And then, in September 2005, Claire (read her SBI! story in our Case Studies section) put up a post, where she mused on the experiences of work-at-homemoms on the Internet. She knew that lots of moms visited her site:
Now, if readers are reading sites like mine, we know they like the Net, that they are seeking something to fill their time/improve their life... and that some of them will already have their own sites…and that some of them will have thought about "doing something online". But they don't know what…
Claire knew that some of those moms would be very interested in working at home to build a site like hers. She wanted to send those moms to the Sitesell site, where they could learn more about SBI!. But there wasn’t a page that “spoke” to those moms.
…. I am a bit worried that the [existing Sitesell] pages just might not fit the bill. ClaireA simple post, the sharing of a thought – how it opened the floodgates!
A flurry of posts followed from WAHMs who were using SBI! and, like Claire, weren’t sure how to tell others about it. The energy began to build. Why not have a page just for WAHMs? What were the special concerns and issues that WAHMs were facing every day? Claire had touched a nerve and as the momentum gathered, post after post came in, posts full of passion and ideas.
My three friends who have all just started with SBI!! have one thing in common that stands out to me. They could not imagine how anyone could ever have enough time around raising a young family to even get started, much less gain momentum. I kept them frequently up to date on how things were progressing with my online "adventure" despite the fact that I was also raising a family, working at other jobs part time and experiencing personal challenges all at the same time.
After a while, they started thinking.. .well if SHE can do this with all of THAT going on in her life, maybe... and after a year ALL three of them were convinced that if I could, maybe they could after all. Mary
Ken Evoy, CEO of Sitesell, was right in there too. Despite Ken’s heavy workload, he spends considerable time frequenting the Forums and during this month in 2005 he was amazed at what was unfolding before his eyes.
Some more great posts. Sometimes half the world (women in this case) can be sitting right in front of you, and you just don't get it… Dilemmas have been identified. Frustrations are voiced that moms haven't dared to speak of (yet that are normal). Desires and needs uncovered… Each and every post is sheer gold, obviously took much thought. Thank you so much for the collective brain power. Ken
And so, this terrific dialogue continued to build. Dozens of posts rolled in. Moms reflecting on why they bought SBI!… how it worked for them – and what could be changed… Moms unravelling the reasons why they work, what they love about working, what they find difficult... Moms thinking about the dynamics of family life, what it means to invest time in children, to step off the gravy train, and into the world of home…
If my husband works, he earns money. If I do housework and run around all day I don't. There are two kinds of investment here. One is economic, the other human… Kid investment is different. You're moulding a person, helping to build not a house but a character. Teaching a sense of humour through play and interaction. Spending a huge chunk of your time and energy on something that is invisible: the development of your child and his/her future… Eventually this investment flies the nest... Claire
Moms talked too, about the challenges so many women face and how they overcome them. They talked about how a business enterprise to return to, maybe even to take refuge in, can be a life-saver after starting a family. The same themes came up repeatedly: moms are desperate to do a great job raising their kids, but they want something else, as well.
It's interesting to see that while we have extremely different backgrounds, come from places all over the world, with various levels of education and expertise, at the end of the day, we all desire the same things. Jen
More days passed, and still the thread rolled on. Moms pondered – could they build sites together? Did WAHMs need a forum of their own? How do you build a site when suffering from rampant sleep deprivation, or working outside the home and caring for a family?…
They shared feelings: what it had been like starting out with their own sites, how much they’d learned – how much there was still to learn – and what a blast they were having while learning it!
Such a level of passion clearly demanded a response – and it got one. First, Ken gave Claire, who had set the whole ball rolling, the job of writing a new Sitesell page, aimed directly at WAHMs. You can see it here: http://wahm.sitesell.com/
But it didn’t end there! Once WAHMs get thinking and talking, there’s no stopping them. And SBI! tends to attract types who’ll pick up the ball and run with it. Ideas and suggestions flooded out, enough to fill far more than just a page and all of them much too thoughtful and valuable to be ignored.