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How to Make Money From Your Hobby

Ways to Make Money 5 Comments

If you make money from your hobby, it’s called a “side hustle”. Side hustles are becoming more popular. You can make a lot of money when you have the right skills and the time to work on something that is profitable.

What exactly is a side hustle?

A side hustle is where you make extra money, usually on the side of your day job.

Some people make as much as $5,000 per month doing something they enjoy. This shows that it’s possible to make good money with a creative and profitable idea.

Occasionally, a side hustle can replace your day job – especially if you realize that your day job was paying you wholesale prices for your time.

I have done side hustles from my hobbies

I LOVE this idea and did it about 15 years ago. I love scrapbooking and would go to weekend crops. I would pay for my participation at the crop and a few nights at a hotel – spending $3-350 for a weekend a few times a year.

So, I started HOSTING weekend crops.

I did my homework and figured out that there were five months that were great for the attendance out of the twelve.

Then I shopped hotels to find a decent meeting room that had light, outlets, and a decent price on both the rate of the room rental as well as the nightly prices of the rooms that the women would use.

Then I figured out how many tables would fit into the meeting room – and created a price per table. It had to cover the meeting room and allow for a profit…but not be so expensive that it would turn people away. I went with a 2.5 mark up – which would allow for a $3,500 annual profit.

$3,500 might not seem like much, but I was spending around $1,200 so it was a difference of $4,700 in my pocketbook.

$5,000 is a great amount of money to tuck into a college fund, retirement fund, or even use for that family annual vacation! How about starting your IRA?

$5,000 a year, over 10 years could add up to $78,813 with 6% interest! 20 years takes it to $211,000!!!

That is not chump change, my friend.

Turning Your Hobby Into An Income Stream

If you’re like most people, you probably dream of having a job that’s enjoyable and fulfilling. Maybe the solution is to turn something you love into a way to pay the bills.

You may be thinking, “There’s no way I can make money from my hobby.” But you might be surprised!

Just think how great it would be if you could make money from the one thing that you actually choose to do when you have free time. What could possibly be better than that?

You might not be able to replace your regular job with this, or if you can, it won’t happen overnight. You could be like me and simply earn a few hundred dollars a month or more for something you would be doing anyway.

I showed you how that can make a big difference.

The two basic routes to making money from your hobby are:

1. Make Money From Your Hobby by Teaching.

Someone out there would like to learn what you know. Don’t make the mistake of believing that you have to be one of the world’s top ten leading experts on something in order to make money at it. Nothing can be further from the truth!

If you know more about something than anyone on your street, you can certainly make money teaching others…you simply have to know at least ONE more thing than everyone else in the room. Chances are, you will also help people remember what they knew and forgot.

It is a win-win.

· Some ways to teach include:

Giving seminars (online or in-person)

Thanks to Covid – people are savvier than ever with the web meeting. You can be a guest (paid) speaker for online seminars or host your own.

In-person? I did this all over southern Wisconsin at public libraries and financial planning events sharing how we saved $40,000 in less than a year (in 2010). I also taught coupon clipping classes and meal planning.

You simply contact the library “activities” director and see if they are looking for ideas or speakers.

Selling articles related to your hobby

This is a little trickier as you are selling to publications that cater to your desired crowd. They may or may not think you are knowledgeable enough, or it may be on topics they have already covered. You really need to research their backlog.

Writing and selling a book or e-book

This is easy to do if you self-publish! Make sure you have GREAT photos with it to help literally illustrate your lessons.

One-on-one coaching

This really depends on your topic as to what audience you would have. Being a personal trainer of sorts draws a more premium per person price for your time.

Set up a website

Setting up a website that provides educational information and sells related products and services can be very lucrative.

If you know me, I LOOOOOVE websites. I literally taught a course on how to build, make profitable, and to flip them.

2. Make Money From Your Hobby by Selling a related product or service.

Hobbies require supplies. Other people may as well be purchasing those supplies from you. If your hobby is collecting something, you can buy and sell whatever it is you collect. Or think of businesses related to your hobby.

For example:

· If you love animals, you could sell your services as a dog sitter.

· If you love boats, you could sell boat plans or rent boats to vacationers.

· Let’s face it, you’re probably more of an interior decorator than the average person. You like to watch design shows on TV and think that everyone else can just go ahead with their house-renovation plans without any input from “the experts.” So why not make some money off your knowledge? Offer consultations for a few hundred dollars per hour!

· What if fishing is your passion? How about owning a bait and tackle shop? You could be a fishing guide. You could sell fishing lures online. Do you have a “secret” lure or fly that you like to make? A great write-up of the instructions or actual kits to make them could be an Etsy goldmine!

· Do you love to travel? Take lots of pictures and write about your adventures. Travel magazines and websites are always looking for good content. You could also start your own travel website. Those pictures could be turned into digital products for Etsy too – everything from printable wall art to bookmarks.

The real key is to take time to think about all the ways you could possibly make money related to your hobby. Then you can choose to do so in the most enjoyable way possible.

Market Yourself

The hardest part of getting started for most people is marketing; you must market yourself and your business to get clients or customers. So be bold.

Tell your neighbors and family members about your plans. Post an ad on Craigslist.com. Make a website. People have to know you’re out there so they can hire you or purchase from you.

Imagine the excitement you’ll feel the first time you cash that check for doing something you used to do for free!

Once you make a little money from your hobby, the wheels will really start turning, and you’ll be surprised at all the other ideas that come to mind.

Get our FREE planning Workbook:

Make-Money-From-Your-Hobby-Worksbook Download

Start today by making a list of all the ways you could possibly make money off of your favorite hobby. Have fun, and good luck!

Originally posted 2021-12-02 17:50:59.

Tags: make money, repurpose

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