual Tutor
If you consider yourself an expert in a particular subject matter, you can use this to your advantage by turning it into an income-generating avenue.
As implied in the name, virtual tutoring does not require you to be physically present when offering your services.
Most virtual tutors utilize online platforms such as FaceTime, Skype, and Google Hangouts. Better yet, becoming a virtual tutor does not require you to have an in-state teaching certification.
However, most companies that hire virtual tutors do ask for a bachelor’s degree and some form of demonstration of proficiency in the subject matter. If you have prior experience in either teaching or tutoring, then this is the perfect stay-at-home job for you.
The average hourly pay for a virtual tutor ranges from $15 to $22 per hour. However, consider researching the median wage for virtual tutors within your area. This way, it will be easy to manage your expectations and know how much to charge.
Tutors in math subjects are almost always in high demand, as are those in physical sciences (chemistry, physics, earth science). Another area you can specialize in is offering to teach English to students abroad.
Be sure to read my in-depth guide on the companies that are hiring for virtual tutoring.
11. Online Stylist
Do people often describe you as a fashionista? If so, you should consider becoming an online stylist.
The best thing about this job is that you can get started even if you have no formal education.
As a remote stylist, your work will revolve around choosing clothing items and accessories for your clientele. Keep in mind that a client may want you to stick to a particular budget.
Though this position doesn’t require you to have a degree in fashion, it’s wise to keep abreast of fashion trends. This way, you can recommend trending outfits for your clients.
The average pay for a remote stylist is $10.54 per hour.
The easiest place to find online stylist jobs are on employment sites like Indeed or Cabi. You can also create a website to showcase your work.
Remember to add contact information that clients can use to reach you.
12. Transcriber
The role of a transcriber is simple- to type out scripts based on what another individual is dictating. Sounds easy, right? Well, not entirely.
You need to have fast and precise typing skills, not to mention, good hearing capability.
You’ll also have to invest in several accessories ranging from headphones to a quality computer and word processing program. A foot pedal that enables you to regulate the audio or video recording can also come in handy.
The upside to becoming a transcriber is that it blends in perfectly with your work-from-home lifestyle.
It doesn’t call for lengthy or complicated training and it’s purely a remote job. No need to start reporting to work after every few weeks or months.
That said, this is a job like any other, meaning it requires a decent investment of time and focus. More importantly, it calls for a quick turnaround.
As a transcriber, you can earn at least $15.19 per horr. However, this rate can increase depending on your location and the sector you choose to specialize in.
For instance, medical and legal transcription work pays more but these jobs also require advanced training.
13. Customer Service Representative
If you’re a mom looking to re-enter the workforce, one of the simplest roles you can take up is a customer service representative.
Depending on the company you work for, this requires very little training and has minimal startup costs.
Also, remote customer service positions are one of the most abundant work-at-home jobs. This means you won’t have a very hard time finding an employer.
An important point to note about this position though is that it requires zero distractions. You’ll have to set up a quiet environment where you can work from.
So if you have toddlers who have not started going to school, you should consider hiring a sitter. Alternatively, work only when they retire to bed or are taking naps.
The hourly compensation for a freelance customer service representative is about $13.86.
14. Makeup Consultant
Being a makeup consultant can mean a number of things. You can work at a store, helping people pick out the right shades of foundation.
Another option is to become an online makeup consultant. If there’s a particular brand you’re passionate about, see if they have an affiliate program where you can get paid for any sales made through your affiliate link.
By creating your own Facebook makeup consulting group, you can give tutorials and answer questions for your clients.
If you’re good at applying makeup, Instagram is a great platform for acquiring new beauty clients by showcasing your talents. If you’re comfortable on camera, a YouTube channel is great for publishing makeup tutorials.
By becoming an online makeup consultant, a lot of your income can become passive once you put in the work setting up your outreach platforms.
15. Brand Ambassador
Another job that’s perfect for a stay at home entails becoming a brand ambassador. In simple terms, it involves partnering up with companies to advertise their products and/or services, mainly on social media.
Usually, your client will give you personal objectives that you should accomplish within a given period. You’re flexible to work at your own convenient hours as long as you achieve the set targets.
In order to get hired for brand ambassador jobs, you’ll need a strong social media presence with followers and engagement.
16. Bookkeeper
If you’re good at crunching numbers or have some accounting experience, becoming a freelance bookkeeper is one of the best decisions you can make.
After all, getting started on bookkeeping doesn’t require a lot of setup. The bare minimum that you need is a laptop, a stable internet connection, and bookkeeping software.
