There are a lot of days writing doesn’t feel as great as I want it to be, it’s like I lost my hobby. However, there is no job that doesn’t make you feel like you lost your soul on a few days. Some time in 2016, I had finally quit a terrible pay and boring hours. My job then was to chase after real estate tenants and landlords, I tried hard to fit into the role and adjust to the uncertainties that came with it. Every morning, I would pray earnestly to get a new brief. I got a few but I was struggling to stay optimistic.

It was a job that gave me no assurance for the future and no satisfaction. I knew at some point that even if I got a pay raise, I was not doing the job I wanted to do. All I wanted was to be a solution provider. I could do anything for an opportunity to inspire others but all I could inspire was my brown dusty shoe every evening.

I still want to consult in real estate but that has now become a long-term vision than an immediate target. The plan is to develop a solution through research and develop a network that would accept me into a role that fits my goals. So I quit my paying job.

Leaving a Paid Job to Pay for School in South Africa

Do you know that being 25 or older does not mean you should be at a desk job? You are still young enough to travel and school. Life in itself is always a learning process. Hobby working gives you an opportunity to do your MBA. Masters or other specialized training you might need.

I finally decided to do what I knew would make me happy. I had been blogging and writing on social media for some time and I realized it couldn’t be that hard to grow my audience. The decision was easy. I went back to school as I had planned and also developed a goal to turn my writing hobby into a paying job. I will call that “hobby working.”

This time next year I would be a graduate with a Masters Degree funded mostly from writing jobs. I have been at the University of Pretoria for almost a year studying a Masters in Real Estate. Most of my funding has come from several writing opportunities which I began to discover since 2016.

Getting Clients: Did Social Media Help my Hobby Working?

Recently I have wondered if I would have been able to achieve so much without social media and the answer is “No.” A large chunk of my clientele comes from social media. Getting visible is one of the toughest jobs on social media. Then combining visibility with branding is even tougher. It’s one thing to create engagement, it’s another thing for people to know you for what you do and refer clients to you.

These are skills I had to learn to be able to acquire quality leads, showcase my portfolio and close sales. There are a lot of times I receive messages asking me about how social media management works. A lot of business owners and brands want to get a hang of their brand and audience.

There are so many master classes out there that teach you absolutely nothing about the technicalities of social media management and visibility. Maybe they tell you funny stories about how they paid for one Masterclass and asked someone to talk about them but these things do not sustain your audience. They cannot help you effectively manage your skills and time effectively enough to become an influencer or brand that people talk about.

Influencing people especially when they can’t see you is a serious job! That’s why social media influencing goes beyond just putting up a random post and having your friends laugh over it. It is about you establishing a place in the hearts of so many people, and getting them to lean in the direction you want.  – Olumide Glowville

If no one is talking about you, then your opportunities are as good as nil. I know by now you are wondering if there is a technique or tool to use.

Can I learn Social Marketing?

Well, here is my candid opinion, the internet is quite fluid. What works today might not work tomorrow. Blogging, SEO, Keyword research, Content Planners, Hashtags, Tagging Influencers and other several other methods exist to build a business brand from your hobby.

It’s like they all take turns to be the trend in social media communities. Soon we would all move to some new trending thing, just like how email marketing and sales funnels emerged overnight. The ocean of ideas online might confuse you, but you can choose not to be desperate for results. Here is something I can recommend. In about 1-3 hours of reading you can learn how to build a social empire.

I stumbled on a book that teaches you about social media tools and tricks to beat even the Facebook algorithms. It summarizes my journey quite easily. Instead of me giving you a boring lecture on how I run my business, I think you can just get this resource and take advantage of it’s affordability.

There is no sure guarantee for making money online. This you must remember. A lot depends on your desire to connect with people and change their lives. If you have a desire to solve problems then this book by Olumide Glowville is a great starting point. The title is “Building a Social Empire,” and you can get a copy by visiting the Glowville Blog.

In this book you will be exposed to real life people and their journeys to social media influencing. They are probably people you know, and you may have been wondering how they became so popular. You will also learn tools that would help you create a consistent brand and connect with the right target audience.

Share this…

I transitioned from writing as a hobby to creating a job for myself and many others. It’s one of the most challenging decisions I made about wealth creation but it has been a swell time. I think you can also transition. There is no excuse, you are already always online. People label you a phone addict already so why are you not turning this into something positive?

A lot of people ask me if they should try to make money from their hobbies. I always say “If you can’t make money from what you enjoy doing then why do you enjoy it at all? Do you want to be paid to do jobs you find exhausting and draining?” I bet your answer is a “No.” Why not start learning how to build a social empire? It’s easy. Share this post if you like it, you might help someone who needs this pep talk. Your dreams are valid, don’t let financial struggles push you into a job you hate.