In 2014, although the recession is over, its effects are still being felt all around the world. It might be the case that the property market is slowing getting back to its feet, but it’s also the case that now more than in the past decade people are feeling the pressure financially. With the government’s austerity measures and the relatively limited employment market, making ends meet is a challenge for everyday hard-working people all across the UK. This means people are having to look harder to afford the things they’re used to having, and one way they’re doing this is by gaining a second income. You can become one of these people, too, by simply turning what you enjoy doing as a hobby into a profitable online business. Here’s how.

Create the Store

Once you know what you want to sell – whether it’s art or jewellery or crafts – you need to find somewhere to sell it. You have a number of options, of course but the best thing about the internet is the variety and choice of options it affords. You don’t have to pick a retail space and stick with it; you can choose the online marketplaces you think will most befit your business and then work with all of them. If you’re buying and selling on for a margin, destinations like Amazon and Etsy are a good option. However, if you need to gain some capital before you can make your product, you could turn to a site like Kickstarter and seek the financial backing of the general public to help you. To make this work, you’ll need to make a prototype, and demonstrate it in a video to your potential backers before they’ll part with their hard-earned money – a little bit like Dragons’ Den.

Market the Product Free of Charge

Now you have your product established and in your store, you need to attract people to it. There are a couple of ways to do this over the internet, the most common are through social media promotion, and by blogger outreach. If you create social media profiles for new business, you can market your products every time you create new listing. Track your web traffic to see how popular each product is and respond to this by considering how much of what product lines you should be producing, then listen to the comments of you online friends and customers. Second, by emailing bloggers and asking them to review your product, you’ll be able to have your products in the hands of social influencers who might get their own followers to purchase your products.

Earn the Profit

Once you’ve started making some money, you can grow your business by investing some of your capital into other projects. A good example is to invest in property. Of course, if you don’t have thousands of pounds, you’ll need an alternative method. A reasonable – though risky – one is foreign exchange. You might at first be nervous to try out trading – it’s not something that goes hand in hand with selling – but don’t worry, with an online trading account, you can work on your trading technique on a virtual account before you attempt the real thing and start making money.

So, if you’re looking to turn your hobby into a business, follow the above steps and you’ll be well on your way.