"Do what you love and the money will follow?"
 

There's a saying which some still repeat.... It goes,

"Do what you love, and the money will follow."

We've discussed this here before on Sowpub, but it could be good to mention it again.

I love to do a lot of things. I love body surfing. I love listening to music. I love deep philosophical discussions. Does that mean that the ideal thing for me to do is to keep doing these things?

Business is about fulfilling a want in the community.... Unfortunately, my body surfing doesn't fulfil a very big want in the community (no matter how much I love to do it)!

I think the ideal is to find a particular intersection.... Find out what are viable businesses. What will make money for you.

Once you have many of these in front of you - many ideas - then choose one or more to do. Think through it - what will it actually entail? Make a plan of some kind - it doesn't have to be a formal business plan, it could be a simple flow chart of what you need to do.

The ideal is to choose something which will bring in money, and which you love to do as well! (Or at least like to do!)

The fact is, work takes up a big chunk of our lives.... It's best to spend it doing something you enjoy!

If you enjoy meeting and talking to people, start a business which will let you do that. If you like solving technical problems, find a business which lets you do that. Some people just like setting up businesses - so that's their "business"! They set up businesses, then let them run, or sell them only to start another!

It helps to have lots of viable businesses in front of you to do this.... I realize I'm "tooting my own horn", but The Great Ideas Letter is perfect for that reason!

I put all the issues in front of me in a big folder.... It makes it easy to skim through them. Dozens of viable ideas.... Unusual ones. Interesting ones. Having all these ideas in front of you stimulates more ideas in your mind.... Perhaps different variations of what's there. Or combinations.

Anyhow, "Do what you love and the money will follow" is a widespread myth.... Of course, it's great to be able to do what you love. And if you're doing what you love, you'll probably do it better than most people will. But - not EVERYTHING you love to do will bring you an income.

So, instead - out of the things you could do to bring an income - choose one of those options which you love to do the best. :)

- Dien Rice

Putting a spin on the Myth
 

Hi,

This will be short because I've got hot pancakes waiting for me.

Speaking of pancakes, let me use them as my example for this post.

I love to eat pancakes. So according to the myth I should eat pancakes and the money will follow. It doesn't happen.

Why doesn't it happen? Because my love for eating pancakes is only fulfilled by the specific act of eating pancakes. I have other "loves" that can be fulfilled less specifically. For example, my love of gaining power can be (temporarily) fulfilled by making a sale.

To make the Myth work, you have to put a spin on it.

Best,

- Boyd

Love of photography VS love of selling photos
 

Hi,

Another way the Myth screws people up is that they say something like:

"I love photography so I should set up a photography business." This sounds right at first, but it's actually apples and oranges.

UNTRUE: "I love photography so I should set up a photography business."

TRUE: "I love taking orders for photos and then selling the photos to people, so I should set up a photography business."

Best,

- Boyd

Hits and myths? A completely different spin. : )
 

Hi Dien;

You bring up some interesting points. : )

As you know, I've been working with business owners for over two decades to show them why they aren't as profitable as they could be. Whether I do that through site design, ad creation or copywriting - the common factor is that I look for "why" a business isn't working.

One of the most common factors that I see when a business isn't working - which also is applicable to starting a new business - is that people tend to have trouble looking at their business through the consumer's eyes.

> The ideal is to choose something which will
> bring in money, and which you love to do as
> well! (Or at least like to do!)

> The fact is, work takes up a big chunk of
> our lives.... It's best to spend it doing
> something you enjoy!

Very true. It is "ideal" to love what you're going to spend a huge chunk of time doing. Yet, many people don't. There are hundreds of thousands of people that complain about hating their job on a daily basis.

So, why do they continue? Because they get a paycheck. Why do they get a paycheck? Because, for the most part, they KNOW their job and someone is willing to pay them for what they know - whether they enjoy it or not.

The paycheck is the cake. Knowledge (of their job) and application (of the skills) are the ingredients required to bake the cake. LIKING their job is the icing on the cake. Cakes can be eaten without icing. Not as tasty - but palatable in most cases.

> Anyhow, "Do what you love and the money
> will follow" is a widespread myth....
> Of course, it's great to be able to do what
> you love. And if you're doing what you love,
> you'll probably do it better than most
> people will. But - not EVERYTHING you love
> to do will bring you an income.

"Do what you love and the money will follow" is only a myth to those that do not understand how to view this saying through the eyes of the people that will be handing over the money.

