Yesterday’s post, 10 Ways to Generate Cash Fast, got me thinking about some of the emails I receive from women looking for guidance in their quest to work at home. Some are employed outside of the home, and others are stay at home moms or retirees. Making the transition to working at home can be tricky – especially if your income is needed to help cover household expenses. You need a plan.

I say this reluctantly, because some people will get caught up and the planning phase and never take the next steps necessary to meet their goal. As with getting married, having children, and pretty much any other monumental decision you’ll make in life, things are never absolutely perfect when you take that leap. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. I’m living proof that it is possible to earn a living working at home. There have even been times when I was the only breadwinner in our home. Trust me – if you want this, you can do it.

The Goal of Working at Home Is Attainable

Our lifestyle is comfortable, masha’Allah, but not extravagant. I’m not rich. We have what we need, I’m able to cover our bills, other expenses and stay home to help care for my growing family, alhmadullilah. We’re slowly building our savings and working toward becoming completely debt-free within the next five years, insha’Allah. No disrespect to sisters who prefer working outside of the home. I did so for 10-plus years and it was a good experience. I like being self-employed much better, but that’s just me; I know that an entrepreneurial lifestyle isn’t for everyone.

What’s Your Bottom Line?

Since May 2010, when I published the very first Muslimahs Working at Home blog post, I’ve had numerous sisters contact me via email asking how they can make the switch to earning a living from their homes. While several factors come into play before reaching your targeted destination, I do believe there is one important question that needs to be answered if you’re really serious about working at home: exactly how much can your family live on each month? Can you afford to work at home?

For the sake of this post, I’ll assume you don’t have 12 -18 months of income saved as a financial cushion while you make the transition to working at home and stabilize your income. This is how much many experts recommend having set aside, but for most of us having this much in savings is just not reality. Most of us are just trying to keep our heads above water in this struggling economy.

Itemize Expenses

Those without the previously mentioned financial safety net may have to take a different decidedly more drastic approach. First, figure out what your bottom line is, meaning how much money your family needs each month. Think about where you live, your monthly expenses (e.g. rent/mortgage, car payment, insurance, utilities, food, gas/transportation, etc.)and crunch the numbers. Be sure to list EVERY expense that you are required to cover each month.

Once you list your monthly expenses, figure out which expenses you can reduce. Utilities, food and insurance are examples of expenses that can be reduced with some effort. Do you eat out? Do you drive to places where you could walk or bike instead? Can you downsize to a smaller living space? Trade in for a smaller, used car or use public transportation exclusively? Consider all the things you can do that will bring you closer to your goal of working from home. Yes, there may be quite a bit of sacrifice in the beginning, but if you’re really serious about being able to work at home, you do what’s needed. Besides, many of the sacrifices you make now will more than likely be temporary as you get on your feet.

Transitioning Toward Working at Home

If you need stable, guaranteed income while you get started, consider a part-time job or working with a temp agency. This can generate some income as you get started. You’ll need to assess your personal circumstances to decide whether or not this will work for you and your family.

Once you know how much you and your family can afford to live on each month, it will make creating a financial plan for transitioning to working at home easier. There are many resources you can use to help you reduce your living expenses. Here are a few I recommend:

Twightwad Central
Dollar Stretcher
Living On a Dime
Miserly Moms
Make It from Scratch
Savvy Frugality
Frugal Blog

Did you know a  newsletter can increase your business by as much as 5 fold – Or more – if done right? In fact, I consider a newsletter as one of the most crucial tools in business, yet many business start-ups miss out on it. Why is a newsletter so crucial and how can you start your own newsletter? Here’s the inside scoop:

Why a Newsletter is So Important

A newsletter is crucial because most people aren’t willing to pull out their credit card the first time they hear about someone.
Instead, they prefer to get to know you and your content bit by bit over time. As they get to know you and realize you’re the real deal and that you can help them, then that’s when they’ll be willing to pull out their credit cards and make a purchase.
To build this trust, you need to build a connection over time. A newsletter allows you to stay in touch with people even after they’ve left your site.
Getting Started With a Newsletter
The first step is to get an autoresponder service. There are many services, such as Aweber, GetResponse or iContact to choose from. If you have a shopping card system, that may have a built in autoresponder as well.
Once you have your autoresponder setup, the next step is to get people to sign up for your newsletter.
The best way to do that is to have your newsletter on the front page of your website. Clearly tell your readers what they’ll get by signing up to your newsletter. Then ask them firmly and powerfully to join your newsletter.

