Work From Home Mom Ideas to Get You Started as a WAHM

I just got one of the best Christmas presents from Mom Webs Hosting, my web host! I host this blog, my food recipe blog, Frugal New England Kitchen and my Virtual Assistant website, CAM Virtual Assistant Services on Mom Webs.

Just before Christmas I received an email that said:

Here’s the holiday blessing…

We have significantly bumped the storage and bandwidth limits on our Multi and Mega hosting plans.

Multi storage has been boosted from 600 to 1000 MB and bandwidth has been doubled from 20 to 40 GB.

Mega storage has been blasted from 1000 to 2500 MB and bandwidth has been doubled from 40 to 80 GB.

These increases are PERMANENT – so you can power forward in 2010, growing your business without fear of running out of space and bandwidth.

Enjoy these increases and have an amazing holiday season!

Kelly, Nicole and Scott

If you’re a work at home mom like me, you may also have struggled with finding reliable web hosting. Well, over the years (and many headaches later), I’ve come up with a checklist of essentials that your WAHM web host must have before you even consider working with them.

1. Excellent Reliability.
There is nothing more frustrating than finding out your website is down, and has been for hours. Although no time is a good time to have your site down, the timing can be just terrible. That sinking feeling when you’ve purchased advertising and you know the ad is about to be sent out and you go to your website for last minute touches and … it’s down.

That’s not cool. That is not acceptable. You must make sure that the web host you select not only has good reliability, but superior reliability. This is your business on the line, not some hobby site. Treat it as such and get hosting that works for you when you need it. But, you can’t just trust a website that says they are reliable. Make sure they can prove it.

2. Superior Customer Support.
When you do need help, make sure that your hosting will provide it. One thing I recommend is to contact support to ask a simple question about the hosting, before buying. That will give you an idea of what the customer service is like before you make a commitment. Yes, customer service has a difficult job – making sure they do not confuse less-experienced customers, yet, at the same time, also making sure not to talk down to the geek types. However, you should never feel like you are a “bother” or that your question is not as important as anyone else’s.. or worse, dumb. You should find a web host with superior customer support.

3. The Stats You Need.
Several of the most popular hosts do not offer the web stats that every online business needs. You may not think that you need stats, but, how else are you going to know what is working – and what is not? You need stats that tell you where your visitors are coming from, how long they are staying, and which pages they are coming in and going from. Does your web host offer that? If they have a CPanel as their control panel, they do. Find a web host that uses a standard CPanel.

4. Affordable.
Why spend more if you don’t have to? When looking for a web host, price is always a factor. So, shop around and make sure that the web host you decide upon offers a great price.

5. Room to Grow.
The web host you choose should offer unlimited hosting. This means, that, if you add more websites to your package down the road, the price does not increase drastically for each one. Many online businesses start with one site and grow over time. Can your host grow with you?

6. Bandwidth and Disk Space.
Also, make sure that the host you choose is in the ballpark for bandwidth and disk space. Most programs offer approximately the same amount, but, especially if you plan to add a lot of audio or video, be sure to look into this, as well.

7. A History of Happy Customers.
New hosting companies are popping up daily. Some are being run by a couple of teenagers in their garage. Obviously, that’s not who I want to entrust my business to. Do you? I want to know that the company I’m choosing has been around a few years, and has a history of happy customers to show for it. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, and you shouldn’t either.

Those are the key features that any web host should offer before you consider doing business with them. Choosing a web host can be more important than any other decision you make in your online business – if you choose wrong. So, take the time and find a web host that will work with you, and help you to succeed.

Every time I need customer support, they’re there, virtually 24/7 and my questions are answered so quickly and professionally!

Nicole Dean, Kelly McCausey and Scott are co-owners of Mom Webs Hosting where you’ll find the host that offers everything a WAHM needs – reliability, unlimited hosting, and customer service that never makes you feel intimidated — all at a price you can afford.

Check out their sister site for your WAHM business at Reliable Webs.

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Bonanzle ~ WAHM Ventures Into New Online Marketplace ~

One of my new goals for 2009 as both a Work-at-Home Mom and a Baby Boomer trying to establish a supplemental source of income in order to retire, was to phase out my eBay store and set up a new booth at Bonanzle, the latest online marketplace.

Over the past year, I’ve slowly liquidated much of my merchandise and my eBay store specialized in strictly Vintage Collectibles ~ mugs, dinnerware, sewing patterns and boutique children’s clothing.

The changes that eBay implemented within the past year became just too much for me to keep up with. I couldn’t believe how much I am paying in Fees each month, just to maintain an online presence at this auction site. Whether I sell anything or not, the fees just keep racking up.

Despite what many of the eBay blogs and mainstream news articles I’ve been reading are saying, mainly, that people are supposed to be looking to eBay and Craigs List for bargains ~ I haven’t seen an increase in my business. The holiday shopping season sales this past year were very dismal in comparison to previous years.

Tonight I closed my eBay Store for good.

As an active member of Twitter, I found out about an alternative venue and marketplace, .

It’s premise is simple if you’re a Seller:

Import Items from eBay or Craigs List

Import Items with one click

Import eBay Feedback

As a Buyer, you can search for items by categories, or those posted within the last 24 hours.

There are no fees to list your items or set up a booth. Yay! Fees are only incurred once you sell your wares.

Bonanzle accepts Paypal and other methods of payments, such as Google Checkout and Money Orders.

I was able to set up my booth in minutes, and it didn’t take long at all for Bonanzle to import my items from eBay. The process couldn’t have been easier! The FAQs and Help instructions are very easy to follow.

You can even create a special “Bonanza” to improve sales! What’s a “Bonanza”?

It’s a quick sale where everyone on the site is directed to your booth for a couple hours to get your stuff gone. Pick a day, start time, and duration below. Choose the items from your booth that you most want to include in the sale. Pick a discount price for those items. Then show up at your booth at the time you declared.

What does this new venue mean for me? I can continue to sell the items I have a passion for ~ vintage collectibles, as well as boutique clothing items. I’ll continue to promote my new Bonanzle Booth in the manner I was promoting my eBay store ~ through widgets, Squiddo, Facebook, my blogs and Twitter.

The only difference I can see is that I won’t be paying fees unless something sells. Hopefully, through viral marketing, the word will get out about Bonanzle and the Buyers will arrive!

I can’t believe I waited as long as I did to open a booth.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Bonanzle will give eBay any competition this year. I’m thinking the answer will be “yes.”

What do you think, have you tried selling or buying on Bonanzle yet?

Visit my new booth at: Mooettesgram on Bonanzle