Work at Home: 5 Things You Need To Know

This information comes from Cyndi's Work at Home blog and it shares some important things you need to think about when deciding to work from home.

1. Working from home is not for everyone. Don’t fall into believing the myth that “anyone” can work at home...

2. You need to be in it for the long haul. Work at home success will not happen overnight...

3. Friends and family may not be supportive. When you decide that you want to start a career working at home, those closest to you may not be ready to jump on the bandwagon with you...

4. Running a business is hard work. While many people dream of being able to work from home — mainly for the freedom from a “real” job that it offers — they fail to realize that to gain that sort of freedom, they will need to work hard...

5. Expect to spend money. No matter what business you choose, there will be some sort of costs involved — more than your initial investment, no matter how big or small that amount may be...

Read Cyndi's entire post here and read Hawaii Money Saving Mama's experience with working at home. Thank you ladies for sharing your personal experiences and expertise with us!

*Hawaii WAHMs created for work at home moms living and working in the Aloha State, who are either business owners or direct sales representatives.*

Direct Sales Income Opportunity

Direct Sales businesses includes the sale of consumer products or services without a brick and mortar retail location. Usually the sale is done through in-home shows, personal demonstrations, websites, catalogs and other forms of advertising.

Those with direct sales businesses are usually associated with titles such as representative, consultant or distributors. Success may depend on one's dedication and passion for the job but public recognition, popularity and approval of the product also influences the sale of these products. Compensation is often in the form of commission payments.

Research and choose your direct sales company wisely. Some company's require purchase of a start up kit to become an associate, some offer free training and others require a minimum sale amount each period to remain active. If you are interested in direct selling, here is a list of businesses to look into. This list was inspired by womenforhire.com but we've added a few of our favorites*.

Angela Moore
www.angelamoore.com
Colorful fashions and accessories for women.

Arbonne
www.arbonne.com*
Health and beauty products.

Avon
www.avon.com
Cosmetics, clothing, toys, perfume, jewelry, books, and videos.

Bead Retreat
www.beadretreat.com
Bead design and beaded jewelry

Carlisle Collection
www.carlislecollection.com
Clothing designs for women.

Baby Crazy
www.babycrazy.com
Baby products from diaper bags to safari play sets.

BeautiControl
www.beauticontrol.com
Brings the spa experience home by selling beauty products and makeup.

Cookie Lee
www.cookielee.com
Fashion jewelry.

Creative Memories
www.mycmsite.com/cherylsakihara*
Scrapbooking albums, supplies and services to help you get years of photographs organized and preserved.

Essential Bodywear, LLC.
www.essentialbodywear.com
Comfortable, well-fitting undergarments.

Gold Canyon
www.goldcanyoncandle.com
Scented candles and fragrances and accessories for the home.

Heritage Makers
www.heritagemakers.com/161330*
Personal publishing.

Home and Garden Party
www.homeandgardenparty.com/home
Party plan business featuring home decor items.

Homemade Gourmet
www.homemadegorument.com/kimberlywilson*
Quality, affordable, easy to prepare meals.

Jordan Essentials
www.jordanessentials.com
Bath and beauty products for adults, teens, and children.

Mary Kay
www.marykay.com/
One of the largest direct sellers of skin care and color cosmetics.

Our Own Image
www.ourownimage.com
Personal accessories and home decor.

Party Lite
www.partylite.com
Decorative candles and fragrances for the home.

Princess House
www.princesshouse.com
Fine kitchen-ware from pots and pans to patterned platters.

Private Quarters
www.myprivatequarters.com
A wide range of high-end bath and bedding.

Self Indulgence
www.selfindulgence.biz
Unique line of beauty products that inspire the body, mind, and spirit.

SeneGence
www.senegence.com
Makeup and beauty products.

Sensaria
www.sensaria.com
Promotes nurturing rituals with naturally-based products formulated to enhance health, wholeness and individual beauty.

Shaklee
www.shaklee.com
Nutritional supplements, personal care products and home cleaning products.