Consistency

It’s important that you have a set consistency at which you send your emails. In general, anywhere from once a week to once a month is a good consistency.

If you send your emails more than once a week, people may start to think its spam. If you send your emails less than once a month, people will forget about you.

Once you pick a consistency, stick with it so that people know what to expect from your website.

Building a Relationship

A lot of newsletter writers spend a lot of time on their headline. Because, that’s what gets emails opened after all. Right?

Wrong. Your real headline is in the “from” column. People look at who the email is from more than the subject when they’re deciding whether or not to open an email.

Your goal is to build a relationship with your readers, so that they know when they get an email from you that they’re in for a treat. It’s going to be interesting, informative and useful. You’re not going to spam them.

If you build a relationship with them like that, then your emails will get opened – Almost every time.

Again, having a good newsletter can increase your business by many fold. Start by creating your autoresponder and getting signups. Then, pick a mailing consistency and start to build a relationship of trust with your readers.

How does passive income work, really? What can you really expect if you want to embark on the journey of creating streams of passive income?

Passive Income Requires Upfront Work to Create

Passive income is a bit like a rocket. It takes a lot of energy to get it off the ground. Once it’s off the ground however, it requires far less energy. The expenditure is no longer on getting the rocket moving, but on steering the rocket.

The idea of having money coming in day in and day out is very appealing. But the reality is, there’s only two ways to create passive income: To buy it or to create it. And to create it is a lot of work.

Not having to work is great, but you must be willing to put in the upfront work if you want to reap the benefits. There’s no such thing as passive income for nothing.

Passive Income Vehicles Online

There are many ways to make passive income online. Here are just a few:

• AdSense websites. If you have a site with good search engine rankings and you’re monetizing with AdSense, then as long as your rankings stay your income will be 100% passive.
• Info Product. If you own an info product and have a sales funnel setup that includes driving traffic and converting that traffic, then the sales will keep coming in even while you sleep.
• Affiliate Marketing. Again, if you’re bringing in consistent traffic, whether it’s through organic SEO or through PPC traffic, so long as the traffic remains constant you’ll keep collecting a paycheck whether or not you put in any work.

Keep in mind these are just a few of the many options available to you. Nobody could possibly list out all the ways to make money online and new ways are being invented every single day.

However, it’s important to remember …

Nothing is 100% Passive

Even if you have an AdWords campaign bringing in $100 a day, you still have to check your stats at least several times a week.

If you have an AdSense website making you money from its rankings, you still need to check your rankings and your traffic about once a week or so to make sure nothing’s amiss.

The truth is, there’s no such thing as passive income that’s just “set it and forget it.” You’ll always have to do some degree of monitoring and maintaining.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, once said: “Never get involved with a passive income vehicle you don’t love. If you do, you won’t maintain it.” That’s more true than ever online.

The Truth About Passive Income

Passive income is one of the greatest rewards of internet marketing. It’s very achievable and very lucrative. That said, it’s important to realize that you do have to work very hard at it to create it. Once you’ve created the passive income, you still have to monitor and maintain the income.

Now that you know realistically what it takes to create passive income, if you’re still committed to creating this level of success for yourself, then go out there and start building passive income for yourself – Starting now.

One of the best things about working for yourself is that you get to create a workspace that represents, motivates and inspires you. There are no rules about how everything is arranged or what you can and cannot display on your walls and on your desk. No one can tell you that you can’t listen to Qur’an recitations while you work, or put your headset on to listen to motivational or instructional recordings while you work.

When I worked my corporate/cubicle job, there were strict rules about what was and was not deemed appropriate in those tiny, sterile workspaces. For instance, we could only have one personal photo, or artifact, on the desk, nothing on the walls, nothing on top of the file cabinet and absolutely nothing religious up where others could see – whether you were Christian, Muslim or Jewish. It was positively stifling.

Office Decor

My workspace includes a sunny window, lush plants, strategically placed bright colors and clean lines. You might say I’m partial to a minimal, zen-like décor. I haven’t gone all out because insha’Allah this home is temporary and we’ll be moving soon.

