3 Strategies To Monetize Your Passion (Career Lover Series IV)
January 28, 2008
I’ve gotten quite a bit of feedback from the last article on discovering your passion . One common feedback sounds like this “Hey, Lawrence, it’s all great, this passion thing. But you know, I need a job; I have mouths to feed.”
This is a valid concern. As such, in this part of the series, I like to suggest 3 strategies that you can consider to monetize your passion.
CREATE VALUE WITH YOUR PASSION
The key to monetizing your passion is to create value with it. In doing so, we can address the practicality dimension.
Naturally, the next question is, “What is value?” In the context of this discussion, value is anything that someone is willing to pay money for:
- As an employee, your value is the job that you do. Your employer is willing to pay for your time to get things done.
- If you are self-employed, your value is the products or services that you provide/sell.
Becoming a Career Lover is actually no rocket science. It’s based on a surprisingly simple principle “do what you are passionate and good at, and have people pay you for it. “
Depending on your circumstances, this simple principle may or may not be easy to apply in reality. In the rest of this article, I will describe each strategy and highlight the pros and cons for each. Depending on your specific circumstance, passion and talents, you may find one strategy more applicable than the others.
GET A JOB THAT’S ALIGNED WITH YOUR PASSION AND TALENTS
The most straightforward way is to find an employer to pay you to do what you love.
Many gurus profess that the best way to make a living out of your passion is to start your own business; but I’ve observed that starting your own business may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Living your passion through a conventional job is often understated and I feel that it deserves some mention here.
It is possible to find a job that you love, provided that you first discover what you love . Once you understand your passion, do ample research to find career tracks that are closely aligned to your passion. And I do mean AMPLE research. It includes asking people who have been in that job and understands what a day-to-day working life entails:
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If you are interested in meeting and helping people, then look for service-oriented and client-facing work.
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If you are analytical and introverted, then maybe a research-oriented work is more suitable for you.
I hope you get the drift here - find career tracks that matches your passion and talent profile.
Good career guides include detail job descriptions and interviews with actual incumbents; this is a good place to start from. It’s tedious work; however, compared to spending years on the job before realizing that it’s not for you, this is a relatively good investment of time.
What’s Good
- This strategy is the most straightforward and least risky. One point worth noting: even though this is the most straightforward way to become a Career Lover, most people fail with this strategy because they make their career choices solely based on salary considerations. To be successful with this option, you need to choose with your heart.
- By pushing for your initiatives in the organization, you get to pursue your dreams using other’s financial capital.
- With the right influence, network, knowledge, and consistent value creation, you can climb high on the corporate ladder and be very successful.
What’s Bad
- As an employee, your job scope is often decided by others, not yourself. It is unlikely that you will find a career track that is a 100% match to your passion/talents. As such, you must be willing to make some compromise on those job scope that you don’t enjoy.
- If you have joined the work force for some time already, and your passion don’t align with your current career path, then choosing this strategy will mean a career switch is required. This potentially means a painful cut in salary if your earlier job experiences is not relevant to the new career track.
- Bureaucracy in big corporations can kill dreams. To be successful with this strategy, you’ll need good influencing skills to get people’s buy-in to your initiatives. Some closed-minded managers may be more interested in their job security than your initiatives; most of the time, there’s very little we can do to change that.
- The most critical shortcoming of this strategy is lack of ownership. Because you get a fixed income regardless of your performance, there is little incentive to focus on creating value. As such, most employees fall into the comfort zone of just doing their job. To be a successful Career Lover with this strategy, you need to differentiate from the mass; creating value for the company by increasing revenue or cutting cost. Yet many job functions are not designed to deal directly with these issues.
Career Lover Who Took This Path
General Electric’s Ex-CEO, Jack Welch is one successful example of a Career Lover who took this approach. He started off in GE in 1960, attracted to the possibility of getting a new plastic out of the lab and into the market. Jack loved his work and was passionate about it. However, he didn’t like the bureaucracy within GE and he quitted after one year. Luckily his boss’s boss noticed Jack’s talents and persuaded him to stay.
In return for staying, Jack was given more freedom to execute his plans, and that’s exactly what he did. Year after year, Jack created a whole lot of value to GE, resulting in promotions are promotions:
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Jack become GE’s youngest general manager at 32.
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In 1972, Jack audaciously wrote in his annual performance review that his long-term goal was to become CEO.
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In the same year, Jack was promoted to vice president.
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In 1977, Jack was promoted to senior vice president and vice chairman in 1979.
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In 1981, Jack became GE’s youngest chairman and CEO.
