Business Blogging: 9 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Out

Two years ago I decided I wanted to earn a living online. It was the only type of business flexible enough to fit around my chaotic family!

Back in 2009 I didn’t really know how to earn good money on the internet, so starting a blog was my way of diving into this world, getting to know people and learning as I went along. Back then my blog was hosted by WordPress and I moved over to businessplusbaby.com in July 2009.

I’ve learned so much in the last two years (copywriting, search engine optimisation, getting published, social media, internet marketing…), I’ve written a book, I’ve got to know some amazing people, I’m a regular writer at My Family magazine and next week I launch my first e-course, Earn What You Deserve as Mumpreneur. Oh and I had a baby! It’s been quite a journey.

So if you’re starting your online business or hoping to make a decent income from your blog, here’s what I wish I’d known back in May 2009… Continue reading “Business Blogging: 9 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Out”

I Started a Business With a Toddler: Li-ling Ooi of Xelium

Tell us a little about your business

We run an IT educational consultancy, Xelium. I believe the fancy term is ‘education technologist’, in essence we help schools, the school management and teachers work towards incorporating and applying IT into their lessons and try to encourage schools to move towards more technology—based methods of communication (e.g. emails, twitter). We specialize particularly in building, creating and supporting Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and building and maintaining websites. We are currently working on a set of navigational tools which will allow easier navigation within VLEs.

What was your job before starting your business?

I lectured in Structural Chemistry at University. This was where I had my first foray in to VLEs both from an academics and a students perspective. I also worked on a teaching and learning qualification here, which got me interested in how teaching and learning could be made more attractive to students.

How did you go from your old career to your new business?

Going back after maternity leave was very difficult, because the work environment simply was not supportive at all. I stayed there for about a year, before finally resigning. It was a big, big move and some personal experiences had helped to put things in to perspective. Between quitting work and starting a business, I wrote an undergraduate textbook on my specialism, Principles of X-ray Crystallography, published by OUP in Dec 2009.

What were your reasons for starting a business?

The business started as a natural extension to what we had been asked to do for some schools. We had for the past few years been supporting and maintaining some website for schools, and we were asked to work on VLE implementation and training for these same schools.

We progressively moved towards formalizing that relationship and started to take on more clients. I started the business on my own first, and then later on, managed to persuade my husband that we could do it together and make it work better. Unlike a lot of mums, I did not quit work to spend more time with my child, in all honesty I felt as if I was ‘backed in to a corner’ with no other way out apart from leaving.In hindsight though, I am really glad I did it, because I would have missed out so much with working fulltime and a child in nursery all day, every day. I must say though, staying at home, with a child, is so so so much harder work than actually ‘going to work’, although juggling work and child-care is an immense feat in itself! Hats off to all mummies out there!

An amazing wonderful plus, to working from home is having the flexibility and the ability to define our own working hours. Having said that, we only ever work at 50% capacity whenever G is at home. She’s used to having someone ‘entertain’ her.

Did you use any childcare?

When I was writing my book, she went to nursery 1 day a week, and the rest of the book was written in her nap times and at night after she went to bed. Now that she’s at school, we work the hours that she’s at school and continue after she goes to bed.

How did you get your business idea?

We were in part already offering these services to some clients who had requested them prior to us becoming a business.

What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?

I think one of our challenges, still a challenge, as a business, is getting word out, about what we do. We have grown very organically mainly through word of mouth and requests, with clients passing on our information to other prospective clients. In an ideal world, I would love to have the business grow exponentially, but it has worked well so far and we have very good relationships with all of our clients.

What training, information or advice did you need to get started?

I looked up masses and masses of information online, particularly about starting up a limited company, and learning about taxation, returns etc. Surprisingly, the HMRC helplines are very helpful and businesslink.org.uk contains a lot of very helpful information. Whenever I have a question about something, I usually google it, and often find my way to some business forum, where I can lurk about and eventually find the answer to my question. It seems quite rare to encounter an issue that has not been asked before.

If you could give one piece of advice to a mum of a baby or toddler starting a business, what would it be?

I think the advise I wished someone would have been able to give me early on, was that as mums, we often are so used to juggling so so many things, and our to-do lists are infinite and down right scary! It’s so very important, to be able to take stock each day of how much you’ve accomplished in that day, regardless of how many to-dos have or have not been ticked off. Every day is a success, and even if you’ve managed to just do one thing for your business, you would have done so much for your children and family, whatever it is, it’s still an accomplishment.

I’ve also found it really really important to learn to ‘let go’ and live in the moment. For example, if I’m with Georgia at the park, I used to keep thinking about all the things I hadn’t done for work, but I’ve since learnt to just live in the ‘present’ and enjoy the time I spend with her or our time as a family.

Are You a Judger or Perceiver?

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to break out of the norm to create the life they dream of and some don’t?

During World War II Katherine Briggs and Isobel Myers developed a personality test to work out which types of jobs women would be most “comfortable and effective” doing whilst the men were off fighting. There were a number of different personality traits that they used from previous research by psychologist Carl Jung but during their research they developed an additional trait – judger/perceiver.

According to the ladies a perceiver adapts to the world around them whereas a judger adapts their environment to suit themselves.

Does this explain why some women after becoming mums will accept low paid, part-time, temporary work whilst others will either develop new businesses or push for flexible hours? Continue reading “Are You a Judger or Perceiver?”

Advertising Ideas For Mumpreneurs

If you’re a new business owner, the chances are that advertising is the first marketing tactic that comes to your mind.

That’s partly because we’ve been exposed to TV and print advertising all our lives and we’re already really familiar with it. But it can feel strangely comfortable too, because it’s hands-off. It takes confidence to stand up and talk about your product, but if it’s in print then you don’t have to speak to anyone!

The trouble is that advertising can be expensive if you’re a tiny business. Very expensive. And I’m not just talking about the cost of placing a single advert, either. The chances are that one advert probably won’t do the trick because it needs to be part of a campaign which builds familiarity and visibility. Continue reading “Advertising Ideas For Mumpreneurs”

When WAHMs leave home…

Just because you’re a work at home mum, that doesn’t mean you have to work at home all the time! Today’s guest blogger Sam Title, Dad of two from Toronto, Canada is here to tell us about a great alternative. Over to you Sam…

It’s quite an inspiration seeing mompreneurs sharing tips or “secrets to success” that allow you to juggle your roles as busy moms and business professionals. Many of those secrets may involve time management tricks, multitasking skills, and likely include establishing an important system of support on which you know you can always rely.

Truth is, there’s another secret encompassing a lot of those things I just mentioned – and it’s still unknown to many mompreneurs who already make it part of their day-to-day existence, and ultimately count it as crucial to their incredible achievements.

The secret I’m talking about is an international phenomenon – and represents a community that you may or may not be a member of. It’s a quiet subculture of the mompreneur movement, as well as other specialized groups of professionals. Continue reading “When WAHMs leave home…”

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