Turn your hobby, skills or expertise into a part-time business. Sites like Jobvana can help you do so by providing you with free tools to market your services and offer specialized skills to those looking for help.

The main thing here is to be honest with yourself. Are your really good enough or knowledgeable enough for people to see value and purchase your services or products?

Some Examples:

• You’re good at pet care.
  • People will pay for pet care, but they are also very particular about their pets so you must know what your doing. If you are good at keep fish, maybe you could provide aquarium maintenance services.
• You’re good at drawing.
  • People often need illustrations. Tattoo artist will pay for good illustrations.  Small businesses and organizations may need logos and other illustrations.
• Your good at making things.
  • If you crochet blankets, make wooden stools, or anything that you can fabricate can be sold for a profit.

Start with friends and family. Many times, family and friends already know how good your are or are more willing to take a chance on you.  For your first few jobs, you want to really do well. This should be the goal at all times, but in the beginning it is extra important so you can get some word of mouth publicity. Word of Mouth publicity can do wonders for your new venture. It is free advertising and people are much more willing to try something if someone they know suggests it.

Be as professional as possible, without being ‘phony’. People can get a sense of how big your operation is, don’t try to be something your not. Be flexible on the pricing. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t expect top-dollar until you have some ‘history’ behind your new venture. Lowering your price a bit can be the thing that helps you to land some of your early customers.

Generally speaking, service based ventures require less start-up money (if any) because if it is a hobby or a skill that you are already involved in, you may already have all the tools you need. Producing a product requires materials and fabrication tools (in most cases), which can add to start-up costs. One exception is if your product is a digital product which can be produced with your existing tools.

What ever your hobby or skill that you want to earn some money from, learn more. You may feel like you know it all (and you may), but get a recent book or search the internet to get the latest information. Make yourself an expert!