Work at Home Moms make money while raising kids

(As seen online at http://www.springobserver.com/)

It is the dream of many mothers to work from home and make money while raising their children. However, the task can be difficult without proper support and guidance.

That is where Houston Work at Home Moms comes in.

For Holly Munsinger, founder of WAHM, sharing her experiences with other mothers working from home and helping connect them with women in the area just like themselves was something she felt was crucial to a home business's success.

"The group was created with the work-at-home mom in mind. As a mom, we understand what everyday life is about and we want to be able to share the best local resources available," Munsinger, who has worked in direct sales for almost 13 years, said.[

Launched in January 2007, the organization has grown to 44 members from different direct sales and work-from-home companies.
"I think we can easily double our membership," Munsinger said. "Women are always looking for ways to contribute to their household income. Being a stay-at-home mom, they can start their own business on the side while their kids are in school."

The Spring-based WAHM meets once a month and has a north chapter and south chapter, with a west chapter opening this month.At meetings, members share upcoming event dates, booking ideas and success stories.

"Not only do we network with each other, but we find out what has and hasn't worked for each other and brainstorm together to make things better for all of us," said Katherine James, south chapter coordinator, who sells bath and body products for Jordan Essentials. "It's very important to have a circle of peers who you can go to for questions."

So far, the group has held four different events, or "shopping extravaganzas," which are opportunities for the women to showcase their products and services. The last event was in the fall at the Spring Chateau.

Despite consumer spending being down all over the place due to the recession, Munsinger said her business hasn't been affected.

"Whenever the economy is bad most home businesses still come out ahead," she said. "People are always buying products, especially food products and beauty products. Those are probably the two most successful companies going right now because people have to eat and women always spend money on themselves."

Munsinger sells embroidered gifts for women and said she posted great sales numbers around Christmas. Seeing no slowdown in sales, Munsinger credits the WAHM network to thriving businesses for all involved and a way to avoid the stress of making money - because after all, raising kids is stress enough.

"I hope that through this organization we can help others, make friendships, share our products and spread the word on ways to earn some money while we are home with our children," she said.

http://www.houstonwahms.org/

Newest Members

It has been awhile since we posted; but I didn't want to not announce our newest additions to the HoustonWAHMs organization.

First off, we would like to welcome our members that renewed their membership with us over the past few months! We are pleased to still have among us:
Kathy McDonald - Creative Memories
Lisa Rabinowitz - Southern Living At Home
Penny Baird - Southern Living At Home
Beckie Bellesen - Pampered Chef

Welcome to our NEW Members who joined in October:
Samantha Gordon with AromaLites
Lindsey Mangold with Wine Shop At Home

And Welcome to our NEW Members who joined in November:
Melanie Williams with Mary Kay

New Members

The HoustonWAHMs organization has been blessed with several new additions to our organization in the last few months. I would personally like to welcome each and every one that hasjoined us and hope that your membership will prove beneficial to you and your business.

Our August New Members include:

Melissa Barrier with Kokoon
Cyndi Blau with Beauticontrol

Our September New Members include:

Rome Berg with Taste of Home Entertaining and Votre Vu
Valerie Gay with Southern Living At Home
Kerstin McDermott with Cookie Lee Jewelry
Laura Rinehart with Passion Parties
Linda Rosemeyer with Beauticontrol
Debbie Shaw with Silpada Designs Jewelry

We are so glad that you have joined us and welcome you to the HoustonWAHMs family!

Creating An Extraordinary Experience

Booking Parties, the mainstay of those in Direct Sales, however sometimes getting those parties "booked" are a little hard in a small town like "Houston TX", because of time to get there, having to clean the house, what to do with the kiddies and hubby. . . . what ever the reason.

Some find that Creasting An Extraordinary Experience is what's needed to really kick off a great party string. It's all about having fun and making everyone feel special. Theme parties are great for this, and many of us have a stack of Theme Parties that we can pick from.

But keep an open mind to the options available:

Many people offer their own home for their hostesses to use -- this a great answer to those with kids and hubby that they are concerned about. Or those that don't have time to clean or make the munchies

Mystery Hostess Parties These are great to invite your customers and previous hostesses to, then give away entries for things like being ontime, bringing a guest, placing an order and so forth. Then draw a winner and she receives all the hostess benefits.

Here is one that someone named Joan that is in a forum with me tried and found to be very successful, which is kind of a mixture of both of the above with an added twist!

I did a real neat party and invited all my past hostesses to a mystery hostess party at my home. I drew a name from all that attended and the one picked became my hostess! I also stood with this person and had them do my presentation with cheat cards (LOL - she signed up afterwards) to show how easy the business was. At this party my DH and a good male friend dressed up in Tuxedos and waited on us gals and it was a blast! I had great sales, a new recruit, and 5 bookings from this!

At the South Houston Chapter meeting, we discussed making an Extraordinary Party Experience and bringing that WOW to our Parties. Maybe make it into a Friends Night Out Party, or a Customer Appreciation Party, or a Wine and Cheese Party.

We would love the hear more about what your Extraordinary Party Experience was, just leave us a comment below.

Mommy and Me Photo Contest

ExploreSpring.com partners With Houston Work at Home Moms for Mommy & Me Photo Contest. Photo contest spotlights the relationship of the mother and her children .

