On November 9, 2005, Jennifer Laycock wrote the first post about a challenge she set for herself  to build  profitable online business that required no startup capital. She gave herself 30 days to turn a profit on the venture.

The typical approach to the problem would have been to sell things on eBay, become an affiliate and promote someone elses products, or create a niche content website and load it up with Adsense ads. But, Jennifer decided to go another route and started a CafePress store to sell t-shirts and other items with slogans she designed to promote breast feeding.

She blogged about the project every day for the duration of the experiment and left a 30 day trail of her entrepreneurial journey. The result is an insight filled roadmap for other online business people.

The net result of her experiment – she generated a total profit of $326.78 over the course of 30 days.

The entire series of articles, plus some additional follow-up writing, was later collected together in a free ebook which can be downloaded at the Search Engine Guide website.

The ebook, a must read for any aspiring online entrepreneur, features a bonus section at the end containing a complete glossary of search engine marketing terms. This is a great resource for people new to the world of online marketing.

Download the ebook: Zero Dollars, A Little Talent, And Thirty Days – PDF

I became a stay at home Mom after the birth of my daughter. I was so enthusiastic when I took the decision to stay at home with her, not knowing how hard it will be. I was tired of the working outside the home routine, and was looking forward to this change of pace. I have been now staying at home for a little more than a year and a half. I have seen it all: from the overwhelming joy to the extreme exhaustion. Despite the hard work and dedication necessitated by the early parenting I am still enjoying being a full time stay at home Mom.

While each step of a child’s development has its own challenges, I personally think that the hardest to tackle are those during baby’s first year, thanks to their nature. Those challenges are physically demanding, not to mention financially. Now that my daughter has well past her first year, she is not even a baby any longer, I have more time to think about projects that I could do to contribute to my family’s earning.

A Mom starting a work at home during baby’s first year could find herself easily irritable. Babies are still very exigent and not quite independent from their principal care giver at such young age. I would suggest postponing working at home until your baby is at least fourteen month-old if the family can afford the wait.

Having a new baby increases expenses in many ways and it is understandable that Moms want to do all they can to contribute to their family’s finances. The arrival of a new baby causes changes in the family life, in all of its aspect. Financially, the difference is even more striking for families that go from two incomes to one.

My family was no exception to this hard fact and I started thinking about an additional source of income. I was highly motivated since we lived on such a tight budget. I did not want to further strain our finances by investing a large amount of money, which we did not have anyway, so I figured I had to work with the resources already available to us, to me.

I put my sewing skills to work and started making simple but useful baby bedding items. Then it occurred to me that I cannot go door to door and sell them so I went online and searched inexpensive ways to run an online store. I have never created a website in my life, but I was determined to help my family and ready to defy any obstacles. I learned a lot through my searches and readings. Among other things, I learned that you find what you are looking for. So I always incorporated the word free in my search query, and the more I searched, the more free resources I found. Then one day I found out that with some basic knowledge of HTML I could really use one of those website builders to create my very own website! I worked right at it. If I had not much money, I did have all the willingness, the time and the courage to do whatever it takes to own my website. Guess what? I do now. Hard work does pay off.

However, having an online store is not the end of my endeavor, there are still a lot to do to keep my boutique running, one of which is promoting it. Let us not forget that creating an additional income was the goal at the first place. Owning an online store is just one of the means to achieve it.

Now I am a very busy work at home Mom, taking care of my daughter, my family, my customers and promoting my website. I agree it requires strong willingness, patience and dedication, but believe me, it is rewarding. You will be proud of your achievement. Now imagine what stay at home Moms can do. You do not have to have a lot to start something you are passionate about. The possibilities are countless.

About the author:

Sara Mahen is a stay at home Mom who loves sewing and writing. She owns Oh Petit Bebe, an online boutique featuring her quality custom baby bedding and accessories. She also enjoys writing about beautiful things

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