Parenting is easy work, right? I mean, the kids pretty much take care of themselves. Mom’s have plenty of time for running a business while they take care of children.

OK, now let’s be serious. Adulting is hard, parenting is a continuous challenge, and making money isn’t easy. If that was the case, we wouldn’t need therapists, support groups, and coffee to get us through the day.

I’m not a mom, but I try to be a pretty involved father. My wife and I are raising five amazing children who bring more joy to our lives than we ever thought possible. As a full-time father who works frequently with stay at home moms, I’ve seen what almost every type of mom goes through.

Not a single one would I consider being a calm and stress-free situation.

A Side Hustle That Isn’t A Pain In The…

As a homeschooling parent and former local business owner, I regularly communicate with hundreds of moms. Many of them are stay at home moms who often would ask my opinion about starting a side hustle. For those already in the hustle arena, more often than not, the work was not worth the time.

**RELATED TOPIC: To Work or Not To Work – That is the Question**

The names of network marketing companies and trending at home businesses would come and go, leaving behind debt and disappointment in the dust. Often, the ambition of building an empire interfered with the reality of mom’s daily responsibilities. What started as an ambition to make extra cash became an urgency to sell through inventory before the credit card was due.

Network marketing isn’t the only side hustle that can lead to disappointment. There are plenty of money-making opportunities that require too much time, too great a learning curve, and too much energy. Even a mom who has a proper self-care plan in place needs to be careful of burnout, so these kinds of jobs need to go out the window.

There’s just no way around how much work being a parent is.

Before You Give Up On Your Side Hustle Dreams

Moms have plenty of opportunities to earn extra cash. But finding the right side hustles for moms requires an ability to avoid the shiny object syndrome and maintain awareness of the time and energy limitations parents have. The result is a great side hustle giving you extra income for personal pleasures, fun filled trips, family trips, and might we say, a gift for your husband?

Kim, are you reading this? 🙂

The point is, I’ve written this article to give hope to all mothers. It doesn’t matter if you are a single mom, caring for a special needs child, or any other reason, this might be a challenge. By the end of our article, our goal is to give you confidence and direction in how to earn extra income by doing work you enjoy as a side hustle.

Side Hustles For Busy Moms

Now that we’ve built up the right motivation, let’s get into the good part of this article and give you five side hustles for busy moms.

Hustle #1: Start Freelance Writing

Let’s start with something I am passionate about. My SEO and content marketing agency works with some pretty amazing moms. We bring these moms in for freelance writing about various subjects. Our agency works in many industries and there always seems to be a mom who fits our needs.

Freelance writing is one of the best side jobs. It provides straight forward compensation, the work is fulfilling and the process is therapeutic. Freelance writing is a flexible side hustle and makes for the perfect nap time activity.

Companies seek a freelance writer for two primary reasons:

SEO Content Writing: Have you dabbled in managing a website where you create blog posts about a product you liked or something on your mind? That’s exactly what companies look for as a part of their content marketing. While it isn’t as simple as running a basic blog, having a competent freelance writer create the article is a strong start.

Copywriting: The other type of freelance writing is creating content that gets people to take an action. You can expect to write copy for sales pages, social media posts, and email marketing. If you enjoy writing and selling, then this could very well be the right fit for you.

How to Become a Freelance Writer

  1. Take A Course: Rarely do companies request a degree in English from their writers, so the education you earn for writing is for your own benefit. There are plenty of courses for SEO writing and copywriting that have a small cost, but give lots of valuable information.
  2. Start Writing: The most important thing you can do to get writing jobs is having work examples for companies or agencies to view. Having a website where you cover a specific subject shows those looking for freelancers that your skills go beyond the content itself. Writing for other websites at no cost is also a good idea when you are first starting out.
  3. Promote On Social Media: Put your social media connections to good use by letting them know about your writing passion, ability, and desire to build a side hustle. It is highly likely that some of your friends or followers will have a connection who needs a professional and reliable freelance writer.

Did we convince you to start a freelance writing side gig? Awesome. Now grab your cup of coffee, take a breath, and let the typing begin.

Hustle #2 Become A Virtual assistant

Plenty of moms appreciate their job as a virtual assistant because motherhood already equipped them for many tasks that a “boss” assigns them. A VA job often includes planning trips, scheduling appointments, organizing information, and other basic needs. This type of online side hustle mirrors much of a mom’s job without the need to please fussy (I mean beautiful) children.

How you win as a busy mom who’s also a virtual assistant is to be transparent about what your life looks like. Being clear (and firm) about what you can and cannot do helps identify the right person for you to assist. Get this right and you may have a side hustle that lasts for a long time.

How To Become a Virtual Assistant

  1. Start A LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn is the place for professionals. This is a breeding ground for company owners and managers in need of a virtual assistant. In this gig economy, many of the owners and managers look for a freelance virtual assistant.
  2. VA Placement Services: Once the idea of a virtual assistant took hold, virtual assistant companies specializing in connecting assistants to companies emerged. You can sign up with companies like Zirtual, Time etc, and Fancy Hands to quickly get your side hustle on.
  3. Post on Social Media: Yep, back to this again. Social media will be a common theme when talking about promoting your side hustle. You never know who your friends know, that might want you to help them with your service.
  4. Apply For Jobs: Bonus tip here. Not every company posting about needing to fill a position is actually looking for a full-time employee. Shocker right? Many companies are looking for qualified individuals. I’ve built strong relationships and earned clients by reaching out to HR departments who have job board listings.