Spring, Texas July 21, 2008 – Explore Spring http://www.explorespring.com/, which hosts monthly online photo contest for Spring TX, announces the "Mommy and Me Photo Contest." This month's contest, which is sponsored by Houston Work at Home Moms (HoustonWAHMS), encourages entrants to "break out the cameras" and become their own "personal photographer."
The contest is all about spotlighting the relationship between a mother and her child(ren).

What makes your relationship unique? Do you and your child(ren) look amazingly alike? Do you and your child(ren) have the same quirky habits? Explore Spring and Houston WAHMS wants to know--and see--the dynamics behind your children.

August 1 through August 31, 2008, mothers and kids of all ages will be able to enter the Explore Spring/Houston WAHMS Mommy & Me Photo Contest for a chance to win a $35 Visa prepaid Visa and a Explore Spring personalized shirt(s) for each member in the photo.

The winner is chosen by Explore Spring online viewers. Entries and voting take
place online at www.explorespring.com/pages/Photo_Contest . The entry with the most online votes at the end of the month wins the prizes.

"The Mommy & Me Hair Contest gives kids and moms the opportunity to showcase their relationship and really have some fun," says Holly Munsinger, Houston WAHMS Founder. The mommy and me contest photo entries may be from anytime and any place or can be taken specifically for the Mommy & Me Contest.

For more details about Spring/Houston WAHMS Mommy & Me Photo Contest, please visit the Explore Spring website. If it's about Spring
Texas it’s on Explore Spring.

About Explore Spring, is a locally owned and operated online city guide and business directory for Spring, Texas. Here you can find all kinds of services - from restaurants and automobiles to shopping and home services.
ExploreSpring.com provides a central online location 24 hours a day to find information relevant to the Spring TX Community. The web site is located at http://www.explorespring.com/.

About Houston WAHMS Houston Work at Home Mom is a networking organization for mothers who are striving to open, grow or establish a
home-based business. Launching in January 2007, this local organization is for those in business for themselves.

After several months of being up and running, our membership has grown to 44 members from different direct sales and work from home companies. The web site is located at http://www.houstonwahms.com/.

How Strong is your follow up?

WOW, did we have a great South Chapter meeting (Houston) on Monday Evening. Our topic of discussion was "Follow Up", in the case of many of us there, is the Hap-Hazard method of follow-up that we each implement. While each of us present represented a different company, some in direct sales, some not. . . we each were guilty of knowing what we should be doing and yet were not doing.

Now you may wonder what we mean by "Hap-Hazard" . . . well it's when we think of it, or get around to it. We each seem to forget that those lead cards from Shows, or the business cards that we've picked up at networking events or even past customers are warm leads.

Now, whether you are just starting out in your business, or have been in business for awhile, for most of us, that telephone weighs 600 pounds and it's so hard to pick up! Remember that these warm leads are your opportunity to build your business, and the phone is actually lighter, I PROMISE!

What's truly amazing is that the more that you lift it and make those calls the lighter it actually becomes. We've all heard that a customer has to see and hear your name 7 times before the remember you. So why not with follow-up calls.

The other advice that we receive that it takes 10 no's to receive a yes. So start making those calls to get you no's so that you can receive your YES!

Part of our resolve in moving forward in our Follow-up is to each implement a "POWER HOUR" for our telephone calls. Some agreed to try and do it one or two days a week, some more. We're going to report back next month on how the "POWER HOUR" has helped each of us.

We also want to thank the "Direct Selling Women's Alliance" for producing some exciting tools that we can use. We each took some great "Follow-up" notes from their Chapter Go the Extra Mile from More Build it Big, a great resource.

Before I close I wanted to welcome the 4 NEW Members that joined the South Chapter of HoustonWAHMS this week.

Welcome!!!!!!

Melinda Sena -- Melinda's Precious Gems and Jewelry

Becci King -- Private Quarters

Natalia Sena -- Mary Kay

Christina Hartsfield -- Pampered Chef

Catherine "Cathy" James
South Chapter HoustonWAHMS

So Many Choices

At last months South Chapter meeting of Houston Wahms we discussed blogs, how to get them started and exchanged some great information. I took that basic information that I presented there and presented it last night to the ABWA Chapter in Baytown TX. A question was asked "How Do I know What to Write About?" Very simple write what you like, about what you are interested in, write about what's important to you. It's your choice.

On the drive home, it dawned on me that we already know that Direct Sales and other Home Based Businesses are growing in numbers. We all make the decision to "Start a Business" out of need, but that need is different for each of us. It could be because of job uncertainty, or it could be because we need that little extra for a new car, or to help offset those gas prices, or we need to build a new life for our selves.

There are So Many Choices out there, the hardest decision is finding the company that is right for you, then I realized that maybe we should be thinking about the company that we become involved in, like deciding to write a blog or what the topic of that blog will be.

There are many wonderful companies out there that offer great products and great compensation plans. . . so do you choose because your friend is selling it, do you choose because there are not many selling that product in the area, do you use the product that you will be selling . . . the questions go on.

Make a short list of what's important to you and then "CHOOSE" the company you wish to represent.