Let's take "Joe" as an example. Joe heard that Golf is a very lucrative business and that some golf sites are pulling in tons of cash a month.

So, Joe puts up a golf site. Joe doesn't know diddly about golf - but he heard that it's lucrative. He picks the best products - the names he hears all the time. He sits back and waits for the money to roll in. But, it doesn't.
Why?

Well, frankly - it's because Joe doesn't know diddly about golf. He doesn't know where the golf nuts hang out. He doesn't read the same magazines. He doesn't know enough about golf to tell anyone anything about it. He doesn't know enough about golf to write a good ad if his life depended on it - nor does he know enough to know who to hire to help him out because he can't tell a true golfer from some one full of bs.

And if Joe gets a true golfer asking him a question, he's going to sound like a pathetic ninny when he tried to answer. And that true golf lover is going to tell his golf buddies that Joe is a ninny and not to buy from him because he doesn't know a nine iron from a five iron, much less anything more complex.

> I love to do a lot of things. I love body
> surfing. I love listening to music. I love
> deep philosophical discussions. Does that
> mean that the ideal thing for me to do is to
> keep doing these things?

No. What it DOES mean is that you are more likely to have the knowledge base required to run a business in those areas.

If you actually DO body surf, you may be able to answer the questions of a customer that also body surfs. If you didn't body surf, you would have NO clue because any information you do have is based on theory, not experience.

> Business is about fulfilling a want in the
> community.... Unfortunately, my body surfing
> doesn't fulfil a very big want in the
> community (no matter how much I love to do
> it)!

Exactly. Business is about fulfillling a want in the community. But, it goes beyond that. A business owner must have the knowledge base required to run the business successfully. Often times, that knowledge base exists because you have an interest in the subject matter.

Let's say I discover that there is a need, in my community, for high performance auto parts. Perhaps there is no one selling any, and people from this area are ordering from another province.

Does that mean I can make a ton of cash selling high performance auto parts? Probably not. Why? Because I don't know diddly about high performance auto parts. Why don't I know diddly about high performance auto parts? Because I have never had an interest in them.

But... couldn't I just hire people that have the knowledge that I don't? Probably not. Why? Because I wouldn't know a truly qualified person from one that is talking bs and pulling the wool over my eyes because they want the job. I might end up hiring someone that didn't know squat and they'd help me drive my business right into the ground.

I would need to learn the industry inside out before I contemplated opening a business in that industry. How likely am I to do that? Not likely at all - because I've never had an interest in it.

So... if you want people to buy from you... the best best is to pick something that you enjoy - and build a business around it. That way, you have the knowledge base to SELL in that industry.

In a nutshell, that's why so many websites are failing. People come to the internet thinking that all they have to do is slap up a couple of books that they get commission on - or that they bought resell rights to - and they are going to make a ton of cash. Not so, as they discover.

I like to ask people what they are qualified and knowledgeable enough to sell offline. That's what they can sell online, too. If you would not apply for a job in a marketing department, you should not be selling marketing materials. If you would not apply for a job as a distributor selling golf products, you aren't going to fare any better selling golf products online.

Knowledge of the industry is imperative. If you pick a hobby that you KNOW, your odds of success go up exponentially.

Just my two cents...

: )
Linda


http://www.lindacaroll.com

Doing what you love and other catastrophes...
 

Good observations, Boyd.

I would take it a little deeper, though.

Say I love taking photographs of landscapes.

I hear the "do what you love" thing and decide to open a photography business.

BIG MISTAKE!

The moment I open that photography business where people come in and get me to take photos of things, is the moment I STOP doing what I love.

What I love is taking photos of landscapes. Landscapes I choose to take photos of. Landscapes that call to me and inspire me. Landscapes I feel some kind of connection with.

Taking a photo of a shoe with a snake slithering through it, because that is what the clients wants, is NOT landscapes. It is not what I love.

For the landscape taking photographer to be truly happy, they must continue to take photos of landscapes of their choosing. Then offer those photos up for sale.

And if they are no good at selling, then an agent must take care of that for them.

But it may go even deep than that.

What part of you is satisfied when you take a landscape photograph of your choosing? And could that part of you be satisfied in some other way?

If taking photos of landscapes which you choose, satisfies some Creative Element inside of you, then it stands to reason that another activity, besides photography, could also satisfy that Creative Element. It might be Painting (Art), Sculpting, Sketching, Image Manipulation, Writing, or a host of other creative "hobbies."

