Earn Money from Your Hobby
Many of
us have hobbies that we are passionate about. But wouldn't it be great if our
hobbies also earn for us some money? Here are profiles of three women who
turned their hobbies into successful home business.
|
It's
great to delve into an interesting hobby such as artwork, photography, or
crafting paper jewelry. It's even more exciting (and financially rewarding)
to turn your special talents into a successful home-based business. That's
exactly what Mary Maturi of Cleveland Ohio, Leslie Croyle of Bay Village,
Ohio, and Marlene Stephenson of Virginia, Minnesota, did. Each turned her
hobby into a cash-generating business complete with paying customers and a
bank account.
These aren't isolated stories.
Men and women across the country are joining the ranks of entrepreneurs
converting hobbies into money-paying propositions. It's important to note
that none of these women originally planned to start a business. On the
contrary, interest by others in their hobbies convinced them to sell their
work.
Mary Maturi's Killer Whales
Mary Maturi markets a line of
"Killer Whale" petroglyph tee-shirts, sweat shirts, and note cards
both in Alaskan gift shops and in natural history museums in the lower
forty-eight states.
It all started when Mary and her
family spent a year living in Wrangell, a small town located on Wrangell
Island in southeast Alaska. One day Mary ventured down to Petroglyph Beach on
the island. Petroglyphs are ancient rock carvings left by an unknown people.
Using rice paper and different colored ferns, Mary "rubbed" the
petroglyphs to capture their images on paper. When others saw her rubbings,
they offered to buy them.
"Peoples interest really
surprised me, so I thought of other ways to share the uniqueness of the
petroglyphs with out having to deal with their awkward size (some were
several feet in length). That's how the "Killer Whale" notecards
were born," Mary says. Using her rubbings as a guide, she created
smaller scale pen and ink drawings which she took to a printer to get price
quotes for paper, printing and envelopes."
The major cost of printing is
making the plates. Therefore, it's wise to get price quotes for different
runs of 1,000," says Mary. For example, a run of 3,000 cards might cost
around 10 cents per card while a run of 6,000 note cards could drop that per
unit cost below 8 cents per card. That decreases your card cost by more than
20 percent - quite a savings. Mary also recommends getting bids from several
suppliers or even splitting up the order.
While printers know how to price
their printing competitively, they don't make their own envelopes. Mary uses
the least costly printer that can deliver the quality of paper stock she
desires, but buys her envelopes from a warehouse specialist at a savings of
nearly 35 percent from prices quoted by printers and other envelope
suppliers. It pays to let your fingers do the walking and get competitive
quotes.
Once Mary obtained the cost
estimates, she visited several gift stores and museums to gather pricing
information on competing notecards. She also talked to store owners and
museum managers to determine their interest in ordering. After all, it would
make no sense to have the notecards printed unless buyers would purchase at
prices that can generate a profit.
Leslie Croyle's Photo Finish
Leslie Croyle converted her love
of photography and knack for framing into a full-fledged photo decorating
business.
Leslie and two friends offered
for sale enlarged photos of popular Cleveland events such as the start of the
Revco-Cleveland Marathon & 10K, and a spectacular shot of the United Way
Kickoff's release of thousands of colored balloons in Public Square.
"We hired several
photographers to cover the events and used the best photographs of the
bunch," say Leslie. Advertisements for photo promotion proved popular.
The trio sold 600 photos at prices ranging from $8 to $10 a piece, gathering
a bit less than $5,400 in revenues. Not bad for the first venture.
Unfortunately, the combined costs of ads, fees for the photographers ate up
the $5,400 and more. "Although we ended up with a loss, it gave us a lot
of market exposure and a proven track record," says Leslie.
Next, Leslie and her friends put
together a portfolio of photographs and contacted local businesses. This
marketing move landed them a job of photo decorating PJ McIntyre's Restaurant
in a Cleveland shopping center. "We tied in the nostalgia theme of the
restaurant by contacting area historical societies and arranging to have
their vintage photographs copied. It's important to make sure you have the
right to reuse the prints. Ask for proper releases and permission to use
whatever photos you have copied," advises Leslie.
She stresses the importance of
networking industry contacts. A decorating firm they worked with on one
project led to additional work when that firm recommended Leslie and her
partners to some of their other clients.
Since 1987, the photo decorating
business has progressed well since its initial unprofitable photo event
ventures. Major projects include photo decorating the guest rooms and suites
for the historic Glidden House, which has been made into a unique bed and
breakfast, and an all-sports photo motif for the Grand Slam Bar &
Restaurant in the refurbished Cleveland Flats night spot area.
"From our humble
beginnings, we're now getting into some pretty good sized jobs," says
Leslie. "Just keep bumbling along - don't give up."
Marlene Stephenson's Paper
Products
Marlene Stephenson makes her
money tearing paper. Actually, her unique sculptured jewelry draws rave
reviews wherever she wears it. In fact, people routinely ask to buy her
unique designs right off her dress when she appears at public functions.
Marlene is a medical technician
by trade, and her paper profits grew out of a coffee get-together group of
friends that met once a week to try their hands at new craft ideas. One day
one of the ladies brought a book on making paper jewelry. "I just fell
in love with it and made a pin and some earrings to wear to a business
meeting. Lots of the women at the meeting asked me to make some for them
also," says Marlene.
As with any fashion item,
Marlene pays attention to color schemes and design. Even though she makes
several copies of different designs, each is unique in color, shading, size,
and even texture. Marlene crafts her one-a-kind jewelry to match her
customers special outfits.
"With any small business,
it's important to link up with other small businesses," stresses
Marlene. For example, her local hairdresser lets Marlene display her paper
jewelry at her shop. Local gift stores either buy the pins and earrings
outright or take them on consignment, which means they pay for the items
after they sell. Marlene also teamed up with several other artists to display
their work at trade shows.
"Try to tailor your product
to the particular market. With the loon as the state bird of Minnesota, my
loon pins always do well at local craft shows," she says. Likewise, when
Marlene sent samples of her pins to trade show in Anchorage, Alaska, she made
some new designs to capture the wilds of Alaska, These pins included a polar
bear, Alaska wild flowers, whales, and fish.
What ever your own hobby
pursuits, you may be over looking an opportunity to turn personal interests
into money-making enterprises. Investigate the possibilities, calculate the
costs, analyze the market, and move forward with your plan of action. Take
your lead from these three women who have turned hobbies into profits.
|
