Whatever your own hobby pursuits, you may be overlooking 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.
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.
"People's interest really surprised me, so I thought of other ways to share the
uniqueness of the petroglyphs without 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 saving. 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 saving 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," says 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 cost of ads
and 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
into 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 PROFITS
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-of-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 them
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.
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Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ...practical business
ideas, opportunities and solutions for the work-from-home entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com
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