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IM - A Business or a Hobby?

by GalenaEd
12 replies
IM can be either a business or a hobby.

To be a business, you must FOCUS on 1 area, create a PLAN and TAKE ACTION. There are no shortcuts. You need to mix in a little LEARNING and some MOTIVATION. The only way to fail is to quit. You are blessed to have the Warrior Forum to help you. There are hundreds of ways to make money, but pick 1. Most importantly - enjoy what you are doing.

For me, IM is a great hobby. I don't enjoy golf, hunting, fishing, movies, TV, etc. I have been involved in IM over 5 years and have made a little over $500 from AdSense, Amazon, ClickBank, eBay, etc.

I have learned much about IM and have developed websites with X-Site and Kompozer, created Wordpress sites, put up a you tube video (this crust pizza), put up a book on Amazon (choosing a hobby), written Ezine articles and so on. I am on Facebook and Twitter, but not a big fan.

Maybe I am different, because I enjoy writing articles (doing the research myself - not PLR), and like the technical end because I was a computer programmer in the mid 60's. That was the best job I ever had. Because I was outgoing and able to communicate well, I moved into management and spent my corporate career running the computer department for some major corporations. I hated the corporate politics and vowed I would never again do any work that I hated. Since then, I have owned and operated several "brick and mortar" businesses and was Executive Director of our Chamber of Commerce.

Right now, I am writing a book to put on Amazon (my dessert recipes). Kindle is popular, and I may also do one there. I continually buy WSO's to continue to learn. I spend a little time each day on motivation, my favorites being Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy and the late Jim Rohn. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend Mike Koenigs' website. He has a video of Brian Tracy "How to Make your First Million" along with a number of interviews with other IM'ers.

I would also recommend a set of interviews created by Jay Boyer (you can do a WSO search on Jay). It consists of interviews with successful IM'ers who explain how they got started and how to make $100 a day within 30 days. A lot of great ideas there.

This has been lengthy, but hopefully you enjoyed it. The important point to take away - if you want a profitable business - operate as a business. But, it is also a great hobby, Unlike most hobbies, you can also make a little money (AdSense last month paid over $8, ClickBank was $11).
#business #hobby #learn im.
  • Profile picture of the author Henry White
    Thanks, Ed.

    I doubt that many hobbyists are reading these forums - but you never know! In fact, many of them could teach newbies a thing or two about content and list building, so it would be a nice trade off. With prudence, those successful hobbyist could verr easily monetize far beyond merely recovering their costs for domain name and hosting! On the other hand, many of the hot-shot marketers would probably destroy years of work in record time if they took over these sites because they're focus and interests are completely different - for better and for worse. Fortunately, there's plenty of room for all us wherever we fit on that spectrum.
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    • Profile picture of the author NickR06
      I must admit that for me IM was a hobby for too long. I bought everything and did nothing. Or I would start and flit from one business model to another. I once calculated how much I was spending and had quiet a shock.
      To change, I chose one model and stuck to it, until I was making money. I only bought products which directly related to what I was working on.
      Information overload is self inflicted. Selectivity and focus is the key.

      Nick

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      • Profile picture of the author GalenaEd
        Originally Posted by NickR06 View Post

        I must admit that for me IM was a hobby for too long. I bought everything and did nothing. Or I would start and flit from one business model to another. I once calculated how much I was spending and had quiet a shock.
        To change, I chose one model and stuck to it, until I was making money. I only bought products which directly related to what I was working on.
        Information overload is self inflicted. Selectivity and focus is the key.

        Nick
        Congratulations, Nick. You recognized you were treating IM as a hobby and decided to treat it as a business. Many do not realize that.

        I have no doubt you will be successful.
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    • Profile picture of the author GalenaEd
      Originally Posted by hwhite View Post

      Thanks, Ed.

      I doubt that many hobbyists are reading these forums - but you never know! In fact, many of them could teach newbies a thing or two about content and list building, so it would be a nice trade off. With prudence, those successful hobbyist could verr easily monetize far beyond merely recovering their costs for domain name and hosting! On the other hand, many of the hot-shot marketers would probably destroy years of work in record time if they took over these sites because they're focus and interests are completely different - for better and for worse. Fortunately, there's plenty of room for all us wherever we fit on that spectrum.
      Great thoughts. Thank you.

      Looking through the forum, many of the postings indicate a lack of business knowledge and direction, which to me, means it is a hobby.

