Stay At Home Mom Jobs: Scams, Lies, and MLMs

Every day tens of thousands of women search for stay-at-home-mom job ideas on the internet. Do you know what they find? Listicles filled with impractical options and affiliate links.

A typical list of stay-at-home mom jobs includes:

• blogger
• social media manager
• virtual assistant
• TikTok strategist
• photographer
• brand ambassador
• life coach
• web designer
• graphic designer
• videographer

But these jobs won’t help most women searching for paid work. Why? Because the average mom can’t become a TikTok sensation in a day. She can’t build a million-dollar blog overnight or create a top-ranked podcast either. 

More than 90% of so-called social media influencers quit before earning any money. It’s a disservice to promote these stay-at-home mom jobs without a disclaimer.

Yes, some moms make money in these roles, but many others will never get their business off the ground. They will pour countless hours into their work and never see a penny from it. 

In the meantime, they need to care for their children and pay their bills.

Stay At Home Mom Jobs No Experience. 

Many stay-at-home moms search for jobs with no experience. If you’re a photographer, you can earn money selling photos. If you know how to code, you can get paid to build websites.

Photographers and engineers aren’t searching for stay-at-home-mom job ideas. They already know how to earn significant wages.

There isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme for moms despite what other websites may tell you. Stay-at-home moms can’t become highly paid photographers, writers, or life coaches without time and training. They can’t build websites or become graphic designers either.

Moms can train for these positions. They can take courses, go back to school, and gain new skills, but their success will not be instantaneous. 

And therein lies the problem. Most stay-at-home moms are searching for jobs because they need cash. They don’t need it three years from now when their business takes off. They need it right now to buy groceries, put gas in their cars, or pay their mortgage.

If you are a stay-at-home mom in need of money, most of the jobs listed above won’t help you. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim to create your own business or strive to become an internet sensation. 

It means you should understand why these jobs appear on the internet and how to spot their false promises.

Scams and False Promises for Stay at Home Moms

Before we dig into those details, let’s all agree that many moms in the U.S. lack financial support. Employers give women a few short weeks to give birth, heal, and quickly return to work. 

When their time runs out, some women can’t afford to go back. Instead of struggling to pay for daycare or babysitters, they leave the workforce and become stay-at-home moms searching for work-from-home opportunities and other forms of paid employment. 

As these vulnerable women search for a better path, unscrupulous companies and so-called friends take advantage of them.

Why do stay at home moms get lured into MLMs and other shady money-making schemes? The answer is simple; stay-at-home moms don’t have a lot of options for paid work.

Flexible Work for Stay At Home Moms

Most stay-at-home moms search for flexible home-based employment. In theory, they plan to work while their kid sleeps. Unfortunately, children don’t eat, sleep, and poop on-demand.

Even when kids sleep, it’s not easy to jump from a childrearing mindset to paid work. When your children close their eyes, can you settle your mind and get straight to work? 

Can you tiptoe out of your baby’s room and immediately start writing, processing photos, or creating videos? The window of time you intend to work can slip by without a moment of productive activity. 

There are only so many hours in a day, and trying to squeeze a job in between child-related tasks and housework isn’t easy.

Real Stay-at-Home Mom Jobs

Real stay-at-home mom jobs involve activities you can perform in short spurts. If you’ve never stayed home with kids for an extended period, you have no idea how many times they interrupt your thought process.

Most work-from-home jobs require concentration and attention to detail. It’s tough to find enough quiet time to complete your tasks, and it’s next to impossible to focus on complicated tasks with children underfoot.

My friend tried to earn extra money transcribing audio files, but her children continually interrupted her. Each interruption extended her overall transcription time, which decreased her hourly rate.

In a quiet room, she could’ve transcribed twice as many files in half the time. With kids around, she was moving at a snail’s pace and making mistakes.

Real stay-at-home mom jobs like dog-walking, babysitting, caretaking, tutoring, cleaning, technical support, and teaching can help you earn money. They don’t require a ton of experience or expertise, but the trouble is, they don’t pay well. 