As a bookkeeper, some of the tasks you’ll do involve entering and managing accounts payable and accounts receivable, keeping track of inventory, overseeing project budgets, filing accounting reports, maintaining the general ledger just to mention a few.
According to ZipRecruiter, the average yearly pay for an online bookkeeper was $46,870.
17. Virtual Health Coach
A majority of stay-at-home moms strive to stay fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So why not use your knowledge and skills to share with others?
But how does virtual health coaching work? Well, you will use online communication platforms to keep in touch with your clients. These include avenues such as Skype and Zoom.
Your goal is to use the first few sessions to gain a deeper understanding of your client and the way they live. Once you get to know your client on a personal level, you can steer them in the right direction in relation to their health and fitness.
After you’ve talked to them for a while, you can help them come up with a plan to meet their fitness goals. Work with them on a daily basis to ensure that they’re sticking to healthy habits.
What’s good about becoming a virtual health coach is that it’s not as demanding as other remote jobs. You get to choose how many clients you help within a given period.
So if you want to spend more time with your kids, you can start with just a few clients.
18. Freelance Interior Designer
Do you have a knack for decorating homes and would love to help other homeowners create their dream homes? If so, becoming a freelance interior designer is your best bet.
Of course, you’re not limited to working with homeowners only. If you have a bit of experience in this field, you can specialize in other areas such as hotel interior designing.
To make the most of this job, you should constantly look for new clients. This will help you build your portfolio, which will make you even more marketable.
If you’re mainly looking to earn extra money around the holidays, specializing in Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving decorating can be your focus.
As a stay-at-home interior designer, your duties will be: finding clients by sending job proposals, understanding clients’ requirements, brainstorming decorative ideas, and conferring with them to move forward to the design phase.
You may also be tasked with providing estimates for materials, designing among other expenses. According to Careerlancer.net, freelance interior designers make at least $52,400 in a year.
19. Web Search Evaluator
Search engine evaluators are an interesting job option for stay-at-home moms. They’re also not so common, which means that if you have the expertise, your skills will be in demand.
The role of a search engine evaluator is to establish whether the outcomes of common searches are relevant based on the keyword or phrase entered in the search box. These professionals also assess the relevancy of paid ads for individuals using PPC programs such as Google Adwords.
What I like most about this role is that it doesn’t require a high start-up cost. All you need is a high-speed internet connection, an anti-virus protection program, knowledge regarding how search engines operate, and fundamental research skills.
Different corporations pay different amounts depending on the scope of your work. But the average rate is about $15 per hour.
It’s not as demanding as other stay-at-home jobs, meaning you’ll still have plenty of time to spend with your young ones.
20. Travel Consultant
If you love traveling as much as I do, an easy way to make money from home is to become a travel search consultant. What’s good about this job is that it doesn’t require any special skills, knowledge or training.
Generally, a travel consultant is tasked with understanding their client’s travel requirements and providing suitable recommendations based on their needs. They help individuals plan their trips, both local and international.
They also help them to plan tours, accommodation, means of travel, and insurance aspects.
In many cases, travel consultants book tickets on behalf of their clients. They also provide essential travel materials such as maps, guides, and event programs.
Becoming a travel consultant gives you a lot of flexibility. Just like a health coach, travel consultants get to decide how many clients to take on within a certain period.
Depending on the company you’re working for, you might even get rewarded with a travel credit that allows you and your family to travel.
This job also pays pretty well. On average, you can expect to earn at least $40, 520 in a year.
21. Web Designer
If you know programming languages such as HTML, CSS or JavaScript, you can become a freelance web designer.
Your main duties will entail building websites, designing news graphics, executing web initiatives, and collaborating with the editorial and marketing teams. Occasionally, you’ll be asked to take part in creative brainstorming and redesign processes.
Unfortunately, web design is a job that requires a bit of expertise. If you have no prior knowledge, you may have to take a short course to learn the basics. The upside to this is that it pays well.
Professional web designers can earn up to $75 per hour. However, this rate varies significantly depending on the programming language you’re working with.
Some like Java, Objective-C, and Python command a higher price than others.
Steps For Making The Transition To A Stay-At-Home Job
There a quite a few factors you should consider when evaluating a potential work-from-home job. Availability, skill set, and mindset are only a few of the components involved in potential job assessment.
1. Evaluate Your Availability
Being a stay-at-home mom, there’s a high chance that you don’t have too much time to spare, especially if your toddlers haven’t started going to school yet.
The only free time you get may likely be when your kids go to bed, right before they wake up, or when they’re taking naps.
Thus, you should first determine the number of hours per week you can commit to a paying job while still giving yourself enough time to rest.
2. Consider Your Skill Set
There are many stay-at-home mom jobs available but which one is right for you? To determine which job suits you, you should ask yourself a few questions.
For example, would you like a job that requires little to zero training on your part? Or would you like a job that enables you to grow and develop your initial career skill set?
Take note that there are other factors you should account for before deciding the type of job you’ll do. For instance, does the job require you to invest a large amount of startup money to get started?
4. Determine Whether You Want To Involve Your Children
Getting a job that offers you flexible working hours is one way to earn money while ensuring that you can stay at home with your kids. An even better alternative is to include your kids in your quest to become an entrepreneur.
Depending on how old your children are, it is possible to find some side gigs to include them. Think, offering childcare services for the working parents in your neighborhood, taking your neighbors’ dogs for walks or even checking in on pets when their owners are away.
Involving your kids in simple activities like this is an excellent way to help them learn the significance of work ethic and the reward that it comes with.
5. Stay Organized
Based on the kind of job you ultimately choose, you might have to implement structure to help you make the most of it.
For instance, you could consider converting one of the rooms to a home office where you can work from, without any distractions.
If the job is demanding, it might help to hire a sitter for the couple of hours that you’ll be working. This way, you can focus solely on your work for these few hours and get a lot more done in a condensed time.
You should consider getting the Life Glow Up Planner to manage your schedule and stay organized.
6. Look For Opportunities
When you’ve figured out the number of hours you can devote to your job and set up a solid structure, the next thing you should do is start looking for a stay-at-home job that meets your requirements.
If you’re looking for work around the neighborhood, you can ask your friends, family, and neighbors. Local neighborhood apps or social media is another great way to find opportunities close to home.
Similarly, if you’re looking to engage in the same work you used to do before you became a stay-at-home mom, you can reach out to your former colleagues. Or, you could inquire through website forums that are related to your field.
7. Have An Entrepreneurial Mindset
When you finally start earning an income, you should be wise in how you spend it. Essentially, treat the money the same way you would if you were in your former 9-to-5.
This includes setting aside a portion of it to pay quarterly taxes on time and covering business expenses. The remaining profit can be incorporated into your family’s budget.
8. Allow Yourself Time To Adjust
Don’t worry! Even a simple job can feel overwhelming since you’re still taking care of your toddlers 24/7.
Being able to make money from home is a great idea, but it’s sure to come with some level of stress, especially for the first few days.
Don’t be hard on yourself and give yourself time to get used to your new schedule. You’ll get into a groove soon enough.
What About Direct Sales?
I do not recommend direct sales (MLMs). Direct sales typically get a bad rap, and for good reason.
A direct sales company, also known as a multi-level-marketing company requires its sellers to buy their company’s products themselves, and then sell off the products, themselves.
Unfortunately, MLMs are often one of the first types of business ventures that stay-at-home moms try out. I would advise you to avoid these companies at all costs.
The scam is that the company doesn’t really care if you sell the products or not, because they already got their sale from YOU.
Direct sales companies also require you to hit monthly sales quotas. You have no freedom (unlike affiliate marketing where you can promote as much or as little as you want and you are not locked down.)
MLMs also require their sellers to recruit other people into the MLM to join their “team”, for a percentage of their sales. Those people have to recruit people to join their “team” for a percentage of their sales, and on and on and on. Pretty soon your whole town is in the MLM and there is no one left to sell the products to.
This is how people lose a lot of money in MLM pyramid schemes.
Another problem is when people treat direct sales as a “get rich quick” scheme and spam their friends and family to buy things. No one likes to be sold to this way and it’s often done by people who aren’t sure how to run a successful business.
Once you know how to properly evaluate a direct sales company, you can go into it with your eyes wide open in order to make an educated decision for yourself.
Stay At Home Jobs For Moms To Earn Extra Money – Conclusion
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, then you understand how confusing it can be to look for a job.
On the one hand, you want to give your kids the best possible care. On the other hand, you want to find a job and make financial contributions to your family.
Thanks to advancements in technology, you no longer have to sacrifice either one of these aspects. You can comfortably work from home while still caring for your kids.
Of course, you’ll have to come up with a structure that helps you balance family and work. But with dozens of work-from-home opportunities, you’re sure to find one that fits into your schedule.
If I missed a job, let me know in the comments! I’m always adding more jobs to this list. I’d love to hear what jobs you’ve done to work from home.
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