Your hobby + a computer = extra money

Stephanie Sorbel is one of only a handful of Kyle, South Dakota, residents who owns a computer. She’s also one of only a few members of the Oglala Lakota tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation who sells traditional clothes and crafts on the Internet. Word-of-mouth sales from Sorbel’s site (lakotadreams.com) bring in an extra $1,500 a month, which along with her and her husband’s full-time salaries goes to support their four children.

Sorbel taught herself to use the computer and navigate the Internet after her Marine husband bought her a PC in 1997 to e-mail him while he was stationed in California. When her mother suggested she sell her crafts on the Internet, Sorbel applied for a low-interest loan from the Lakota Fund, which helps businesses develop on the reservation. Then Sorbel was able to hire a website designer and pay a hosting service. “People don’t realize how many funds there are that can help you start a website,” says Sorbel, who now works as an office manager for the fund.

Sorbel made her first online dollar in 1999 when a craft shop commissioned a traditional cradleboard for $800. “They sold it right away and immediately asked me to make a doll and other items,” she says.

Using traditional 18th-century techniques passed down to her by tribal members, Sorbel decorates clothes by pressing porcupine quills flat and hand-sewing them, using deer or buffalo tendon.

Time management is the key. “After we eat dinner each night, I work on my projects in the same room where my children are doing their homework,” she says. “When they’re done, my 12-year-old daughter helps with the beadwork, while the others put hair on the beaded dolls.”

Sorbel works on several projects simultaneously. The men’s powwow dance leggings ($1,500) she’s completing will take a couple of months, while the $700 doll of Standing Bear, one of her husband’s ancestors, will require weeks.

Sorbel’s advice: Be sure visitors to your site don’t have to hunt to find a phone number or e-mail address for you. Feature up-close images of your products. Most important, she says, “Never over-promise customers, and always be honest about what you can and can’t do within their time frame.”

Source:Reader’s Digest