Equipment Essentials

I operate online businesses that don’t require much overhead, so I have the basics: a desk, office chair, desktop computer, scanner/printer, web-based fax, a bookshelf full of resource material. I’m actually in the market for a new desk and desk chair. I’m looking for a high-quality, ergonomic design that won’t break the bank. I could also use a new file cabinet (based on the growing piles of files on the floor near my chair).

Noise Control

I never work with the television on; actually I don’t watch much television at all. Sometimes I listen to lectures or Qur’an recitations while I work. At other times,I prefer complete silence.

Dressed for Success

Alhamdullilah, I can dress very comfortably while working in my office space. If I wanted to hang out all day wearing my pajamas while working, I certainly could (but I don’t). I do, however, were clothing that makes me feel as comfortable as possible. It’s summer now so lightweight cotton and linen fabrics that aren’t restrictive do the trick.

Coffee Breaks and Tea Time

I usually start my work day with a freshly home-brewed cappuccino or a yummy specialty tea. I try not to snack much between meals. When I do eat, I make sure to move from the computer into the kitchen to protect my computer from spills, and take a break to fully enjoy my meal instead of mindlessly scarfing down my food as I work through lunch.

Recently a sister contacted me for information about companies that hire people for work-at-home positions. In her email she stated, “I’m not really interested in starting my own business, but I would like to be able to work from home.”

What a lot of people don’t realize when they look for work-at-home jobs is that in most cases you’ll be classified as an independent contractor, not a company employee. Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell the difference. These key points can hopefully make distinguishing the difference easier.

Do put effort into creating a special work space in your home? Please feel free to share tips and ideas.

Recently a sister contacted me for information about companies that hire people for work-at-home positions. In her email she stated, “I’m not really interested in starting my own business, but I would like to be able to work from home.”

What a lot of people don’t realize when they look for work-at-home jobs is that in most cases you’ll be classified as an independent contractor, not a company employee. Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell the difference. These key points can hopefully make distinguishing the difference easier.

Employee

• Company pays for training and other expenses
• You have a set number of work hours
• You may receive benefits (medical, dental, retirement and life)
• You participate in a new employee orientation and receive information about company policies and procedures.
• You receive paid time off for holidays, vacation, sick days

Independent Contractor

• You work as needed/when work is available
• You pay your own expenses
• You are responsible for paying your own taxes and are considered self employed by the IRS.
• There is no provision for paid holidays, sick days, benefits, etc.

These lists are based on work situations in the U.S. You can learn more by visiting the IRS website for more information.

Many people within the community are in need of help around their homes: the elderly (a fast growing market) new mothers, people with injuries or conditions that make it difficult to move around easily, etc. They need someone to help them, decorate, organize, clean or run errands. This can be a great business to start – especially if you like getting out of the house during the day and enjoy helping others.

What is a Home Helper Business?

A home helper business can involve any number of things. You might offer errand running and scheduling services for the elderly. You might clean homes or offer organization strategies. You could deliver/cook meals and shuttle children. You could offer to come into the home to sit with children while a mother works on other projects (I know a couple of work-at-home Muslimahs who hire other sisters to do this so they can work for a long stretch uninterrupted).The type of services you offer depends on your skills, interests and the needs of your potential customers.

How Does a Home Helper Make Money?

As a home helper you can charge by the hour or a flat rate based on the service. You might even consider creating a membership program. Members could sign up for a specific number of hours each month. Members receive a discount on their membership and you receive predictable income. Consider how you want to charge for your services. Do you want people to pay at the time of service? Or will you bill them at the end of the month?

What Do You Need to Get Started as a Home Helper?

A business plan is your first step. Outline what your business is going to offer. Who are your customers? What are your goals and how will you reach them? Spend some time researching your competition too. Position yourself to stand apart from them by offering a unique value or benefit.

The second step is to decide how you’re going to market your business. I strongly suggest building a website. It doesn’t have to be elaborate – a simple one page brochure site can do the trick. However, you might also consider regularly adding some useful content to your site in the form of articles or blog posts. This will help boost your website in the search engine results. Make sure your website includes a description of each service you provide, rates and contact information.

