This week Moms In Business presents our very own Tracy Jo.
Tracy Jo is author extraordinaire of Moms In A Blog's Special Deliveries category. Her interview is slightly different from the rest but chock full of valuable information for anyone interested in working from home.
Take it away, Tracy Jo!
What made you decide to be a work at home mom? I'm not a work at home mom, but my husband is a work at home dad 🙂
What is the nature of your business? His business is web and graphic design.
What made you decide that particular business? He needed an income that he could earn from home to enable him to stay home with our five children.
What has been your biggest challenge? He is learning on the fly, having to quickly earn an income while still learning the vast world of web design and graphics. I think he's doing great.
What has been your biggest success? He switched pretty seamlessly from a career of managing people to a career of managing yourself while still being held accountable to your clients. I think it was harder than he imagined…requires self discipline.
What is the best way you promote your business under $10.00? under $50 worth it at any cost? Word of mouth! Fortunately his wife has a big mouth. Bulletin boards in grocery stores and other places of business. $50 and up – business cards to hand to people in real life, he's interested in radio advertisement.
How do you balance work and family? We take one day at a time, don't over commit, realize your limitations when taking on projects.
To what do you attribute your success as a WAHM? Supportive family members both online and at home.
What impact has blogging made on your career? N/A to spouse, but for me, I blog to enjoy and have an outlet to share information with others that they may not otherwise find.
Can you recommend any resources for WAHMS who are just starting out, or perhaps trying to make the transition from the workplace? www.momstalkradio.com
What can you tell us about your other ventures.? I enjoy blogging about entertainment and beauty/style – things that I don't talk a whole lot about at home due to the 4 babies and a 5 year old (I am working on her though, she is already a girly girl!) so I found an outlet for that at www.schmoozins.com and it adds extra income to my household so all in all it's a plus. I also like this venture because it's very different from anything I blog about at momsinablog and also www.maceyd.com where I typically post on how my own family is doing and share pictures, etc. So a nice break..paid!
Is there anything else that you want to share with the readers? Make sure to keep going outside of your house and the environment of the internet…not everyone in society lives in the world of LOL OMG BRB, etc. Use this opportunity to get a little exercise so you don't pack on the pounds (my husband has gained 50 pounds since choosing to stay home!)
What is one thing you can't do without in your business? His best purchase has been a laptop! Amazingly shaving off a few minutes of work here and there during the day – several times has enabled him to spend an extra hour with me or the kids in the evening. Well worth the investment.
What one thing should be avoided at all costs? Advertising in places that don't pertain to your area (we advertised for quite a bit of money at a local rodeo, face it, this group of people probably aren't web savvy AND we had no control of where our ad appeared – we were way in the back!)
What's the biggest business killer? Making promises you can't keep (I promise I'll have that to you on the 5th…and now it's the 10th and it is only 1/2 done, etc.)
What advice do you wish someone would've shared with you when you first started out? Sometimes it's better to ease into working from home instead of abruptly quitting your steady paying job to start from scratch at home.