Money is one of the essentials to life and living, it will almost be true to say we showed up on earth to worry about money. This is why man is centered around going all out to “get the bag” as the street will fondly say.
But for most of us, we are limited by the uniqueness of our personality, and so the conventional system of work isn’t a fancy, yet money will have to be spent.
If there is one thing that’s wrong, it is spending and not earning, in essence, even the guy who is lazy to do a 9 to 5 job, is still conscience guilty of wanting to make money.
The world and its system has continued to see and experience vast evolution, changing trends, and redefining what was to what is now. One of such is the simplicity of earning.
It will be a wrong message if in this typical computer age, people only preach being an employee as the only legitimate way to get monies. We now have more people working all by themselves and doing what they like to get monies.
For most persons it is a habit, for others it is a hobby, but better put, it is an auxiliary activity that you can’t do without.
People say, whatever you are doing, should as a matter of importance convert to making you money, you might have resolved to change a particular type of you because, this isn’t making you money, rather it is making you spend money.
Money comes in exchange for value, so in this article we would check out how valuable your habits or hobbies are,
Hobbies you could consider to make money,
And how your bad habit can earn you a living.
“Financial stability or independence”… If this phrase means anything handy to you, then you should think outside the walls of the system of this country, or like they say, get a side hustle.
Hobbies are what people do in their leisure, as a form of relaxation and to put their mind off the stress of the moment,. However it will be insightful to note that hobbies or our individual habits could be monetized, as weird as it may sound, this could make one a fortune.
Why you should monetize your hobbies
Are you curious right now, on why and how you can monetize your hobbies
Here are some reasons.
Go to funds
In a system like ours, here in Nigeria, with cost of living very high as opined to how much one is earning monthly, it is no longer a shocker that people spend their salary way before it is paid. Yes, the likes of piled up bills, unforeseen circumstances, drawn out budgets would definitely have chopped off the salary even before pay day, so if you are among the 50% or more sitting on this table, your side hustle could always bail you out.
Back up plan
Like every wise person will do, as we face every day life “huzzle and buzzle” there is the need to be on the defensive side also.
Life happens, situations might not always go in one’s direction positively, things many times could take a shift course against plans. Here is why a back up plan should be available:
One could be sacked, or there is just a low sale in business, in cases like this, you will just be able to fall back into your alternate whilst waiting for a positive correction to things.
Struggle is over
If there is one reason for a lack of consistency or inability to produce result in a given field, or task, or whatever it is to be done, it will be a lack of love or motivation for that thing, not many people can say “there is a breathe of fresh air” they get from their career.
Because the average Nigerian is money driven over their love for what they do , hence with a hobby or an habit that you love, you are sure to always be motivated to do it, making your life a struggle free one. Also money is made with ease, and you are immune to work depression, and the everyday mental complexity and stress.
How to monetize your hobby or habit
You have to know that, whatever habit or hobbies can be monetized has to be valued in a sense and likeable. You might have a bad habit of sleeping, nobody will want to watch that, except there is an intriguing value, attached to it.
Be a Teacher
Teaching is arguably the oldest vocation and most valued of them all.
There is so much that comes to mind in being a teacher, certainly value is transfered.
You can start by teaching people about your hobby, they might be a whole lot of others struggling with same bad habits as yours, with being a teacher you bring them to a safe place, and then you can share how and what you are doing to work on your self. By this commitment is birthed which fosters growth, and No! It doesn’t have to be physically. Explore the opportunities the internet has brought your way, make videos of you sharing these value.
With this, you will generate a new skill of teaching, you make money at ease, and you are helping yourself grow, so it’s almost a win win.
Explore the world of creative writing
When it has to do with putting pen to paper, the subtle deception that lingers is that one is not a professional writer. Truth is with the basic understanding of grammar you could make money from your hobbies, write about your hobbies, your bad habit, if you can write an ebook on them. Don’t forget when you share content around hobbies and habit, you are genuine, and one thing the world buys is authenticity. If you enjoy cooking, start writing articles around it, you could be a freelancer for blogs and you get paid, the pay is usually okay, however you could go as far as top platform where you can sell your articles at your would be rate. e.g., Upwork, Fiver and Freelancer are nice start point.
With this you are able to master the skill of writing, get instant monies, and work from your comfort zone, within your own schedule.
Start podcasting
There are folks who are not shy to tell people that they are talkative, or they like talking. Nothing is almost wrong with that, but it will make more sense if one could earn from it.
