Collectibles Can Make an Exciting Hobby Or Business

By Daniel Wright

Everyone has a little bit of a collector somewhere inside them, even if they don't recognize it. Some people pick up shells on the beach, others collect interesting looking rocks while hiking, and some of us just can't resist keeping newly minted coins. Collections don't have be expensive. What makes each collection worthwhile is its importance to the individual who compiled it.

Any physical object centering on an interesting theme can become a collectible item. With the right theme, you'll find that almost anything can be extremely valuable. You'd be amazed what some collectors are willing to pay for ordinary objects, as long as they relate to the theme of their prized collection at home.

If you want to become a collector, just look around and you will see an infinite number of objects to start collecting. For example, you could collect postage stamps, teapots, antique photographs, or any number of other objects. Whatever your chosen collectible, you will find that you will put much energy and love into building your collection.

They will have their favorite pieces within their particular collections. They gather these things with lot of passion. For instance, some put all their focus on the collection of jewelry. Their assortment may include necklaces, rings, earrings or bracelets. You can find these items at flea markets or antique stores which store jewelry. You may also find them at garage sales depending on the type of jewelry the person is accumulating.

There are even collectors who search extensively for rare collectibles. Once he or she locates the particular item, they will get a wonderful feeling of achievement. Some people start collecting at a very small age and the passion continues throughout their life.

Rare coins, old coins, stamps of different countries, paintings of famous painters, antique jewelry and unique items all represent precious collectibles as far as those who like to amass these items is concerned, whether they are a beginner or have been in this hobby for years.

If you are a person who is an ardent collector and who has a particular knack for amassing rare items, then you will certainly like to get older memorabilia from the different soda companies. Fans of Coca-Cola throughout the world have spent many hours hours accumulating things to their collections which bears the company's famous logo. Many prefer Coca Cola cans and Coca-Cola memorabilia as collectibles over other Coke merchandise which is available in the market.

Soda-Pop-Collectibles.com features Coca-Cola collectibles as well as vintage Coca-Cola cans, and soda pop memorabilia of every size, shape, and type. Also, check out our videos of soda pop collections, classic ads, and more!

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A Ventured Hobby - How to Turn a Hobby Into a Joint Venture Money-Making Strategy

By Rivers Corbett

The best businesses are out of personal interests and hobbies. A classic passion-turned-profit story is Microsoft. Bill Gates became one of the wealthiest when he developed the writing language or software of personal computers. Computers were his sole interests then.

Like Bill Gates, small and home businesses can also have the same fate. ChocolateFarm.com is one of them. The Colorado company sells chocolate online. The chocolate business was out of the joint hobbies of making chocolates and internet. What is more surprising is the joint venture was started and owned by 2 young entrepreneurs-Elise MacMillan, 10, then, and Evan MacMillan at 13. Elise cooked the chocolate while Evan managed the Web.

How do you get your hobby turn to money?

First is research. You may know everything about your hobby, but making business out of it is not a well-explained territory to most hobbyists. Conduct a market and competitive analysis. To most, such study is the market feasibility study. Know the size of the market you are entering. Are there buyers of the hobby-turned-product or service? Are there other sellers or similar business in the area you are proposing to establish your new business?

Second, know the future market of your hobby business. Knowing your market and competitiveness is not enough. You must also know long-term condition of your market and competitiveness. You must know whether your market will stay longer or not. Check if your hobby is just a passing fad that will often instantly disappear. Also check if the market you are developing out of hobby will encourage more similar businesses in the future. Thus, your future competitiveness will slowly be marginalized.

Lastly, find your business partner or just mentor to complete your joint venture. He/She can be your friend who has a business management degree or experience. Having a business partner or mentor will guide you in successfully turning your hobby to earning business. With the joint venture, you can focus on developing your hobby into a marketable product or service while your partner manages your business. Of course, general business direction will jointly be planned.

Joint Venture Specialist. Rivers Corbett is a six figure income earner in the MLM industry, Award Winning Entrepreneur and Expert in training people how to build a massive organization using the power of the internet. Sign up for his FREE 7 Day Boot Camp. Click Here http://www.mlmoutlaws.com

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Sell Handmade Crafts - It's Your Ticket to Freedom

By Steve Jardine

Do you have a hobby you love that involves making crafts? Do you wish you could just make and sell handmade crafts and leave your 9-5 job behind? It's not fantasy, it can be done. It's not easy, no it's not, living a dream never is! But it really can be done.

There are three things you need to think about before you can begin to live your dream.

