Many stay-at-home mothers often wonder how they can add to the family salary. While many stay-at-home jobs can help, they can still limit your time with your family. One of the easiest ways to get extra income is to offer skill-related hobbies as a product or service.
Crocheting, painting, jewelry making, and many other arts and crafts-related hobbies are popular not just because of how fun they are but also because of their income potential. However, concerns about whether it’s a good decision to earn from the activity make you happy. If you have a hobby that you’re looking to monetize, here’s a short discussion on how you can make it work.
Should You Earn from Your Hobby?
There are always two sides to a coin, most especially on something like earning from your hobby. Here are a few points to consider.
The Bad
You Have to Do It even When You Don’t Want To. Once you start taking orders, you will have to accomplish them. Even when you’re not in the mood. This is the reality of turning your hobby into a business. Fortunately, it’s a lot more bearable as it is, after all, your hobby.
You Make to Please Someone Else. If you’re the type to want full creativity over your projects, it’s best to temper that drive. When you’re selling products as is, it’s perfectly fine, but there will be times when you’ll have to take in custom orders. You might be doing designs you don’t particularly like, but hopefully, that’s far and few in between.
You Have to Be Careful Not to Overdo It. The last thing you want is to be burnt out from your own favorite activity. Be careful not to overbook yourself and be stuck with an amount of work you find hard to accomplish.
The Good
More Opportunity to Do Your Hobby. Because you’ll be doing it semi-professionally, you’ll be able to do it a lot more. And because you’re doing it a lot more, you’ll significantly improve with each project. The biggest perk of offering your hobby as a service is that you get to do it more- and that’s what many people find alluring.
Sustain What You Love. You won’t only be able to do what you love more, but you’ll have the resources to do more than you could traditionally afford. This is what enables artists and other makers to go beyond their smaller projects. This also allows you to be able to afford better equipment and parts.
Meet Other Enthusiasts. From interested clients to fellow sellers, to just hobbyists- you’ll meet many people who enjoy the same thing as you do. And most of the time, you’ll be able to learn from them, share ideas, and discuss your hobbies. Especially when you attend conventions and gatherings, the social experience you’ll have with similar-minded people will be unique.
How You Can Start
- Look for Study Materials
There’s a wealth of study materials online, not just in the actual execution of the hobby but with how to monetize from it. Don’t be afraid to look at current hobbyists earning from it and understand how they approach it from a business perspective.
- Create a Platform
You need to have a way for your potential clients and customers to view your work and contact you. This is best accomplished through online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. You can display your creations and have interested parties directly contact you.
Another option is to set up an online store. That is relatively easy as many of the sites mentioned above have a shop baked into their system.
- Organize the Full Package
There are a lot of other connected tasks to selling your finished product. For one, if you’re selling something, you need to be able to put it in beautiful and reliable packaging. When selling accessories and jewelry, properly edited jewelry photos help a lot in presenting it online. When selling food, you need to source food-safe packaging. You need to think of many more aspects, and it’s best to approach it from a realistic perspective to achieve the best results.
- Get Your Business Ready
Of course, you need to show what you can do; otherwise, people won’t be convinced. Get professional photos done, set up your own website, and join local events. Start putting you and your work out there, and soon enough, clients will follow.
Turning your hobby into a sideline isn’t for everyone, but it can be a great way to pad up your finances. Just remember to take it one step at a time and not burn yourself out.
