21 Hobbies That Make Good Money On The Side

Well this blog is about making money with making art & crafts, which for a lot of people is a ‘hobby’. So it made sense to write a long post on other hobbies that can make money as well. There are plenty of people out there with some great interests, and in spite of pursuing these interests informally, they are quite good at what they do.

Some of the best businesses start with a personal interest and passion.

Almost any field of knowledge or information can be turned into a money making venture, as long as:

1. You are truly good at what you do.
2. You can share something of value with people.

Let me get something out of way first, otherwise I will be repeating myself throughout this post. Almost all the hobbies, interests, pastimes that we are going to mention below can be monetised through an online business model.

In other words you can make a blog, write articles, post videos and create great online content using your knowledge. This in turn will help you reach a wide and worldwide audience which can generate a great revenue stream.

There are many way to monetise a blog or a website and we will not talk about all of them here. In short, you can charge directly for the content by selling items or service, or you can offer free content and generate revenue with 3rd party advertisements.

Right, lets get down to it. Here is a list of some money making hobbies.

1) BLOGGING

It shouldn’t really be a surprise that this comes before everything else. Blogging is a really great way to monetise any expertise or knowledge that you might have. Of course it involves learning how to create and run a popular blog apart from the knowledge that you will be sharing though it. But it’s a very effective way to reach global audiences and monetise any interest and passion.

You can create a blog about virtually anything, including something that you would otherwise impart physically. For example, cooking, dancing, singing, martial arts, sewing, woodworking etc. A blog can be made out of any specialised knowledge and used to provide the same information digitally to potentially a much large audience.

The fact is that many people do start blogging merely as a hobby. And they post about casual things like their travels, building a new home, keeping a pet and what not. Many such bloggers have grown to realise that what they were doing was actually a potentially money making activity.

People are interested in all kinds of things online. So they read all kinds of blogs and websites. And because there are so many effective ways to monetise a blog these days, all kinds of popular blogs can make money. How to monetise a blog is another topic which we will write on separately. 

So there you go. If you are passionate about something, have a lot of knowledge about it that you can share, and learning to blog about it catches you fancy, go for it. It’s a long road. It will take time.

You will have to do many things to make your blog popular. But it’s a rewarding journey. You just have to decide whether blogging is for you or not. You will have to create great content by writing, and/or taking pictures, making videos, you will learn to post to social media platforms, and do all this on a regular basis.

2) CRAFTING

You saw this coming, didn’t you :). Of course we are going to tell you that art and crafts are a wonderfully lucrative option. But seriously, we aren’t just saying that because this blog is about that. Handicrafts are really popular these days and only growing in popularity. There is so much you can do and so many ways you can make money from it. We hardly need to write any more about it here. Just read all the great posts in starting a craft business.

The crafting genres covers so many different skill sets. You could be good at sewing, woodworking, painting or making random crafty objects.

3) COOKING, BAKING AND RELATED

Everything to do with food is a great hit online, and otherwise. Whether you like to cook, bake, create new recipes, if you are ready to show to off to world, you can turn your hobby in to a tidy side income. A great idea would be to create a blog.

But then you wouldn’t just be cooking, you would be taking pictures or posting videos and writing a lot of stuff for the blog. Not to mention doing all the things that you have to do make a blog popular like handling social media.

Or you can choose to start a cooking class or freelance cooking. I people who bake interesting stuff for people on demand from their homes. Well you can start like that and who knows how your popularity will grow. 

Choosing to go the blogging way will give you more independence. And the ability to reach far out audiences. You will be able to make use of various blog monetisation methods to covert blog traffic into money like, advertisements, affiliate programs, sponsors, original products and services etc. A cooking blog shouldn’t be far way from your mind no matter what kind of a cooking business you decide to go into. It complements your success very well.

Did you know that one of the largest number of searches online happen for “recipes” (if not THE largest). So you can be sure that there people looking for what you have to share. It is a fantastic idea to share original and successful recipes online through your blog.