If you already have good connections in your community, a brochure or postcard and word of mouth might be enough. Consider offering a referral program or loyalty program. Provide incentives to refer your services to others. And provide incentives to use your service repeatedly. For example, after ten hours you get one hour free. You might even hand out punch cards like many coffee shops and restaurants do.

The equipment you need to get started will depend largely on the services you provide. If you’ll be cleaning homes, then you’ll need cleaning supplies. If you’re managing small repair tasks, you’ll need tools. If you’re running errands, you’ll need a car. You’ll most certainly need a business phone and a scheduling system.

All in, you can start a home helper business for less than a hundred dollars easy. You can likely start it for less. If you enjoy helping others and are looking to start your own business consider becoming a home helper.

When I first decided to start my own business, it didn’t occur to me to seek out a mentor. Looking back, I realize having someone with experience to turn to when I needed guidance would have reduced the learning curve dramatically. I had been employed by various companies since the age of 18 and understood very little about what it really took to be self-employed.

I logged in lots of time lurking on blogs, websites, forums and reading “how to” books. Some of the information I collected was helpful, but most of it was either vague or regurgitated from another source. Eventually I discovered a way to earn the income I needed, but a mentor might have made the process progress more smoothly and happen more quickly.

If you’ve been thinking of starting your own small business but have no idea where to start, a mentor may be just what you need. Here are some tips to help you find the right small business mentor for you and your business:

Understand how to work with a mentor

I speak from experience when I say don’t contact someone asking them to be your mentor if you’re not willing, or able, to do the work. If someone offers to take time away from their business to help you start or develop yours, respect their time by doing what you say you will when you say you will. Nothing is more frustrating than carving out time in your busy schedule for someone who is only putting forth 25% of the work and research necessary to meet their goals.

Contact trade associations

There are several benefits business owners receive from memberships to trade associations. Some even have mentorship programs available. Even if an association doesn’t have an actual mentorship program in place, you can still reach out to fellow members by introducing yourself and asking for advice or direction. Most entrepreneurs are more than happy to provide assistance when asked. Having another business owner available to answer questions and offer guidance is great, but if that business owner is a member of the same trade association as you and happens to serves the same market (or operates in the same profession), you’ll receive much more invaluable advice.

Find someone within your network

Think of all the people you know – family, friends and acquaintances . Do any of these people work for themselves in some capacity? Do you attend meeting locally for small businesses, participate on industry forums or social media? Then you probably have a wide network of valuable contacts at your disposal and you need to start making contact and building relationships.

Offer to work for free as an apprentice or work as an intern

I know this is not the ideal for a lot of people, but it’s an excellent way to get the hands on experience you need and meet people who actually do what you want to do for a living. I interned with a pretty well-known Internet marketing expert about six years ago when I first started building my own web-based business. There was so much I didn’t know, and when an opportunity was presented allowing me to learn from someone I respected who had her own thriving, successful business, I jumped. I knew that even though I was working for free that it was temporary. The knowledge, information and skills I’d get from the experience would more than pay off.

Speaking from personal experience, as someone who has been approached by individuals seeking a mentor relationship and guidance with things like getting a business up and running, bringing in new business, the best advice I can offer to someone seeking a mentor is to make sure the person you contact is qualified to offer advice. Do they already operate a successful business? If not, how can they help you? Before approaching anyone, make sure you do so professionally. Have some sort of business plan (even if it’s only one page long) with measurable goals for your business. Do some research on your target market. Who will be interested in buying what you sell? Most important, be committed to your idea and what it takes to turn your vision into reality.

My husband and I just celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary, alhamdullilah. Allah deserves all the praise for providing us with a harmonious marital and family union, but I also attribute being able to remain in the home while pursuing my professional goals and dreams as a contributing factor. Having my own business has provided me with a creative outlet, financial stability and a means of developing myself professionally while simultaneously managing our home and being a constant presence in our four children’s lives as they grow.

Because my work-at-home experience has been mostly positive, I enthusiastically encourage other women interested in earning a living working at home to go for it. It’s a lifestyle that can be so enriching and rewarding for you and your family. However, for some running a business from home can involve a good deal of stress which left unchecked can lead to marital and family problems.

This article describes the ways running a business can negatively affect a marriage. It discusses things like failing to make time to regularly connect with your husband and children, dealing with a spouse/family members who don’t believe in your business idea or think it’s a waste of time, becoming overwhelmed by business duties and financial issues can all take a toll on even the strongest marriage.

