5 Great Home Business Ideas for Moms

Starting your own business can seem overwhelming. The good news, is that it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need a sizeable starting cash flow or investors lining up at your door. You can actually start a business with relatively little cash and do it all from your home. All it takes is hard work and a desire to succeed.

So now that the main question regarding cash is out of the way, what business should you start? The answer to this will be based off of what you enjoy, what your skills are, and what you can see yourself doing for an at home business. Below are just a handful of ideas to get you started.

1. Medical Coding

Medical Coding has incredible earning potential, although it will be a bit more challenging to get yourself started.

Medical coding requires training and coding software. Certifications are also needed as it will ensure potential clients of your validity.

As a medical coder, you’ll work with doctors’ offices and hospitals to code documents for insurance purposes. It is up to you to find these clients through networking opportunities and other marketing channels.

One of the biggest issues when starting a medical coding business is the amount of scams that target would-be medical coders. These scams promise to provide software, training, certification, and even clients providing you with incredible revenue. Always remember, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

2. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing requires almost no cash to get started. The basics to get started are a computer and email address.

The opportunity for freelance writing is abundant. Marketing firms and departments are beginning to create a plethora of content for their websites. With so much content to create, many marketing teams are turning to freelance writers to get the job done.

The range of topics available to write about are vast. You may be writing about technology, consumer goods, animals, sports, or even marketing. There are a handful of sites that connect you with work needed such as Guru, oDesk, and Textbroker.

Additionally, freelance writing could take you towards the non-profit sector. A grant writer helps connect funders and grant seekers.

3. Pet Sitter/Walker

If you’re an animal person, starting a pet sitting or dog walking business is right up your alley.

A pet owner never wants to leave their pet cooped up inside all day. However, most people are extremely busy with their jobs, their children’s activities, and more. Having the option to leave their dog with a pet sitter is a great alternative.

A great way to get started is through word of mouth. Letting your network know that you are starting a business and looking for clients will help to get the ball rolling. Consider working with apartment communities and home communities to spread flyers about your business.

Additional places to market your services are the dog park and retirement communities. A lot of pet owners at the dog park only get to take their dog there on occasion. Chances are they’ll want their dog out and about a lot more.

Retirement communities are a great place to start because many pet owners in these communities may lack the energy or capabilities to walk their dog.

4. Wedding Planner/Bridal Consultant

Creative, organized, detail oriented and level-headed moms make for great wedding planners. Starting a wedding planning business puts you in an industry that is never going away and only seems to spend more as time goes on.

Weddings have become extremely lavish over the years with increasingly larger budgets. A lot of details go into making a wedding a success and sometimes the bride can’t or doesn’t want to handle it herself. This is where her wedding planner comes in.

You’ll handle all aspects of the big day including tiny details such as table centerpieces all the way to large items such as venue deposits. It takes a very specific type of person to do this job but it can also be an incredibly fulfilling job.

5. Crafter: Sewing, Soap Making, etc.

By now, you’ve probably heard of Etsy. It is a crafter’s version of Amazon with beautifully displayed goods.

Another business venture for the creative mind is to start your own crafting business. Sewing, crocheting, soap making, and more are all different types of businesses a mom can start from home.

Homemade soap has become increasingly popular as consumers become more in-tune with what they are putting on their body. Organic soaps made with various herbs and ingredients make for soothing and deliciously scented baths.

Crafters can sell their goods online, at craft fairs, farmers markets and even through major distributors if you can make a decent splash with your product.

Overall, the possibilities for a home business are endless. These five are great starts and have been successful ventures for many moms out there. Now, it’s time to start your business.

Andrew Fujii is a marketing professional with expertise in digital/web and content marketing. He is also a copywriter for multiple agencies producing copy for blogs, articles, websites, product packaging, mobile apps, and more.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AndrewFujii2/posts

http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewfujii/

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Weekly Writer Challenge 1 Write Down 10 Ideas for Articles

Okay, new plan. We are going to write TOGETHER. I need a butt-kickin just like maybe you do. I am going to assume you like to procrastinate like I do. Or are extremely busy. Or sometimes maybe even do something crazy like ... oh, I dont know ... CLEAN when you are on a deadline and should be writing.

So Im going to give you some challenges. Please share this with any bloggers (= aspiring writers) or writers you know so they can participate.

You have until Sunday to do this first challenge, then new challenges will come out on Mondays and you will have 7 days to complete them and report back here! Even if you didnt do it or only half-assed it, let me know, because chances are I might not always be rockin the challenge, either.

