Day#18: Pick a hobby you can monetize.

This is Day #18 of “25 Days to Healthier Finances”, a series of blog posts where Frugal Pinoy readers and myself work on 1 task a day to make our financial lives better. Please stay tuned for the next installment of this series, which will be up tomorrow. Here’s today’s installment:

Let me start today’s task with some background information about my main source of income – writing. I started working as a writer when I was still in college. I needed money to support myself and pay for tuition, but also needed a flexible schedule so I could attend my classes. Writing was my favorite hobby, something I did non-stop since I learned how to do it. Ever since I was twelve I’ve been keeping journals and writing notebooks as a habit. This made me think that maybe I should start doing that for a living. Something I truly enjoy. Something I’m obsessed about. Something I was doing anyway.

So I started working as a freelance writer. This has been my major source of income and I’ve never had the need to apply for a regular office job because of it. It feeds and houses a family of four, keeps me debt free, and allows me to have a stable emergency fund. Plus, it’s personally fulfilling.

Not bad for something that was “just a hobby”.

Today’s Task: Pick a hobby you can monetize.

Hobbies. We all have them. They can provide relaxation and escape, or they can become a lifelong passion. If you plan it well enough, it can be a source of income too.

List your hobbies, every single one of them, no matter how trivial or insignificant some may seem. Cooking counts, even if most people can cook. Yes, riding a motorcycle counts too, so does drawing. If you’re obsessed with a certain genre of books/film/music, there might be opportunities there too. If you like to collect things such as stamps, dolls, etc., that counts as well.

Then, looking at your list of hobbies, pick two or three that you spend the most time on. Explore and jot down ideas on how you can possibly monetize them. Here are some examples:

• Sell products and services related to your hobby. If you like making jewelry, why not try to sell some of your work via eBay or Sulit? Alternatively you can supply materials related to your hobby if they are hard to buy locally. I have a friend who made thousands of pesos from just selling special  Magic: The Gathering cards.
• Write a blog about it. Many people are now monetizing their blogs. If done well, your blog can become a great source of additional income (see The Personal Blogging Degree for more information on making money from a blog.)
• Teach others how to do it. This can be in a form of a class, a book/ebook that people can pay for, or even just a lecture or speaking engagement.When I was young my mother made extra income by teaching a baking class from our home, and I once got paid to teach a summer art workshop for kids.

Your hobby doesn’t need to develop into a complete business, buy you need to entertain (and act on) any urge you may have of monetizing it. Even a few hundred pesos each month won’t hurt, especially if you’re doing something you love anyway. Not everything you start will be successful, but you can always do enough research/planning/practice/testing to minimize that risk.

Have you ever made money from a hobby? How did it turn out for you?

Image by lusi from sxc.hu

Day#8: Sell Something.

This is Day #8 of “25 Days to Healthier Finances”, a series of blog posts where Frugal Pinoy readers and myself work on 1 task a day to make our financial lives better. Please stay tuned for the next installment of this series, which will be up tomorrow.

Here’s today’s installment:

Healthy finances isn’t just about spending less, it’s also about earning more (see the slogan on the header above). So for today’s task, let’s focus on earning:

Today’s Task: Sell Something.

Here are some ideas on what you can sell:

• old furniture
• old jewelry and accessories
• homemade craft projects
• old books
• baked goods
• used (but still working) computer parts
• services (photography, video editing, babysitting, design, and other skills you may have)
• anything that’s left unused and cluttering up your home

Remember that whatever you choose to sell, the items should be in good condition.

Where to sell your stuff:

• Check out my series on local online buy and sell options click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. I reviewed sites like Bidshot, Sulit, eBay, and Tipid PC.
• You can also advertise the item/s via your social networking accounts such as Multiply, Friendster, and Facebook. Many people do this with success, even if some of them are just selling to their friends.
• If you have the space for it, host a garage sale. If not, band together with a couple of friends and host it somewhere else. It’s already the holiday season and people are in the mood to buy.

While you don’t necessarily have to make the sale today, you should at least pick what to sell and start advertising.

What are you going to try and sell today?

Image by ctechs from sxc.hu

Do you charge enough for your freelance services? (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of a series on raising freelancer rates. To read Part 1, please click here.

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In the previous post, I talked about the average rates that most freelancers are getting. The rates seemed like such a surprise, since they went from $41 to $73 per hour. In the same post, I also encouraged Pinoy freelancers to raise their rates.

But how do you go from charging very low rates ($1 to $3) to more competitive rates ($20 to $50)?

How to raise your rates

There are a few steps you need to raise your rates and prove your worth to your potential clients.

Understand the value of your work. The first step to raising your rates is to understand the value of your work. Apart from the finished product, what does your work do for your clients?

For example, if you’re a web content writer, the content you write may be used to bring in advertising revenue for your clients or to bring new visitors to their website. If you write ebooks that your clients sell, you could be bringing them $1000/month revenue for the sale of your ebook.

In other words, your work isn’t just the final product you submit – it’s also the value you give to your clients. Stop thinking of your rates as something that will cost a client, rather think of your rates as an investment that your client will have to make to ensure success. Until you understand this, you will never believe that you are worth $20 per hour or more.

Make sure that your web site looks professional. “First impressions last” is as true on the internet as it is offline. What does your professional blog or web site look like? Even if you’re the best freelancer in the Philippines, most of your clients won’t believe this unless you have a professional, credible web site. Here are some articles that can help you judge your site:

• Stanford’s guidelines for web credibility (a must-read)
• Check out this site if you’re looking for design inspirations
• If you don’t have solid web design skills, here’s a list of sites that give away free professional-looking templates. Also, here’s 3 easy ways to create professional-looking websites.
  

Have a solid portfolio. Your portfolio should only include a few key items that truly represent the quality of your work. Put the best (and only the best) work samples you have on your portfolio. Here are some additional resources you might want to look at:

• 5 Tips for a better online portfolio
• How to make your portfolio better and get more clients

Present case studies. Did your work increase profits for a certain client? How much? If you can present this data via graphs or a document, your potential clients will see the positive effect your work had on other businesses. They’ll see their future success reflected on those case studies. If you show potential clients that by investing $30/hour on you, they’ll be gaining $100/hour value in return, then they will accept your rates as the price they have to pay for quality work.

Be willing to go the extra mile. If you want your work to be worth more, you might need to give a bit more. Send regular email reports to your clients, especially for large projects, so that they’re aware of your progress. Don’t ever, ever receive an email where the client is asking “How’s my project going?” Update them regularly so that they’ll have ease of mind.

They might also want to have voice chats with you via Skype, even just once, so that they can tell if you’re a real person. Now, I’ve only had to do this around 3 to 5 times in my career, so not all clients will look for someone they can talk to on the “phone”. But if there are clients who want to hear you voice, you need to be prepared to talk to them.

Ignore or minimize low-paying jobs.  You won’t have the time or energy to take on new $30/hour clients if you’re spending almost all of your free time on low-paying gigs. Drop the jobs that pay the lowest – or else, you’ll never get out of the $1-$3/hour bracket. Spend your extra time focusing on the things listed above. They’re worth the investment of your time if they’re going to bring in higher paying jobs.

Have a career ladder. You also need to have a solid plan for your freelance career. Just because you’re not working a traditional corporate job, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to have direction. This subject is quite extensive, so I’m just going to lead you to a post I wrote about plotting your freelancing career ladder.

Some of these steps might seem intimidating, but they’re really worth it if you want to thrive (and not just survive) as an online freelancer.

Do you think you charge enough as an online freelancer? What steps have you taken to get paid better?

Image by lusi from sxc.hu

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