In a perfect world I would be sitting at an antique writer’s desk in my own office overlooking the rolling hills of the countryside. Soft music would be playing in the background and a pot of hot peppermint tea would be on hand when I felt thirsty.
However the reality is more like trying to convince my 4 year old that it’s mummy’s time on the computer while I steal fifteen minutes here and there when my 1 year old is napping in between dishes, laundry and cleaning up the banana that the baby just squashed into the TV remote.
To be honest I often am amazed that I have time to make any money online at all!
Internet marketing has taken a bit of a back seat lately while I work on ‘real’ books so I haven’t had the time to blog comment, social network, or check my Adsense account 20 times a day like I usually do.
I’ve still been lurking though (which is much easier now that I’ve set my Google reader subscriptions up on Flipboard on the iPad) (how awesome is Flipboard!) so I can read at my leisure. (did I say leisure? Ha!)
Is it possible to make money online even when you don’t have much time?
Absolutely.
But you need to work smarter. To make money online when you don’t have a lot of time you need:
1. A clear outline of what you want to achieve on a daily/weekly/monthly basis (I don’t plan anything longer than a month in advance).
2. A checklist, to do list or list of steps that are actionable to move you towards your goal.
3. Writing on a regular basis (even if that is broken up into small chunks of time)
My To Do list usually looks something like this:
DAILY
- Read / Answer emails
- Read / Answer blog comments
- Quickly check news / discussion sites / other blogs to see what info is currently topical / hot in the niche I’m working on.
- Check Twitter
- Brainstorm blog post ideas.
WEEKLY
- Choose which site/blog to focus on for that week (I have Internet Marketing ADD – so I usually work on a different site every week although I come back to my faves often).
- Write blog posts
- Get Backlinks from: articles / BMR / hubs / squids / commenting / wherever is good
MONTHLY
- Check traffic stats for all sites and compare increases/decreases from previous month . Concentrate efforts mostly on sites that are increasing in traffic.
- See if there are any domains I want to let go (because I either don’t have time to work on the project, lost interest in them, or they haven’t made me any money within a year (some sites I’m sure are just cursed).
- Start working through the SeoMoz Noob Guide to Internet Marketing (helps me keep focused and on track with those marketing steps I always seem to forget to do. And it has an infograpic. Who doesn’t love an infographic!)
Your To Do list is probably completely different. As it should be since we all have different goals and working habits.
Although it doesn’t always go to plan, so I’ve also made a list of what not to do:
- Stare at a blank computer screen wondering what you are going to do next (me before coffee)
- Spend over an hour searching for the ‘perfect’ theme for your blog. Just choose one – you can always changing it later
- Think you need a professional looking logo so ‘research’ some design ideas – aahh that’s a pretty picture (no Tracey, focus)
- Get bored and make a controversial comment in a mother/baby forum – sooo fun, but not really conducive to getting work done.
Oh, I have to go – the baby just tipped out the breakfast cereal on the kitchen floor.
I was hoping for more tips on what to do when your 2-year-old is climbing all over you, but I like how you broke down your schedule. It looks similar to what I am trying to do. Sticking to it is the hard part, though.
As a parent myself, I understand the author completely. I think that the best time to write for moms is that when their kids sleep. So, using these moments you will manage to write 1 blog post per week. It is quite enough.
Great post!
Understand totally where you’re coming from.
My two children are a little bit older and I have the job of the taxi driver!
I’ve set goals for the year and have To Do list’s for each niche but I like your idea of breaking it down into daily/weekly/monthly tasks – think it will probably help to move my money making goals on a bit quicker.
Thanks for the SEOMoz Noob guide – looks fab! Have just printed it off ready for some bedtime reading!
If you find any spare hours in the day, send some my way
Ha, two kids is nothin’. I’ve got two during the day and four total after school. The six hours school time seems to go in a flash and I’m always getting cranky ‘cos I haven’t got enough done.
I’m always being told to relax by my wife. After all I started this as a way to make money part time at my leisure but I always feel like I’m in a hurry and just can’t pump out enough words during the day.
And cool, I learnt a new word today, infographic. I used to call them that piccie with lots of words on it.
Hi Leigh,
Ooh I feel your pain. 4 kids sounds tough. I have exactly the same anxiety as you that I always feeling like I’m rushing everything. Even when I’m ‘relaxing’ I’m thinking about ‘work’. I really wish I could just relax properly sometimes!
what amazes me if you check you account 20 times a day.
That’s a long list of things to do you’ve got there considering you have kids to attend to. It looks like you’re doing a fine job because I just searched on Google for “make money online blog” and yours appeared on the first page. Thanks for inspiring me to work smarter.
hi there,
working at home is I think one of the best choice for mothers..I do prefer to work at home if ever given a chance..since I have already 2 kids, I need to find time to meet my children’s needs.. but as of now, I have to focus working away from them. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your blogs.
Thanks for visiting. I agree that working from home is a good choice for mums. It allows you to be with your babies and earn money at the same time. It’s juggling the two that’s challenging though!
I love this blog! I know how it is to try and do anything when you have kids demanding your full attention at all times! Thank you for all the great advise and I look forward to reading more on how things are going with your writting
Hi Tiffani, Glad you liked my blog. More posts coming soon. Promise!