Today’s guest post was written by Maurine Anderson
There’s a nifty saying that goes, “Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative.” You don’t necessarily have to turn a hobby like painting or yoga into your lifelong career, but it is a good idea to pursue at least one hobby in life that can make you some money. That way, whether you need to finance a wedding, save some extra money for a down payment, build up an emergency fund, or pay off some debt, you can always depend on your craft to help sustain you. You can even use your craft to “swap skills” with other people, as this article suggests.
Have you always wanted to find a hobby that could help you make some extra money on the side somewhere down the road? Here is a look at 8 hobbies that can make you money.
One tip here—and this applies to all of these hobbies listed: Once you have the skills to back yourself up, don’t let people take advantage of you. Don’t be afraid to charge people what you are worth, and don’t be afraid to turn down jobs that people are asking you to do for free. A creative skill can take years and thousands of dollars to master, and you should never feel pressured to do free or cheap work, even for family and friends (unless you are doing it as a gift, of course.)
Photography
Photography and videography are two major ways that people are making money doing what they love. It may take years of practice to become good enough to work at the professional level, but if you have a DSLR camera and some good post production software, go ahead and put yourself out there.
Even if you aren’t quite as good as the professionals, many people are looking for photographers who might be looking to shoot an event or family portraits for a slight discount. And if you manage to create professional looking photos, you could even make money selling prints or selling your photos to a stock photo website.
If you were particularly artistic as a child, then chances are you could make some extra money doing something graphic design related. Spend some time learning to use Adobe Illustrator (and perhaps Photoshop and InDesign, as well.) Then, try approaching a few small businesses and offer to design a new logo, packaging, business cards, or marketing materials. As this article explains, many businesses are all-too-eager to outsource to a professional graphic designer. Alternatively, you could try starting your own wedding invitation business online. You could even start a shop on Etsy and sell digital or professionally printed artwork.
If you’re good with pen and paper, try honing some lettering skills and start offering professional lettering and calligraphy services. The world of graphic design is extremely vast, so if you are artistic by any means, you’ll surely find your niche here.
Knitting or Crocheting
If you’re a good seamstress, there are a variety of ways you can make extra money. You might do alterations on shirts, dresses, and even bridal gowns. You could make your own sewing patterns and sell those online. You could teach sewing lessons. You could even make custom goods for people, such as household linens, costumes, or bridal gowns.
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Love making your own jewelry? Why not design and make your own jewelry and sell it online through a site like Etsy? Jewelry is a great thing to sell online because people are always looking for something unique, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money to ship.
Music
You don’t have to be a professional-level musician in order to make money with music. Even if simply play a musical instrument, chances are there are people in your neighborhood who would love to pay you for lessons. If you play the piano, for example, consider putting up signs in your neighborhood for private piano lessons. You can schedule your own hours and take on as little or as much work as you want.
Fitness
If you’re a fitness junkie, you can definitely make some extra money helping others realize their fitness goals. You can work part-time as a personal trainer at a local gym, for example, or you might design your own workouts and sell those online in a downloadable eBook format.
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