Turn a Side Hobby Into Job?

Derek542 · April 12, 2012, 4:46pm

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]optheta wrote:
So I’ve sorta realized I don’t like my major that much(Accounting and Information Technology) and I am still going through with getting my degree since I am almost done and I have a better chance at getting a job with it.

But I would like to have a side hobby/Interest that I can pursue on the side and potentially turn that into a job.

I was wondering has anybody successfully made a hobby into a career after they had establish job?

I’m starting to really like Graphic Design and Creative Writing( I know 2 totally different things) but I would like to pursue one and just practice it in my free time.

So anybody on T-Nation got any tips on this subject? And the likely hood of it becoming successful with it.[/quote]

I’ll throw this out there: Nothing kills your enthusiasm in a hobby like having to do it to make a living. I see it in guys who love cars and become mechanics. After 1000 brake pad replacements, the last thing they want to do is wrench on their own car. Guys who love hitting the gym, learn to hate it once they’ve become a personal trainer and spend 15 hours a week supervising housewives on treadmills.

Look at all the differences between HG and Derek. One is older, has a family, extensive higher education, and is self-professed risk averse. The other is younger, single, with a degree beyond a Bachelor’s, and is risk-seeking. Yet, they both see business ownership as some form of their ideal.

So, get your degree in accounting or IT or whatever it is and spend 5 years in the field figuring out where your niche is. Maybe you want to prepare returns for individuals. Maybe you want to start an IT firm targeting small businesses who can’t afford to keep a firm on full time retainer. Who knows, but look for fulfillment within your field and let your hobbies, be hobbies.[/quote]

Can I get an Amen

One thing you learn as you get older Networking is very, very fucking important.

Also the examples you used Dr P are spot fucking on.

We have hobbies so they can be an outlet our deload for our mind, if it becomes your work then you end up creating other hobbies.

Now ID will jump in here and blow all this out of the water but he is the very, very rare exception to the rule. He is just awesome and that only comes around 1 in a billion years.

Chris_Colucci · April 12, 2012, 5:04pm

[quote]optheta wrote:
I’m starting to really like Graphic Design and Creative Writing( I know 2 totally different things) but I would like to pursue one and just practice it in my free time.[/quote]
I’d say these two skills are more closely related than you realize. if you can create a sharp-looking website with interesting content (a blog, perhaps), you should be able to figure out a niche you know and enjoy, and use affiliate sales to make some pocket change.

Success is relative to time/energy invested.

You can try to maximize your return on time invested by niching down, basically aiming for a bigger slice of a smaller pie. Actually, I’d say that’s the only way to go if it’s going to be something you do “in addition to” your day job.

In my own case, I wasn’t training clients for a little while, then I got interested in playing paintball (thanks to my gal’s kids). Next thing you know, the light bulb goes off and I spend some time putting together http://www.PaintballFitness.com (yeah, it’s ugly, but it’s good enough) and I’ve since picked up a few guys and gals who wanted to improve their game.

However, with that said…

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
We have hobbies so they can be an outlet our deload for our mind, if it becomes your work then you end up creating other hobbies.[/quote]
This is wisdom worth quoting, writing on a Post-It, and re-reading often.

optheta · April 12, 2012, 6:33pm

[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:

Now for the hard question, and you don’t have to answer me, but you should spend a lot of time actually thinking about it because this is important and I see young people make this mistake all the time, even though they will never admit it: Are you interested in graphic design and creative writing because you are genuinely interested or because those are considered “cool” by young people today, especially girls, and you think doing one of those will help get you laid more (and believe me it does, I see it all the time at the school I teach at)? Really think about that, because if you just want to get laid, those college age girls eventually do mature and grow up into women and realize that those sensitive creative types do not usually live up to their dreams and expectations. Do you know what older women tend to find more attractive? A man with a stable job, good salary, a good retirement plan, a house, a car, and a good head on his shoulders. You should be spending your time after college building a good career and doing those creative things in your spare time. It will not likely be worth it to spend the kind of time it would take to make a “good” career in them. Again, it is not impossible, but it will be much harder and your chances of failure go up a lot.

[/quote]

So I’m am interested in those not because they are ‘cool’ but more because ‘creative’ type work have always felt like would be most rewarding, its just I haven’t found one that I am particularly good at or let alone found a alot of interest in, which I am sort of disappointed in right now. Thats the truth.

challer1 · April 12, 2012, 7:24pm

Most hobby turned small businesses fail because the owner spends too much time working doing the technical work and not enough time managing their business and coming up with new ideas to get new business. I’d check out this book before getting started:

I would also second Chris Colucci’s point that your interests go hand in hand. Most small business owners that want websites made want the total package - both design and the content that goes on the page.

This way, you can pitch “set and forget” sites to the small business owner who knows they need a website but is not yet serious enough about their web presence to want to create their own content. Even better, you could study and become good at copywriting and sell your skills for even more. Selling ready-made sales pages with graphics and copy for people selling things through their website is a highly profitable business.

Other than that its as simple as putting together a great looking website and bidding on jobs on eLance to get a decent portfolio. Once you have established a nice little portfolio, you could run PPC ads or SEO to get higher profit margin clients that way. If you do a good job, you should get plenty of referrals in that business. I have been using the same freelance graphic designer for over a year; every time I need something made I just send him an e-mail.

dianab · April 13, 2012, 2:05pm

[quote]optheta wrote:

[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:

Now for the hard question, and you don’t have to answer me, but you should spend a lot of time actually thinking about it because this is important and I see young people make this mistake all the time, even though they will never admit it: Are you interested in graphic design and creative writing because you are genuinely interested or because those are considered “cool” by young people today, especially girls, and you think doing one of those will help get you laid more (and believe me it does, I see it all the time at the school I teach at)? Really think about that, because if you just want to get laid, those college age girls eventually do mature and grow up into women and realize that those sensitive creative types do not usually live up to their dreams and expectations. Do you know what older women tend to find more attractive? A man with a stable job, good salary, a good retirement plan, a house, a car, and a good head on his shoulders. You should be spending your time after college building a good career and doing those creative things in your spare time. It will not likely be worth it to spend the kind of time it would take to make a “good” career in them. Again, it is not impossible, but it will be much harder and your chances of failure go up a lot.