Shure Pets
www.shurepets.com
Products for pets and pet lovers with a starter kit for $99.

Signature Homestyles
www.signaturehomestyles.com
Ideas for everyday living, with premier home products ranging from picture frames to popcorn bowls.

Silpada
www.silpada.com
Fine sterling silver jewelry.

Southern Living
www.southernlivingathome.com
Products for decorating, entertaining, and organizing

Stampin' Up!
www.stampinup.com
Stamps as well as accessories for home décor, handmade greeting cards, and scrapbook pages.

Tastefully Simple
www.tastefullysimple.com
Gourmet food products, the most popular of which is its bountiful beer bread for $4.99.

The Happy Gardener
www.thehappygardener.info
Gardening tools and supplies.

The Longaberger Co
www.longaberger.com/
Handcrafted baskets and offers other home and lifestyle products, including pottery, wrought iron, fabric accessories and specialty foods.

The Traveling Vineyard
www.myttv.com
Specialty wine cellar and accessories chop.

The Pampered Chef
www.pamperedchef.com
Everything from knives and grilling utensils to baking materials.

Touchstone Crystal
www.touchstonecrystal.com
Crystal Jewelry

Tupperware
www.order.tupperware.com
Food storage and preservation.

Worth Collection
www.worthny.com
Women's fashions.

*Hawaii WAHMs created for work at home moms living and working in the Aloha State, who are either business owners or direct sales representatives.*

Make Money with a Lemonade Stand

Have you ever wanted your own Lemonade stand? You can sorta have one in this virtual e-commerce world where you feature some of your favorite products from over 200 retailers at your very own lemonade stand. Your stand can be featured on your social networking site (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) or your personal blog. Each time a visitor makes a purchase from your lemonade stand, you earn money.

The steps are simple enough...
1. First you create and design your lemonade stand. It's free.
2. Choose and recommend your favorite products.
3. Get paid for sales.

For more information, go to Lemonade.

Please note, this is not an endorsement by the Hawaii WAHMs group. We recommend that you research the specifics of this program before signing up. You decide if it is right for you.

*Hawaii WAHMs created for work at home moms living and working in the Aloha State, who are either business owners or direct sales representatives.*

Been a while...sorry!

Hi everyone! So sorry it's been such a long time since I submitted a blog entry...

I actually started my own blog about choices for maternity care in Hawai`i: www.maternitycarechoiceshawaii.wordpress.com/

After seeing the film, "The Business of Being Born" something inside me came alive and now I'm passionate about learning about birth and information that is not always easily available.

So aside from being the sales rep for Moby Wraps which is going very well=), the discussion leader over at hawaiimoms.com, now I've become inthralled with birth!

Another project that I'm working on is, "The Business Case for Breastfeeding". If you are or know of a woman who would like to continue nursing/breastfeeding after returning to work and would like some help approaching their employer, please send me a note!

Here's some info regarding skin-to-skin from the brochure 'Clinical Benefits of the Moby Wrap Baby Carrier:

What is skin-to-skin? - "Skin-to-Skin" is contact between the baby's front and the mother's chest. Usually baby is in a diaper and parent or caregiver is bare-chested.

According to Dr. William Sears, practicing skin-to-skin and babywearing has benefits for the whole family:

• Lowers baby's and mother's stress hormones
• Increases baby's weight
• Increases amount baby sleeps
• Decreases amount baby cries
• Helps prevent colic
• Boosts mom's milk production
• Increases baby's overall health

"The mother's skin is the baby's natural environment, and both physically and emotionally the healthiest place for it to be."-Dr. Nils Bergman

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to the Hawaii Work at Home Moms (WAHMs) weblog and thank you for stopping by! The Hawaii WAHMs website/weblog is an extension of our Hawaii WAHMs Yahoo! Group that was started by a local mom in May 2005. We currently have 12 members in our group that are either home business owners or direct sales representatives. The services we provide to our members are completely free and run by volunteers. Please support our Hawaii WAHMs by visiting our website and telling your friends about us. We appreciate your visit and hope you stop by again!