Hobbies and Business
We often read about how someone starts out with a hobby and because they do that thing so well, others ask for help or assistance in that area and before they know it, that person suddenly has a business developing they hadn’t planned on.
In some respects that has happened to me. I’ve adopted and explored things that clients asked me about in my Virtual Assistant business, and then became so absorbed by those things that they became activities outside of my business (such as blogging and social networking) and eventually they became new arms to my business and services I could provide for others because I had honed the skills needed.
My latest passion is photography. Actually it’s been a passion for most of my life, since my early teens. I was always snapping pics of anything and everything. As my own family grew up I recorded their lives and events which we have in albums or on the computer and stored away. My husband tells me that if it hadn’t been for me, we wouldn’t have many family photos and that is most likely true. But I’d never taken it much further than that.
Last January I shared how my husband gave me a new camera for Christmas and I was sharing some of those pics on my photoblog at that time. Well, I’ve taken it much further now and joined a couple of forums online (best way to learn is to mix and mingle with others who have the same interests) and also joined a local photographic society. I’ve also signed up for a course and a photographic expedition coming up very soon.
My photoblog (pictured below) has now got a brand new look and is hosted on my server, with new pics being loaded on a daily basis. I’m even entertaining thoughts of taking this passion much further and exploring possibilities as my knowledge increases and my photos improve. Last weekend I was at a mountain bike race in Mt Beauty and took over 700 photos! I won’t be publishing all of those online but you can see some here.
Kathie, you have actually prompted me to get back into photography too!! I have always had a good Canon camera and last year I bought a larger lense as I take a fair amount of motorsport photo’s (and you need a good zoom lense). Life gets busy and I let it slip a little but as I go on my journey with my business I am finding that I want to create more time for my passions and hobbies and have really enjoyed taking photos again. Camera club and setting up a blog are next on the list!!
The line between what you do for business and what you do for fun should be permeable. Mostly because business really can be a pleasure and will grow and develop as the person’s interests do. And business can lead us into new interests and growth too.
For me, it’s been a pleasure to discover that I really enjoy blogging! I’ve always been involved in the visual arts and have discovered that writing is an integral part of the creative process and that entrepreneurship is also a creative venture.
Although writing is a passion–I don’t think of it as a hobby. I love what I do because I do what I love–if that’s how you determine what a hobby is–then I guess writing would be it.
Kathie,
I love your photo blog. You have real talent and I am happy to see you pursuing it.
The saying, “if you love what you do you will never WORK a day in your life….” is so true.
It is obvious that you love what you do. Thanks for the inspiration.
Warmest regards,
Heidi