TURN YOUR HOBBY INTO A PART-TIME VENTURE
A hobby is something that you do because you enjoy it, not because you’re paid to do it. That is a good indication of your passion. With a little creativity and some business sense, it’s actually possible to convert your hobby into a money-making activity. Over time, as this extracurricular venture grows, income from this side activity may even replace your day job.
If you like to rollerblade (and are good at it), have you ever considered teaching others how to rollerblade over the weekends and charging a fee for it? Likewise, this strategy applies to most hobbies: cooking, jewelry-making, writing, photography. You’ll be surprise how people are willing to pay for information and convenience. As long as you have some hobbies that can provide these benefits, you already have a starting point to monetize your passion.
What’s Good
- A hobby is a good place to start as you are already interested in it. If you love it without having to be paid, how about getting paid while doing it, and loving it even more?
- This strategy makes switching career less painful. By establishing a new income on the side when maintaining your current job.
- By maintaining a day job, you ‘buy insurance’ while you explore other income avenues based on your passion.
- It provides a chance for you to figure out what you really love by giving it a try.
What’s Bad
- The key shortcoming of this strategy is that you need to work on two jobs. It’s going to be tough juggling your day job with a part-time endeavor.
- Also, as your side venture grows, you will the need to commit more time into it; there will come a time when you need to choose one, between the two.
- Because you are not able to commit time to it like you do to your day job, monetizing a hobby can sometimes take years before tangible results shows.
Career Lover Who Took This Path
Most bloggers will know of Darren Rowse, a very successful A-list problogger. Blogging is one such hobby which is suitable for monetizing, if you have the specific know-how and the will to see it through. You can read about Darren’s story and his journey of doing it part-time for some years before he finally turned professional.
START YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Starting your own business is the surest and most direct way to monetize your passion. Offer products and services related to your passion and make a business out of it. Such strategy has the highest monetary risk, but can also bring the highest possible rewards. Because you own and run the business, the sense of ownership and passion are very good drivers to ensure your success.
This strategy can also be a natural next step for those who have been part-timing on their hobbies for some time.
If your side venture is successful, it’ll grow to a point where it demands full time attention. You may come to a point when you have to take the leap of faith and do it on your own. This can be a scary thought as you move away from the security of a stable income, and become liable for the ongoing performance of your business.
What’s Good
- The advantage is that you’re the boss - you get to decide what you want to do with your business. If you have a value creation idea that you are passionate about, you have more freedom to implement it.
- Being the boss means that you have more leeway to decide what you want to do and what you don’t want to do. If you don’t enjoy something, just hire someone else to do it.
What’s Bad
- The key shortcoming of this strategy is also that you’re the boss - being the boss means that you have to take the responsibility of sustaining the business. This strategy has the highest monetary risk - failing means losing your primary income.
- If you step into this directly without going part-time first, you may later discover it’s based on “false-passion”, but you’ve committed too much by then.
Career Lover Who Took This Path
Nike is a world famous brand for sports wears and apparels. Do you know that Nike started off with a coach’s passion to help his athletes improve. Bill Bowerman started off as a track-and-field coach. In an effort to improve athletic performances, he invented the Waffle sole shoe - a shoe with heel wedge that provides better support and lighter sole.
Back then, Bill had a big problem: he couldn’t find a company to mass produce the shoes he invented. As such, he decided to start a company to make these shoes himself. Together with Phil Knight, they founded Blue Ribbon Sports Inc. In 1972, Nike brand was born. The rest is history.
CLOSING REMARKS
Remember that I started off with one very simple principle on value creation - do what you are passionate and good at, and have people pay you for it.
The practicality challenge of bringing money home every month is real and cannot be discounted. However, many successful Career Lovers faced the same challenges, like us. They felt the same fear and did it anyway. Few passions come conveniently prefinanced. It all takes effort, will and courage to be successful. The trick is to understand your passion/talent profile and turn that into a money-making activity.
With these 3 strategies, I hope you’ll find one that is relevant to you and start you off to become a Career Lover.
In the next part of this series, I like to discuss how to increase value creation. To be a successful Career Lover, you need to learn to create lots of value - your income has a lot to do with how much value you create for others, and I like to share my thoughts on increasing the value we create.
(Photo by massdistraction )
[…] IV - 3 Strategies To Monetize Your Passion Read MoreA Long Long Road In 2008Why It’s Dangerous Not To Do What You Love (Career Lover […]
I found your remarks about people saying they need a job because they have mouths to feed very interesting. It’s almost like their perspective is that if they were self-employed there would be little income. I find that people mostly stop themselves in this pursuit.
Your readers may find this post interesting, http://delightfulwork.com/2007/9/12/. It’s titled, 10 Raw Truths about Pursuing Work Life Happiness.
