Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I incorporated my business back in the day, heheh ya .COM is on the incorporation name too! But I feel I have not done my fullest extent on making it a true business. I do web site design on the side and SEO work as consultant yet I havn't made it my full time job. Any tips on getting past the barrier of a hobby to a living? that goes for any business I guess. :)~
quit your day job :)
I got laid off from a dotcom and my 'hobby' became my 'living' in a big hurry.
..... Shane
Oilman, you are able to sum up the wisdom of the ages in four words - and it applies to any field of endeavor.
Reminds me of the difference between involvement and commitment. The chicken that provides the eggs for a ham and egg breakfast is involved. But that hog, well, he's committed.
Three years ago I left the largest lawfirm of its type in the state of Georgia. I had several partners. The senior partner was a major rainmaker; I was involved but not committed.
I opened practice in a different town - had no partners, no secretary, no website, and no business. But I had everything on the line; I had gone from being involved to being committed. I hired an ad agency, hired a secretary and trained her, started a website, worked my rearend off, and am now making as much as I did as I did as a partner in the firm.
If your entire financial well-being depends on you, you'd be amazed at how sharp you mind gets and how well you can perform.
Lawman
I couldn't agree more.
The only thing that will turn it into a living, is having to rely on it to live.
there's an old adage ...
neccessity is the great inventor
plus my personal experience is that poverty is a great motivator!!!
how many people here have this is a profitable sideline on top of another job ???
I have a day job as a LAN Admin. I also have one ecomm site up for the last two years. I am starting another one in the next few months. I have done several complete sites but have delt with only flat smaller sites in this area. I have done some minimal SEO also on the side. Pays the car payment here and there so I'm happy.
Brian
On net it is easy to get moeny BUT on net i dont see NO GUARANTEE whatsoever that maybe tommorrow you are GONE. That is why i would do web full time only if i laid off from job
So sicne i make more than enough money for living and have no other job but i do it as hobby since i study what is this? Hobby or full time/living?
1) My New Car
2) House
3) Office
4) Trip to Europre and Asia (Back home to India)
5) College fees.
6) all other expense !!!
...........
And lot more. Hope this will motivate you to do SEO work on full time basis.
If you have the time to continue your SEO work as a hobby, then keep it as a hobby. When you start running out of that time, then think about going for it full time.
The people here telling you to quit your day job are the winners, the ones who have made it work - Well done to them.
But where are the ones who have failed, the ones who will give you a balanced view ?
They are back in their 9-5s and they don't read here anymore :)
If you bear with me, I will bore you with my story.
2.5 years ago I ended my regular job and embarked on a new venture. I worked 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months and then the cash ran out. I had to return to my 9-5, but I kept the most promising of my sites going.
Most of my spare time is spent looking after this site, but there is no pressure on it to make money. It easily covers the hosting fees, and recently has started to turn a reasonable profit.
My current full-time 9-5 contract ends in a couple of months and I am now at the point again when I am considering giving my site my full time attention once more. But I am very hesitant, I am sure a good deal of the success of my site can be attributed to the fact that it doesn't need to make me money. I don't need to charge exhorbitant fees or make endless sales to cover my living expenses - if someone sends me cash great, if not no problem.
What I guess I am trying to say is don't force it unless you have to, build your business and your reputation slowly. When you are snowed under with work offers, then go for it full-time.
Unless of course, like me, you are bored sh*tless with your 9-5 :)
Our client list include 2 of the major entertainment studio, top hotel and several major financial firm in Los Angeles.
Quit your job, pound the pavement, create a great website with in-depth content, and provide outstanding service.
But most of all - as Winston Churchill stated, "Never, Never, Give In, Never, Never."
