WAHM Profile: Alice Seba

Alice Seba, the Internet Marketing Sweetie has been my business partner and friend for many years.  I believe that I owe her my success – she is the one who encouraged me to start an internet radio show and she is the one who pulled me with her kicking and fussing into the world of internet marketing.

I love every opportunity that comes up for us to work together and am so pleased to share some of her history with you today.

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

In 2002. I was a new mom on maternity leave and was determined to find a way to earn money from home that would keep me from having to return to work outside the home.

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

My goal was ultimately to find a business that I could truly run from home. Problem is, many businesses that people call a “home business” require you to be out serving clients, selling your stuff, etc.

Still, when I began my search, I couldn’t seem to find this true home business opportunity. I knew I loved teaching and previously ran a tutoring business, so I searched for another opportunity that complimented that interest. It seemed a lot of moms were into direct sales, so I looked at any sort of education-related opportunities in direct sales and found Usborne Books.

I signed up, still hoping to make it an at home business instead of lugging those books around a few times per week. Those books are HEAVY and I had a little baby at home.

So, I went forward to build my own book website and tried to center my business online.

Unfortunately, Usborne Books in Canada wasn’t really conducive to conducting business online, so I decided to leave an pursue my own opportunity when I learned about affiliate marketing and happened upon Dr. Ken Evoy’s Make Your Site Sell ebook. The rest is history.

Where did you look for inspiration?

To begin with, I didn’t really have any.  I knew a few people personally who dabbled in direct sales, but none were doing it for a full time income. My own family is filled with 9 to 5ers. We had a few family friends who ran brick and mortar businesses and my mother in law also had her own travel agency. Although those were people I looked at and admired their success, I think I faced totally different challenges as the mom of a baby who was trying to make this Internet thing work for her.

But that’s when I started to meet other moms online who were also trying to do the same thing as me and although they were all at different levels of success, it was inspiring and wonderful to connect with moms who had the same goals as me.

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

LOL. Are you kidding? How much time do you have?

I don’t think there’s anyone who found everything worked for them. If they say it did, they are fooling themselves. Part of being a successful entrepreneur is knowing when to realize something isn’t working, learn from it and move on.

For me, the first thing was direct sales. Direct sales companies have a lot of rules which is good for people who want a pre-structured business, but I wanted freedom and ability to do exactly what I wanted. It definitely didn’t work for me.

Then when I spent late nights surfing the net, desperate for something to promote my website or the latest and greatest money-making opportunity, I got myself sucked into a few useless things…but again, they were all learning experience and as I became a more seasoned online marketer, I knew how to look away from such nonsense.

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

Tons of stuff. I love the creativity it allows. I love the flexible schedule. I love being home with my kids and just being home in general. Heading out to work every day is no fun and I love the fact that I still don’t know how to work my alarm clock radio I bought about 4 years ago. I do know how to use the radio though! J

How are you applying Web 2.0 tactics to your business?

You know, I don’t compartmentalize things into categories like Web 2.0, etc. I think I’ve always had a Web 2.0 approach to my business, but now there are just more tools to do it. I’ve always loved interaction, using information and connections to build my business.

What are your hopes for the future?

I look forward to continuing to help fellow moms and other entrepreneurs live their dreams of working from home, having a flexible lifestyle and taking home a great paycheck.

I also hope to show my kids (7, 5 and 3 months) how they can get involved in Internet marketing, if they’re interested. My 7 year old is an amazing reader and is honing is writing skills. He says he wants to make a website…I think we’ll be able to do that soon.

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

Make a plan and stay focused. There is so much information out there, so many opportunities and really, you can’t take it all on. You’ve got a family to take care of and this work at home thing is a compliment to that…it shouldn’t take over.