Tell me more… Online shops are a popular choice for mums who want to run their own business. Alternatively, you could create a website that provides information. This might be…
- A listings website showing what’s on in your local area
- A blog – blogs (‘weblogs’) are websites which started out as online diaries, but many have now developed into websites that provide information, news and opinion on a specific subject or to a particular community.
- A social network or membership site where members pay a monthly fee to receive information, training or coaching on a particular subject. This could be as a video, podcast, e-book or e-course.
- A website selling an information product such as e-books and e-courses.
You can earn money from an information site by…
- Selling advertising space, much like a magazine
- For a directory site, you could charge people to list their business or sell advertising space (or both).
- Google Adsense – Google will pay you when a visitor to your site clicks on an advertiser’s link (there are other similar programmes too).
- Affiliate links – you are paid commission when visitors to your site buy from a site you are affiliated to.
- Selling an e-book, e-course or other information product on your website.
- Becoming an expert in your subject could lead to delivering courses, selling print books, coaching or being a consultant.
- Ebuzzing
What are the benefits?
- You can work whenever and wherever you want
- It’s cheap and easy to get started
- You can write about a subject that you love and get paid for it.
Things to consider…
- It’s very easy to start a blog which means there are millions of blogs out there. Getting large numbers of people to visit your site will take a lot of work, including networking, driving web traffic to your site and writing lots of content plus some knowledge of search engine optimisation and social media. You’ll also need to write great content that will bring people back to your site again and again.
- Getting people to spend money on your website will mean you need to convince them that what you have to sell is of value to them and that you’re an expert in your area. This can take a lot of trial and error to discover what works for your audience, as well as giving away lots of information for free.
Further information
- Examples of information websites run by mums:
Business Plus Baby – this site is a blog. Parent Pages is a website giving local information and things to do for parents. Become a Mumpreneur is a membership website.
- Want to try blogging?
You can start your own blog for free using WordPress or Blogger. To make money from blogging you’ll need to move on from a free blog, but this is a good way to see if blogging is for you. To learn about making money online, see Entrepreneur’s Journey and ProBlogger. For advice on writing content, see Copyblogger.
Not convinced that running an information website is for you? Take a look at other business ideas for mums.
This is a great site for inspiration and to find out that there are others out there who are trying to build up a business around a young family. In my quest for to do so, I’m trying to get to grips with Word Press, there are plenty of offers from experts to help but I’m on a bit of a budget and, besides, I’d really like to learn for myself. Anyone out there got any useful tips for me?
Hi Sabi, thank you very much! A few people have now asked me this, so I’m going to do some research and write about it next year.
I totally agree there is a market out there for info websites- afterall I run one- BUT .. it is not easy and while one would expect it to be flexible.. it is actually the most time consuming thing I have ever done.. people have high expectations.. advertisers even higher and with so many directories popping up everywhere you really need to find a way to differentiate yourself.. For example- there isnt a great website that does all of Sydney- there are ones that do bits of it but nothing major- there is a gap. Where as in Melbourne there are already 3 well run websites 4 depending on who you ask and so why would you start another? and if you did how will you be different? the only reason I have survived to prosper is because I would do this for free- the irony is that it is this passion that has allowed me to be successful.. so if the motivation is for money.. then I would suggest another start up to be more lucrative in the medium term :)- if you are thinking of starting one and you want some advice feel free to email me xNgaire
Hi Ngaire, thanks for your comment. It’s great to hear from someone who has such a lot of experience. I agree, anyone who is looking for an easy business to run around the kids in in for a shock! Earning your living online from advertising very is hard work and that’s one reason why I decided not to go too far down the advertising path here on Business Plus Baby. Having said that, I do know people who are doing quite well, but there’s no doubt it’s a business like any other – you’ve got to find your place in the market and offer what your customers (advertisers) want, then deliver great customer service.