No nonsense Internet Tips

If you’re using the Internet, and you have a hobby, then you need to know how to combine the two ingredients and start turning a profit from the very things you enjoy doing in life.

 

            Hobbies sell well on the World Wide Web, whether it’s the tools and materials needed to allow others to fulfill their dreams, or instructions on how to do it.  Some people just enjoy buying the fruits of your labor if your hobby is one that results in a work of art or item of interest to others.

 

            Hobbies are a big business both on and off the ‘net.  Go into any Barnes and Noble and people are spending money left and right on heir hobbies – learning everything there is to know about them.

 

            Information can be sold in book form (both print and eBooks), streaming audio instructions, online video files, DVDs, and CDs.  Information is probably one of the hottest commodities on the ‘net, and information on hobbies is one of the prime ways to cash in on it.

 

            You can create a simple how-to information product on your hobby and release it on the ‘net on your own website, setting up an automated system to take the money and deliver the product to the customer.

 

            Or, you may want to sell something more tangible about your hobby through eBay, and manage the money system and shipping manually.  You have a long list of niches to choose from in the hobby world. 

 

            Anything you can do can be turned into a hobby, from home repair to tracing names off of tombstones.  Some are really off the wall hobbies that piqué people’s interest, like finding treasures in dumpsters.

 

            Instead of creating a broad information product on your hobby, try to focus it more narrowly.  Instead of a Guide to golf, for instance, try writing an eBook on How to Master Your Game Around the Green.

 

            If cooking is your hobby, then you can make money on it by writing a How-to guide on cooking for diabetics or cooking with chocolate.  You might even write an information product showing others how to make money from their cooking hobby!

 

            Before developing a product, make sure you conduct thorough keyword research and see if the hobby within your niche has enough interest to generate a handsome profit if you put time into creating a valuable information product for their consumption.

[tags]hobbies, making money[/tags]

There is an interesting post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Blog today that provides some insite into the role social media may pay in buying decisions. Since the focus of the post was on purchasing decisions are Information Technology type purchases. I’m not sure where the data came from, but as someone who would be in the IT Decision maker category, I know I’m not as apt to look at reviews from social sites and I’m not positive others in my profession would either. I’m not sure if forums would fall in the Social Media category, but I do tend to read a lot about a product from posts made on a related forum.

If you are marketing to anyone not only IT people you may want to take a look at the article and investigate if perhaps you should start using this medium to help you market more effectively.

[tags]social media, forums, marketing, blog marketing[/tags]