I get several inquiries each week from hopeful work at home moms about what kind of salary they should expect when starting out as a work at home mom. I personally do not have a salary range to go by since there are so many types of telecommuting jobs out there and so many different types of home business you can start. Therefore, I need your help. :)

I'd love to hear from fellow established work at home moms regarding your average monthly salary, and I thought an anonymous poll would be the easiest way to go since income is such a sensitive issue for many.

If you are already working from home full or part time, and making an income please share it with us in the poll below. Your feedback will help other work at home moms. I'll post the results and my thoughts after the poll has closed next week.

* BONUS: If you vote in the poll and would like a link back to your blog/site shoot me an email and I'll create a post just for you being so awesome! ;)

Opinion Polls & Market Research

In the past few weeks there has been an ongoing debate online about advertising on mom/mommy blogs. The debate went even further and became more controversial while many mom bloggers were at blogher (myself not included). I got involved in the discussions on several blogs because I wanted other moms to know how I felt about the topic AND because I whole-heartedly agree with having advertising on a blog in any form that a blogger chooses. Of course I could have stood back and said nothing but I didn't and I want to take this discussion a step further here. Or atleast I want to ask a whole lotta questions ;)

Sure, this discussion has taken place all over the blogosphere as of late and a lot of you are getting tired of it but I still think you should listen.

Basically, there are two kinds of bloggers. Writers and non-writers. I'm in the second camp. I'm not a professional writer and don't ever plan on having a book published. It seems as though that the blogger/professional writers are against some types of advertising most notably pay per post since the rates are so low. However, some of these same writers believe that they should be paid to review other products which is actually unethical(IMO). How can you give your true opinion on a product for which you are getting paid? Do you feel like you have to be positive in order to get your next review job?

Furthermore, many of these same "professional" writers feel devalued when other mom bloggers take pay per post opportunities or similar such as payu2post reviewme Sponsored Reviews Smorty and a few more coming along I'm sure. So, tell me, what is a good rate for mom bloggers to take? Is it fair to say that all bloggers are worth the same amount? What about the mom bloggers just starting out or the bloggers who simply aren't at the level of other bloggers?

The big thing here is that every blogger will not get writing jobs or advertisements that pay well so they have to take these kinds of opportunities for whatever reason. Personally, I don’t feel devalued when other bloggers write for PPP or whatever it is that helps them make money. I don't get upset when PR companies contact me and ask me to review something. If the product doesn't fit with my site I don't do it.

Even if PPP isn't right for me I still feel like I cannot say it is not good for another person simply because I am not living their life and only they know what they need and what is right for them. This is where things like this become purely situational and it's hard to see these people being bashed for taking these opportunities.

The Internet and technology is in a constant state of change and the whole blogging/marketing aspect is so new to so many moms. A few years ago most of us wouldn't have even dreamed of having such possibilties. So why is it that so many mom bloggers feel like that deserve the million dollar ad? What makes us so special? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And, or course I agree we do deserve more than $5 or $10. My question is as a whole (all mom bloggers) do we deserve more and what do we do about those who are not included?

I wish there were better monetizing opportunities out there for mom blogs and you can be sure that when and if I find something that works for me I'll be posting it right here.

For now I recommend Google Adsense (yes, I get a monthly check-actually it's direct deposited to my bank account), AffiliateFuel.com, Fastclick, Coreg Media, Kontera, Clickbank, Shopzilla, Chitika, Offersquest, Amazon, Auction Ads & blogher ads. In the next few weeks, I'll try and do a more in depth discussion on each of these different companies to help you monetize your blog so check back.

Here are more of these discussions from around the mom blogosphere.
Thoughts On Women blogging and making money
Mom 101's amazing & popular discussion
Is Adverting on Mommy blogs different? from the fabulous Phat Mommy

I've struggled with what to do with this site since it's inception and that is why these updates are sporadic at best. But now I am ready to move on and grow this site. I want to see it reach it's fullest potential and at the same time I want to be able to really help other moms find ways to work from home either via a job they found here or by starting their own online businesses.

I feel like I have so much to offer so many Moms out there so now instead of just bringing all of you jobs each week, I am also going to offer more work at home tips, advice, and the latest news on working from home and running your own successful business online.

More to come this week. As always, if you have a question about working from home, how to start, what to do?,etc. feel free to email me anytime.