It is quite simple to turn your beadwork into salable items on a small scale, as you will probably give some of your creations away, have other folks on display around your house, or (in the case of jewelry) be putting on a few of your favorite pieces on an outing. As word gets out, it\’s completely possible that somebody will ask you to make something for them. This kind of natural growth will produce occasional profits and leave you hungering to get more, although gleaning occasional earnings for your beading tasks is relatively simple, it is a lot more difficult to take it to the next stage and turn your pastime into a cottage business.

I say this not to deter you from trying, but only to make clear that selling your beadwork for income on a regular basis is more challenging than you may think. As with anything worth doing, having your beading projects on a paying basis requires persistence and work. Having said that, if it\’s something you\’re interested in, I\’ll walk you through some of the things you\’ve got to be thinking about to be able to put your pastime on an income basis.

If you\’re serious about earning money with your beading ideas, the first, best thing you can do is not spread yourself too thin. Settle on 3-4 beadwork projects you can implement well and feel reasonably confident you can make a respectable profit at. Below, we\’ll examine a few of the more popular beading projects, and their suitability for your purposes.

Necklaces: Essentially the most well-known of the beading ideas individuals attempt for profit, as well as one of the most challenging to succeed at. If this is where your major interest lies, then you should know that in order to succeed, you\’ll really should work at carving out a niche for yourself. Try to keep some common, underlying design to your work. Stay consistent so that your portfolio has a similar \”look and feel.\” If simple elegance is what you do best, don\’t stray far from that in your \”for profit\” beading projects. On the other hand, if your choice runs to zany, outrageous styles, stay with that. Bear in mind that you\’ll need to be able to create your designs in quantity, so keep your designs basic but distinctive. A tall order, but by researching the market, you should be able to find a niche.

Bracelets: A smaller market compared to necklaces, but these projects could still be difficult to break into. One popular niche in the bracelet market is the \”mother\’s bracelet\”. A populated market now, but if you have a modern approach, that particular line of beading projects could be worthwhile indeed!

Earrings: One more wonderful type of beading projects, and this one lends itself nicely to earning. Once you\’ve perfected your patterns, you can typically produce several pairs of earrings each day, and some capacity for mass production is essential to profitability. Again, however, earrings are a crowded market, thus your beading projects will need to have some unique aspect to them in order for you to gain profits.