Loving what you do is crucial to living a productive and happy life; at least in my book. I’ve never been one to take a job just for the money – there has to be something that stirs in my soul for me to continue working on any given thing. I guess you could say that I prefer being involved in a calling rather than a career.
But, what happens when those stirrings change?
- Go away completely?
- Die down for a bit?
That’s just what I’m having to figure out, and I hope by sharing my experiences, you won’t panic like I did when this first happened to me.
Making My Hobby a Business
My business first started out as a craft business. Why? Because it was something I enjoyed doing and that I was good at. (Looking back, I realize it was just a hobby and I probably should have given more thought to what I really wanted my business to be.)
It eventually grew into graphic design and printing, then freelance writing and editing, add in some marketing and social media, and you’ve got a full house. I started spreading out, spreading myself too thin, doing too many things, and not even really doing what I started out doing. Then, I helped co-found a ministry and created a community website. I was losing my original business in the process – not literally, but it was getting lost in all the other things I started getting passionate about.
I Lost My Passion
I realized I didn’t even really enjoy the craft part of my business anymore. I wasn’t participating in craft shows, I completely stopped sending my newsletter, and I wasn’t keeping up with my blog.
At the same time, I didn’t just want to close the doors to my first business. Why? Well, my name was tied up in it – that business name was how everyone knew me, where over 700 fans on Facebook kept up with me and over 1,000 Twitter followers engaged. I felt tied to the identity, the effort behind the website and branding I had done and didn’t feel I could let go.
There was, in fact, a moment of panic.
First, I had to stop and ask myself WHY I had the business or that part of the business. Was there a component I could let go of? For me, it was more because I wanted to be in business for myself than wanting to sell my crafts. Once I realized I didn’t want to do the crafting part anymore, I had to figure out how to revamp things so that I didn’t lose my brand identity. This part would be a little tougher and take some time and thought.
Revamping My Business
The first thing I did was set up a landing page website – angelabickford.com – this site hosts everything I do and supplies the visitor with my resume, portfolio samples, testimonials, links to all my projects, bio, and a complete rundown of everything I do and how I can help them. This way, I could (hopefully) avoid the confusion that was about to ensue.
Then, I looked at my original business website. The way it had been set up was specifically for the crafts that I sold – not for the graphic design I did, or the stationery products I sold. I’m in the process of creating a shopping cart for those products and removing the crafts; same site – different items for sale. I’ll be able to keep the name I tweet from too, and the fan page won’t change much – again, just the products on it.
Next, I looked at my newsletter and blog. I had to decide if I was going to keep those around. For me, the answer isn’t clear yet, so I’m continuing to put those on hold until I deal with my website changes – I think I’ll know which direction to go in after that.
Conclusion.
In the meantime, I am focusing on what I do love to do. I’ve learned that there’s nothing wrong with deciding you don’t like doing something anymore – even if it is a part of your business. Doing what you love is more important than continuing to do something just because people expect it. A little change never hurt anyone.
Great article, Angela. Like diamonds, people are multi-faceted. Look forward to seeing your unique success unfold in all it’s variety.
Thank you Ruth! Amazing how we connected isn’t it? Glad to be doing my work at AWAI too – as marketing, writing, social media are part of my passions and I get to get paid to do them through AWAI! :)
Can’t wait to see what happens in your future! I thought maybe you were slowly phasing out the crafts cause I haven’t really seen you do much with those lately. I know what ever you do will be a passion for you!
Thanks Abbey – I didn’t have you fooled huh? LOL! Well, I’ll still have all the stuff/tools, so I’ll do them for anyone who asks, but it won’t be a push in the marketing department anymore…
I love the part where you say “Doing what you love is more important than continuing to do something just because people expect it.”. SO TRUE!!! :)
Great article!
Thanks Kelly! It took me awhile to get to that conclusion, and change is scary, but it’s still true! :)
Angela,
It is so exciting to hear about all the changes you are going through. It is also scary because I fear I “might” be going through the same change. Thank you for sharing your real thoughts on this topic. Excited for you!
Thanks Christina! Keep me posted on if you end up changing things too – I’ll be thinking of you!