How to Make a Living From Your Hobby Website

Is it possible to turn your hobby website into a livelihood? Can you actually earn a living from something that interests you? Sure you can, and I'll show you how in this article.
For the last few years, I have made a comfortable living through a network of hobby-related websites that are mostly educational in scope. When combined, the revenue produced by these sites covers most of my expenses, such as mortgage, car payment, groceries, vacations, etc.
Now I don't say all this to boast, but only to get your attention. If you are taking the time to read this article, then you and I have something in common. We both have an interest in publishing websites around topics that interest us -- and we both have the desire to earn a living while doing so!

Birthday Flowers collecting hobby

Birthdays are one thing you can count on. We all have them and I'm willing to bet, all of your family members and friends have them too. Sometimes birthdays seem to roll around quickly. You can't believe it's been a whole year since you found the perfect gift for your cousin Susie, and now it's time to deliver again.

Whether the birthday boy or girl is a friend, lover or just an acquaintance, flowers can be ordered and designed to say just the right thing. Flowers have so much going for them, it's a wonder you haven't thought of this before!
Think of the blossoms as building blocks. Each has color, texture and form. They each have a personality and many have a tradition. The rose is elegant and says love. The carnation is sturdy and says you can count on me. The orchid is exotic and dares you to dream.
Next, think of your florist as an architect. She uses the building blocks to design a birthday greeting. An architect won't design a home for you until she has spent time with you and discovered your personality and your needs. A good florist should be asking a couple of questions to help her design the floral piece that says just what you want to say.
No, we're not talking about a million dollar home, were just talking about a birthday bouquet. Still, you should try to convey the message you are trying to send when you order your flowers from the florist. Your florist can translate your words into flowers. Using words like Romantic, Festive, Bright, Soft, Extravagant, Elegant, Simple, Fun, Young, Classic, Natural, Earthy or Modern will help your florist understand the personality she is fitting.
You can send flowers with little or no thought, and they'll probably be just fine. The enclosure card will say "Happy Birthday", and the message will get through. Or, you can invest just a few minutes into the process and choose flowers in a design that expresses the personality and message that fits the situation. It'll be worth the investment, I promise.

Batman Begins and the Mighty Fantastic Four hobby

Well, it looks like Hollywood keeps it continual pot of revenue filled with, guess what, comic book heroes. Batman Begins and The Fantastic Four have been duking it out on Hollywood and Vine. An age-old comic book company rivalry is yet renewing the heat this year. I guess all of us comic book aficionados always wonder who would win the battle between such and such superheroes.
Well at least in the next few months one way to keep score is to watch the revenues generated between the recently released "Batman Begins" and "Fantastic Four", which were both childhood fascinations of mine. Not only are there superhero "what ifs" going on here, but which comic book company will stand to gain the most economic substantiation? Batman Begins punches the daily time clock at DC Comics and the Fantastic Four was the brainchild of Stan Lee and crew at Marvel Comics.
And don't tell me there is a small comic book hero market. Batman Begins claimed the number one spot in gross revenue on its opening weekend. Hollywood is definitely increasing the thickness of its silver lining these days with comic book hero movies. Batman Begins took in almost $49 million it's opening weekend. How many mint condition old comic books would you have to sell to make that kind of dough? Are we in the wrong end of the comic book world (ha ha)?
The rivalry between Marvel and DC used to be a major dividing line amongst the tight knit group of comic book collectors. When comic book interest started to decline in the 1970s, this issue became largely irrelevant. But now as video games, online role-playing games and major motion picture productions are spreading across the globe, the classic Marvel-DC conflict is springing back to life.
Superman is coming back to life on the big screen as well as Wonder Woman. Marvel has been riding high off their major successes with the X-men and Spiderman. They are now digging deep into their catalog of characters and are working on screen adaptations of Iron Man, the Submariner, Thor and Silver Surfer, among others. Have we entered a new comic book age that will have to be defined around major motion pictures? Maybe it could be call the "Greenback Age". Do you have another definition?
And as computer literate as so many are these days, Marvel and DC will have to start developing more online games and virtual universes of all their characters that you and I will be willing to pay a monthly fee to access through our computers and game consoles. Ka-ching, Ka-ching. DC has already announced a deal with Sony Online Entertainment and Marvel is working with Vivendi Universal Games. With the massive successes of the X-Men and Spiderman movies, this has proven that the Marvel characters still have life and relevance in today's pop culture.
While DC may be playing a bit of catch up, they are quick to point out that they and Warner Bro. have been more successful on the small screen with TV shows like "Smallville" and several animated cartoon series. And further since their TV and film projects are filmed and aired by the Warner Bro. conglomerate, DC gets to keep more of the profit than Marvel does on their projects.
What do we, the consumer public, get out of all this? Well, for one, we get to see our heroes in a more realistic light than ever before. We can grab that popcorn and maybe an extra drink and watch our comic book heroes and characters come to life in a real world setting, at least for a few hours, and walk out with a little more joy in our hearts. Go out and get immersed in Batman Begins and hold your breath for the Fantastic Four. And besides, this new revelation in Hollywood may just increase the value of our old mint condition comics. We can only wait and see.

