How this Stay at Home Mom Works from Home

I quit my job as a teacher to be a full time mom. I stayed at home with my baby girl and wasn't working at all. Then one day that all changed...

It was a normal day for my daughter and I. She was taking her morning nap and I was drinking my coffee while watching Good Morning America. Diane Sawyer was doing a story about Google's AdSense. I had never heard of AdSense or even pay per click advertising before seeing this piece on GMA. Diane interviewed two senior citizens who were making a full time income from their content sites by running Google's AdSense ads. I thought to myself, "hmm, I can do that." After all, I had the time. I'm an English teacher, so I know how to write. I had little computer and internet knowledge at the time, but I could learn.

I decided that I could really help out with our finances by earning money online. I trusted the Google name and new that GMA wouldn't have reported on the AdSense program if it weren't legitimate. All I needed to get started was a website. I wasn't sure what to do, so I spent my time learning more about AdSense. I then decided to do a website about making money with AdSense. I used Google Pages because it's a free way to create websites and Google hosts them for free. The website I created isn't impressive by any means because I was totally new to the whole concept. By checking out my very first site, you can see what a novice I was and how I got my start online. Perhaps this will give you the encouragement you need to realize that if I could start earning money online anyone can.

One day I was researching AdSense and other pay per click programs and came across information about online money making opportunities. I thought that some of them sounded pretty interesting, but I was skeptical. I thought all free money making opportunities must be scams.

At the same time that I was learning about making money online, I was learning how to be a new mom. I was breastfeeding and exhausted because my baby didn't sleep well. That's when I found Cafe Mom. It's a great social network that is just for moms. I saw other moms on the Cafe Mom forums talking about making money with GPT and paid survey sites. So many moms just like me were talking about making money with these sites and even showing screen shot proofs of their payment.

That's when I started experimenting with various opportunities and that's when I also started to get paid. If it was free to join and paid, I gave it a try.

Ok, so I've dabbled with just about everything. I've tried every GPT and paid survey site that I've discovered (and that's a lot). I have started up free blogs with Blogger and free websites with Google Pages and added pay per click ads to them all. I have written articles and reviews for sites that pay. I have experimented with marketing my sites and affiliate links on traffic exchanges. I used to wake up every morning and start the day with Google searches of "make money online" and "free online money" and I pretty much tried everything that showed up on the first 10 pages.

Now, more than three years later, I have two super active toddlers and baby number three on the way. I don't have as much time to put into all the different money making methods anymore. I'm starting to narrow my focus. I'm still researching money making opportunities and dabbling here and there, but I'm also starting to invest more time on the money makers that seem to have the most money making potential and that I find to be the most fun.

That's what is so great about the way I make money. I'm not employed by anyone, so I only answer to myself. If the kids keep me too busy to work online much, then I just make less money that month. If I take time to work diligently during their nap times or after they go to bed, then I earn more that month.

My days are nice and flexible. I work online when I get the chance. I get to play with my kids when ever I want and go run errands as needed. I have a laptop, which really makes this whole process easier because I can be right there with my kids while I get a little work done online. A few minutes here and there online really adds up through the course of a day.

It can really be easy to get on a roll and then realize you've been neglecting the kids. I was wrapping up one of my lenses just yesterday and my two year old came up to me and said, "more." She loves fresh fruit and I thought maybe she wanted me to cut her up more apple or peach and I said "sure, baby, what do you want more of." And she said, "more mom-mom." I knew then it was time to turn my computer off for a little while.

If you still have little ones at home, you'll have to keep a watch on the clock and be sure you're giving more of your time to the kids than your computer. I find that the best times to work are during their naps and when my toddler is in her highchair eating. Also, your kids should have an earlier bedtime than you do. This will give you a couple of hours in the evening to get some work done.

I have experimented with many different online money making opportunities. They are free and only require minimum computer skills and that you be at least 18 years old.

On my other lenses, I break down each one of the money making opportunities that I've tried. Anyone can make money with these opportunities. If you have the time, I advise you try them all and see what best fits your lifestyle. You may then choose to focus on just one or two of the opportunities. If you are seeing decent revenue from them all, you may choose to juggle them all and keep a steady stream of income coming in from multiple sources. The choice is yours.

I'm still experimenting with which opportunities I want to stay with. I keep a spread sheet of my earnings and will be focusing on the money making opportunities that are most profitable for me.

I've put together so much information about how I earn online and I share it all freely, yet I frequently get contacted with questions like "so what do you actually do?" I decided to add in this section where I list the tasks that I actually complete in order to make money online.

When I'm Short On Time: I do things that can be completed quickly. I log into the GPT sites that have pay per click. The ones I use are DealBarbiePays and DealBarbiePaysFast. All pay per click offers require is to log on to the GPT site, click ads, and view them for a set amount of time (usually 1- to 30 seconds). A lot of times I stay logged on to those two GPT sites and while I'm doing chores or playing with the kids, I'll walk by my computer and click an ad.

When I Have More Time: I log on to my favorite GPT site, CashCrate, and complete 7 offers. I find that offers clear better if you only complete 7 at a time. Wait until later that day before completing more. I then log on to various work at home forums and advertise my referral links. Recruiting referrals under me on the GPT sites belong to builds my downline. I make a percentage of everything my referrals earn, so it is well worth my time to recruit referrals.

When I Have Plenty of Time: I work on my Squidoo lenses anytime I have an hour or more time to spare. Sometimes I work on new lenses, but most of the time I edit old lenses to help keep their lens rank up.