[/quote]

So I’m am interested in those not because they are ‘cool’ but more because ‘creative’ type work have always felt like would be most rewarding, its just I haven’t found one that I am particularly good at or let alone found a alot of interest in, which I am sort of disappointed in right now. Thats the truth.
[/quote]

The reality of working in a creative field is very much different than the fantasy of it. I see a lot of people coming out of school with a full portfolio of fun, creative stuff only to be crushed in a year or so by the realization that the job is not really fun at all. Tight deadlines, late nights and art direction can suck the creativity right out of it.

If you are serious about being a graphic designer, ask yourself:
Can you be creative under pressure?
Are you a good listener?
Are you a problem-solver?
Can you let things “go” and see the positive side of the inevitable criticism of your work?

Are you willing to put in the time to meet your deadlines, even if that means working late at night, weekends & holidays? (this never ends, BTW)
And, are you confident enough with your work to sell your vision to the client, marketing manager, art director etc.

If you want to go through with it, get into a program that teaches not only the design aspect of the job but the technical end as well. I see a lot of people come out of school who can’t use a ruler, make accurate cuts or send a project to print. These people are a pain in the ass to the rest of us.

The job can be very rewarding if you like a challenge and enjoy not only the creative end but the crazy productivity that you have to be able to pull out of your ass no matter what is going on with your personal life.

HoustonGuy · April 13, 2012, 2:11pm

[quote]dianab wrote:

[quote]optheta wrote:

[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:

Now for the hard question, and you don’t have to answer me, but you should spend a lot of time actually thinking about it because this is important and I see young people make this mistake all the time, even though they will never admit it: Are you interested in graphic design and creative writing because you are genuinely interested or because those are considered “cool” by young people today, especially girls, and you think doing one of those will help get you laid more (and believe me it does, I see it all the time at the school I teach at)? Really think about that, because if you just want to get laid, those college age girls eventually do mature and grow up into women and realize that those sensitive creative types do not usually live up to their dreams and expectations. Do you know what older women tend to find more attractive? A man with a stable job, good salary, a good retirement plan, a house, a car, and a good head on his shoulders. You should be spending your time after college building a good career and doing those creative things in your spare time. It will not likely be worth it to spend the kind of time it would take to make a “good” career in them. Again, it is not impossible, but it will be much harder and your chances of failure go up a lot.

[/quote]

So I’m am interested in those not because they are ‘cool’ but more because ‘creative’ type work have always felt like would be most rewarding, its just I haven’t found one that I am particularly good at or let alone found a alot of interest in, which I am sort of disappointed in right now. Thats the truth.
[/quote]

The reality of working in a creative field is very much different than the fantasy of it. I see a lot of people coming out of school with a full portfolio of fun, creative stuff only to be crushed in a year or so by the realization that the job is not really fun at all. Tight deadlines, late nights and art direction can suck the creativity right out of it.
If you are serious about being a graphic designer, ask yourself:
Can you be creative under pressure?
Are you a good listener?
Are you a problem-solver?
Can you let things “go” and see the positive side of the inevitable criticism of your work?
Are you willing to put in the time to meet your deadlines, even if that means working late at night, weekends & holidays? (this never ends, BTW)
And, are you confident enough with your work to sell your vision to the client, marketing manager, art director etc.
If you want to go through with it, get into a program that teaches not only the design aspect of the job but the technical end as well. I see a lot of people come out of school who can’t use a ruler, make accurate cuts or send a project to print. These people are a pain in the ass to the rest of us.
The job can be very rewarding if you like a challenge and enjoy not only the creative end but the crazy productivity that you have to be able to pull out of your ass no matter what is going on with your personal life.[/quote]
Ad agency?

Account Executive is the most fun.

Brother_Chris · April 13, 2012, 3:56pm

[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:
Now for the hard question, and you don’t have to answer me, but you should spend a lot of time actually thinking about it because this is important and I see young people make this mistake all the time, even though they will never admit it: Are you interested in graphic design and creative writing because you are genuinely interested or because those are considered “cool” by young people today, especially girls, and you think doing one of those will help get you laid more (and believe me it does, I see it all the time at the school I teach at)? Really think about that, because if you just want to get laid, those college age girls eventually do mature and grow up into women and realize that those sensitive creative types do not usually live up to their dreams and expectations. Do you know what older women tend to find more attractive? A man with a stable job, good salary, a good retirement plan, a house, a car, and a good head on his shoulders. You should be spending your time after college building a good career and doing those creative things in your spare time. It will not likely be worth it to spend the kind of time it would take to make a “good” career in them. Again, it is not impossible, but it will be much harder and your chances of failure go up a lot.
[/quote]

x2

You might even get lucky and find a girl that has one screw tight in her head and she’ll dig this before she leaves school. But I said you might get lucky.

“Be so good, they can’t ignore you.” - Steve Martin

My only other advise is that, this whole finding your “passion” thing is a little overrated, to me. Find something you’re competent at (then become ridiculously good at it), that something should be something someone will pay you for (a lot of money preferably), and leverage that into a life style you want.

You’ll get more joy out of being a good accountant, who is competent and appreciated. This along with having autonomy and relationships, than supposedly finding your passion.

Iron_Dwarf · April 13, 2012, 9:18pm

[quote]Derek542 wrote: