The Best Websites for Stay at Home Mom's Starting a Business

Starting out your new business venture as a stay at home mom can be very intimidating. As a Manager in a direct sales company, I look back at my start in November, 2006 and think how lucky I was to have this type of knowledge at my finger tips. For those Moms that are just learning how powerful the internet is, allow me to provide a cheat sheet that will get you on your way and a new network of wahms (work at home moms) in your arsenal!

I have put these websites in order of my own preference, but you will find them all very useful and can decide on your own favorites!

1. www.WAHM.com - Work at Home Moms.com is a great website for all types of work at home businesses. I think it's one of the most versed in party
plans, actual work at home opportunities that are not direct sales, crafters, and a myriad of different businesses that really give you a full spectrum of the opportunities open to you. My favorite part about this site is its message boards. Each company is represented on a separate message board that really allows you to "get to know" your fellow business acquaintances. Cheryl Demas is the founder of WAHM.com. In her words, "WAHM.com is your source for home business information, work at home/work from home jobs, and all the support and advice a work-at-home mom (or dad, or anyone) could ask for."

2. www.dswa.org - The only reason I have this website as number two is because some work at home moms will not be in direct sales so #1 contains more resources for those that are not participating in that type of business. Otherwise, this site is amazing and has so much to offer even to non-members. If you click on "free stuff" you'll be able to view e-zine articles, sample tele-classes (my favorite), and advice from the experts. Joining as a member gives you even more resources and it's a great investment and also a write off on your taxes!

3. www.CWAHM.com - This website is very similar to Work at Home Moms.com but the "C" stands for Christian. This website has been in business for over six years and provides resources to help moms find a great work at home career and to help current work at home moms market their businesses at a fraction of the cost of other websites. My favorite part about this site is it's online party chat rooms. You can actually schedule a chat room at no cost and teach others about your company, plan team meetings or join in to learn about other companies.

4. www.directsalesmoms.com - This website is wonderful for those in direct sales. I love the layout and the ease of use to find articles, events, and courses to help you win in your business. They have wonderful business tools and message boards that are specific to goals, motivation, and advertising tips and tricks.

5. www.theconsultantshop.com - Another direct sales website for consultants in party plan companies (which is the largest trend for work at home moms), this website has a fun and hip lay out that keeps you engaged and is easy to maneuver. Vendor fairs for those that would like to join and educate others about their sales and specials. They also have leads available for purchase and some other non-conventional approaches to marketing that the other sites do not. One of the things I really like is that they only allow one consultant from each company to advertise. So you can pay to be the "only" consultant from your direct sales company and have the monopoly on the website. Genius!

So now that you know the best websites for help and support, where do you start? The best thing to do is to sign up for their weekly newsletters and/or daily tips. This will allow you to get a feel for the type of information that interests most work at home moms and how they network and what's critical. This will assist you in your own business and help you get to know your audience by listening to the experts.

The next thing is to join the message boards and introduce yourself to other moms. Ask for advice from them and read the boards in the companies that are similar to your own. You may find that you can also offer advice and become an expert in your field which will draw others to you and perhaps bring on team members or employees to your cause. Making sure you have a good presence on these boards will help you build credibility and allow you to influence others. Message board queen equals power!

The last thing you may want to look at with these sites is advertising. Work at home mom sites are much more reasonable for advertising when you're starting out. Some ads run as little as $7.00 a month while some are around $100 for the year. If you gain one customer a month from these sites it will basically pay for your advertising. I was able to bring on 10 team members from these sites and find them very useful in getting the word out about a new endeavor. Moms are always looking for something fresh and new and this is a perfect opportunity to use all of these tools to get your name and business out there and get off to a fast start...