Monday 26 April 2010

How To Make Money With Crafts


I love the idea of being able to make money with a hobby. Why shouldn't you make money from something you enjoy? Actually, I have read quite a few blogs from people who feel that it's some sort of sin to make money whilst enjoying yourself. They say that a hobby should be separate from income.

It doesn't really matter what other people think. What do you think? If you're looking to make money from hobby of yours I don't see why you shouldn't give it a whirl. One of the most popular hobbies is crafting so here are some ideas on how to make money crafting.

1. Make and Sell - There are many crafts that people are involved in such as candle, soap, jewellery and pottery making. The obvious thing to do is to make these items to sell on to people.

Sometimes people end up in business purely by accident because they make items as gifts and the people they give them to want to buy more from you so that they can give them as gifts.

People love handmade items, even although you can buy mass-produced goods very cheaply from China. So don't be too worried about cheap imports. Just try to offer a more premium product in order to justify the extra costs.

You can sell directly to the public via a website and craft fairs or you can sell them at wholesale prices to shops who then sell them onto the public.

2. Write Articles - A less obvious way of making money from your hobbies is to write about them. Just write "how to" articles or reviews of products you have bought.

If for instance you make candles, you can write an article on "How To Make Scented Candles" and tell them about the different products they need to buy such as wax and scents.

Alternatively you can write about different websites that you can buy products from and write reviews of these products.

The great thing about this method is that you can start making money with no investment whatsoever. Just go over to WordWolf.com and create an account. Then start writing about your hobby. You will make money because adverts are placed in your articles and you make a big percentage of the advertising revenue.

3. Teaching - You could also think about teaching others to make the products you do. You could place adverts in the local paper or contact a local arts and crafts shop asking them if they would be interested in you doing classes for them.

There are all sorts of ways you could start teaching. If you are going to teach in schools or colleges then you will have to find out if you need any teaching qualifications to do so.

Hopefully you now have a few ideas of how you can legitimately make money from your hobby. Don't feel guilty about wanting to do this. It really is possible to make an income from something you enjoy.

Thursday 22 April 2010

Students Be Careful With Your Money

Life as a student can be pretty tough, there are so many bills to pay yet there's not an awful lot of time to bring in any kind of decent income. Sure, you can wait tables or deliver pizzas but it's not a great way to bring in money plus it's going to divert your time and energy away from studying.

If you don't want to end up with huge debts at the end of your studying then you will need to be very careful about how you spend your money. For instance, computer financing for students can seem very tempting but you should be careful. Think about upgrading your current computer or following tips to make it go faster. If you still end up wanting another computer then think about buying one that's been refurbished.

As a student you will no doubt be offered a credit card. There are some very good deals on credit cards for students such as reward points and low introductory interest rates. If you need to buy something then a credit card is very convenient and can even be a god alternative to taking out a loan. However it's easy to get carried away by purchasing items such as shoes you don't really need.

Be careful about bargains. There are often special multi-buy offers available in the shops however they can simply get you to buy something you don't actually need. Ask yourself whether you need so many of these things and whether you can really make use of them. There's no point in a bargain if it just goes to waste.

There's a lot to learn whilst being a student. What you learn isn't just about your chosen subjects, it's also about life and having to deal with money.