The other weekend, Vicki from In.cub8r The Valley here in Brissie invited me to be the speaker at the shop’s first birthday party! It was a pretty lovely and informal event, so I didn’t talk too much – but while thinking about what I would say I came up with this list.
These are the things you need to do to turn your passion into a successful business. I’ve deliberately left these generic because I think they would work for pretty much anything, not just craft…
Find the sweet spot that combines what you love with what people will buy.
Just because you love it doesn’t mean other people will. But they might! So try and try again until you find the best balance between what you love to do and create and what other people need and want.
Be obsessive.
Building your own business takes time, time, time. The more time you put into it, the more you’ll get out. So – be obsessive. If you are driven by an obsession, you won’t have to find the time – it will be an imperative.
Be consistent, passionate, and knowledgeable.
Running hot and cold will make it much, much harder. The more consistently you work on your business, the faster/better it will grow. If it flows from passion, this will be easy. But you need more than passion to create a successful business – you need the combination of passion and knowledge.
Talk about it. A lot.
To everyone. Online, offline. In the supermarket, at the dentist, at the party, on facebook. Don’t be shy – your friends and acquaintances will most likely be your first customers and your best method of spreading word of mouth.
Keep learning and growing.
You are never, ever, done. If you’re done, your passion is gone. There is always more to learn, more ways to grow your business. Perfect example – Virgin.
Diversify – both what you do and where you sell.
If you make/do just one thing – try to offer it in as many different colours/sizes/styles/price-points as possible. Sell your stuff in as many different places as possible.
Or, do a number of different things. With both my jewellery lines, *bespoke*, my blog, e-books, e-course and more – I’m always getting money coming in from somewhere!
Try new things – even if they fail, at least you’ve tried.
If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. And sometimes you will fall flat on your face.
Who cares? Just get up, dust yourself off, and try something else. Thank goodness Edison didn’t give up on his first try to make a light bulb, or we’d ALL be in the dark…
Commit to things before you know you can do them.
Want to launch an e-course, but don’t know quite what the content will be, or how you will run it? Pick a date, tell the world… and then use the motivation to work it all out!
Nothing lights a fire under you than external expectation that you will live up to your awesomeness.
What tips would you give someone who is striving to turn their passion into a successful business?
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How to Turn your Passion into a Successful Business: The other weekend, Vicki from In.cub8r The Valley here in… http://t.co/gPM2WN6
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I’d only add to your excellent tips Jess to follow your instincts, or at least listen to them…you know your own business better than anyone.
Needin’ some passionate inspiration to kick your week off? Check our Jessica Van Den’s latest blog post… http://t.co/WvzgdLA
How to Turn your Passion into a Successful Business http://t.co/lGRh7uU via @jessvanden Great advice! 🙂
It’s great to find someone successful to watch and learn from.
Are you trying to turn your #passion into a successful #business? Here are 8 things that have helped me – http://t.co/HeNHH9o
Hey Jess, nice post and thanks for sharing your tips! You are an inspiration to me and I am sure to many others. Personally the tip about running hot and cold hits me. Usually I run hot, hot, hot and finding time is not an issue, but sometimes my depression creeps up and it gets difficult to find motivation at all. Usually the feelings are temporary but when lack of energy and motivation hits I can feel uncertain about my path. Right now I am going through this a little bit. Can you speak more on what we can do to get our mojo’s back when we are not feeling “it”?
Melissa – we all go through that downtime 🙂 I wrote a post about it a while ago on my old Crafting a Business blog, but I think it’s something worth discussing again – I’ll make a point of talking about that again soon x
My best advice would be that your mind/body is aching for a rest after all the go-go-go – and that you should give it one! If you can find 1-2 days to completely step away from it all (no business, e-mail – even computer, perhaps?) without neglecting customers, then do it. Indulge yourself in things that relax and revive you. And don’t push. When you get back, do what you have to do to keep things going, but don’t push yourself to do anything new – the mojo will return!
How to Turn your Passion into a Successful Business http://t.co/nDhG8xo via @jessvanden
Good stuff! Thanks!
jess you just ROCK! these are honest and practical steps, also surrounding yourself with a great support system either virtually or physically has been great for me as well
Thanks Dani! And absolutely – it would have been *much* harder to do what I have without the insane support of my husband, family and friends.
These are great tips and very timely for me as I trying to get my business really up and running again for the umpteenth time. So Thanks! 🙂
Thanks Jess! You always inspire me to keep going. I love creating my jewellery and working on my blog, you are right if its your passion its not hard. However it is a lot of work and yes you do never stop learning which I love.
* A tip for anyone who may not have done this yet: I have recently joined my local art and craft organizations, this is great for networking, getting to know some lovely people and getting your art/craft out there in the community. I have also entered some of my jewellery in their art exhibitions. Anything to help get my passion based business out there! 🙂
Thanks Jess,
You’re posts always help me pick myself up whenever I feel I’m not meeting my own crafty-business expectations!
ps. I love the obsessive point – I can certainly relate with that! 🙂