Working at Home with Children

Many women who work at home do so not only for the convenience, but also so they have more time to be with their children.

In this age of technology, there are so many different types of work moms can do from home.  Whether it’s teaching an instrument or voice lessons, sewing or tailoring for clients, proofreading and editing, software development, selling online, we’re blessed to have the option to make a decent living while spending time at home.

Depending on the ages of your children, working at home can present several challenges.

If your children are infants, toddlers or preschool age, most likely, they’ll have lots of needs you’ll have to take care of during the day.

Working at home with infants and toddlers can be great because you can get a lot of work accomplished during nap time.  There may be days where no matter what you try, the nap just doesn’t happen.  I remember when my daughter was a baby, I’d put her in the swing while I took pictures of items and then I’d hold her on my lap while I listed.  It took me longer to get listings done in those days, but  being able to hold her and work at the same time was priceless.

When she was 3, I started working full time from home.  That was a little bit of a challenge because she can be very needy.  As soon as you think you’ve got snack covered, she runs out of her drink, or her show ends and she doesn’t like watching the next one to come on.  I found that if I spent time with her in the mornings, and had lunch together, then in the afternoon, I could work during nap time.  When she woke up, I’d have her snack and a DVD ready for her and I could work until dinner time.

She’s learned over the years that if she lets mom work, then when I’m done, we can spend time together. That can be going for a walk, going to the park, going out to lunch, or just watching a DVD together.  I’ve also taught her to be independent.  These days, she’s a pro at getting a snack, a drink, and picking out a DVD.

I also give her little tasks to do for me so that she can earn some money.  Like setting out the packages for the Mail carrier, shredding, helping me put away items that are listed, putting labels on packages, etc.

Sometimes, no matter how much you love your children, it’s nice to have some uninterrupted time to concentrate on your work.  This is where play dates and babysitters come in handy.  I’ve found that even if the play date is at our house, there are fewer interruptions because she’s busy playing with her friend.

I’ve never hired a babysitter so that I could spend more time working on listings, but I know moms who do just for one day a week.  If that’s what works for you, the by all means, schedule a babysitter.

If you have school age children, then working at home can be a little easier during the daytime while they’re at school.  I have a friend, who has three school age children, and she told me the other day that she ends up working from 10pm-midnight because she’s been messing around all day having fun and then has to get her work done at the last minute.  I guess if that’s what works for you, then go for it, but in my mind, I think I would take advantage of my children being at school at get my work done during the day.

I have another friend who works at home AND homeschools her children.  I have no idea how she does it, really, but she gets it all done.

One thing I’ve learned is this: Working at home isn’t for wimps.  It takes a lot of discipline, organization, and determination to make it work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

5 Ways to Increase Your On-line Sales in October

Photo credit: earl53 from morguefile.com

#1 Look for inventory every where you go

I’ve posted about this previously, but keep your eyes open and think outside the box.

Keep eBay in mind as you look through the Avon book, when you’re at the mall, Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s.  Keep your eyes and ears open for sales that make inventory affordable for you.

#2 Enlist an eBay helper ~Temporary or Long Term

This is one of those things that I think if you try, you’ll really like.  Even if it’s one day a week.  Decide what will be the most effective way to use your helper.  Will they ship?  Take pictures?  Post listings?  Shop for you?

Think about who your eBay helper can be.  Do you have an older child?  Someone in your neighborhood or church who’s looking for some part time work?

#3 Add more details to your listing

Lots of times when I look at seller’s listings, I see very basic information about an item, if anything at all.

Your items will sell faster, you’ll be able to sell them for more money, and you’ll have fewer customer questions about your items if you’ll include as much information as you can in each listing.  Even it if seems obvious, include the information, the color, the fabric content, measurements, textures, patterns on the item, etc.

#4 Try something new

There are TONS of suggestions on our blog posts, in the comments, and on our fan page not only from us, but also from our readers.

Make yourself a list of 3-5 suggestions that you’ve read or heard from online sellers, whether you think it’s something that will work for you or not, write it down, pick your top choices and implement them in your business practice.

If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll continue to get the results you’ve always had.