On a personal note, I am always looking for digital organization specialists that can put my scatterbrained mind at ease. Even if someone isn’t in the market for a virtual assistant, you very well may solve a problem they are aware of but not doing anything about.

Hustle #3: Position Yourself As A Social Media Manager

This one hits home since I just brought on a single mom with a special knack for social media. We pay her to make a single post each day for a platform and edit appropriately to fit others. This is the perfect side hustle for her since she enjoys social media and would rather make money than post on her personal account..

How to Become a Social Media Manager

  1. Take A Social Media Management Course: There are free courses on social media management that can get you started. Investing between $50-$100 dollars takes you even further into social media management with tips, tricks, and strategies from some of the best in the business. The referrals pour in once you have a good grasp on social media marketing and provide real value.
  2. Post On Social Media: Oh my gosh, did he just say it again? Yep. But doesn’t it make sense to post your services on social media platforms where you will serve your clients? Your friends and followers include people running businesses or have their own side hustle and may need social media help.
  3. Join A Gig Website: Websites like Upwork and Fiverr are great for posting social media services, but I have some words of wisdom. Start with low prices if you want to get work. Once you have established yourself and built up a list of positive reviews, raise your prices to a more appropriate level.
  4. Call Out Companies: An easy way to get social media work is finding reputable companies but minimal social media presence. Find the right contact and invite them to an in-person or online coffee meeting. Talk to them about their experiences with past social media managers and see if you can fill this marketing void.

Hustle #4 Start A Personal Training Business

If you have a garage or backyard, then you have what you need to start a personal training business. Busy moms have been using this hustle idea for a while, but there’s plenty of room for more fitness enthusiastic moms. For years, I would hear my next-door neighbor teaching TRX classes in her backyard with typically between 4-6 women at a time.

Assuming she is charging about $10.00 per class, she is making $40-60 per hour. Not bad for a side hustle! Even better, she is getting a good workout while helping other people transform their bodies. It’s a win all the way around.

How To Become a Personal Trainer

  1. Become Certified: While you technically do not “need” a certification to put people through a workout, I recommend you have one. Since we are dealing with people’s health, making sure you have the required education should be a top priority. Plus, you learn a lot about how to improve your fitness, which, let’s be honest, we all can use a little help with.
  2. Get Insured: Personal trainers insurance is one of the least expensive forms of insurance. For $100-200 dollars a year, you can protect yourself against any injuries that your clients experience.
  3. Post On Social Media: I know, I know. But this is a fail proof activity. Offer free classes to your friends and take a few action shots that you can use on social media. I guarantee that you have followers on the verge of taking fitness seriously. If you are there at the right time, expect a DM where they want to learn more.

Side Hustle #5: Become a Bookkeeper

I cannot count on two hands the amount of friends I have currently doing bookkeeping work as a side hustle. Most of which came about because a frustrated company owner had issues with their “books” but didn’t want a full-time employee. Or, they felt as if their accountant was charging an astronomical rate for some basic data entry.

My friends became the super hero saving the day by assuming this pretty straightforward task. What once was a manual process requiring a full-time employee is now an automated process, requiring 1-2 hours per day for most six and even seven figure businesses.

How To Become a Bookkeeper

  1. Become Certified: We are dealing with people’s money here so let’s take it seriously. Plus, your service has a direct impact on how the IRS feels about this business. You can get certified with companies like “The National Association Of Certified Bookkeepers” for around $400.
  2. Join A Gig Website: All the previous websites will work, but it doesn’t end at what we’ve mentioned previously. Even the monopoly itself (Intuit) offers their own side hustle work, but you need 3-years experience before applying.
  3. Ask Around: Like I mentioned, most of my bookkeeping friends started because someone they knew was having trouble with their financial record keeping.

Final Tips For You Side Hustlin Moms

By now, I hope motivation is flooding your nervous system and you are heading towards finding the best type of side hustle for you. However, stopping here may leave some hesitant about chasing after the perfect side hustle. So here are some final tips that we hope will motivate you to get started.

Be Confident

Confidence (not arrogance) is the best way to earn and deserve your side hustle. The confidence you have about this home job carries over into performance. If you are fearful during the work, the outcome will be lackluster.

Overcome your fear and recognize how unbelievably capable and exceptional you are.

Embrace Kaizen

Kaisen is a term used by the Japanese that means constant and never ending improvement (CANI). The result of taking a single action per day for an entire year to improve your skill is absolutely mind boggling. The action can take 2-minutes or 2-hours. It’s completely up to you.

If you want to raise your prices and gain more clients, then Kaisen will get you there.

Create a Fun Environment

Kids are running around like crazy, the house is a mess, and you have a small space to work with. We get it. But do what you can to make your side hustle environment a joy to work from. For me, coffee and headphones are all it takes. For others, they need a curated backdrop, Pinterest worthy, desk presentation, and an ergonomic chair.

Do what you need to make your work environment fit for peak performance.

Let’s Finish With This

Not every stay at home mom wants to earn extra money but for those that do, please hear me clearly. Having an ambition for something outside of direct child interaction is nothing you should be ashamed about. In fact, this small amount of time that you dedicate to a “home mom job“ can make you an even better and more present parent. With many great side hustles for moms, I hope you find the right balance.

**RELATED TOPIC: Rerunning to My Career After 10 Years as a SAHM**

side hustle for moms

Written By Guest Writer – Jason Vaught

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