1. What hand made crafts sell?

It's all very well having a hobby that you love to do, perhaps it's card making or pottery, but will it sell? The worst thing you can do is put time and money into starting a crafting business just because you enjoy making crafts and your family and friends tell you your crafts are lovely. This is not enough market information to make a start. So do some research. The best place to do this is online, look at popular craft websites, ebay, crafts forums etc.. You will soon get a idea of what is popular and sells.

2. Test your selling and marketing ability using ebay.

In order to sell handmade crafts you need to not only find the right product but you also need to learn a little about effective marketing and sales. Set up an ebay account and start selling your crafts. Your aim here is to test your sales abilities such as product headlines, descriptions, image creation, pricing and so on... At this stage you are not looking to get rich but to see if you can create good sales 'copy' that works for your products. Try out lots of different styles and approaches to see which works best. This 'testing' process is very important.

3. Choose an online or offline sales strategy, or both.

Once you have done some testing on ebay you can progress onto the next stage. Choose the sales routes you will use in order to sell your handmade crafts. Popular offline sales routes are craft fairs and shows, shop consignment, community and school fairs, craft parties and so on. These are great ways to sell your crafts. The downside is they are time consuming and you would need to have a good amount of stock. However the biggest drawback is that you can only sell to a small number of people, such as those attending a craft fair. The big benefit of online sales through a website or auction site is that you can sell to the whole world! Your market is truly massive. This is where the biggest potential lies for leaving your 9-5 job behind and becoming a full time crafter.

If you are seriously considering how to sell handmade crafts a good starting place is to think about what crafts sell, then test the market then go for it using the sales method you prefer. But remember your biggest potential market will be through online sales so put that at the top of your business strategy.

If you want to know how to sell your crafts online and increase your income go to http://www.howtosellcrafts.com/
Steve Jardine is a well known online crafting entrepreneur. He runs the popular crafting and internet marketing blog http://www.craftsblog.co.uk/
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Selling Your Crafts

By Michael Russell

Crafting can be an enjoyable hobby for many people. Sometimes, you can even earn some extra money by crafting, or even turn it into a small business. If you are thinking about selling your crafts, you need to explore the different avenues of where you can actually sell them.

Craft Shows: This is the first place that comes to mind for most people when they want to get started selling their handmade items. Craft shows can vary in their size, entry fee, jury process and how successful they are. Before you actually participate in a show, visit many in your area first. Talk to the other vendors there and ask them how this particular show is. They will tell you if the show is worth doing or not. Look for established shows that have been in the same location for years. That means that the show is successful enough to be around for that length of time and a healthy customer base that comes to the same location year after year.

Notice the types of crafts sold at a particular show. Are they all handmade? Some promoters will allow in anyone selling anything, so you could have a unique pottery booth next to one selling cheap imports. Customers notice these things and will avoid shows that clearly aren't displaying quality handmade crafts.

Once you find a show you would like to participate in, contact the promoter. Depending on the show, the vendors can be booked as far as one year in advance. There will usually be an application to fill out, be prepared to send photographs of your work to be juried. Make a list of the shows you want to apply to, placing them in order of preference. Then get out your applications as soon as you can, that way if one is full or you are rejected, then you can quickly apply to the next one on the list.

Home Parties: If you have a craft that demonstrates well, you can consider a home party. This would involve either hosting one in your own home, or have a host/hostess do one for you - and he/she would invite the guests. You would bring your items, set them up and do a demonstration or talk on the process of making the items. Then you would either take orders or have stock there to sell. You can work out a hostess gift or incentive for sales and certainly book another party through any of the attending guests.

Wholesale: If the idea of going to craft shows or home parties does not appeal to you, then consider wholesaling your crafts to small boutiques or other types of stores that specialize in the items that you make. You need to make sure that you price your items high enough for you to make a profit on them, yet at a price that the store owner can mark up and make a profit for themselves. Also, a well priced craft will move quickly, making more sales for you and the store owner. To wholesale well, you need to have a supply of your craft items ready to go. Store owners do not want to wait for an order, as they have short seasonal times to sell items and need to maximize that time. For wholesaling, you will need a very good accounting system for invoices.

Internet Sales: Don't neglect the internet. There are many people who shop for crafts online. Hosting a website can be quite inexpensive. The most important thing is to have excellent photographs. Invest in a good digital camera, or have someone qualified take pictures of your items for you. Remember that the photo is all the shopper will see; they cannot pick up, touch or smell the items. There are some people who sell exclusively online and having a website can capture extra sales for you, even if you do other means of selling.

Trying one or all of the above ways to sell your crafts will help you find the niche to succeed. You may find that a combination of several of these will give you the best results. Keep good records and you will learn which avenues are the most profitable for you.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Crafts.
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Rag Quilt Patterns

By Steve Knowles

Quilting has long been an art with the earliest American women creating beautiful quilts to adorn their homes. For hundreds of years, women all over this planet have been sewing quilts to keep their family members warm. In fact a lot of women would hand down their quilts from one generation to another or make some memory blocks to stitch lovingly all the wonderful milestones in their lives.

