Did you know that there is actually an expo for work at home moms? I just learned about this and thought some of you US based wahms might be interested. For location reasons, I can´t attend myself, but here are the basics:

Moms Network Expo 2007 is being held at the Burnsville Center in Minneapolis, MN. There is no entrance fee and apparently it is taking up two entire levels of a shopping center.

The dates for this Expo are October 27 and 28. It sounds like it is worth checking out if you are in the area, although I don´t know that I would take a long trip to get there! They are offering door prizes, free samples, etc. which could be fun, plus you will have the opportunity to see what other work at home moms are doing.

If you want to set up a booth at the expo, that is another option. You can also donate prizes or samples to gain business exposure.

For more information, check out the Moms Expo 2007. If anyone attends or sets up a booth, we would love to hear about your experiences!

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Many crafters end up not selling their work because they just don’t know where to go. Online venues can be the perfect solution! However, in case you aren’t sure exactly how to find websites that will let you sell your handicrafts, I’ve decided to do a review of several places. Please feel free to let me know of any I’ve missed or your experiences with the craft websites listed here.

Etsy
This is a fairly new venue for crafters, but it looks good. Most of the products seem to be of very high quality and the prices are decent, so you won’t be forced to lowball your products. The layout is quite professional and sign up is free. You will need a credit card to confirm identity, they are very strict about security policies.

Fees: Free to sign up, 20 cents per item, plus 3.5% upon sale
Arts Efest
This site is fairly large, so you’ll have plenty of competition. It bills itself as an online craft show. The list of categories in the sidebar is almost too extensive, but will help people find exactly what they are looking for. Some items seem to be a bit on the cheap side, so you might need to drop your prices a little. Payment is through PayPal.

This site offers two options. You can sign up to be listed in their crafters´ directory if you already have a website, or you can sign up to get a webpage on efest.

Fees: Between $14-18 per month if you build a site through them, $8 monthly if you already have a website (discounts are available if you pay for the year)
Handmade Catalog
A nice, clean looking website that offers a very extensive variety. The prices here seem to be very decent, shipping can be included or you can charge separately. Payment is by check or PayPal.

Handmade offers three different memberships. The Basic package lets you try things out, where you can list up to 50 items. The Standard package allows up to 250 products, plus 3 listings per year on the main page. The Professional package is the most expensive and lets you have a special URL, features your business name on their Crafter’s List, plus you can list up to 1,200 products and have up to 5 products per year on the main page.

Fees: Basic is $4.95 per month, plus a 15% commission, Standard charges 7.95 per month, plus a 10% commission, and Professional is $12.95 per month with a 5% commission on top. Each package has a discount if you pay annually.

Craft Mall
This online mall is professionally designed and lets you design your own home page, complete with your own business logo. The nice thing about Craft Mall is that they also allow you to use your own domain name, if you wish.

Selling features are more advanced on this website. You can create your own coupons with expiration dates, set up sales that start and end automatically and sell in bulk or offer special discounts. Using these features can also get you a spot in their newsletter. Payment is through PayPal or your own merchant account.

Fees: Basic accounts range from $7.95-47.95 per month for 15-500 products, Premium accounts range from $14.95-54.95 a month for 25-650 products and include several benefits.

Kinfolk Crafts
This website offers fully customizable webpages where you can upload 10 products to sell. They maintain your site for you and payment is through PayPal. You can add your own domain name if you wish. You can also do an upgrade from a webpage to a website, but they don’t specify how many products this includes or how much it costs.

Kinfolk Crafts seems to lean more toward country style crafting and clothing, so if that is your niche, this may be a good website for you. However, if you are into Goth art, Kinfolk Crafts is not the place to sell your bat pins!

Fees: $75 set-up, $10 per month with a minimum of 6 months required.

Lilly’s Craft Mall
This website is run by a work at home mom who knows what it is like to have all your profits eaten up by auction fees. So, the website is free for listing your crafts. You get a website where you can upload 15 products to start off with (you can add more after 30 days). It is all customizable. Payment is through PayPal.

The only problem I saw with Lilly’s Craft Mall is that it’s not exactly well designed. There are errors on the main page and for some reason the categories are microscopic. If you are looking for a no-cost way to get started, this might be worth a try, though.

Fees: Free

Spsell
Spsell has more of an amateur look to it than the other sites reviewed here, but it is a bit different as well. Instead of categories, it has shops, so the name of your e-store has a lot to do with whether or not people will click on it. Within the shop, you have categories if necessary. Payment through PayPal.

Fees: $10-19 per month (thank you, Super Man, for bringing this to my attention)

As you can see, you have a wide variety of options for selling your crafts online. And of course, you could always set up your own website as well. The advantage of going with an online craft market is that you can capitalize on their popularity.

Have you had any experience selling your crafts online? If so, please share in the comments. Feel free to include a link to your site, too, so we can see your products and website.

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When you started your home business, you probably were planning to try and make a living off of it. After all, that’s what most of us hope to do with our home businesses, earn enough to feed the kids, pay the bills and, if we are lucky, have enough left over to buy a couple little luxury items. But what happens when your business goes further than you ever dreamed possible?

