Is There a Negative Stigma Attached to being a WAHM?

Yesterday I wrote a blog post for ProfitableMommyBlogging.com asking whether or not labeling yourself as a WAHM (work at home mom) is a bad thing. It was my response to a guest video blog post by Scott Stratten (@unmarketing on Twitter) that appeared on JessicaKnows.com last year.

I must say, Scott is a very brave man to take on a topic as touchy as WAHMs and business identity. Scott (a WAHD) explained in his post that there’s nothing wrong with being a WAHM, but it’s not a good idea to promote yourself as one to every market. If you’re mostly marketing to other WAHMs that’s one thing. That can actually be a strategy that seals your connection to other WAHMs. But you might run into problems marketing yourself that way to other markets. Some businesses seem to have preconceived notions of WAHMs, the biggest being that their project comes second to a WAHMs children and home responsibilities. I imagine that’s the case for any working professional with a family, but I digress…

I’ve always been aware of the negative labels some clients attach to WAHMs. My first negative experience came about three years ago while lurking around the writer’s forum at WAHM.com. Someone over at Warrior Forum released a report for Internet Marketers detailing how to get quality articles written for as low as $2 each from moms "looking to make a little money" over at WAHM.com. As you can imagine that report sold like hot cakes, and then big surprise - the forum was all of a sudden flooded with brand new clients seeking writers for $2 and $3 article jobs.

Long story short, the forum blazed with biting comments and hurled insults to those poor, innocent souls who’d come looking for the guaranteed, cheap WAHM labor mentioned in that report. Writers themselves even got caught up in the melee.

The writers who had blasted the Internet marketers were even more incensed with the writers who responded to the offers. Then of course the writers accepting the $2 and $3 article jobs became defensive saying it was their right to accept the work if they needed it. It went on like that for a couple of weeks until I think the Internet marketers decided that the cheap labor wasn’t worth all the trouble they’d have to endure on that forum to get it.

Situations like that are what made me shy away from the WAHM association when I first started freelancing. I did so because I needed to be taken seriously because I was seriously trying to make a living as a writer. My website includes no personal information, only information about my professional writing services and my professional credentials (I don’t discuss being married or the fact that my twins each lost a front tooth during the exact same week on my “About Us” page).

Just because I happen to have kids and work from a desk in my living room doesn’t mean that I won’t consider a client’s project top priority and deliver as expected. I happen to think my being a mom is irrelevant to my business identity. I know lots of other WAHMs with similar professional ethics. At the same time I am a WAHM and make no apology about it.

Scott's video clarified that it’s not at all about shunning the WAHM label; it’s understanding when it is, and isn’t, appropriate to market yourself that way. After all the whole point of marketing is to appeal to your target market. What are your thoughts?

A Freelance Writing Mom's Panic: Thanks a lot, Winter Break!

I don't know about you, but I'm completely snowed under with freelance writing projects right now. Yes, I consider it a good thing, but after trying to wrap up the biggest ones by this coming Friday, I finally realize it's not going to happen. I'm faced with another week of working furiously on a plate full of projects, only this time there will be four kids ranging in age from two to seven testing the little bit of mental balance I have left right now.

Next time, plan ahead

Now I knew this was coming, and I know what it's like to work while my kids are home all day – begging for never ending snacks, arguing about who did/said/took what from whom, whining about being bored, disagreeing over what to watch on TV – fun, fun, fun.

What to do, what to do...

Clearly I can't neglect my freelance writing clients, but I can't neglect my kids for two whole weeks either. The only solution I've come up with is to wake up at least two hours earlier than everyone else so that I can get a good head start on work. That should allow me to set aside some time to spend hanging out with the kids, and then get back to work later in the evening for a couple of hours.

A wahm's challenge

Working from home is not as easy as it sounds. You have to keep yourself motivated, on task, and there are so many distractions that pop up unexpectedly. To find out more about how to make working from home work better for you, check out Deb Ng's recent post.