One of my favourite sayings is: a business should work for you. You should not work for your business.

Because it’s so true. I know because I do it every day.

You can earn passive income online without running yourself into the ground, ignoring your kids or ending up in the divorce courts.

Though you might desire a six-figure salary from your online business straight up (let’s face it who doesn’t?) it does take certain skills and a particular mindset to get there. But it can be done, here’s my take on it.

For starters, aim for replacing your day job and being able to work less in the future so you can spend quality time with the important people in your life, and doing the things you love #realitytv.

Here are 7 more things that I found helpful working from home as a mum, while still taking time out to recharge my batteries and spend time with my kids.

1. If You Don’t Have Time, Make Time

You only have 24 hours in a day – so if you’re sleeping for 8 of that, working at your day job for another 8, you have to get ruthless with the remaining 8 if you want to get your online business up and running. Here are some suggestions to eke more time out of your day:

  • Spend quality not quantity time with friends
  • Cut down on trashy TV unless you reeeealllly need to chill out
  • Turn off all notifications on your phone
  • Limit social media time unless it’s business related
  • Purchase grocery items online instead of going to the store
  • Buy household items in bulk
  • Ask your hubby for more help (this article will help you do that!)

2. Figure It Out Along The Way

A lot of the time you may not know what you’re doing, but that’s ok and part of learning to be your own boss. The whole secret to getting better at what you do, is to just keep going and learn a whole heap as you do it. And you have to be willing to make mistakes – as the saying goes “Mistakes are proof that you are trying!

When you run an online business you also have to be seriously invested in learning and researching on Google, reading books and taking online courses. As I found out, these can significantly speed up your learning curve, and stop you from pulling your hair out.

3. Automate And Outsource As Soon As You Can

It’s easy to get caught up in the small stuff. The niggly little tasks that need to be done but that suck away your precious time like a vacuum cleaner. Like answering emails, setting up invoices or entering client details.

Even if you’re only earning minimal dollars at the start, it can be very worth it to invest this money back into your fledgling business to help scale it more quickly. A good customer manager relationship (CRM) programme (I use Active Campaign) is essential to manage customer data, as is efficient accounting software like the one I use, Freshbooks.

It is tools like these that allow me be a WAHM, spend time with my kids and still make money online.

As your business starts growing you may want to think about hiring a virtual assistant (VA) to help manage everyday tasks. This can really free you up to concentrate on growing your business or let you finally be the one to pick your kids up from daycare. If a task doesn’t absolutely require you, it can be outsourced.

4. Take Note of What Resonates, With Your Audience & You!

Find out what appeals to your audience is key when it comes to any kind of online marketing for your business – whether it’s blog posts, ebooks, Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagram photos or podcasts. Learn how to analyse your traffic.

If you’re mostly getting referrals from your ebooks and Facebook then you’ll want to concentrate your efforts accordingly, and lessen the time spent on the other forms of marketing – this is called the 20/80 rule that I talk about in a previous post.

But you also need to find that sweet spot that intersects with what resonates for your audience and what you love to do. If writing Facebook posts is a chore, then see #3 above and outsource!

5. Don’t Be Shy About Selling Right Away

If you know from the start (like I did) that your online business isn’t a hobby but a bonafide way to make an income, don’t be apologetic about it. This means putting ads on your site early on, writing blog posts that contain affiliate links and creating ebooks or videos that are available for sale a few months down the track.

Even if you have a small email list and minimal traffic to your site, the sales will start to trickle in.

6. Networking, Conferences and Making Friends

Making connections with colleagues can help give your online business a boost by growing your audience, expanding your reach and getting those sales rolling in. Investing in networking, even if just for 15-20 minutes each evening with other bloggers and Facebook groups is useful, as is guest posting and attending key conferences in your industry a couple of times a year.

Keep your eyes peeled for ways that you can put faces to names and deepen the relationships you’ve made online.

7. Stick With What You Know, And Make It Better

You probably won’t make a six-figure income the first year of your online business – let’s be realistic. But sticking to what you know, and rinsing and repeating to make it better, will get you closer to it. Working from home harder at the start means you can earn passive income without being chained to your computer later on – that’s the beauty of it.

Got a business up and running but earning less and working more than you want? Watch my masterclass on the types of passive income streams you can add to your online business.

Sharing is caring!