Are you prepared for success? Surpassing your goals and then some might sound like a great thing, but it can also bring a lot of challenges and problems. For example, if your business goes beyond what you had hoped for, you may have to consider hiring employees. Here are a few other things to keep in mind when you are growing:

- You may be required to make business trips that will take you away from your family.

- It could become impossible to service all the requests that you receive, especially if you are the only person who can provide the service.

- You will be handling larger amounts of money and paying higher taxes, your business may catch the attention of the IRS.

- Your hours will become longer and you will likely be more stressed out.

There are plenty of other things that will affect your business as you grow. The point is, you need to think about what will happen if you do make the big time, and how you can start now to implement changes that will make success a little easier.

For example, you might want to think about hiring a bookkeeper instead of doing everything yourself. Keeping good track of your expenditures now, while your business is small, will help you to avoid problems in the future.

You could also think about training someone else to do what you do, so that if you need a break, the business won’t stop. It’s also a good idea for clients to get accustomed to dealing with more than one person, it will help you when you expand. Just put a little thought into it and plan ahead for success. The steps you need to take will depend greatly upon the type of business that you have.

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Can you put together a great resume? Write the perfect breakup letter? How about a grant application?

These all sound like pretty simple tasks to many people, but the truth is, there are thousands who simply cannot write a decent letter, let alone apply for a grant or a position at their dream company. So, they hire someone else to do it for them.

If you have skills in these areas, you can set up your own business and start earning doing things like fixing up people´s resumes, editing their job applications and helping them vow undying love. It may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but hey, if it comes easy to you, why not earn?

Work at Home in Progress has a very good article for parents who are desperate to work from home. Stephanie gives a very honest view about how difficult it can be and suggests a few options, including blogging.

Personally, I don´t feel that blogging is a good place to start for work at home moms who are on their last penny. It takes months or even years to build a blog up to where you are earning decent money, especially if it is your first! Although it can be a good sideline, if you are scrambling for cash, there are better ways.

For example, I would suggest selling handicrafts on places like Etsy or eBay. It´s quite a bit faster than a blog. And, if you have anything at all to sell, be it paintings, furniture or services, set up a website immediately. You can get a decent free website if you don´t have the cash to buy a domain name and pay a hosting company, but you should move over as soon as possible to a paid service so you can eliminate extra ads.

The next step would be to set up a free PayPal account and then do up your website with a sales page, an About page, and a catalog of your products or services. Information products are easiest to sell because you don´t have to keep an inventory or buy supplies. However, people also tend to think of them as being of a lesser value than actual physical products.

For example, I started off with a very basic website on Piczo, to sell niche article packs. After a month or so, I sold a couple of packs and was able to move over to a proper host. At the moment, the site is under construction, to improve it, but you can take a look at it, PLR Article Packs, to get an idea of how simple it can be to sell information products online. Now, I´m not making a huge amount off this site, but it does have the potential to be big if I were to focus more on it.

If you are interested in starting out online, here are a few resources that you should check out:

Free Websites (which permit selling)

- Piczo This is a pretty user-friendly site. You can make it look quite professional, but they have pop-up ads as well as banners that they place on your site.

- SiteKreator A more complicated site. They offer professional templates, but everything is managed with weird icons that take a while to figure out. You can use your own domain name here, which is a good idea if you can afford about $8-10 a year, but not monthly hosting fees.

- Blogger (for sales blogs) I know I said that blogs aren´t a good place to start, but if you are dead set on starting one that sells products, Blogger is a good free place to start off.

Paid Webhosts

- Host Gator This is my host and I´m quite happy with them. The cheapest package starts at $6.95. Their support is fast and useful.

- Dreamhost I haven´t personally used this service, but have heard rave reviews about it. They offer great value, just $7.95 a month.

 Domain Names

- GoDaddy I highly recommend this service. It´s where I buy all my domain names (25 now!) and they frequently have sales on non-.com domains. Get a $2 discount on any .com domain name by using the coupon code OYH3 at checkout.

Online Merchant Services

- PayPal This is one of the most widely accepted online merchants. Although there are a few complaints about them, they are still your best bet when starting up. Start off with the free Personal account, then upgrade to Business once you get more sales. The Business account is still free upfront, but they take a percentage of incoming transactions. You can accept credit cards through PayPal, as well.

- Moneybookers This isn´t nearly as popular as PayPal, but I do see it here and there.

- BidPay This is a service aimed at autions, but it should be usable with a regular site as well.

Other Websites to Check Out

- GeekySpeaky Great place to learn about SEO (search engine optimization). The forum is very handy and everyone there is super friendly. Just ask your question and someone will be happy to help you.

- Associate Programs If you want to get into affiliate marketing, this is a good spot to start. There is plenty of information for beginners to advanced marketers and a very extensive affiliate directory.

- Clickbank Here you will find hundreds of information products for your website.

Blogs to Read

- eMoms at Home This blog is specifically aimed at work at home parents, but focuses on online business. Definitely worth subscribing to.

- ClickNewz! Another good internet marketing blog that you should be reading if you are going to be trying to earn online.

- Problogger This is THE blog to read if you plan to try your hand at blogging. Very good information and it will take you several weeks to read through the archives.

Do you have any other resources that you would like to add?

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