#5 Pray over your listings

As you list your items, scroll through your store, put away items you’ve recently listed, or just whenever you think about it, pray over your items.

Ask God to bless your online store, and send customers your way.  Inviting God into your business is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received in the business world.

5 Ways to Increase Your Online Sales in September

#1 Give your store front a makeover
Take a look at your store front and try to see it from your customer’s eyes.

*Do the colors and the graphic look inviting?

*Is the wording in your heading positive and upbeat?

*Are the categories easy to use?

*Is there a different template you like better than your current one?

Take a little bit of time and play around with your store front and see if you come up with a new look that you like better than the current one you have.

#2 Keep looking for and listing Christmas items

Christmas is just right around the corner.  If I had the option right now of listing some shoes or books and the option of listing toys and Christmas specific items, I would choose to get the toys and Christmas specific items listed right away.

People are already shopping for Christmas items, and you don’t want to miss out on sales because your items aren’t listed yet.  Even over the summer, I sold several items that are specific to Christmas.

#3 Clean out your shoes

Now that you have your Christmas items listed you can clean out your closets and sort out the shoes you don’t plan on wearing this winter.

Anything that’s still in good condition is a candidate for your eBay inventory.  If you’ve never listed shoes before, or if listing shoes doesn’t sound like fun to you…….just give it a try.  If you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep listing shoes, but I’m pretty sure that you’re going to enjoy it as much as I do.

Shoes are super easy to list, a good profit maker and  super easy to ship.

#4 Get your new inventory listed within the week it’s purchased

Even if you feel like you’re “behind” on listing your inventory, try to start listing all of your new inventory within the week it’s purchased.

You’ll be amazed at the items you list right away that either sell the same week or the week after.  What I try to do is list all of my new inventory the same week it’s purchased (and usually within 48 hours of purchasing)  each time I list my new inventory, I also try to pull 4-5 items out of my “to be listed” bin. I list those with my new inventory so that I can catch up on listing without it feeling like it’s a big chore.

#5 Use Mark Down Manager

I know I’ve mentioned Mark Down Manager before, but I’ll mention it again.  Even a sale of 10-15% off helps generate some good sales.  If you have items that have been in your inventory for awhile and you’d like to see them moving, try a 30% or 40% off sale.

Making Sales When You’re on Vacation

One question that people ask me when they go on vacation is

“Should I put my store on vacation setting with the listing visible or  the listing invisible?”

Here’s what I do in my eBay store:

Every summer, I go on vacation for 2-3 weeks.  I put my store on vacation with the listings visible a day before I go on vacation.

I also put a note on my storefront about being on vacation and when items will ship out.

In addition to that, I also email each buyer to thank them for their purchase and make sure they saw that I am on vacation, and let them know when their item will ship out.

So far, so good, all of the customers have emailed back and told me to enjoy my vacation

Last year, when I got home and started shipping things out, I ran out of poly mailers and labels, so this year, I made sure to order more poly mailers, labels and ink before I left for vacation.

Rachel’s Thank You Note~Post From The Past

When it’s time to ship items, I always reinspect them to make sure I haven’t missed a spot on an item and I include this thank you note to buyers.

I print it on a half sheet of paper and I hand write “Thanks!” across the bottom right corner. It’s encouraged buyers to leave feedback, contact us if they’re unhappy before leaving feedback and increased our DSR’s.

From the desk of ….

Mortenview

Item: ________________________________________________

Thank you for your purchase, I appreciate your business. If you are happy with your purchase, I encourage you to leave positive feedback on eBay. In order to do this, please visit the “My eBay” section on eBay.com. Go to the “Items won” section. There, you can find this transaction and leave the appropriate feedback. If you are not satisfied with your item, please use the eBay message system to contact us with your concern before leaving feedback.

If you haven’t done so already, please check out our EBAY STORE.*Mortenview’s Gifts and Treasures* We list new items in the store several times a week, so you may want to save it to your favorites list, and check back often to see the new listings, or sign up for our store newsletter.

We also love to combine shipping on multiple purchases made at the same time to save you money.

Thanks for being a 5-Star Buyer!

**Feel free to copy and paste this into your own document for your store.**

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