Many families use quilts also to celebrate different events of our life like weddings, birth of a baby, Christmas and other festivals and events. When it comes to warmth, there is little that can outmatch a quilt, and when you want something that is aesthetically pleasing, quilts deliver in spades. There is no particular technique for making quilts nor are there rigid rules barring safety and hygiene. People are attracted to quilts by the variety of designs and the many different colors. Quilts can be seen as a reflection of people, places, life and times. One of the joys of quilting is being able to spend your craft time doing various styles or types of quilts. Quilts, what a wonderful way to add that country touch to your décor.

Easy Quilt Patterns

If you are into quilting, then you must have realized that one of the most critical and important parts is actually in choosing quilting patterns to work on. You also need to consider your ability and skill in choosing quilting patterns. One critical thing to remember in choosing quilting patterns is that you have to make sure that the design will complement your home décor.

Start Quilting Business

Sewing has a proven track record as a home-based business in dozens of niches, including upholstery, bridal wear, crafts and quilts. You can often make at least a fifty percent profit on your completed quilts. Whether you want to make a business of quilting, or you just want it as a serious hobby, investing in a quilting machine is a wise decision. Quilting machines allow you to not only create quilts faster but, you can even make a profitable business out of selling them. With a quality quilting machine you can easily make two or three quilts per day.

Quilting Sewing Machines

Good sewing machines for quilting can really help you to enjoy your hobby rather than hindering it. A poor machine will leave you frustrated so it is well worth taking the time to research and choose from one of several good sewing machines for quilting. The needles that fit in the good sewing machine for quilting will also be an extremely important point for consideration. Number 14 needles are the best option for quilting, but not all sewing machines will hold them.

So if you are searching for inexpensive quilting patterns with great designs, using easy to follow quilting techniges then here is your answer.

You can find the best easy quilt patterns review here and the best expert advice available for quilting techniges (techniques).
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The Pleasure of Transforming Your Hobby Into Your Profession

By Jonathon Hardcastle

If a hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit, could you count the number of hobbies you have practiced over the past or you are still pursuing now and then that have given you some kind of return apart from the psychological one? In case you can identify even one, then you probably already know all there is to know about the pleasure of having a hobby as a profession. But if your hobby list is empty, or you are unsure if one of the things you are doing or have done during your free time could be categorized as a hobby turned into a profession, then you should better invest some time in reading the text that follows.

First of all, you should know that hobbies are practiced due to a person's interest on something and for the enjoyment that hobby can bring to the individual, rather than for financial reward that can result from the outcome of someone's efforts. Whether you are a collector, a crafter, a sports fun, or a painter, engaging in a hobby can lead you to acquiring a certain set of skills and advance substantially your capabilities, knowledge-base and experiences. But remember that these outcomes are directly related to the personal fulfillment a person receives from practicing the hobby of his or her choice.

Second, you probably are familiar with the phrase that says "The person that has turned his hobby into his profession is a happy one." It is true that for a number of reasons, more and more people have turned their hobby or hobbies into their daily occupations and those that have done so, state that this decision has dramatically changed their life towards the better. They advice others to do the same and they do have a point, if one considers that the person who uses his or her skills to earn a living actually practices something he or she loves doing.

For example, if you have been receiving compliments for your cooking or pastry skills, from a variety of people, perhaps you should consider a career in that field. If you love computers and you spend every single minute experimenting in computer languages or playing computer games, then maybe a career of that sort could fit better your type. But generally speaking, a person who does something for fun and not remuneration is called an amateur or a hobbyist, as distinct from a professional.

But finally, in order to determine which hobbies you practice could become your future career paths, you should better examine how easy it is to make a living from your leisure and recreational activities. For example, very few people can live from stamp collection, but many find it enjoyable. A lot of people like to observe and study the stars, but few have actually invested in this hobby and became astronomers. But a number of people who enjoyed traveling and writing have become journalists, or others who preferred cooking than dinning out have turned their passion into a flourishing business venture.

Regardless if others find your hobby trivial or boring, you should invest some time in examining whether it has been ever introduced as a type of career. Even if not, do not get discouraged. People always find new ways to explore their entrepreneurship and business usually evolve just based on an idea. If you add on this equation talent, skill, and determination, you most probably have a winner. Whether you are an amateur writer or a painter, give it a shot and who knows? Maybe the next Hemingway or Picasso is you!

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Recreation, Cooking, and Travel.
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