Earn Side Income with Hobbies That Make Money

Many people feel like hobbies should be the first thing to go when it’s time to tighten the budget. While many hobbies might be expensive to maintain, that does not mean you necessarily have to give them up. In fact, your favorite method of stress relief might even be able to help you through a tough economic time by creating a side business from your hobby.

Turn Hobbies Into Profit

Here are some ideas for making your hobbies work for you:

Crafting

If you are a regular knitter, quilter, crocheter, or scrapbooker, you know that the materials for creating your favorite fabric arts and photo crafts can often cost a pretty penny. Luckily, there are ways to make these projects pay. Here are several ways to get the words out about your crafts.

• If you’re active on social media, you can sell on Facebook (either on your business page or in the marketplace…or both). Instagram is another good place to sell your goods
• Etsy.com is a marketplace for crafters. This site will allow you to sell your crafts to others. And don’t overlook other marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.
• Start a blog about your crafting and include tutorials on how to do what you do. In addition to earning ad revenue with your blog, you can also sell your products to your readers.

There are plenty of ways to sell your crafts online. You just have to give it a try.

Gardening

Whether your green thumb prefers vegetables or flowers, you can find ways to make your gardening habit fruitful.

Here are a couple of ideas:

• If you grow your own vegetables, don’t just give away your excess zucchini and tomatoes at the office. Sell your homegrown and organic produce to neighbors, family, and friends. They will appreciate knowing where their food is coming from, and you can offer a better deal than the grocery store while still being able to sustain your gardening habit.
• If you have a great eye for what flowers will brighten up a yard, offer your services. Many individuals would love to have a garden as beautiful as yours, but they have no idea how to go about doing it. That’s where you come in.
• Again, starting a blog about your passion is a great way to start building a passive income online.

Sports

If you live, eat, and breath football, soccer, baseball, hockey, or any other sport, you can find a way to help make your hobby pay.

Here are a couple of ideas:

• If you like kids, coaching is a great way to enjoy your sport while making some money.
• If you’d prefer to work with the adults, find out if the local teams need referees or umpires.
• Even if you’re more of a spectator than a player, you can make money from your favorite sport. Official scorekeepers are required at professional and college games. Becoming a scorekeeper can keep you front and center for your favorite team.
• Oh, did I mention starting a blog about what you love?

Music

If you love to play an instrument or sing, you’ve probably already thought about how to get gigs.

• In addition to weddings and other events, consider joining a local theater’s orchestra or playing at restaurants with live music nights.
• Rather than play an instrument, do you own more albums than you can count? If you’re on top of the latest music (or are a collector of vintage music), why not take your albums on the road and become a DJ for different events? No matter what your musical preference, you will find individuals who will enjoy hearing your favorite tunes.
• If you love making your own music, there are websites like TuneCore.com that will let you sell your music worldwide.

Collectibles

Many of us like to keep a collection of our favorite items.

Admittedly, it takes a lot of niche knowledge to turn this hobby into a money-making enterprise due to many issues with using collectibles as investments. This doesn’t mean that you cannot turn your existing collections into a source of side income. Here are some ideas on how you can turn this hobby into a side gig:

• The most obvious is to buy and sell your own items to make a profit.
• Next is offering your service to help procure items in your specialized niche, i.e., acting as a broker.
• And of course, blogging about your hobby and collection can help generate more potential clients and interest in your collection.

Bottom Line

Making your hobbies pay takes a little creativity and some patience. Luckily, that’s precisely what it takes to make a hobby enjoyable, too.

Emily Guy Birken

Emily Guy Birken is a freelance writer, recovering English teacher, and stay-at-home-mom. She lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with her mechanical engineer husband and infant son. Her musings on life and parenting can be found at The SAHMnambulist.