<$Tuesday, February 12, 2008$>
Making money from hobbies: a little self-promotion, a lot of self-doubt
| I don't have nearly the time I'd like to be able to put into turning my knitting into some kind of job or career. This often bums me out quite a bit, because knitting is about the only thing I have as much passion for as I do for writing. That hasn't kept me from setting up an Etsy shop, though, but mine could be much, much better. I keep hoping that adding more items and improving the shop is something I'll have time for after we move and I get two extra hours back each day from not having to commute. Of course, that's what I always tell myself. I have skills--writing, web design, knitting, gift basket making, and more--that could be profitable for me. But it never happens, because I can't sell myself. More importantly, I can't sell myself to ME. For every one thing I can do that could be making me some extra money, I can always think of a dozen or more reasons why I can't, or shouldn't, even try it. I'm the queen of talking myself out of succeeding. If I don't buy myself, if I think I'm a fraud and don't believe I'm really qualified--regardless of how qualified I actually am--why should anybody else want to buy what I'm selling? I wish I could be more like my sister. She's talented. She takes gorgeous pictures. She runs her own portrait studio and wedding photography business. She also has tons more confidence than I do. I'm going to work on building my confidence in my talents. Hobbies can be a great way to make extra money, and I know I have things--marketable things--that I both enjoy and am good at. All I have to do is figure out how to make myself truly believe that. Labels: extra income, personal, self-promotion |
<$Tuesday, January 15, 2008$>
Growing Up & Out
| Phase 1 of my site expansion is complete. Growing Healthy--"Growing older, wiser and healthier in spirit, mind and body"-- is my new companion to this blog. It, too, has a cute piggy in the banner. Go pet the piggy. Or just read the blog. Labels: healthy living, self-promotion |
<$Wednesday, September 5, 2007$>
Tiny Dog Threads
| So one of the secret things I've alluded to in recent weeks has achieved reality and doesn't need to be a secret anymore. I just made over my Etsy shop and added Tiny Dog Threads, hipster fashions for tiny dogs. I only have two designs up right now (pictured over in the sidebar): the Jolly Roger sweater and a Union Jack coat; but I'm working on more. These are customizable and made to order. I figure I can handle two a week at my current schedule. I don't expect them to sell like hotcakes, but I know from experience that it's hard to find sweaters for teeny, tiny dogs that fit properly and aren't too frou-frou, so I expect them to do better than my stitch markers have, at least. Proceeds, minus the cost of materials, will of course be added to the debt reduction kitty. Coming soon: jack-o-lantern purses! And possibly jack-o-lantern tiny dog sweaters, come to think of it.... Labels: extra income, fun, pets, self-promotion |
<$Monday, August 20, 2007$>
Thoof! ... is not the sound a lispy dog makes.
| *Sponsored Post* My internet habits—and limited time in which to indulge them—don't leave me a lot of time for reading the news these days. I have a pretty short attention span when it comes to that stuff, anyway, and I've got my RSS feed reader pared down to only that which can hold my attention, or that which I can breeze through quickly. It doesn't include much in the way of news. I recently discovered Thoof, though, and it's feeding my need to feel more informed and politically aware, what with the election year approaching and all. It's a personalized news aggregator, which means that I can personalize it to show me only headlines covering topics that interest me. Their business tag, for example, brings up a page of finance-related headlines. Nifty. From a marketing standpoint, I really should also start using them as a marketing tool and submitting some of my own posts. Getting my posts out there will do more for my traffic, which will ultimately do more for my bottom line (and for my debt elimination). The Thoof ranking badge could be a great way to track the popularity of my posts. Now all I have to do is come up with something legitimately news-worthy to post about, and I'll be all set. Labels: disclosure, finance+blogs, PPP, self-promotion |
<$Wednesday, April 4, 2007$>
Quickie
| My job is keeping me too busy to do the posts I had planned for here today, but I wanted to quickly point you to my journal where I posted a short article about earning extra money through Associated Content. Of course, I get a referral kickback if I can get anyone to sign up using the link there, but who doesn't love to make extra money? Labels: affiliates, extra income, self-promotion |