Comments on: Incomplete list of hobbies that could earn money

By: morrigan333

morrigan333 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 02:05:14 +0000

Disagree about music. It depends on who you want to teach. Beginning children or adults don’t really require that much experience or expertise even if you’re merely an adequate or mediocre player. You just have to be more accomplished than your potential student pool. It does, however, require a great deal of patience to teach children (and deal with parents!), and if you’re teaching a non-portable instrument like piano or organ, you have to have a studio or buy one for your home. But at $15-$20 US for a half-hour lesson, it can add up quickly. I haven’t tried this myself, but I have many friends who do it to suppliment their income and they think it’s worth it.

By: Krav Maga

Krav Maga — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:54:07 +0000

My hobby is Krav Maga which is a self defense martial art. I make very nice money on the side teaching Krav Maga several times a week and also running intensive Krav Maga Seminars here in Thailand where I live. I also get spin off personal fitness trainer work from the Krav Maga and have a few extra clients for personal fitness. I get paid to bring my clients jogging along the beach front…nice work!

My main day job is as a teacher in an school here in Thailand, so I occasionally do English tutoring on the side as well.

Though I can say it is better fun earning extra cash from being a Krav Maga Instructor.

By: JPMom

JPMom — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:02:15 +0000

I did my own research and found TypoBounty.com. You look for misspelled words on the internet and get paid $2.00 for each one. Not bad for me. I am on the internet a lot.

By: Natalia T

Natalia T — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:30:59 +0000

This is a pretty good list! I would venture to say that almost any hobby can make money. Here’s an even bigger list of hobbies with all kinds of sites and resources and projects related to each category.
http://www.squidoo.com/the-world-s-biggest-list-of-hobbies

By: Carlos E

Carlos E — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:24:46 +0000

What about photography? If you study enough you can get very professional photos. I’d won 2 contest already (and my gear is already paid by the prizes); and my friends hire me for their weddings, so I dont even have to buy a gift and get paid bay them.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:13:53 +0000

@Bakari, Luke – Yes, this is a real danger. I stopped reading SciAm, Nature, Astronomy, Sky&Telescope, and other magazines almost as soon as I started studying physics. When I started doing research, I would tend to have very little interest in physics problems beyond my own little niche. The “physics-energy” was just gone. I needed other kinds of stimulation. Other hobbies. Presently, physics is completely ruined for me. I don’t care to follow it at all. That’s kind of funny considering I spent a lot of my high school sparetime with my nose in a college text book and deriving equations just for fun.

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:07:08 +0000

Bakari, I had a related experience when I decided to bootstrap my teenage love of SoCal punk music into a small-scale business to help support my university studies, buying stock from US wholesalers to sell on in the UK where ‘fringe’ music fans like myself weren’t yet supported.

I made out like a bandit for a little while (even managing to break into the $$$$ profit zone for a year (just)). To begin with it seemed like next to no effort to scout out wholesalers/record labels, order up a big box of merch and then eBay it for a healthy profit. But then I started to realise that I spent more time sending out parcels than I did listening to music and going to gigs.

I guess that’s when music stopped being such an interest of mine – I haven’t worn a band t-shirt in years (sniff )

By: Bakari

Bakari — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:59:47 +0000

p.s.
I always liked to fiddle with bikes, and now – I am actually covering a shift at a bikeshop right this very second as I type this.
I spend about 8 hours a month here, so it still feels like a hobby I get paid for

By: Bakari

Bakari — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:58:24 +0000

One thing to be careful of though…

Sometimes if you make too much money at something, a hobby starts to feel like a job.

I used to go out for long bike rides all around the east bay at least once a week. I went on a 2600 mile bike ride from SF to Mexico City.

So, I figured why not get paid for what I enjoy?

I spent almost 2 years as a bike messenger, and now I almost never ride for fun anymore.

I’m sure it makes a big difference if its 40 hours a week vs. now and then, but just to be on the safe side, I never seriously pursued a career as a porn star

By: JerseyGirl

JerseyGirl — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:43:02 +0000

Great post!