At the end of the day, you don’t have to stick to just one thing. But its a good idea to start with one. Go with the route that interests you the most.

4) WRITING

A lot of people love to write. It’s a hobby, a passion and they even do it every day. If you love to write, are good at it, you should know that writing is one of the most lucrative online jobs. You can do it part-time of full-time, there’s a lot freedom of choice here. 

You have probably heard about many freelance websites that house difference kinds of assignments including writing ones. These assignments are not easy to get if you only just starting out.

If you want to advertise your writing services, starting on Fiverr is a good idea. It is a good platform where a lot of businesses and individuals are looking to get work done in a simple manner. Also, figure out the kind of work you want to do and create your profile accordingly. Go through some popular profiles and see which ones seem to be high demand in the writing niche.

There are other places online that invite people to write content and pay them handsomely. I’m not kidding. A single published post is worth a $100 and more. Sometimes you will be required to write on a certain topic and sometimes, though not often, you will be able to fly your own content. See over 30 websites that pay you to write in this article.

There are so many other ways to contribute online. So many websites and blogs post writing gigs on a daily basis. And you know what, you can find a full-time job working for a blog or a website as well, if you have the talent and skill.

One of the best ways to monetise your writing hobby is to start a blog. Yes, we will keep coming back to this simply because there is just so much you can do with blogging and so many different ways, and in many different  fields. A blog can be your portfolio where you demonstrate your writing abilities to the world. You can refer clients to it as a sample of your work. 

Or better still you can write a blog that makes money on its own. Making a blog and making money from a blog are 2 extensive topics and we are not getting into them here. 

5) DRAWING

Can you draw or sketch? It’s a great talent to have and it goes beyond self- enjoyment. There are a few wonderful ways you can make money online with your drawings and sketches. Do you know that there are websites that pay you to upload digital drawings?

Well, it helps if you can use a software like Adobe Acrobat to create drawings. These well and are high in demand. Even simple vector shapes and patterns do good business online. If you want a quick course in making high selling digital drawings, check out this website.

But what if you are not interested in using a computer to draw? That’s not a problem either. If you are an artist, you can sell you art online through a myriad of online portals. We have mentioned 31 places to sell your art in this post. They are all places where a lot of artists have found success with their talent. Sketches, paintings are all commodities that sell well.

Another very interesting way to make money with your drawing skill is to teach others to do the same. Now you can choose to give people real classes or you can reach out to a greater number of people online. That’s the beauty of the Internet. There is almost always a way to monetise your knowledge and skill.

So how do you feel about making videos and posting them on YouTube and your own blog? You can either charge for access to your drawing lessons online or you can offer them for free and earn revenue by placing advertisements. Both are great options. The latter will help you get a lot of exposure. You can always create a member’s online section, once your program has become popular.

6) PHOTOGRAPHY 

This is one of my personal favourites. I love clicking pictures. That’s one of my hobbies. And now it pays to do it. Things have changed so much in the recent years. So many great businesses exist now that make possible for people to earn money online.

In this instance, we are talking about Stock Photography websites that allow users to upload their pictures and pay them when other people download them. Stock photography are huge marketplaces where thousands of individuals and businesses visit everyday for their media content needs. Hundreds of thousands of photographs, from all spheres of life are downloaded everyday.

Stock photography is my all time favourite way of making money with my picture because it gives you a lot of freedom in what you click and when. You can even take pictures using  your mobile phone and upload them directly from your device. Read this post for more details on making money with stock pictures.

There are other ways of making money with photography as well and they are all very lucrative. How and what you do depends on how seriously you take this.

People have created personal blogs reviewing cameras and photography gear, although this can be expensive to start. It’s great if you already buy the latest gear for yourself. You can also make how to videos and teach others. Photography can be clubbed into other activities like writing reviews for travel, places, food etc.

Learn more about making money with stock photography.

