Making money on hobbies

[Krazykat]

I love writing and have made part time income on it but I need a full time job because writing doesn't pay the bills right now! But, yes, if you can do something you like and get paid for it, I see this as a win-win!

[Frugal]

I wish I could, but my talent is writing over art or painting or photography. Hard to make money by writing.

[j_anne]

@KrazyKat, how do you make a part time living writing?

[myfreebie]

I would definitely go with a site, blog about the topic of interest and put adsense there

[Frugal]

Someday I would like to have our own business, like a store possibly. That is more expensive financing than something like, say, a computer repair business out of your home. I think that most hobbies can be turned into a profitable business.

[SNRote]

Smart smart smart! If you know how to do something or make something...SELL IT! You can sell on Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist or just to family and friends. You would be surprised what people CAN'T make themselves and what they will pay for!

[alex499]

I love writing and I have several friends who pay people $200 to $400 to ghostwrite books on various subjects for them. If you are both a good researcher and a good writer, then this can be a great way to earn extra money.

[ir_dizzle]

I know a few people who turned their hobbies into full-time businesses. I'm in the process of starting a website - maybe one day it will be my full-time gig?

Things I love are business and finding bargains - that is what fueled me to start my website.

This may sound ridiculous but this is my process when shopping/ looking for bargains:

> When I'm in Ross, Marshalls, or other similar stores I go to my favorite sections; Men's active apparel, electronics, and DVD's
> I spend about 5 minutes quickly going through the racks seeing if there's something I want to buy for myself
> If I do see something I like, I compare their sale price to "their" original price and see if it's a bargain
> THEN, I scan the bar code of the item with my iPhone and run an app that checks to see if that item is for sale at another retailer (on or off-line)
> If the in-store price is cheaper than what the iPhone app shows THEN I'll consider buying it.

I also go through this process with items I don't want to buy but know it's being undersold by Ross, etc. - I could tell by just looking at it and I usually confirm this by using my iPhone app as mentioned above. I don't have to purchase the bargain to feel good about finding it. I used to buy these undersold items I don't want and sell them on eBay but after shipping and fees, my profit is vastly reduced and to make my time worthwhile I would need to find and sell a large amount of items.

I know this sounds strange but finding bargains excites me. I find a lot of bargains in this off-retail stores but this information is just for me - I feel I should share this information with people - if I get excited about finding deals in-store, I know there has to be at least a few others who feel the same... if I don't buy the item maybe if I mention it on-line or tweet about it someone else would go to that store and I buy it - I did all the work; all they have to do is have the money ready to purchase at the register.

I love deals - but I love sharing them even more!

[dojo]

I started my web design 'passion' in 2002. Now I work full time as a freelancer, since the hobby turned into a pretty lucrative business. My man is a numismatist. He's got a good coin collection which is fun to work on and it also pay some bills

[ir_dizzle]

I started my web design 'passion' in 2002. Now I work full time as a freelancer, since the hobby turned into a pretty lucrative business. My man is a numismatist. He's got a good coin collection which is fun to work on and it also pay some bills

Wow!!! I'm glad everything worked out for you. Did you have to leave a another job when you decided to go with your web design business?

[dojo]

No, I actually lost my job and had to rely only on web design. It started as a hobby 10 years ago. I had few sites of my own and was teaching myself all the 'jazz'. I was working as a radio DJ, having a daily evening show. In 2009 the station closed and we were all laid off. The job I was offered in the business paid half my usual wage, couldn't pay the bills with it. So, with no savings and nothing else to do, I started working full time as a web designer. First 3-4 months were horrible, I'd work for 14-15 hours a day and could barely make it. Then it started working better and now I'm comfortably living off my small business.