Fishing For Hobbyists - Niche Picking Need Not Be Nit Picking

I'm in two minds whether to be ambivalent here. Should I post this idea on this blog site or on my own personal blog that is written in the comfort of my old darkroom? I can say meaner things at home and unlike work, there a chocolate biscuits freely available. But right now my readership for the thing hrhoa.wordpress.com   - " Here All Week" - is still smaller than the entire reach of this blog and its associated Facebook account, so this is a better audience. Here goes.

Get yourself a group of geeks.

No, not necessarily the pencil-necked ones with  pockets full of pens and minds full of "Dr. Who". I mean get yourself a specialist group of enthusiasts who share a common interest and a focused outlook on life. And soak them for all you can.

The dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast hobbyist collector pest is just the person you want to team up with - if they have a collection of anything that they have found, bought, or made, they are going to want glorious pictures of it - and that means they are going to need you to gloriously provide them.

You may have to steel yourself when you meet them - they can be focused to the point of mania - and you must be careful to treat their obsession with dignity and understanding and serious interest. You can wipe the thin trickle of blood and CSF from your ears after a couple of hours of listening to them, but try to engage them early on with the idea that THEIR precious is YOUR precious. And that YOU can make it all look wonderful, and safe, and noble. Never mind that they collect jam tins - photograph the jam tins as if they were Fabergé eggs.

Toy cars, toy trains, quilts, teapots, kittens, coins, stamps, flowers, bees, horses, defunct farm oil engines,....there are enthusiasts for everything and they can be sold your services if you are prepared to sell. Brand yourself if you must - I must say I never did care for the smell of singed hair - market yourself wherever they will let you stick a bill, and go wherever the geeks meet. Buy geek magazines and learn a few of the cant phrases - an occasional tech term half mumbled with a wise nod can make you an expert, as long as you are neared to the door than your listener.

The world is really your oyster. If are allergic to shellfish or are keeping kosher this may not be quite so appealing, but do try to go out their and find your niche market. Find it early and sell it hard. And remember if you have been out and spent a day at the Knitting And Crochet Fayre you can always come home and drink.