Dien asked if there was a way for him to make money from Body Surfing.

At first, the obvious answer is to open a Body Surfing School. But that makes Dien a Teacher - something he may not like.

What would work is for someone to Film Dien in action and for those video to be sold. Not by Dien though. Because that would make him a Video Seller, not a Body Surfer.

Also, Dien could enter Body Surfing competitions all over the world and win prize money.

The only drawback to this is, he needs to be supported, or have independent income coming in, while he practices body surfing until he is good enough to enter the world class contests.

You may remember the story of the Golfer and his Wife. It went like this...

After a lifetime of Work, Joe (not his real name) retired. He was now able to fulfil his dream of playing all the major golf course across the country.

His wife did not like golf but did like photography.

As Joe played the courses his wife took photos of them.

The resulting photos were compiled into a book, published, and made them millionaires.

Neither liked publishing, marketing, or any of that "stuff" which gets the book sold. Others took care of that. They just did what they enjoyed - he played golf and she took photos.

Notice how they were able to do this because they didn't have to earn money?

In other words, if they were still working they would not have had the time to do this. If they were paying off huge debt, they would not have had the spare money to do this.

The same applies to Dien and body surfing. If he works (business or job) because he needs money to live, he does not have the available time to practice body surfing to the extent he becomes skilled enough at it that people would buy videos of him, or he would win prize money.

The alternative is a Body Surfing Newsletter. Where Dien body surfs all the beaches of Australia (and the world at some stage) and writes reviews.

Problem is, Dien is a Body Surfer and not a Writer (for the sake of the example). He is a Body Surfer and not a Publisher. He is a Body Surfer and not a Marketer. And yet, he needs to be a Writer, Publisher and Marketer to get subscribers. And hopefully enough subscribers so subscription money is enough to support him while he travels around and body surfs all the beaches.

Catch 22.

In Joe Innis' work "How To Be a Rich and Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures", or something like that, he mentions using agents to get your Work sold. That way you are able to do what you love - paint.

In that regard, Dien could surf a different beach each week. And instead of writing his review, he could dictate it. Then someone else could transcribe it. (Or he could dictate it straight into Real Audio format using Real Player's Real Audio Encoder, and offer an Audio Newsletter.)

Marketing could be handed over to someone else. Or Dien could handle that himself with a small bit of effort, if he chose to market totally online.

Would something like this fly?

Don't know. Got to test to find out.

There is a way to do what you love and make money from it. It usually involves delegating and using Leverage (Other people's resources) though.

Michael Ross


Learn more about Leverage here.

learn to say "no"
 

About 10 years ago, I combined 2 of my "loves": flying and photography to start an aerial photography business.

It's been a fun part time business ever since and I'm very well compensated (hundreds of dollars per hour) for the little time I spend at it. In addition, it's a terrific change from sitting in front of my computer all day.

Over the years I've been asked to take photos of weddings, babies, families, dogs, kids, you name it but each time my answer is the same...

"only if I can take it from my airplane"

That brings a chuckle but it's true.

By focusing on aerial photograpy, (my love) and saying no to all other types of photography (I DON'T love) I've been asked to do, I'm still having a great time flying around taking photos as much as when I first started.

If I would have said yes I would probably have a big full time photography business by now and would spend my days taking photos of crying babies, hyper brides (and their mothers) barking dogs...

I can't think of a more miserable way to spend my time! :-)

Ron

Business of Bliss
 

I think it's interesting that I am more likely to here the "Do what you love, and the money will follow" is a myth from male business owners/entrepreneurs than from women business owners/entrepreneurs. ( This is just a generalization, not an attack on you guys :) )

The "Business of Bliss" is a book about female entrepreneurs who have become successful doing what they love. The title comes from an annual feature done in the August issue of the magazine "Victoria" where they profile women in business...their "dream" businesses. Victoria magazine also puts out another books called "Turn Your Passion Into Profits" and apparently has a new one called "A Shop of One's Own." Both interview women with successful businesses based upon their love/passion. They go through the same struggles and failures as other businesses...and the same successes.

