Meet Melissa, a content creator and digital marketer

1. Please introduce yourself.

Hey – I am Melissa – Mum to 6-year-old Myla and partner to Andy. We live in Brisbane. Both Myla and I have always lived in Brisbane; but Andy is from New Zealand’s north island.  He has however lived in Brisbane for over 20 years now.

I am also the creator behind Thrifty Family Travels, content creator and digital marketer.

2. When did you start working from home? What inspired the change?

I have only started working from home full time for 6 months. I did start working from home part time 6 months prior to that.

After 20 years of working in the crazy corporate world as a lawyer I craved a different sort of life.  I wanted to be at home more and work when I wanted to, rather than when I had to. Funnily enough I think I work now more than I ever did, starting a new business, however I believe I have far more work life balance now.

3. What different ways have you tried to earn an income working from home? What do you do now to earn money?

I earn an income in a variety of ways. My biggest source of income is providing administration support to Andy’s construction business.

I also earn an income working for other bloggers – writing blog posts, SEO research etc as well as writing content for other businesses.

I have started to earn a small income from affiliate marketing as well via hotel bookings and Amazon products.

4. How long did it take you to earn enough money to quit your day job?

I guess I still don’t earn enough money to just work for myself as most of my income is from working for Andy, however my income from my own business is consistently increasing.

5. How much do you earn in an average month now?

Not counting the money I earn from working in Andy’s business I earn an average of $500-$1000 per month.

6. What tips would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you first started working at home?

Not to except too much from myself! Seriously I used to give myself like 10 jobs a day and completely underestimated how long it would take and then feel deflated when I only did like 2-3 tasks. Now I monthly goal set and set less tasks to complete per day. This process has also helped me focus on what’s important.

7. What has been the secret to your success?

Investing in my business upfront. I hear loads of people say they will invest in XYZ when they earn an income – but I believe you need to invest the money in order to earn the income. My best investment is paying for good quality courses and ongoing training.

I also think it is good to find 1 – 3 Facebook groups that work for you and ask questions, put yourself out there – you will be surprised how many people are willing to help those less experienced than themselves.

8. What mistakes have you made along the way?

Gosh so many!!! As I said – expecting too much of myself – I wanted – well still do probably – to change my world overnight.  I keep reminding myself it’s a marathon not a race.

I have made heaps of technical mistakes with my blog – SEO, page speed etc.

9. What is the best part about working from home?

Being there for my daughter more – attending to her school activities. But it is also the simple things – not having to dress up and put make up on every day, washing clothes during the day, not having to drive 45 minutes to work in traffic everyday.

I also love being able to work when I want. Like if I want to work at 11pm at night its all good, it also means if I want to sleep in – that’s fine too.

10. What is the worst part about working from home?

Working far too much!!! I would almost work 24/7 if I could – I love my work so much its hard to get away from the computer. I have had to be quite strict on myself about walking away from the computer!

I think I also miss that physical social connection with people. I mean now I have online friends that I talk to, but its not the same as bouncing ideas off people in real life.

11. What advice do you have for anyone starting out?

Be realistic, work on whats important, goal set and do one thing at a time.