Sunday, January 21, 2007

Monetizing hobbies

My journey in learning fortune reading stuff began last December because of a bead jewelry hobby that I got introduced to. This is where I learned how to create bead jewelry that is designed according to one zodiac and chinese astrology sign. To promote our members' work , I'm learning how to make a bead jewelry showcase using Windows MovieMaker.

It is nice to have an idea as to what the year or month probably has in store. Of course, for as long as you don't allow your life to be ruled by it. For instance, after reading that there's no lap chun in 2007-2008, I took steps to start or revitalize my projects as early as now. Even without that info, I believe those are things that I should be doing anyway.

The moment I get into a hobby, I notice myself spending more than usual to it. This includes going to Quiapo, Greenhills, and Taguig just to look for stones. I now check out the art & crafts/new age section of bookstores, in addition to the business/self-help section.

When I start to spend more resources than usual on a particular topic or type of hobby, this prompts me to start making it self-sustainable. Last December 30, Fortune Reader was born.

It is indeed true that the more you know, the more you don't know. As soon as Fortune Reader started, I realized how hard it is to post a forecast for the masses disregarding personalization. I ended up looking for more resources to guide in doing it, without being careless. So today, there's only tarot reading posted in it done by a teen tarot reader hobbyist, Archeia.

Perhaps after a few months, we'll be adventurous in offering our content to existing websites and social networks that offers astrology and related information as info to its members.

I also do some reading but only to friends who asked for it.

For those of you who are adventurous enough to learn more on this topic, the following books can be of help:

  • Lilian Too's Fortune & Feng Shui 2007
    Alerts you on good / bad months and your lucky gemstones. This got me started in customized bead jewelry.
  • Heal yourself with crystals (Hazel Raven)
    I always look at crystals as reminders, appreciating these gems as gift from the earth. Though they may not really heal by itself, but it serves as great reminders.
  • The Crystal Zodiac (Judy Hall)
    I really love this book as it allows me to design bead jewelry tailored to one's sun, moon, and ascendant sign. This sparked my interest in astrology.
  • Professional Tarot (Christine Jette)
    This book gave me an idea as to how tarot reading sites generate revenue online and offline through training.
  • The 2-hour Tarot Tutor (Wilma Carroll)
    I used to think that learning Tarot is creepy. After reading this book, I laugh at myself as to how foolish I've been.
  • The Astrology Kit (Liz Greene/Grant Lewi)
    This kit made astrology easy to grasp.
  • Be Your Own Astrologer (Paul Wade)
    I find this book complicated. I only got comfortable with it after reading other astrology charting books.
  • The Secret Language of Luck (Gary Goldschneider)
    Good in alerting you on good and bad luck.
  • The Hidden World of Birthdays (Judith Turner)
    A little bit confusing especially when you've read other books already and there are some conflicts in it. However, it is good to read a different perspective.
  • Cards of Destiny (Sharon Jeffers)
    Interesting to know that Tarot originated with your traditional playing cards. Gives an interesting twist on one's profile, partners, and forecast.
  • Eight Characters Chinese Personal Forecasting
    Still learning on this one but this gives a different point of view on fortune reading.
  • Numerology and your future (Dusty Bunker)
    Very interesting when tied to Tarot.
  • 365 Feng Shui Tips (Lilian Too)
    Nice for learning Feng Shui for the home.
  • Tarot Journaling (Corrine Kenner)
    I'm into a lot of journaling of various forms. I'm interested to see how this one works.
  • The Tarot Life Planner: Change Your Destiny and Enrich Your Life (Lady Lorelei)
    One of the best tarot books I've read and very insightful as well. Gives better understanding on reversed cards and numerous spread methods. It is also useful tool for understanding yourself more.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am an avid tarot enthusiast and have been thinking for years about maybe turning this into a 'self-sustaining' project, but keep putting it off. I'll get around to putting up a website eventually, I think. Anyway love this post, we made a link to it from our blog post today at GoSmelltheFlowers