At the very least, we can offer support to each other. Dont forget there is also a Facebook fan page for this site where we can interact and you can always email me at mommykerrie at yahoo dot com, and when it comes time to start submitting, you have to have the resource Im using so we can be Submission Twins.

CHALLENGE #1 is to come up with 10 ideas for articles for the regionals (the smalls). Lead time is not usually as long as with the nationals (the bigs) so you can spitball some summer ideas NOW, for instance.

Check out the photo below for some help (general categories, but you need a more solid idea, which nobody is going to steal, dammit), and Ill see you next week!

Oh, and because Im a pushover mama, Im also a pushover writing coach, so here is some more help!

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NEW IDEAS ABOUT ART

It can be a painting in a museum or a sculpture in a park. Or maybe a movie that knocks your socks off. It can be a painted Chinese screen, an African mask, a Persian rug, or ancient Egyptian jewelry. Or a photo that captures a moment in history. It might be a construction made out of automobile parts. It’s all art.
WHAT IS ART?
We call lots of things art today. We use the term visual arts to describe the arts we can see. Painting, sculpture, and architecture have long been the major visual arts in Europe and North America. Today, we include photography, furniture, pottery, jewelry, and many other arts and crafts among the visual arts.
Sometimes we speak of the fine arts-other forms of expression that appeal to our sense of beauty and form. This broader category includes literature, music, and dance, in addition to the visual arts.
PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND ARCHITECTURE
Painting, sculpture, and architecture have all been around for a long time. We tend to consider them the most important forms of art.
People painted and drew on the walls of caves during the Stone Age, as long as 32,000 years ago. They made pictures of animals-probably the animals they hunted for food.
Over time, artists started painting different subjects. They painted landscapes, portraits of people, religious figures, and still lifes (fruit, flowers, and other objects that don’t move).
Sculpture is as old as painting. The first sculptures we know about are small human figures. The human figure remained the most popular subject of sculpture until the 20th century. Today, sculptors are concerned more with the materials of sculpture than with subjects. They even make sculptures out of junk and other objects they find lying around.
Architecture is both an art and a science-the art and science of making buildings. Rulers and religions are responsible for putting up some of the most impressive buildings in the world. Rulers built magnificent palaces to display their wealth and power. Religions need churches, mosques, temples, and other structures as places of worship. Religious buildings also celebrate the mysteries of religion.
WHY DO WE MAKE ART?
Everybody likes to draw, swoosh paint around with their fingers or a brush, or model things out of clay. The desire to make art is universal. People make art everywhere, and they seem to have been doing it for as long as they’ve been around.
One of the main reasons for making art is pleasure. We enjoy making art and we enjoy looking at it. We find beauty in art, and that gives us pleasure. We also admire the skill and imagination that go into making art.
Art has served other purposes, too. Think about portraits-pictures of people. Before there were cameras, a portrait was how people remembered someone who wasn’t there.
Portraits of rulers made them look powerful to impress their subjects. History paintings reminded people of victories in battle and other important events. Sculptures also commemorated rulers and victories.
Before many people could read, art instructed and educated. For example, stained glass windows in churches were meant to teach people stories in the Bible. Many paintings from the past show religious scenes.
NEW IDEAS ABOUT ART
Our ideas about art changed during the 1900s. Technology expanded our notions of art. Photographs and film are new kinds of art that developed from new inventions. Today, people also create art on computers.
Artists also changed our ideas about art. In 1913, French artist Marcel Duchamp put a bicycle wheel on display in an art gallery. Nobody considered it art at the time. But Duchamp claimed it was art because he said so.
What did Duchamp mean? He meant that he had changed how we look at the bicycle wheel by putting it in a gallery. We could now see the wheel as a beautiful object, not just as a bicycle part. He turned other everyday objects into art to make people look at things differently.
Some artists decided to get rid of subject matter. They focused instead on shapes, lines, colors, and other elements of art. These artists made what we call abstract art. You can’t see objects in abstract art. But you can respond to colors and shapes. Perhaps they make you feel happy or sad.
Art museums also broadened our ideas of art. They began to display the arts that add beauty to our homes and our bodies. These so-called decorative arts include furniture, pottery, glass, fashion, and jewelry.

AT THE ART MUSEUM
Don’t try to take in too much when you visit a museum. You’ll just get tired. Find something you like to look at. Make comparisons.
Perhaps you like a particular color. Compare paintings to see how different artists have used that color. Look for that color in other kinds of art-for example, in rugs and pottery. What other colors do artists put with your color? Does your color get brighter or dimmer as a result?
Maybe you like art with animals. Pick an animal and find it in different paintings, carvings, weavings, or pots. Has the artist made you see things about the animal you’ve never noticed before?

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