Step 3 To Becoming A Mompreneur: Network, Network, Network

Hopefully you've completed steps 1 and 2 and are raring to go with the third step in becoming not only a mompreneur, but a successful mompreneur.  The third step is this:  Network, Network, Network.  Get yourself out there in the internet world and in the real world.  Introduce yourself to as many other work from home moms as you possibly can.  Let them know that you are interested in becoming a work from home mom and ask them about what they do and how they do it.  This is something you'll want to continue doing even after you're bringing in six figures from home.  No matter how good you are, there's somebody out there doing it better.

So you need to join blogs (like this one, hint, hint), websites, forums, chats, or any other place where other moms that work from home frequent.  Be sure to budget your time wisely though.  Spend 30 minutes a day talking to other moms about their businesses.  Even with all of my years of making money online and researching work from home job opportunities, I still learn something new almost every day.  Networking is key to keeping up with what works and what doesn't work.  This is even more true if your marketing plan includes online marketing.  What worked five years ago, isn't as effective in today's world.  Networking will help you keep up with those trends.



If you're looking for a direct selling opportunity or if you are looking for another way of working from home, networking can help you find something that will fit what you are looking for.  Find out what other women are doing.  How are they able to stay home?  How much do they bring in?  What do they do exactly?  How do they like it?  How much time does it take per day...per week?  How long did it take them to build their business?  What was the start up cost? What do they do to get business?  This blog is a great way to find out bare bones information about the numerous direct selling opportunities that are out there.  If you haven't checked out some of the reviews, I encourage you to do so.  I'd like to remind everyone that I do the reviews strictly from an impartial perspective.  I am in no way affiliated with any of the direct sales opportunities and receive no monetary compensation from any of the companies that I review.  If direct selling is an option for you, be sure to follow this blog so you don't miss future reviews.
 
If you are looking to start up your own business from home, networking can give you a feel for what needs are out there that are not being met.  You can then build a business to fit those needs.  Forums or message boards are a great place to do research for work from home business opportunities of any kind.



Networking may make you realize that working from home is not for you.  I still am amazed at the number of women who come to me asking for help in finding work they can do from home.  I constantly get the feeling that they think working from home means sitting by their pool in a lounge chair with a laptop in front of them. I don't think women realize the amount of time and effort that is actually involved in working a business from your home.  Even after eight years of working from home, I still quite often work 7 days a week and sometimes ten or fifteen hours a day.  I work harder at home than I ever did in my 9-5 career.

Homework assignment:

Ahh yes, the homework assignment.  First of all, be sure that you completed the homework assignments from steps 1 and 2 of becoming a mompreneur, then you can find five women who work from home either online or in "real life".  Introduce yourself and let them know of your desire to work from home.  Then ask them these questions:

• What do they do?
• How do they like it?
• How long did it take them to build their business?
• How much time do they spend per week on their business?

Be sure to keep your "contacts" in a place where you can refer to them later.  Take notes if you have to.  You may want to even consider filling out an index card for each contact with their contact information on the front and some notes about the person on the back.  Keep the index cards in an inexpensive recipe box or keep track of everything on your computer in a file.  The main thing is that you start getting yourself out there and start building a contact list.  Happy networking!