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Turn Your Hobby Into a Business Do you have a hobby that you really love? Do you find yourself always talking about it? Do people seem to have an interest in what you do? If so- then consider making your hobby a business.

by Sandi Krakowski

I never imagined in a million years that when I first learned to make bread, 7 short years ago, I would be running an e-commerce business that would generate over 1/4 million dollars in sales in only it's third year! I remember struggling while I made bread- and then I met some great ladies online who loved to talk about baking. I later learned how to make bread, and many other things. So I took some of my knowledge and I began playing around with a website. It was all for fun- but what happened is incredible!

I remember my first website- no shopping cart, graphics that were so huge it would take nearly 5 minutes to down load one picture, and my grammar was terrible! ( it still can is but I have * friends * <g> )

In my freetime, I began to research just about anything I could online about running, designing and managing a website. I subscribed to some great PC magazines, my absolute favorite being Home Computing PC magazine. I would read articles on how other websites made it, I would study how HTML worked, I would search and search for anything I could get my hands on about submitting my website to the top search engines, and I would pray.

I tell you- I still pray everyday about our business- it's a million miles from what I ever imagined it would be, so I know for certain I did not do this alone! Providence has ordered my steps and I am having a ball!

I took a hobby, baking bread and cooking from scratch- and shared online how much I love it. Then I added just a few products, and wrote more articles about how much fun I was having. I answered every email that came in, I worked hard to give accurate and reliable info to my customers and all the while, I was still having a ball!

My hobby was still my hobby- you could find me very often at the computer with flour on my hands. Many times am caught making bread when a customer calls! So my hobby was not lost- I just gained an incredible business.

What made our business really take off is when I began to USE each and every thing we sold. I tested them all out- I took digital pictures, I started creating online tutorials to assist people in their bread making. Things began to grow!

Then I learned how to create a fun, easily navigable website and I also learned how to make my shopping cart run smoothly. It was alot of fun! I later learned how to do custom graphics, layouts and more! I later started up a second business called His Hand Website Design as well! http://www.hishanddesign.com

It is important to really love what you do- and to just be yourself. There are enough fake website owners who know nothing about what they do and really don't care about you. Don't be one of them- be different and watch what happens.

Do you have a hobby that you really love? Do you find yourself always talking about it? Do people seem to have an interest in what you do? If so- then consider making your hobby a business.

One of my best friends did this as well, she started making home crafted soaps about 2 years ago. She now does large craft shows, has a successfully running Internet business and is enjoying every minute of it. The greatest part is, she is a mother of TEN children and they all work together.

Making your hobby a business- it will make working and then even retirement alot of fun!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sandi Krakowski is a free lance writer, wife, mommy, and owner of Health For Your Ministry: http://healthforyouministry.com

HEALTH FOR YOU: Putting health back into baking!

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