Backyard Croquet hobby

Backyard http://www.PlayCroquet.com>croquet is a gift that keeps on giving. You can use a croquet set and you can use it again and again and again and again for friend or family entertainment. I recently bought a http://www.PlayCroquet.com/croquet_sets.php>croquet set and played a game of backyard croquet or poison croquet – another form of backyard croquet – with my family in my backyard. We had a nine-wicket, six player croquet set. Now that we have a set, we can play it as much as we want as a free, fun family outdoor activity. Anyone in the family can also invite their friends over for some cheap outdoor entertainment. They can also take it on dates or other group activities. For my family it is especially nice to have outdoor games such as croquet to play. Each Friday we have a family barbecue and find ways to entertain ourselves during the barbecue. Outdoor games provide a form of entertainment that we can enjoy many times over for an affordable price. We also have other outdoor games like ping pong, frizbee, Kubb, and more. We just had to purchase one croquet set and now we can use it as often as we like. The last time that we played outdoor croquet in my backyard, during our barbecue, hardly anyone in my family had played it before, so I got to teach them all how to play. It is always fun when it is someone’s first time, especially when they learn the rule of roquet or of placing your foot on your ball, next to another player’s ball, to hit their ball far out of play.
During our first game, the lawn was not mowed, so it made the game a little more interesting. It was harder to aim and set the correct distance for your shot, so it made it more difficult for the experienced players to get an easy win. My brothers and sisters were able to keep up with me or at least keep pretty close throughout the game, although, I had not played for years myself. My sister just younger than me even pulled ahead of me near the end. I thought she might even beat me. My brothers and sisters thought it was fun to roquet or hit my ball, since I was the experienced player. Everyone always gangs up on the leading player in any game, it seems like.
My sister missed the wickets at the end and passed them, so it gave me the opportunity to pull ahead hit the final stick and become poison. I stayed close by my sister just younger than me for a while, threatening to kill her ball with my poison ball, to stop her, but also to give the other member of my family the chance to catch up and feel like they had a chance to win before I crushed them. Finally, I finished my sister off, and subsequently defeated all of the others. Even though none of them had ever played before, I still felt a sense of pride from defeating them.
We mowed the game for the second game, and this time everyone knew how to play and understood the rules, so I did not have to play that time. So it was a little better. I recommend playing on a nice cut lawn. It is more fun to be able to hit your ball a further distance without hitting it hard. The second game was probably a little more fun for everyone once they knew the rules. We did not have to stop and explain things to anyone either, so it flowed a little quicker and more smoothly. Peter Jay is a Vice President with Yard Game Central and a manager and web administrator with PlayCroquet.com. For more information abouthttp://www.PlayCroquet.com/croquet_sets.php>croquet sets, visithttp://www.PlayCroquet.com.

A Word on Comic Book Pricing hobby

The going worth of individual comic books can range all over the board. Some issues have been know to bring in monetary value of six figures, while other issues aren't even worth the price you paid for them. Action Comics #1 (the introduction of Superman) in mint condition has been quoted at being worth $650,000. A pretty tidy piece of change. Then Weird Science, issue #13, in near mint condition can command a respectable price tag of $5,750. There are also multitudes of back issues purchased at a newsstand price of around 5 bucks, that are now worth even less than that.
So how does one go about determining the actual value of their individual collections? This is not an easy task or one to be taken lightly. Comic book worth is a highly perceived value and will vary quite greatly, depending on which opinion you choose to follow. By all means, if there is a reputable comic book dealer in your local area that you are comfortable dealing with, get his or her opinion. But in all my research so far, it seems that "The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide" is the bible of most active comic book collectors.
I have my copy in electronic format, reachable from my desktop. It is very handy. If you truly want to understand what your magazines are worth, the first thing you need to do is to determine the physical condition of each comic book. Is it raggady ass poor with pages missing and in need of a paper clip to hold it together or has it never been opened since purchased and appears to be in mint condition? Even brand new comic books may not make the grade of mint or perfect condition.
Overstreet gives a very detailed description of all the grades and sub-grades used in the 0.5 to 10.0 scale, generally acceptable by all comic book aficionados. If you follow his physical condition explanations and grading scale, you will get a pretty good feel for the conditions of your own collection.
The next step in your pricing exercise is to then go through the myriad of pages to find your particular issues. Along with your now determined physical and grade conditions, you can find your issue's current assumed value.
This guide also has tips on collecting, preserving and storing your comic books. And it defines the various ages (Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.) that comic book history has moved through.
I guess if I had to mention a drawback to this guide, it would be the fact that there is soo much information to go through, it could take you quit a while to devour the whole book. Once you get well acquainted and comfortable with the guide though, you could consider yourself an expert in your own right and help your friends out with their collecting and pricing questions.
I do believe this guide to be an invaluable and inexpensive resource to have and I don't think you will be disappointed with it. You can visit Heritage Comics at http://www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/CBPG to learn more about the guide. While you are there, you may want to surf around Heritage's site. There are some very interesting subjects there. If you have never seen Heritage Comics' site before and you really enjoy it, just remember where you heard about it at (ha, ha). Of course if you would rather have a hard copy of the Overstreet Guide, I an sure your local comic book store would have a copy and I hope this little review has helped you with your pricing questions.