Blessing the Lives of Others through Home Business
 Everyone has a talent of some kind. Sharing your talents to bless the
lives of others is service. Making money with our talents is a blessing
not only for our family’s income, but for the people who purchase your wares,
ideas, or in other ways benefit from your talents. Many people do not
realize that even though they must charge for their talents, that it still
blesses others.
Rudyard Kipling, a renowned poet who lived from 1865-1936, touched countless
lives through his works. “Kipling spoke for the great middle class- soldiers,
clerks, sailors, housewives- who had tired of “literary” lady-like poets of the
mid-century, and who hungered for the recreation of the realistic world of the
here and now.” (Jacob, 1955) He became a writer as a way to escape
from his poor living conditions in India. He met with much success and
sold paperback editions of his stories to local railway offices, soliciting
buyers via penny postcard. His Barrack Room Ballad made him enough money
that he never would have to write another word. But, he loved writing and
continued throughout his life. His writing brought in income for his
family and touched lives then and continues to do so today eighty years later.
If you have a talent and wish to make it into a business, do it! Don’t
feel guilty for making money! My best friend has a degree in
business. In one of her college classes her professor told everyone most
emphatically, “Do not feel guilty for making money!” That is how we
survive in this world! Money is what feeds our families, what we pay our
tithes with, how we purchase our homes and cars. Lucy Mack Smith, mother
of the Prophet Joseph Smith and who had eight children, helped bring in money
for her family with her talents:
“To obtain cash with which to buy land, Lucy once more painted oil tablecloths,
members of the family sold refreshments from a small shop and peddled them by
cart when crowds gathered for celebrations and revivals, and the older boys
worked for farmers needing extra hands for harvesting, digging wells, and
landscaping. After two years of this labor, Lucy and Joseph were able to
buy a farm two miles south of Palmyra.” (Arrington, 1998, 2001)
Selling our wares, ideas, etc, gives us self esteem as we help improve lives
with our home business and share our talents.
Many women today feel bad making money and under price much of what they sell.
They get burn out quickly. Many feel especially bad making money from
friends or family- no matter what it is that they sell. These women work
hard to make or collect their items. If everything in this world were
affordable for everyone (or free), what kind of quality is it? Would you
appreciate it as much? How many free gifts with purchase or
free things does one find that is of high value or quality?
Did you know that the Book of Mormon was sold; as a blessing for others and to
help the Saints earn money? “Joseph Smith once owned five thousand copies
of the first edition Book of Mormon, which cost him three thousand dollars to
print. He said that he was divinely instructed to sell them for between $1.25
and $1.75 each. Since the derived cost of the books was 65¢ each, Joseph was
therefore commanded to make a profit. Even at that reasonable profit, Parley
Pratt recognized the propriety of accepting more generous offers, when he
recounted that in 1831: “One gentleman offered as high as ten dollars for a copy
of the Book of Mormon; but, unluckily, I had none with me.”
The Relief Society Magazine was a monthly publication put out by the Relief
Society on a monthly basis. It was published from 1915-1970. One
thing I enjoyed reading about throughout these magazines was “how to sell the
Relief Society magazine.” The sisters were asked to sell this publication
to all the women they could. They even had stake magazine representatives
which were asked to make visits to the sisters both active and inactive in an
attempt to sell the magazine. Articles were featured about how to
advertise, overcome objections, and other promotional work in selling the
magazine.
Whatever your idea or talent is, do some research to see how you can market it.
Pray for inspiration that you may be blessed in your endeavors. And start
your own home business today knowing that you can enhance lives and help feed
your family through your talents!
_______________________________________
 Shiloah Baker is an entrepreneur who runs the Homemaking Cottage & Co., an
online business which sells
books, eBooks, ideas,
LDS related materials, and a
special subscription service. For more information go to:
http://www.homemakingcottage.com
______________________________________
Works Cited
1 Mormonism.com, John Hajicek, other sources: The Autobiography of Parley
Parker Pratt, ed. Parley Pratt Jr. (New York: Russell Brothers, 1874), p. 87.
For other precedents for selling the Book of Mormon at a profit, see Messenger
and Advocate, May 1835; Eber Howe, Mormonism Unveiled [sic] . . . (Painesville,
Ohio: 1834), p. 252; Naked Truths About Mormonism, April 1888; and Pomeroy
Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D. Appleton & Co.,
1867), p. 55.
Arrington, M. J. (1998, 2001). In S. A. Leonard Arrington, Mothers of the
Prophets (p. 11). Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft.
Jacob, E. B. (1955, October). Literature- The Literature of England. Relief
Society Magazine , p. 698.
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