A Dream Come True?
Turning your hobby into a business sounds like a perfect idea. However, it does take a combination of hard work as well as perfecting your craft to turn a hobby into a viable business. Having said that, what could be more enjoyable than earning a living doing the work you enjoy most?
Love writing? Digital savvy? Make a success of blogging
There are plenty of blogging success stories; the perfect route for those digital savvy individuals, who love to write.
Take Ruth, the housewife who overspent to the point of bankruptcy. She set out to recover her damaged credit rating, using blogging as an outlet. Gradually, she gained followers who were fascinated by her story. She’s now the owner of a super successful blog and author of a bestselling book.
Another writer blogged anonymously about coffee, his favourite drink . He set up a website/ blog as a haven for coffee lovers, who are welcome to stop by anytime, coffee cup in hand, and read up on their favourite beverage. He posts regularly on the glories of the coffee bean. A snippet of history one time, a recipe another time. As his followers increased, his blog caught the eye of the captains of the coffee industry, which offered him sponsored posts and advertisements.
Promote Your Craft & Get Paid
Many people are learning crafts such as knitting, crochet and needlework at a pace which suits them. Many crafty bloggers, through ads and selling patterns, are earning a nice sideline, if not a full time income. There’s also a choice of sites which sell crafts online. A prominent one is Etsy, which is used by 30 million community members to buy and sell handmade items such as knitted and crocheted goods, personalised wedding favours, and jewellery to name a few categories.
Crafters can build their own online site (shop) on Etsy, and earn a very healthy income. Ecommerce giant eBay is another popular marketplace for selling all kinds of goods, as well as Not On The High Street.
Teach People Your Skills; Sell Courses Online
If you have time on your hands, expertise of any form is an in-demand topic. Photoshop wizard, social media or photography master? You could consider writing a course. Construct it in easy-to-manage, bite-sized lessons. Provide a short video explaining each section or concept and provide a PDF download of the transcript. Sign up with an online course site like Skillshare or Teachable and sell your course. The hosting site will take a percentage of fees of each course sold.
My friend, Lily, has 25 years’ cabin crew experience with a major airline and I’ve suggested that she produces an e-course on how to become a cabin crew member. If successful, it could provide her with a nice regular secondary income.
Write An eBook, And Educate Others
Another way to sell expertise is through eBooks. Write an eBook on your subject of expertise. You may need to hire an editor to knock your book into a publishable shape and also hire someone to prepare the layout, but e-books are a great way to make your expertise pay. You can sell your book on Amazon or Smashwords, or via your own website.
If you’ve written on an in-demand topic, you, should be able to sell enough copies to cover costs and make yourself a nice passive profit. You may, of course, need to become active on various social media sites, or engage a local web design agency to help you out with a small business website package (click here for more information on those) in order to make connections and get the word out about your eBook. Hopefully, with some hard work, it will all be worth it.
Whatever You Do, Do It Your Way
Pick a business idea that appeals to you and work in a style and rhythm that suits your lifestyle.
Experts on online income recommend that you diversify your income streams so as not to depend fully on any particular one. You’ve probably heard the terms ‘don’t put all your eggs into one basket’, and having ‘fingers in various pies’. Decide whether you want to work full-time at this, or whether you’d prefer to have a regular job. When you find yourself profiting from your efforts, it will be an absolute bonus to find yourself earning from doing what you love to do.
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