7) READING BOOKS

Yup, believe it or not, book reviews are a big genre online. So much so that you can find WordPress blog themes that are ready made for a book reviews blog. A lot of people with a passion for reading are killing it online through their blogs on book reviews. And the advantage is that it’s not as expensive to review books as it is to review other popular stuff like cameras and electronics.

If you are a reader you already have a lot of read book under your belt. Most of the blogs about book reviews link use the Amazon affiliate program for monetisation. Besides writing a good and honest review, they also link to the book on Amazon store. When people buy the reviewed book by clicking on the link, the reviewer receives a commission for the sale from Amazon.

8) Coaching/Teaching

This one is not all that easy. It’s easier to have some one sitting in front of you rather than make an online lesson for it. You need video editing skill, interjecting your content with graphics etc. It is time consuming. The 2 great advantages are that online tutors and lessons are in great demand.

If you can do it well, you have to do it well just once. A lessons made is made for ever and it can reach thousands of people without you having to make any more effort. You can post it on your own blog or on video sharing websites, the most popular amongst which is YouTube.

You can post it as free content and earn a revenue from advertising programs or create a membership site once your content becomes sought after.

So what are the things you teach people about? Just about anything, playing an instrument, an academic subject, investing, dancing, singing and so on. Just think about the knowledge you have on a subject and determine if others will benefit by you sharing it.

One thing to remember, making tutorial videos requires work. You need a good equipment, good setting and you need to get it right. There may be takes and re-takes before you get it right. And then there will surely be some editing involved. All this is time consuming. So know what you are getting into before hand.

Luckily, there are some great tools available today that make the job as easy as it can be. You can even shoot with your phone if you have a high end one. The video quality is very good. There are lots of people online specially on Fiverr.com who are ready to do a lot for $5. They can take care of processing and editing. This leaves you free to concentrate on creating strong content. 

9) YouTube Videos

You may have noticed the growing popularity of ‘YouTubers’. There are people who have following in tens of thousands simple because of the home grown videos they make. How does this make them money you may ask.

Almost all the their income from their YouTube videos comes from Google’s monetisation program called ‘Adsense’. Once you get approved with this program, you can place advertisements on your videos and blogs from Google’s ad serving network. You get paid for clicks on the ad and, in case of videos, also for number of views.

10) Travelling

Travelling can be turned into a combination of fun and income in so many ways. The photographs you take can be uploaded to your stock photography member websites. You can write reviews on your own blog or get paid to write them for numerous travel blogs. If you really get into the thick of things, you can start doing review trips specifically for travel websites and magazines. 

11) Promoting Products on Social Media

Do you like to talk about your interests and passion on social media like Facebook and Twitter? You can pick up a topic of interest and start building up a fan base and followers by posting interesting content about the topic.

Once you have gathered enough number of people on your page, twitter account, Pinterest etc., you can start interspersing promotional offers between your informational posts. This is one of the ways to make money online without even creating a website of your own.

There is a technique to doing this effectively. And the mainstay of that technique is sharing and posting genuinely helpful content that people will love to read and share. Amongst all of that you can post a promotional offer once in a while, say once in every 10 posts.

13) Playing Sports

If you are good at a sport, you have the ability to get into a very lucrative niche. While becoming a coach would probably require some credentials references, the requirements are much more relaxed if you do the teaching online.

Mind you, having credentials is still important because it means that you are actually good at the sport. You have to be able to deliver unique and useful information and advice to be successful at this kind of work.

Nevertheless, what we are trying to get at is this. There are a lot of people looking for online tips and lessons for getting good at a particular sports. Let’s take the example of Golf. There are thousands of people looking to better their swing, their drive, putting skills etc.

Golf is a very popular sport and there are a lot of pro lessons online. So you will have to compete with these videos. But believe me when I tell you that if you are offering information that is good and novel and helpful, it will gain popularity.

A lot of people have created blogs where they offer lessons and also sell their own ebook on the subject of improving your playing skills. They pick a sport that is popular in the area where they live, as they are most likely to have played that and be good at it.