Podcasting is one very unique opportunity to explore. It might not be popular, but it is one media room in the 21st century that’s experiencing a massive growth process. Record has it that over 60 billion episodes of podcasts have been streamed and downloaded via Apple.
It is very easy to start, as little as having some basic gadgets and you are good to go, one could start out with platforms like Spotify, audio mack, Apple, etc.
Some of these platforms pay you for the number of streams you get in your podcasts, other means to explore to get more earnings via Podcasting is running adverts for brands and business, companies, sponsorship, commercials, affiliate marketing, and even listeners donation.
Podcasting is a niche that is less competitive, and a guarantee of high earnings, also there is a good turn out on engagement once audience is interested.
Vlogging and Blogging
This is one creative part for most persons.
You could start a blog just by journalizing contents around your hobbies, same with Vlogging, Just that this has to do with videos while the former is mainly articles. Blogging is a more explicit form of writing, it has to be conversational, opinions shared, and discussions are welcomed. A blog could be particular to one topic or could diversify, sharing several topics and welcoming engagement, in a short while of consistency laced with good content. There should be a growth in audience and engagement that affords one the opportunity to start taking promotions at a fee, especially for Vlogging. Your audience could be a company’s target audience, so partnership deals could come up. The internet also gives ad networks opportunities, adverts could always be put on your platforms, for instance YouTube ad on your YouTube channel, and you are being paid tor that.
Few hobbies that can guarantee extra income
Writing
Like we have over emphasized in this article, it has a lot of opportunities for the lay man. It shouldn’t just be an hobby, you could make money with it, and you can build a career from such. Don’t forget there is no one road map to what should be written, if it is relatable, then you can write on it. People should be able to connect with it, and it is almost cost free while starting out.
Modelling
There are folks who are camera shy, but what is more alarming is that there are those who can’t go a day without taking pictures. You could call camera their love language, modeling should be a go to for these ones. Everybody’s size or shape has a unique story to tell, one could start from just being a photo enthusiast to being a model for top brands, companies, fashion brands, these deals come with some crazy amount of money, so get started, join a modeling agency.
Cooking
People say it is common to find people who don’t like to cook, but of course every body likes to eat something or will have to eat. There are those who don’t find it any bit of stress at all to stay in the kitchen all day, they derive so much joy from cooking.
If you fall on this list, you can start up a friendly business here, the skill is available already. So what can you do?
Start up a mini restaurant and watch it grow,
Make food for people on special order
Cook for events and parties
Make videos of yourself cooking, teaching about different recipes to preparing certain foods,
and you could specialize, for example starting an African food restaurant in a European country.
Exercise (work out)
This is one niche with beautiful stories, so yours won’t be an exception. For most persons, the drive to become physically fit got them into loving to work out, not undermining the health benefit of this, but there several ways one could earn from this;
Become a personal trainer, startup a gym house, write an ebook on fitness, write blog stories. And incase you are just getting started in keeping fit, or loosing a certain body size, then it is the perfect time to vlog, make videos of yourself, they are people out there like you, who would want to do same and they will be encouraged once you share your journey.
Dancing
People love entertainment. For most persons dancing is just talent, others aren’t that skillful, but they love to dance, yes, you can practice more and be better,
As a dancer you can earn via dancing on music videos, creating a YouTube channel were you teach people online, you can also teach people physically.
Travelling and tourism
One of man’s weak area is inability to avoid story telling, this is one facet an hobby like travelling brings. Do you love to travel? Then you can earn from it, share stories of your explorations, make videos, write about the things you saw, be consistent, your reviews on places will influence people’s decisions, and in no time you would get deals that will fatten your pockets.
Voice over artist
It is beautiful to create voices, and one can be so good at it that it can be monetized. Big brands and companies always need unique voices to run adverts, or commercials. With how productive you are, you will always be in high demand, down to gigs of being featured in movies.
Visual arts
The reality of this craft is that if you know your way, you are not going to be undervalued. We are talking, painting, drawing and all forms of visual representation. Your art work could be the next most highly valued master piece if you put it out there, knowing fully well that you determine the price for your art.
If at all you just stay confined to drawing or painting portraits of people, you would earn a lot.
Conclusion
Hobbies like this will not just make you quick access cash, it will launch you into a new ride of career path, and build you to becoming an entrepreneur.
Money should be made from comfort, but if your source of income is draining your happiness then it’s not hobby, it is work. If it is an hobby, it must be something you love and enjoy doing.
