Trish Hodgens of Poly Clay Play tried a number of crafts to make some money, but “most people look at crafts as something to keep women and children busy…not a legitimate way to make an income.”
Of all the excuses people use about why their hobby could never be turned into a business, the most insidious and devastating are those inner voices—the creeping doubts from within—that tell you why you’ll never succeed.
Hodgens says, “I started with the fear of not being good enough. Who would want what I have to offer? There were so many who were better. Then I looked around and decided there were so many who were worse.”
For Hodgens, it was the fear of putting herself out there and failing, then facing doubting friends who would say “I told you so.”
“I’ve learned that you need to surround yourself with cheerleaders,”she says. “Those that will say, ‘Try again, you can do it!’ I am open to constructive criticism, but I take it all with an open mind. I have listened to advice,but the most important thing to do with advice is take what works fo rme and leave the rest.”
Trish offers the following rules of thumb for overcoming doubts:
1. Believe in what you are selling
If you don’t believe in what you are selling, don’t offer it. If you don’t believe in it, how can you honestly convince someone else that they need it or want it? And that brings up…
2. Be honest
If you make a mistake, most people will forgive you if you are honest with them.
3. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers
Listen to what they say. Remember to take the advice that works for you, but you have to listen to it first.
4. Take a chance
Put yourself out there. Some people will like you and your product and some won’t. That is what makes the world go ’round. If you don’t go for it, you will never find the wonderful people that like what you have to offer. Tell everyone you can about your business and what you love about it. List your business everywhere you have the opportunity to. Get the word out, and if you love it, they will too and will want to share what they have found with their friends.Word of mouth is the best advertisement you can have.
5. Do your homework
Learn all you can about what you want to sell. Learn all you can about what you are trying to accomplish and then make it your own. Put your own personal fun into it.
And the most important thing?
6. Love what you do!
Life is too short to put your heart and soul into something you don’t love.
Patrice Lewis is a wife, mother, homesteader, homeschooler, author, blogger, columnist, and speaker. An advocate of simple living and self-sufficiency, she has practiced and written about self-reliance and preparedness for almost 30 years. She is experienced in homestead animal husbandry and small-scale dairy production, food preservation and canning, country relocation, home-based businesses, homeschooling, personal money management, and food self-sufficiency. She and her husband have been married since 1990 and have two daughters.