Does starting a business based on what you love guarantee success. No. However, I think that most people who start businesses based on what they love get so caught up in the "love" part that they don't focus on the business part. You do have to honestly ask yourself if your "love" can be turned into a viable business. Not every hobby can be turned into a business. And there might not be a market for it in your area (which is why the internet has helped many people as they can reach their audience better). And there are dozens of other factors that have to be looked at as well (as most everyone here has pointed out).

If you have something you love try it out on paper to see if maybe it really can be a viable business. Brainstorm various ways of turning it into a business Do your business research like you should on any business idea. Many times that wants in the community match our own loves. If you love surfing you could open a store, start a website where you sell books on how to surf or whatever, you could teach it, you could create artwork or greeting cards about/for surfers, etc. It's endless. Base it on what you love/like, what you're skills are, what you're willing to sacrifice for it, etc.

That sacrifice thing reminds me of another reason why those "doing what they love" fail. They think because they love it that it's going to be easy and are disillusioned when sometime's it's hard work. So they quit thinking it should be easy when in reality ANY business has it's difficulties.

All in all I think whether you base a business on what you love or not, it comes down to businsess is business. You have to treat them the same way, take the same steps, before the "money will follow".

Okay, that's just several of "my two cents."

Our posts could show why...
 

Men will supposedly be more likely to say "do what you love" is a myth and woman won't.

In my post I said doing anything other than Body Surfing was not what Dien loved. And yet you said,

> If you love surfing you
> could open a store, start a website where
> you sell books on how to surf or whatever,
> you could teach it, you could create artwork
> or greeting cards about/for surfers, etc.
> It's endless. Base it on what you love/like,
> what you're skills are, what you're willing
> to sacrifice for it, etc.

Opening a store, creating a website, selling books, or art or greeting cards, might be related to surfing - but - it's not what the love is. The love is surfing. So by doing all the above, you are not actually doing what you love.

> That sacrifice thing reminds me of another
> reason why those "doing what they
> love" fail. They think because they
> love it that it's going to be easy and are
> disillusioned when sometime's it's hard
> work. So they quit thinking it should be
> easy when in reality ANY business has it's
> difficulties.

Maybe it's because they aren't really doig what they love... but something related to it, but not it exactly.

And that could be why the different take between men and women. Women being more broad in the definition than men. And women considering they are still doing what they love when a man would not think it is.

Michael Ross

Re: learn to say "no"
 

Dear Ron and Everyone Else Here,

First of all, great thread with excellent thought evoking discussion. Believe me, in order to get my typing prior to 6 am it MUST be! (19 month old Sam is teething and woke me up about 90 minutes ago. I decided I might as well stay awake now!!)

Secondly, I wanted to comment on what Ron had to add about saying "NO!" and in my case its about attracting clients who will say "YES!" to who I am as a business owner.

Being awake in the wee hours with Sam is a great example.

I am a Mompreneur, first and foremost.

This December I took Sam out of the home daycare he was in because it just was not suiting my needs at all. Seeing as the school vacation would be upon us three weeks into the month, I decided to just work around Sam's schedule and needs as well as my girls once they came home for the holiday.

I purposefully attract clients who are comfortable and have full knowledge that as a Mother-with-Young-Children who is also an home based entrepreneur I may have more tangles with my time than the average person without little ones about them throughout the work day.

Instead of seeing this as a liability, I see it as an asset. I get to work with people who "get me" and value what I am up to and vice versa.

One of my newest clients said to me: "Julie, just listening to you talk about how you set up your business...your LIFE inspired me!"

Not that it is perfection 24/7....I just have created a way that works for me.

Thanks again, Dien, for starting the thread and for everyone else who has participated thus far.

With Passion and Purpose,

Julie Jordan Scott


Pick Up Your Complimentary New Years Gifts Now!

Doing what you love - the photographer
 

> Say I love taking photographs of landscapes.
> I hear the "do what you love"
> thing and decide to open a photography
> business.
> BIG MISTAKE!

Ron's post about saying no was a perfect example of this. He sounds like he gets to do what he loves, but isn't loaded down with work he hates (snake in a shoe, photos of collicky crying babies in shirley temple outfits, etc).

I don't know how Ron is doing. But he sounded like he made good money when he has work and that he genuinely enjoys doing it.

> The moment I open that photography business
> where people come in and get me to take
> photos of things, is the moment I STOP doing
> what I love.

Yes, those are good points, Michael.

> Taking a photo of a shoe with a snake
> slithering through it, because that is what
> the clients wants, is NOT landscapes. It is
> not what I love.