You offer excellent strategies here. I hope your readers see the value in pursuing one of them.
Well Tom, my statement was made based on the feedbacks that I’ve heard.
It’s actually not a surprise to me. It’s not that being self-employed will result in little income. In fact, most people know that running your own business has chances of greater rewards; however, there is also a higher risk of losing capital and income when the business fails.
As such, the lure of being an employee is still very appealing to most. You have rightly pointed out that people mostly stop themselves in this pursuit. It’s basically fear and self-doubt.
Great article and perspectives, Lawrence.
I have to confess that I’m very biased towards self-employment. When we create our own business, it can not only be a reflection of who we truly are, but it can also evolve and grow with us and become a very rewarding vehicle for personal growth. When a business is ours, we can allow it to always be an authentic reflection of who we are right now. In fact, I think this is the key to being successful!
Technology offers us so many ways to build a global business from our own living room. With almost no investment but time and effort, we can use a business as a tool for self-discovery, growth, and expansion. And, if we’re doing it as a side-job, then we can truly have fun, experiment with what works and what doesn’t, and learn a great deal about ourselves in the process. I really started my own business as it is now because I was bored to tears staying home with a newborn. It grew out of my personal interests and a desperate need for intellectual stimulation! It’s been an amazing journey - and as of January has become a full-time endeavor.
Blessings,
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
You are right about technology offering many more opportunities.
Actually, we are a lucky bunch. Since history, there has never been an age with as much opportunities to follow our heart. The barrier to entry for newcomers are constantly being lowered by technology.
Previously, to share your thoughts, you need capital and experiences in publishing to print and author books. Nowadays, just start a blog, and you’ll have access to a global audience. How cool is that?
However, one thing hasn’t change much. Human’s self-doubt and fears. That’s the real show-stopper now.
As always, I’m glad to hear testimonies like yours. I hope it gives others the inspiration and assurance to follow suit.
Lawrence,
Very interesting thoughts! “It includes asking people who have been in that job and understands what a day-to-day working life entails…” I think this is one of the most valuable, yet often overlooked aspects of this whole process. By talking to people already working in your dream job you can find out what is reality and what is just fantasy. Many of the most successful people I know are good at cold e-mailing various individuals more successful then them in order to pick their brains. Tim Ferris, author of the 4-Hour Workweek even taught a class on this at Princeton. It’s amazing what you can accomplish by asking the right questions to the right people.
Hi Cameron,
thanks for the point on picking others’ brains - it’s so true.
You know what, this is actually something I’ve just learned recently as well! On the other hand, I can empathize with people’s hesitation to do this - fear of rejection.
[…] Part IV - 3 Strategies To Monetize Your Passion […]
The whole post can be summarized with the quote: “do what you are passionate and good at, and have people pay you for it.”
Absolutely. What better dream could anyone have. The problem with most people falls on the “good at” part. I love baseball, am not very good at it, but would LOVE to get paid to play it.
That’s an interesting comment Hank, but after coaching people in career transition for 10 years I can tell you that’s not what stops most of my clients. First let me say, I understand. I played rugby in five different decades and couldn’t give it up until my joints needed major operations. It’s one of the few times when I’ve felt totally in the zone.
However what stops most is the failure to take the baby steps that they could take. Even though being a pro ballplayer may not be possible given your level of talent, there is something close to baseball that may give you the same level of juice. Speculate on that and ask what small step could I take this week to get a little closer to my bliss? You’ll get an answer. Then be sure to act soon.
This is where most people don’t believe their own guidance and stop completely. They never get to see what might have been. If we have to look until the end of our time, the pursuit of delightful work is well worth the investment.
The thing that stops people from monetizing their passion is laziness, I know from experience.
Well, you do bring out some great idealist points. The thing about it is that many do not have the time or assets to look around until they find a job that they love. Some times the reality of it is that we have to do what needs to be done in order to get the bills paid and support our families.
Regardless, I love your blog and all your tips. Thanks for the great article
Whew! I can definitely relate to a few points you discussed Lawrence – particularly the second strategy which I’ve recently been exploring myself. It’s true though, that it’s hard to reconcile pursuing your passion and earning good money at the same time. It does take a little effort to find exactly where your passions lie and a bit of sacrifice when you have to squeeze things out of practicality or necessity. Ultimately, however, one could most definitely achieve happiness and satisfaction when he is able to monetize his passion. It just takes a lot of guts and hard work, but it’s possible as evidenced by your success trivia.
Visit www.makemorelivemoregivemore.com to help you discover your passion and achieve success in your career/business.