Alyssa Avant 2.0

Meet Alyssa Avant of Beauty By Design Online, a busy work at home mom with three young children who has found her groove on the internet.

Alyssa, when did you first decide to look for a way to work from home?

I first decided to look for a way to work from home after having my first child and needing extra money. That was in 2003. It wasn’t until 2005 that I first found 1 option which was direct sales. It wasn’t as fruitful as I had hoped.

In 2006 I created my first website for my ministry (Beauty by Design Ministries) and in October 2007 after quitting my part time job that March after the birth of my 2nd child I began ghostwriting and my business A Writer for Hire.

I now do several things online including writing, blog management, running my ministry site which includes ebooks, an ezine, and a new training membership site that will launch soon called Faith Leaps: Training to take the leap of faith into speaking, writing and ministry.

How did you sort through your ideas for a work at home business?

I spent a great deal of time online researching and I spent even more time in prayer.

Where did you look for inspiration?

I relied heavily on the online community, especially the WAHM community and my online friends. After being online for a while I also found the amazing community of women at Mom Masterminds who have changed my life.

Is there anything that you’ve tried that you would say didn’t work for you?

Definitely, taking surveys, doing pay per posts, and my time in direct sales definitely did not fit me or work for me.

What do you love about what you are doing to work at home today?

I am able to fulfill God’s call on my life. I am pursuing my passion.

How are you applying Web 2.0 tactics to your business?

Web 2.0 tactics, such as social media, microblogging, and social networking are huge these days and I have jumped in to all of them. I especially love Twitter and use it daily for “social interaction” as well as for networking and marketing. It works well for all three things.

What are your hopes for the future?

I hope to be able to build my ministry and businesses large enough that I am able to create a residual income so that I can focus solely on speaking and writing for ministry. I have hopes of traveling nationally on a regular basis as a speaker.

What advice would you give a new work at home mom?

My advice for a new work at home mom is to not give up. The task of finding your “fit” as a WAHM is daunting, but it is worth it to stick with it.