One thing that women (or guys too I suppose) can do is beauty treatments. I love hair, and I recently cut my very thick, tightly curly hair from hip length to a few inches past my shoulders. I was spending so much money on products! Now it’s much more affordable, and frees up lots of time.

Anyway, if you can style hair you can make a nice income on the side. If you can braid, install false hair or even just style it for big occasions, you can make nice cash with your hobby. If you aren’t using chemicals then you don’t need a beautician’s license, at least in my state.

You could also do things like hair threading, which take 5 minutes per customer, and women will gladly pay $10 for, plus a tip. If you do these kind of beauty treatments during the evenings when most women are off from work, you can make a nice profit that can go directly into your ERE principal, while you still work your day job. This under the table money can’t be beat.

Enhancing beauty is fun (for me anyway) and it’s a great way to socialize while you make some cash.

By: Luke

Luke — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:45:38 +0000

What about beekeeping?

I’ve been doing some research and it sounds fascinating. Granted, there is some outlay (£££/$$$) to begin with, but most of the sources I’ve read suggest that it could turn a profit in the second year.

Even if it didn’t, it’s a very scalable hobby and the basic skills (not the time) don’t seem to be much different from 1 hive to 50 hives.

Add to the mix the fact that bees are very important for the ecosystem (green hobby), farmers will like you for your airforce of pollen-dropping bees (free land to put extra hives on?), honey is a very healthy foodstuff that can last for centuries if stored correctly and lots of people like it – great for treating sweet-toothed friends, building social capital and possibly bartering?

By: Daniele

Daniele — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:54:29 +0000

Hi Jacob,
maybe in fitness or teaching category, I would put Salsa dancing (or any other dance, actually!).
It’s fun, cheap and sociable, and in few years (let me say 3-4) opens the doors to assisting and eventually teaching.
There’s no certification required or professional study, as Salsa comes from the street

By: sarabee

sarabee — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:42:11 +0000

On sports, I have a friend who picks up a little cash as an umpire. He is paid to umpire high school and city league games. He turned his passion for baseball into a small income, after he had to quit playing in the city leagues…at age 50! You do have to really know the rules, be tough, and be diplomatic. Learning the rules could certainly be done in a short while, the others are things you either are, or you aren’t. I imagine the same applies to a number of other sports.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:04:31 +0000

@Robyn – check out http://bicycletutor.com/

By: Robyn

Robyn — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:48:40 +0000

I’ve always wanted to be a bike mechanic – at least become proficient at working on my own bike. I want to take a class/workshop. Better yet teach myself. To that end I’m borrowing a couple DVDs on bike repair from the library and am about to purchase a bike stand from Amazon (cheaper than the one I saw on Craigslist). I think I’d use it at least weekly (fitting in with your rule about making purchases), but if you have thoughts/advice I’d like to know. I like the perspective you bring to these topics.
I also knit and have sold these items. Not as much in the warmer months.

By: jane

jane — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:01:32 +0000

I’ve always been a reader/writer, mostly as a hobby but also a few years trying to teach English to adolescents. Now, in retirement, I’m making a little money copy-editing for friends and acquaintances who are writing books or websites. I just banked an $85 check for the first chapter of a six-chapter book @ $2/page! No bloggers yet, but let me know when, Jacob!

By: Jan

Jan — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:57:36 +0000

I think this is one of your better posts.

Profitable hobbies are like income-producing assets and sources of passive income: everybody recommends them, but few manage to come up with interesting examples.

By: fandd

fandd — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:11:02 +0000

Really enjoyed this post. I was wondering about this when your previous post mentioned a “neutral” hobby.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:33:05 +0000

Thanks for this post, Jacob. I think a lot of people have the idea that hobbies are for enjoyment exclusively. They fall into something, usually out of proximity, and stick with it no matter how reasonably it aligns with their life style/goals.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:36:55 +0000

under the idea of music- there are ways to make money playing music that dont involve teaching. street performing (on the weekends, if you’re still working), and/or playing shows at small clubs. street performing is variable depending on location, time, weather, etc. clubs usually pay anywhere from $10-$100 a night, depending on turnout and popularity of your act.