Have you ever made money from crochet?  Have you ever thought about it?  If you’re like a lot of crocheters you have a passion for crochet and would like to make some money doing what you love, but just don’t know how to go about it.  I started making money with crochet in 2012 when I sold my first design to Crochet Today! magazine.  I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I got that first acceptance email telling me they would like me to design a sweater for $500!  If you would like to read more about my crochet journey, you can read the About Me page.

Now I make a full-time living from this blog, but the bulk of my crochet earnings used to come from designing patterns for magazines and yarn companies – something I love to do.  For most people a job is just something they do to get money so they can do what they want with their free time.  Does this describe you?  It is how my husband looks at a job like this (even though he is a teacher and enjoys it for the most part) but this has never been how I wanted to work.  I’ve always wanted a job where I could do something I am passionate about, not something I dread that takes up the majority of my time.

We are living in an incredible age of technology where becoming your own boss doing something that you love is easier than ever before.  Research from Forbes states that over 50% of small businesses are home based.  You don’t need a lot of money to start a creative business, either.  It didn’t cost me anything to submit those first few sketch and swatch ideas – and it has paid off big time!

It’s time to turn your passion into a business (and a huge perk for me was getting to create a room for my hobbies!).

Looking to sell crafts for profit?  You’ve got to see this list of the most profitable crafts to sell!

How to Turn Your Hobby into a Profitable Business

1. Evaluate Yourself

Before you begin, take some time to think things through.  Ask yourself: How passionate are you?  Will turning your crochet into full-time work take the fun out of it?  I’ll admit, there are some times when my design deadlines are tight and I just really don’t feel like crocheting but I have to.  A couple of times I have felt burned out and taken a little time off, especially when I was pregnant and right after my babies were born.  Now we have four little boys (our oldest is13) and I know I can’t work as much as I used to because they take up a good amount of my free time.  I love being a mom, but they are a lot of work!  Think about how much time you can reasonably devote to your business.  Most people don’t just jump in immediately and quit their day jobs.

2. Do Some Research

We already know that there are a lot of people interested in crochet so you don’t have to research to see if there is a market for your passion.  What you should research, however, is exactly what area of crochet you feel most interested in pursuing.  Do you like to design your own patterns?  Be a designer!  Crochet others patterns?  Think about pattern testing or being a contract crocheter.  If you like the math aspect of patterns, consider technical editing.  There are so many different areas that deal with crochet that you can specialize in.

3. Decide How You Want to Pursue Your Business

So you’ve done some research and have decided on an area you would like to pursue.  For me, I am a creative person and designing definitely interested me the most so I focused all my energy on that.  There are many other avenues you could pursue including:

• selling physical products – this could be online or in person.  Craft fairs, etsy, etc.
• selling digital products – printables, patterns, etc.  Etsy, Ravelry, and craftsy are great for this.
• promoting affiliate products – if you don’t want to sell your own products, consider promoting others’ and getting a commission for each sale
• selling ad space – if you create a great website or blog you can sell ad space on your site
• events & webinars – again, great if you want to create a website or blog

4. Create!

This is the best part!  Now you work on creating the actual items or website/blog.  Start making items to sell, write a pattern, or create a blog or website.  The possibilities are endless!  If you are interested in promoting a blog or website the key is great content.  Write articles, posts, and/or patterns that people are interested in and will bring traffic to your site.  There are already a ton of crochet products/patterns/blogs/etc so you really need to focus on what makes you different.  Everyone has their own spin on things and their own personality, so really play that up!

Yes, you really can make money doing something you love!  The time has never been better to start your own profitable crochet business.  There are millions of people looking for information or products like yours, so get out there and share them with the world!