A Stay-at-Home Stoner Mom

I was never meant to work for other people. I learned this early in life, when I found myself in various jobs, secretly loathing any and all form of authority. Other people making my schedule? Yuck. When I first became a mother I was fortunate enough to be able to quit working. Over the next few years I watched my little family grow, my babies develop into children, while I also developed as a photographer. Two years into the stay-at-home thing, I started a photography business. I took a lot of pleasure in building an online following that supported my efforts, and from then on I knew I was never going back to a traditional job. Serving your audience can be much more fulfilling than serving a nameless entity. And once you become your own boss it’s practically impossible to go back to any other way.

After few years I retired the photography business. I was right in the middle of my divorce, followed right away with remarriage, and I felt a huge need to spend every ounce of my energy on my daughters during this challenging transition. Once again I was fortunate to have a partner support me financially so that I could focus on the kids and our new family. I am so grateful for that, because all of our kids have benefited from having me stay at home. It has, over time, become my purpose.

So it’s been about three years now that I have not worked, and yet I’ve always known I was going to reënter the world in some big way, and be able to make a career of it. Someday.

There’s always a someday in my day dreams. I am obsessed with online business blogs, and have followed the business strategies of various successful online marketers for years now. I read Dooce when she still had a regular job. I follow people like Remit Sethi and Neil Patel. I love reading Pinch of Yum’s monthly income reports. My favorite podcast, the SPI Podcast, is one of those that, if you have the heart of an entrepreneur, you become addicted to instantly. I find myself constantly amazed and impressed by the way people are able to make a career online, often doing something they love, all the while building a community of followers to serve. And doing it from home!

And so, I started stewing on ideas. For awhile I thought seriously about stock photography. I have most of the equipment, most of the skill, could easily attain more skill. Then I researched the world of self-publishing for a year. Anything I love, I have considered building a business around.

Defining A Stoner Mom, and Making a Place for Them

In 2012 I had an idea. I was a brand new stoner, a woman suddenly full of confidence, joy, and desire to get out there and experience new things. But I had no way of communicating this to my peers; other moms. It’s not like you can just stroll up to a mom at the playground and talk about how you like to get stoned. Illegality forces you to lie by omission. It makes you ashamed and embarrassed and honestly, scared.

But, Colorado had just passed Amendment 64 and I could see that people’s minds were changing. Slowly but surely the cannabis industry was becoming a thing. I began to think about ways I could use Colorado’s laws to my advantage in building a profitable online business. Brainstorming my strengths, it became clear that I could serve as a voice for mothers who use cannabis and are too afraid to mention it. The idea of The Stoner Mom took form in my mind.

Moms want friends, but they want real ones. Non-judgmental friends.

I envisioned a place where stoner moms like me could go, and not feel like there was a booger sticking to their face.

A place where being a loving super-mom and passionate weed aficionado could coexist in the same person. I just wanted a place where I could be real, so other real mom’s could find me, so we could all realize how totally not alone we are and that we don’t all have sticks up our butts.

The idea of the stoner mom is just, the mom that doesn’t fit in. I’ve been an outsider all my life, with my good-girl looks and sailor mouth. Maybe you don’t fit in either. Maybe you’re the tattooed mom getting dirty looks at the playground. Maybe you’re the swinger mom, who likes to dress provocatively and hates being defined by your motherhood. Maybe you’re the mom who chooses to live in a loveless marriage because your child has special needs. Maybe you’re just a young, overwhelmed mom who lives under the constant scrutiny of a judgemental society. Or maybe you are like me. Just a married, stay-at-home, sarcastic mom. Who smokes a bunch of weed and secretly loves rap music.

The Plan, and Why I’m Telling You

In the broadest strokes:

Build a loyal fan base based on trust and respect. I respect my followers and only offer them my best. They reward me with their time and trust.
Develop tangible products geared specifically towards stoner moms. Product sales will bring in an immediate (though likely small) source of income.
Over time my following of mostly moms will make thestonermom.com a prime spot for advertising and sponsorships. I plan on being extremely selective with companies I select, and to be completely transparent with my followers, always earning their continued trust.

Here is why I am telling you all of this. One of the things I have always loved about quicksprout.com, smartpassiveincome.com, and pinchofyum.com is their monthly income reports. They’ve all built a brand around transparency, and that is how I want to run The Stoner Mom. Transparency works, because it helps others. I’m sure there are tons of moms out there interested in watching a small blog start from scratch and grow into something big, and so I feel it’s my duty to start sharing the journey.

Costs

There are costs associated with this blog:

My web hosting is $ 24.99 a month and as traffic increases this will have to go up dramatically.
I pay MailChimp $10 a month for email automation.
I spent a little less than $200 on Facebooks ads. I ran two campaigns one for more likes and one for visits to a specific blog post.
Time and sanity. Every single day I am hammered with the realization that what I want to achieve will require a shit ton of work. It takes work to create content, to reach out to people to respond to you guys, to make videos, to continue living an authentic life with my kids because that is what drives the whole thing. Nobody wants to read about the shitty stoner mom. The Stoner Mom is a Super Mom. These things wear down the soul, so I must take time to appreciate the true cost of the work. I must strive to stay balanced, focused, and most of all happy.

Current Achievements

Facebook Ads was really impressive! My ads performed very well. One campaign focusing on getting more Facebook likes on my page, and the other focusing on boosting a specific post. This brought a ton of traffic to my website. I only spent a bit of money on the more likes campaign.
The website is getting lots of hits. Most organic hits are coming from Pinterest. Also, people seem to stay for a while when they are here.
I’m writing a lot! 1000+ words a day. The purpose of this is to develop my skill as a writer. Some say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master something, so… I’m working on it.
My YouTube Channel is doing great considering I only upload once a week. I am almost to 1k subscribers there! That amazes me for a vlogger who doesn’t do very much but smoke weed!
I am super ready to start The Stoner Mom Podcast.

What I’ve Learned this Month

The followers that get me? Love me. That tells me that I’m not alone. It also tells me that a lot of us out there, sarcastic, wry, but hopelessly optimistic, weird moms.
I’m going to have a fair amount of weird sexually motivated male followers. That’s okay.
Next time I advertise on Facebook I will put the money towards a more likes campaign.
I need, need, need, to get better at producing content on a regular schedule.

What I’m Striving For

An online business that provides income and personal development.
A community of stoner parents. A place of compassion and understanding. We don’t all have to agree on everything, but we must always respect one another.
To serve the community I build with honestly and transparency.
To build a brand around The Stoner Mom that is relevant to parents in the 21st century.

The Biggest Dream I can (currently)Dream

I want to retire my husband.

Are you a stoner mom? I would love to hear from you! Send me an email, two or three sentences that explains how you don’t fit in. This all helps me to know how better to serve you guys! Email me at madam.stoner@gmail.com or use my contact form here. And as always, getting on The Dank list is a great way to stay in touch.