But as we have mentioned before, in order to be successful, you will have to establish your authority on the matter by means of credentials, awards, experience etc.

14) GETTING FIT

Fitness is one of the most popular topics online. People are looking for all kinds of health advice. If you are involved in any kind of a fitness regime and your involvement goes beyond the casual, it can be a very good idea to start sharing your knowledge, experience or progress. It naturally makes good content for a blog and for sharing on your social media accounts. People love to follow fitness blogs and at the end of the day, you will be helping a lot of people get fitter.

Fitness is a great genre to monetise a blog because there are a lot of 3rd party programs and advertisements in this niche that pay very well for signups and clicks. So making a fitness related blog is well worth it if you are willing to post great content and take steps to promote it.

There are a lot of genres for workouts and fitness regimes. Some of the popular ones are weight lifting, eating right, yoga, pilates, running etc.

15) MUSIC

This point comes somewhat under the earlier heading of ‘teaching/coaching’. But it deserves to be listed differently because it is a huge genre on its own. There is a tremendous audience online looking for music related online lessons.

These queries are not limited to learning how to play an instrument, but extend to other music related subjects like mixing music, setting up amplifiers, reviews for different models of musical equipment and more. 

If you have music related knowledge you can monetise it by offering real life lessons or starting a blog about it. No topic is off limits as long as you have the expertise and experience in what you are talking about.

16) GARDENING

Home and garden is a poplar topic online. If you can start writing about your gardening knowledge your blog can also be a referrer to any brick and mortar business. However, like cooking, gardening is a great genre to pursue online. There are many tips and tricks to share.

You can easily take  pictures or make videos that do not have to be fancy. This is one topic that people love to share and comment on. So you can expect a lot of interaction on a good topic which helps in boosting the organic popularity of your blog. 

There is still a lot of space for gardening bloggers. It is far from saturated. And this could be a great opportunity for you to tap into a profitable niche that doesn’t have a lot of quality competition. There is also no shortage of gardening related programs and advertiser that you can promote on your blog.

17) ANTIQUES

You can definitely make money from your knowledge of antiques. I know people personally who do this. They buy things from all different sources and sell them for many times more in a different market. The ability to make money from antique trading is going to hinge of a couple of factors.

You should be able to get a good price. Many people do that by discovering sources that are not mainstream. Second, you should have access to a market where you can sell for a much higher price. However, you can also buy something that you expect to grow in price in the future.

18) DRAWING

Drawing, sketching and painting are all lucrative skills. Gone are the days where even artists of note had to struggle to make a dime from their work. Today amateur artists are posting their work online and making a tidy side income. Sites like Etsy are a good example of how well artists are doing. There are many such marketplaces today. Some put up their services on Fiverr.com and do a variety of assignments.

19) SHARE OPNION

Paid surveys have been around forever. If you enjoy sharing reviews and opinions you can earn money and rewards on the side. It takes a few minutes of your time and you can do it from anywhere and any device as long as you have access to the internet. Now many panels have apps specifically for mobile devices making it all the more easier to do this work.

20) MARTIAL ARTS

Martial arts is an enchanting subject. People would love to have a convenient way to learn, but there are not so many teachers around. So if this is your expertise, definitely consider opening up classes for it.

You can definitely blog about this as well and post videos online. But to really learn people need to come in person to get the best results and avoiding doing anything wrong and causing injury. So your online content can be a means to an end, which is to act as a demonstration of the art and your skill in it. It will act as a promotion to convince the person that you are the right person to come to for learning this wonderful art.

21) MAKE UP

Makeup just happens to be one of those topics that lends well to online content. There are so many girls looking for makeup tips. It is a popular subject online and their are some popular blogs about them as well. There are also numerous products that you can promote on a blog where you share free tips. If you want to take this more seriously you can start offering make up services to people in your area. 

This was just a small list of personal interests that can be turned into a side or a full-time income. Please feel free to share your own ideas below.