Before you embark on the path of self-employment, make sure that your house, literally and figuratively speaking, is in order. Take steps to plan your foray to entrepreneurship carefully to ensure a successful experience.

Communicate with your family – talk about expectations

Discuss with your spouse what working from home and starting your business means to you both personally and professionally. How do you think working from home will benefit your home life? How will it benefit your family? How will it benefit you professionally? What will you need your family to do to help you succeed? Will you need your husband to help out more with the household chores or caring for the children? You’re your husband expect you to work on your business part-time, or not to work on weekends? Will you need the children to help out around the house more? It’s really important that everyone knows what to expect and what’s expected of them.

Schedule quality time

One thing I’ve learned after seven years of entrepreneurship: running a business can be unpredictable. I can’t tell you how many times I instructed my husband make a Subway run because I had to handle an issue that ran into our dinner time, or found myself unexpectedly pulling an all-nighter. In the early days, when you’re excited and on fire about your business, you feel like you could work non-stop. Be careful – that’s a recipe for burnout, not to mention too much time working on the business means you’re neglecting something very important – your family.

Don’t assume you’ll work normal nine to five hours and spend evenings and weekends relaxing with the family. Sometimes you’ll have to schedule and plan quality time. Don’t neglect this – ti’s too important!

Take care of yourself

As a wife, mother and business owner, there are a lot of people constantly relying on you; but you’re no good to anyone if you’re run down, burned out or sick. Make sure you get enough sleep at night, eat regular, healthy meals and exercise. Take time off periodically to relax and have fun. All work and no play is NOT a balanced life.

How do you protect your marriage and family life from the stress of running a home-based business?

I received a couple email requests last week asking for advice about how to get started working at home. They didn’t ask for any specific advice, so unfortunately I was unable to offer really helpful guidance without additional information. One person’s path to starting a home-based business may be completely different from someone else’s.

Those questions did get me thinking about the fact that as wonderful as working at home is, it’s not for everyone. Advances in technology have made it easier than ever to telecommute and work from remote locations. You can reach out to a global market right from your kitchen table. The potential to earn an income working from home definitely exists, but is it right for you? Ask yourself these important questions:

What’s your work style?

Do you prefer having someone tell you exactly what needs to be done, or are you self-motivated and able to work independently? Do you like working alone, or prefer the company of others? After years of working in the company of others, some people are very surprised to experience feelings of isolation when they start working along from home.

Available Opportunities

Do you prefer direct sales of well-known brands like Avon or Mary Kay? Or would you rather sell your skills to clients/businesses as a freelancer or contract for hire worker? Keep in mind, even if a distributor supplies you with products, you have to market and promote them in order to make money.

Risk Tolerance

Are you willing to take a financial risk in order to start your own home-based business? Do you have a spouse’s income, or at least 18 months of savings to rely on if things don’t go as planned? Are you comfortable with the idea of scaling back your lifestyle if necessary for the short-term to reach your long-term goals?

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Are you willing to continue striving for personal and professional development? Do you understand that learning is a continuous process when you are self-employed? Are you willing and able to stay informed of constantly evolving trends in technology?

Your responses to these questions will help you determine whether or not running a business and working at home is the right fit for you.

Our third interview of the six week home business series is with Paramaya Web Consulting owner Laura Sultan. Laura is a very talented website and graphic designer. I contacted her firm last year to discuss my plans for creating a new website design for Muslimahs Working at Home. I wanted something  unique, user-friendly and of course pretty. Ironically, when I visited her company website, it was this simple statement that really got my attention: “Sometimes pretty isn’t enough.”

The truth in that statement is what spurred me to carefully review her website and learn about what her web consulting firm really does. They definitely do much more than simply create “pretty” websites. She has created a full-service, web-based agency that provides businesses with a broad spectrum of services including strategic web consulting, custom web design and development, ecommerce website design, content management systems, web writing marketing services, web copywriting, website maintenance and support. She works closely with a remote team of experts and successfully meets the needs of many high-profile clients from her home.

Laura was kind enough to share with our readers how she got started, and what it takes to successfully build and compete in the web design/website development profession.

How long have you provided web design & development services?

Alhamdulillah, I began work on my first website eleven years ago, and I began working for clients about ten years ago.