High Paying Stay At Home Mom Jobs

Imagine you have a few hours of quiet time in your day. Your child is finally sleeping soundly in their crib. You don’t have a ton of time to shower, grab a bite to eat, and hit the gym. Instead, you decide to spend the next two hours earning less than minimum wage. 

Unfortunately, high-paying stay-at-home mom jobs don’t exist for women without time and experience. That’s where MLMs, unscrupulous people, and scams come into play. They trick desperate moms searching for paid work.

When a stay-at-home mom sees a friend bragging about their high salary or luxurious vacation, it’s hard not to get jealous. It’s easy to see the vivid photographs and think, “Why can’t I do that?”

So they ask their friends about their new business, and they receive an earful of good news. They hear phrases like, “it’s easy to make money” and “the best time to join is now.”

You trust your friends. So why wouldn’t you believe their tales of big bonuses and luxury gifts?

When faced with the option of low-paying work or high-paying opportunities which would you choose?

MLMs and Stay-At-Home Moms

It all seems rather casual at first. 

“Why don’t you bring your son to the pool one day around lunchtime?” a casual acquaintance said one afternoon when my oldest son was an infant. 

The next day, we were sitting by the kiddie pool, gently dipping our toes in cool water. Everything seemed normal until she said, “Do you miss earning a paycheck? Would you like to make money again? I started selling skincare, and my complexion has never looked better. My wallet has never looked this good either.”

It was the first time someone approached me with a Multi-Level Marketing sales pitch, but it wouldn’t be the last.

“Come to my book party,” one mom told me on the playground. “I’m selling books your children will love.”

“I don’t need makeup anymore,” another said, “my face is glowing. Want to know my secret?”

When I didn’t take the bait, these women peppered me with emails and Facebook messages.

“I’m hosting a special party online,” one mom wrote. “I can only invite three people, but I put you at the top of my list!” Then she asked if I’d like a personal meeting with her higher up. When I didn’t respond, she sent me a follow-up email asking why I couldn’t make it.

I was a magnet for MLMs. I lived in the swankier part of town, and a lot of moms knew it. On the playground, women inundated me with sales pitches. If I attended a party, they bombarded me with recruiting details.

A couple of times, I asked for additional details. “Oh, you’ll need to buy the product before you can sell it,” they’d say.

“No thanks,” I’d offer in return, and suddenly my newfound friends disappeared.

Making Money Without Experience

The harsh truth is that you can’t make a significant amount of money without time or experience. If you could, everyone would quit the 9-to-5 to join you. It’s not easy to make gobs of money. It’s even harder to accomplish with kids in tow.

So what about that list of stay-home-mom jobs you found on the internet? Some of the items in that list might be legitimate, but most won’t help you. Please be wary of their big promises.

Stay at Home Mom Opportunities and Affiliate Links

Blogging is often the number one stay-at-home mom job listed on websites, but I’m here to tell you that most bloggers don’t make thousands of dollars a month and the ones that do make money do so through affiliate links. They recommend a blogging course you’ll need to pay for and a website hosting provider for your new site.

Each time a stay-at-home mom clicks one of those links and pays, the site owner earns money. Some links earn a few pennies, but others can pay out thousands a month.

Desperate stay-at-home moms will toss money into the pot. “I’ll sign up for service,” they think. “I’ll pay hundreds of dollars for a blogging course because when I finish, I’ll start making money and won’t have to return to work.”

I’m here to tell you it’s unlikely to work that way.

The same goes for so many other stay-at-home mom jobs presented in those listicles. Most sites will take you on an affiliate trail of course offerings promising huge payouts. 

Proceed with caution. Do not click on the first link you see. Heck, you don’t have to click the link at all. Instead, search for free blogging courses or research the best website providers before signing up.

The same goes for all of the other job offerings presented in those lists. Don’t follow the chain of links that lead to a paying site. Don’t sign up for courses without thoroughly investing them. Be careful with your money. 

Don’t let the internet trick you into paying for stuff just to make someone else rich.