Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow– Or Maybe Not

Several years ago I came across Marsha Sinetar’s Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow. It’s an inspiring title, and a great book for cubicle dwellers who need a career change. Taken alone, however, the title can be a wee bit misleading. It’s certainly possible to earn a living doing what you love, but it doesn’t just happen.

I love traveling, hanging out with my family, reading great books, shopping in funky little shops, strolling through beautiful gardens, doing a variety of creative arts, enjoying great food, and much more. Last time I checked, the only money following me was what I left behind as I enjoyed these experiences. That’s how it works, unless you decide to focus on one of the things you value and transform it into a source of income. Anything can be either an expense or a stream of income. It’s all in how you approach it.

Here are just a few examples of how people have created streams of income focused on familiar things:

• Travel: SoulTravelers: The Nomad Family, Rick Steves’ books/television/tourism empire, Paul Theroux’s travel memoir, Journeywoman, and countless guides, travel agents, travel writers and bloggers
• Family: Cyndi’s List (genealogy resource), Mamapedia, family memoirs, family magazines, work-at-home newsletters and blogs, and more– all focused on spending time with family
• Reading: Write books about reading, run an online or offline bookstore, sell books on Amazon Marketplace, Paperback Swap, book reviews
• Shopping: The Better World Shopping Guide and local guides, shopping tours, personal shopping, errand service, blogs and books and books about how to shop wisely or save with coupons
• Gardens: Doug Green’s Garden, farmer’s markets, selling seedlings or produce, writing about gardens, seed exchanges
• Creative Arts: Etsy, ArtsEFest, craft shows, art galleries, teaching classes, creating patterns, craft books
• Food: Pioneer Woman, Rachel Ray, Emeril Lagasse, local restaurant reviewers and other foodies who have figured out how to make their hobby pay

The bottom line is that that there are many ways to put your personal knowledge to work, and that’s what we’ll be discussing here. You can do what you love and not make it pay, but with a bit of forethought, you can add an extra income stream doing what you love most. Why not?

So . . . what are the things that matter most to you? What is it that makes you lose track of time, that creates memories worth keeping? Whatever it is, there’s a way to profitably share it. We’ll begin to explore just how in the next post.