What makes the service you provide different from a graphic designer?

My company, Paramaya Web Consulting, is a full-service web marketing company, and graphic design is just one part of that. We strive to assist companies with a full spectrum of online marketing services, insha’Allah, including content strategy, copywriting, search engine optimization, ecommerce development, blog development, and more.

What were you doing professionally before starting your business?

When I was in college, web design was in it’s infancy as a career choice, and it wasn’t even on my radar. I originally wanted to become a therapist, so I earned a B.A. in psychology. In the years before I started my company, I was floundering to find work that suited me. I worked for a couple of years as a book buyer in a bookstore, then briefly as a caseworker for the Department of Family and Children Services. I even ventured into web copywriting for while before discovering web design.

What motivated you to pursue the web design & development profession?

My daughter motivated me. When I was expecting my first child, I began to think critically about how my career choice might affect her. I couldn’t stand the thought of dropping off my tiny baby at a daycare center early in the morning and not seeing her all day. Financially speaking, I didn’t have the option not to work, so I began searching frantically for work that I could do from home. At that time, websites like Muslimahs Working at Home were few and far between, and the concept of telecommuting was still pretty foreign. I stumbled onto web design when I was helping my mother, a writer, promote her latest book. I found that web design appealed to both the creative and analytic sides of my brain in perfect harmony. Subhanallah, I have never, ever regretted getting into this field.

Are there other markets/specialties you target specifically (e.g. e-commerce businesses, service-based businesses, etc.)?

We work with a wide variety of companies, including service-based companies and ecommerce businesses. Our client list includes attorneys, daycare centers, answering services, recruiters, bloggers, artists, and much more.

 How have you developed your skills?

You have to be a lifelong learner to work in the field of web design and development. I went back to school for a degree in Information Technology after I got into this field, but most of the skills I use were not learned in school. Trends and technology evolve so quickly that I learn something new almost every day. Once I had the basics of web design and development down, I have honed my skills through the work itself. I also consume a lot of blog posts, webinars, eBooks, etc., and I follow web design and marketing experts on Twitter and Facebook.

When you’re employed by someone else, there is structure already in
place for you to follow. As an entrepreneur, you have to come up with your
own work schedule and way of getting things accomplished. Has this ever
been a challenge for you?

I struggled with this for years. When you run a home-based business, you have the flexibility to work or not work almost anytime. Procrastination is easy. You have to take your business seriously and not treat it as a hobby. I have had to clearly define my business time and my family time, so that neither will be neglected. That means that I have consistent business hours during which my family knows to leave me alone. It also means that I “clock out” mentally at the end of my work day so that my family has my full attention.

What resources (websites or books) do you recommend for someone
considering pursuing a website design and development profession?

The good news is that there are so many more resources available now than when I was getting into the field. The bad news is that you have to figure out what information is relevant and what’s outdated.

Some of my favorites are:

• A List Apart http://www.alistapart.com (Web design & development)
• Hubspot http://www.hubspot.com (Online marketing)
• Search Engine Journal http://www.searchenginejournal.com (SEO)
• Boagworld http://boagworld.com/ (My favorite web design podcast)
• Smashing Magazine http://smashingmagazine.com (All things web design)
• Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com (Social media marketing)
• Brain Traffic http://blog.braintraffic.com (Content strategy)
• Copyblogger http://www.copyblogger.com (Copywriting)

You have a pretty amazing team that works with you to complete
projects (I know from first hand experience!) Did you always work with a team of
professionals? If not, how did you come to the decision to do so, and how
did you go about finding the right people for your team?

I have only worked with a team for the last four or five years. I started adding to my team for two reasons. First of all, I found it difficult to keep up with the work coming in when I was trying to do it all myself. Secondly, I wanted to improve the quality of the websites we were producing and improve customer service. I found that if I focus on what I do best and hire talented people for everything else, my business runs more smoothly and clients are more satisfied.

What advice would you give to someone looking to break into web design
& development with no samples or previous experience?

You can build a portfolio without paying clients very easily. Design a blog for yourself or your friends. Volunteer to develop a website for a church or nonprofit organization. If you have kids, volunteer to create a website for the PTA. Start designing generic website templates and display them on your blog. There are countless ways to gain experience and build a portfolio. You just have to get started!