What a weird, but probably realistic example of what a photographer has to deal with :) Snake in a shoe... for a few rolls, to get the best angle and lighting. Then next client. Bronzed baby shoe and an orange... together at last.

> For the landscape taking photographer to be
> truly happy, they must continue to take
> photos of landscapes of their choosing. Then
> offer those photos up for sale.

Yes, this would be the ideal do what you love business for this particular photographer. Taking exactly the photos he wants to, where he wants to, when he wants to.

> And if they are no good at selling, then an
> agent must take care of that for them.

Maybe part of it is to do well with what you love some people will need to expand their abilities in other areas they aren't sure about. I know of many a business owner who loves their business, but doesn't know marketing.

Suddenly they NEED to increase their sales just to stay in business. They tiptoe into their local library and check out a few marketing books. Maybe they also do what is meant to be a quick search on the internet and end up someplace like here.

Before long they find themselves head over heels in love with marketing AND their business. They have a new interest and are simply incorporating it into their old love.

Of course, this doesn't happen all the time. And it's a selective example. But if it can happen just a few times in just a few areas, doesn't that make it valid for those people? Won't they be getting to do what they love?

True, they had to try something new and expand a little, but it seems like the people who do that are the ones who do well anyway (just a crazy coincidence I guess).

> What part of you is satisfied when you take
> a landscape photograph of your choosing? And
> could that part of you be satisfied in some
> other way?

Hmmm. Maybe :) And I haven't even discovered that part yet. But I can imagine it.

> If taking photos of landscapes which you
> choose, satisfies some Creative Element
> inside of you, then it stands to reason that
> another activity, besides photography, could
> also satisfy that Creative Element. It might
> be Painting (Art), Sculpting, Sketching,
> Image Manipulation, Writing, or a host of
> other creative "hobbies."

Yes, I think doing what you love might require trying different things, being flexible, willing to experiment. Things seem to work in odd ways. As soon as you decide its the only thing you want to do in life, you might try something else and enjoy it more. Maybe something that could turn into a business/hobby/income stream.

> Dien asked if there was a way for him to
> make money from Body Surfing.

> At first, the obvious answer is to open a
> Body Surfing School. But that makes Dien a
> Teacher - something he may not like.

True. Although, this seems like a very good way for him to stay close to what he loves. This is probably the easiest route for our local body surf king here though.

> What would work is for someone to Film Dien
> in action and for those video to be sold.
> Not by Dien though. Because that would make
> him a Video Seller, not a Body Surfer.

You're right, Michael. Without doing any selling, he is somewhat limiting his options.

Even with the lessons. But I think someone in Dien's position would find that it wouldn't feel like "selling" (as if they hate it) to find a few students and tell them about the lessons you'll offer. Most body surfers would probably just consider it easy to talk about and describe the experience in glowing enthusiastic terms.

> The only drawback to this is, he needs to be
> supported, or have independent income coming
> in, while he practices body surfing until he
> is good enough to enter the world class
> contests.

Or to live the surfer lifestyle of the 1950s and live in a van or a bungaloo with 6 other body surfers, waking up for the waves. Only coming in once they're completely spent for a restful rejuvenating sleep. Getting up the next day to hop in the beaten up VW van and driving to the next cove they heard about.

> You may remember the story of the Golfer and
> his Wife. It went like this...
> Notice how they were able to do this because
> they didn't have to earn money?

Yes, I did notice. And I'll think about that more, Michael.

Inching towards a book called the Joy of Not Working by Edward Zelinkski. I'll keep you updated.

> The alternative is a Body Surfing
> Newsletter. Where Dien body surfs all the
> beaches of Australia (and the world at some
> stage) and writes reviews.
> Problem is, Dien is a Body Surfer and not a
> Writer (for the sake of the example). He is
> a Body Surfer and not a Publisher. He is a
> Body Surfer and not a Marketer. And yet, he
> needs to be a Writer, Publisher and Marketer
> to get subscribers. And hopefully enough
> subscribers so subscription money is enough
> to support him while he travels around and
> body surfs all the beaches.
> Catch 22.

Sure, I get all that. And I understand your distinction about being specific vs. being a little more vague about what you love doing in another post too.

> There is a way to do what you love and make
> money from it. It usually involves
> delegating and using Leverage (Other
> people's resources) though.

Good summary of what is needed, Michael. I like to think it's possible too.

Success,

Erik Lukas