I never seriously thought of making money from a hobby until I lost my job almost two years ago. When I decided to take a break from Corporate America one of my first instincts was to look at what I enjoyed doing and then trying to figure out if I could make money doing it.
I started writing stories as a child, poems and essays as a teenager and kept a journal off and on. While I imagined becoming a famous writer, marriage and babies and work came along and that dream was put away to support my family.
When my break came I decided to try writing again. I had not written anything other than reports for almost twenty years. How to get started? Hemingway advised to write about what you know. I was subscribed to several personal finance blogs at the time and have always enjoyed the subject. Then it hit, the realization that they are making money (well, some of them) writing weblogs about money matters. I decided that was where I would restart my writing dream.
I enjoy the discipline of keeping a posting schedule and the practice of writing again that The Buck List has given me. I am writing for eHow as well and both outlets have become small streams of income.
Think about what you really enjoy doing. Is there a market for it? Can you make a profit doing it? Use the $100 Test as Barbara Winter describes in her book “How to Make a Living Without a Job” to test your idea.
Have you turned a hobby into income? Share your story!
Friday
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Agree. Sometimes it takes something big. For me it was the birth of our first child and the realization that we could not fit her into the 800 square foot apartment, along with the home office I needed to do my employed job properly. So I quit and we moved to the country and after a while discovered a career path.
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