Networking Tips for Moms At Home

by E-NewsCast Team
March 9th, 2010

Plenty of moms today stay at home. After a year of battling thedecision to quit my job, I finally “put my foot down”, as theysay, and returned home to raise my daughter. It wasn’t theeasiest decision, but, let me tell you, it sure wasn’t thetoughest! I enjoy every minute of being home to raise my child.Furthermore, being home has done wonders for my family as aunit, and drawn us closer together. When I was working my fulltime job I barely had time to prepare a decent meal. But today?I’m a health nut, and so is the whole family (ha)!But now, there’s another dilemma.Being a stay at home mom has not affected my personality, ofcourse, so I still have a lot of creative energy pent up inside!I thought to myself one day, “what better way to use this energythan to work towards a goal—perhaps start a business?” Not onlywould it bring in a nice supplementary income for my family, buthaving a business (or craft or hobby) would enhance my creativeskills and strengthen my business expertise. I call it theproject of my lifetime.The first thing I did was a little soul searching to seek God’sdirection for the type of business or project He would have meto embark on. I realized right away that although my personalitywas suited for several types of business ventures (sellingcrafts, designing websites, or providing secretarial services),I would soon either have to narrow it down to one choice, orstart a business that combined all or most of my skills andinterests. For me, choosing the right business was the hardestpart. Once I settled on freelance web design and writing, itsoon became my ultimate goal to find out as much as possibleabout these particular industries. In my thought, education andinformation is what separates the amateurs from theprofessionals. My goal was to be a professional in my field.This is where networking is highly important.If you’re like me, the internet is probably one of the very besttools you can use for research. Not only is it a few feet awayfrom me as I embark on my daily chores, but I keep my computeron at all times. Thankfully, we are using a broadband connectionand can stay online 24/7 without having to worry about tying upthe phone line. This, I should stress, is very important formoms who have businesses that require them to be online quiteoften, but who will need access to the phone as well. Onceonline, I begin my networking research by going to a searchengine. My favorite one is Google (www.google.com) just becauseof its enormous searching capabilities. As a former libraryassistant, I can attest that Google is highly recommended in theacademic and librarianship fields. I search for information inmy fields using as many search terms and combination of terms aspossible. With each result that I feel is important to me, Ivisit its webpage and bookmark it for future reference. OnceI’ve bookmarked a bunch of pages, I go through each of thesewebsites and study them, taking notes on what I feel isimportant to me in my field. I promise, you will find contactsthis way, and it will be so much easier to network once you havea list of people whose companies and organizations you haveresearched online. In addition to an internet search, I feelthat it is also important to find any books or otherpublications that are related to your industry. Study them andfind out more about the authors. Find out if they have websitesand how to reach them. Now that you have a compiled list ofcontact people, it’s time to work the list! Before contactingthese people individually (they are probably very busy), see ifthey offer newsletters, or other mailbits. You are looking forinformation on how they got where they are today. Remember, youare the amateur. They are the professionals. So, any informationyou receive from this contact list regarding their biographiesand information on the field itself is important enough for yournotes. Take plenty of notes, and keep them in a file folder.Every time you find a new piece of information on your subjectmatter, drop it in your file folder. And finally, if youabsolutely need to contact your list of professionals for moreinformation, I would recommend sending an email.But don’t forget about networking with fellow amateurs! You canmake some of your best friends and closest contacts online byjoining mail lists such as Yahoo groups or MSN groups. Thesegroups along with technologies such as Instant Messenger make iteasier for you to find people with similar personal andprofessional interests and literally network with them on aregular basis. You will find out so much about your industry andprobably learn more from each other regarding your professionthan in any other way.Last but not least, be sure to network with the most importantcontact of all: your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Remember thatit is He who gave you the passion and the calling, and it is Hewho will be with you each step of the way on your new journey.Happy networking!– Demetria Zinga is the founder and owner ofwww.faith-media.com, a technology and consulting firm whichspecializes in web design and hosting, graphics and printdesigns, internet marketing, and e-training. She is also thefounder of www.christianladies.net, an interactive ezine, blog,and podcast for Christian women.

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