How to Tell If Your Passion Will Make You a Living

You’ve heard you should follow your passion.

It seems everyone is writing about it. After all, who doesn’t want to live his dream life?

You won’t have the stamina to do your work if you hate it, right?

Lots of people are unhappy in their jobs. So the chance to follow your dreams is heaven compared to the hell of your life now. If you could make a living doing stuff you enjoy, what could be better?

What are you passionate about?

If you know already, this question may seem silly. If you don’t know, how can you uncover it?

Ask yourself, “What would I do if I could do it forever? What do I enjoy that I could do without getting paid? What do I do better than anyone else?”

You’re in your passion zone when:

• time passes without a thought
• you find your greatest joy by being involved
• you can’t resist telling everyone about what you’re doing

Is your passion becoming clearer now?

The trick is figuring out how to make a living at it. That’s because you might have to do it for a while without getting paid.

The next question will tell you if your passion is worth following.

It’s hard to create usefulness from novelty. Click To Tweet

Who else cares?

Any business venture that would succeed needs customers.

Passion without income lasts as long as a puff of smoke. You’ve got to eat. You’ve got to pay the rent. You’ve got to pay the light bill.

Before you go headlong after your passion, answer these questions:

1. Are there other people who enjoy what I do?
2. How many are there?
3. And most importantly – will they pay me to do it?

If they won’t, tweak it into something more appealing, more useful. Usefulness is key. People don’t buy useless products.

“Okay,” you say. “Then why do they buy Pet Rocks and Funko Pops?”

Good question. What’s useful about these? They meet a psychological need. You buy one because other people have. If it’s popular, it must be good, right?

It’s hard to create usefulness from novelty. You might start a fad, but don’t expect to ride that wave forever.

What’s the easiest way to get people to buy what you’re selling?

Passion without income lasts as long as a puff of smoke. Click To Tweet

Help them.

Here are some ways you can:

• solve a problem that has plagued them for far too long

• show them a better way that no one else knows

• make it easy for them to reach their goals

People want better lives. They want comfort, security, and pleasure. They will vary in how they define these terms. Create a solution that fits a crowd large enough to meet your needs.

Then you’ll be in business.

When you provide a solution, you give value. People buy value because to them it is worth more than the money it costs to get it.

To make a living with your passion, be useful. Click To Tweet

How to Package Your Passion

As writers, there are lots of ways we can make money from our work.

• Freelance writing
• Articles for blogs, websites, and magazines
• Video courses
• eBooks
• Web page copy
• Copywriting for businesses
• Ghost writing

This list is a start. Use your imagination and your experience to expand on these suggestions.

As you test the market, start with blog posts. Attempt bigger things like eBooks and video after you start connecting with people.

Above all, be helpful.

You’ll hear more yeses. You’ll have more opportunities. And you’ll pave the way for your next big break.

Now go make your mark.

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Photo Credit: bobbygiggz Flickr via Compfight cc