      Many are desperate for income and probably will not make any significant amount. I enjoy cooking, have put a pizza recipe on YouTube and am writing a book of dessert recipes (from when I owned a B&B). This may generate income, but is not why I am doing it. I enjoy it.

      Thanks again.
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      • Profile picture of the author johneye
        Definitely business.

        In order to categorize your actions as part of a hobby, you need to include passion and deep interest in that particular topic. IMO, IM is quite money driven, and to be honest, making money is too general to be categorized as a hobby even if you're genuinely and passionately doing it. Making money is just part of the community, everybody is doing it, and have to do it to survive.

        If you love cooking, you achieve some level of satisfaction and accomplishment by cooking for a group of guests (result). Comparatively speaking, you need positive results (as in making substantial amount of money) in IM in order for you to achieve that very similar feeling. Having said that, when you've to work on something which has an uncertain set of results, it sounds more like a business than a hobby. Unless of course you just like to do IM and is OK not earning any money.

        However, if at some personal level, I could turn IM into my "hobby", that'd be an awesome thing, no doubt. Instead of hiking up hills and diving into the sea, you gain extreme satisfaction and can afford to categorize article writing, SEO, selling products online, etc. as worthwhile and satisfying time passing activities.

        I think IM is a hidden, indirect hobby to all of us.
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        • Profile picture of the author GalenaEd
          Originally Posted by johneye View Post

          Definitely business.

          In order to categorize your actions as part of a hobby, you need to include passion and deep interest in that particular topic. IMO, IM is quite money driven, and to be honest, making money is too general to be categorized as a hobby even if you're genuinely and passionately doing it. Making money is just part of the community, everybody is doing it, and have to do it to survive.

          If you love cooking, you achieve some level of satisfaction and accomplishment by cooking for a group of guests (result). Comparatively speaking, you need positive results (as in making substantial amount of money) in IM in order for you to achieve that very similar feeling. Having said that, when you've to work on something which has an uncertain set of results, it sounds more like a business than a hobby. Unless of course you just like to do IM and is OK not earning any money.

          However, if at some personal level, I could turn IM into my "hobby", that'd be an awesome thing, no doubt. Instead of hiking up hills and diving into the sea, you gain extreme satisfaction and can afford to categorize article writing, SEO, selling products online, etc. as worthwhile and satisfying time passing activities.

          I think IM is a hidden, indirect hobby to all of us.
          Thank you. You are correct. It is inconsistent to think of IM as a hobby, when the goal is to make money.

          Unfortunately, there are so many warriors that do not treat it as a business.

          I have learned a lot, made great friends and enjoy it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Emporer
    It can be both, I treat it as a business and it pays extremely well, and allows me to live the lifestyle I like to live. But it requires the time as every other business. Some can do it as a hobby and that can be great to. But I think IM deserves respect as you are dealing with real life people.
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    • Profile picture of the author GalenaEd
      Originally Posted by Emporer View Post

      It can be both, I treat it as a business and it pays extremely well, and allows me to live the lifestyle I like to live. But it requires the time as every other business. Some can do it as a hobby and that can be great to. But I think IM deserves respect as you are dealing with real life people.
      Thank you. I certainly do treat IM with respect and have met some great people.

      When you can afford it, I would recommend that you become a member of the Warrior Forum War Room. Cost is nominal and you can access the members only forum.
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      • Profile picture of the author Emporer
        Originally Posted by GalenaEd View Post

        Thank you. I certainly do treat IM with respect and have met some great people.

        When you can afford it, I would recommend that you become a member of the Warrior Forum War Room. Cost is nominal and you can access the members only forum.

        Thanks GalenaEd, I will check it out, I just hardly spent much time on forums as I have been extremely busy with business over the last few years, but am at I stage I want to give back to the community that has given me so much. Thanks again
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  • Profile picture of the author HowToMakeAWebsite
    It has been both for me. It started as a hobby but now its a full time job.
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    • Profile picture of the author GalenaEd
      Originally Posted by HowToMakeAWebsite View Post

      It has been both for me. It started as a hobby but now its a full time job.
      Congratulations for making the jump. Contnue to treat it as a business. I would recommend joining the War Room. Cost is nominal and you have access to the Members Only area.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    Paid hobby?

    For some of us what started as an hobby is now a business. Some of us went further with our intentions and we now operate small companies. Then there are some other users who have really big companies. Reese for example.

    More and more I understand this concept: the ones who got the goodies are also the ones with talent, focus and drive to go a step further. Otherwise, it will always be a hobby.
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    People make good money selling to the rich. But the rich got rich selling to the masses.
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