There’s the old adage of ‘do what you love and the money will follow’. Of course that’s not always true. If your passion is to run an animal sanctuary or homeless shelter, it’s likely you won’t become a millionaire.
But you’re probably be a lot happier than an burned-out trader in the city who is making a lot of money, but would rather help out at a soup kitchen. You may love to sing or paint (that’s doing what you love). But if you have no talent and your work sucks, nobody is going to pay you!
So this post is not so much about always earning money. But for those who are stuck in jobs they hate (or have a talent going wasted) that could free up time to earn some decent income.
Then of course if you earn decent money, you have more free time to do stuff that has nothing to do with work. Also read how to set up a tiny business (which includes info on how to set up a simple business account).
Identifying Profitable Hobbies
Before you start counting your coins, it’s crucial to identify which hobbies have money-making potential. Not every hobby fits the bill, so let’s break down how to spot the ones that do.
If you like cooking or gardening, learn how to keep pets safe around food and plants.
First, you need to know if there’s a demand for what you’re offering. Examine your competition. These insights can be the compass that guides your venture.
Now, it’s time to shine a light on your skills. What are you exceptionally good at? Whether it’s baking, crafting, or photography, pinpoint what you can do better than most. Your unique flair is the secret sauce that can set you apart and attract potential buyers.
Finding your niche is like discovering your secret garden. Who do you want to reach with your hobby? Narrowing down your audience ensures you hit the right notes with the right people. Identifying a specific niche that aligns with your interests means you won’t be just another face in the crowd, but a special voice that stands out.
Just Making is a guidebook for compassionate creatives, the ideal handbook for writers and artists, by an author not afraid to ask hard questions on justice and art.
As the daughter of immigrants, she knows that some people feel being creative is selfish, but in fact it’s a good pursuit for a better world. Women across the globe have created beauty and order, amid chaos, war and deprivation. These 10 practices help the creatives to keep making.
Don’t Waste 80,000 Hours of Your Life!
80,000 Hours is a guide based on over 10 years of research alongside academics at Oxford, on tackling one of the world’s most pressing problems – finding a job that you enjoy and does good.
If you work full-time until retirement age, the average person works for 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year for 40 years. This adds up to around 80,000 hours, so choosing to do something you love and does good, is vital to the quality of your life – and the legacy you leave.
Make the right choices, and you can help solve some of the most pressing problems, and also have a more rewarding and interesting life.
But if you are working long hours to contribute to the problems we already face (climate change, animal abuse, war, unhappiness, stress, consumerism), it’s surprising that there is not much advice out there on how to change direction.
Most career advice focuses simply on how to write CV and to ‘follow your passion’. This is not always possible (your passion may be teaching elderly people to navigate the subway, but it won’t make you a living).
Likewise, if you passion is building big online stores to put indie shops out of business, your passion then has detrimental effect on the jobs and lives of others (ie. they fold and the people passionate about books or whatever become unemployed, and unable to follow their passion of serving a local community).
The book is filled with practical tips and tools. So you’ll come away with a plan to use your 80,000 hours in a way that’s good for you and others in the world. Benjamin Todd is co-founder and president of 80,000 Hours, an indie non-profit founded in Oxford.
It performs research into career choice, and offers online and in-person advice. He has a Master’s degree in physics and philosophy from Oxford and speaks Chinese (badly). He still sounds like a clever boy!
Matching Helpers with the Funders!
In his book Bullshit Jobs, David Graber wrote how society is set up to create jobs that ‘don’t exist’, like telemarketers. Yet there are so many talented people who would love to say write for a living but can’t afford it, as what they write about is not something that would earn money.
Yet there are many people who would rather read what the people write, and donate to help them, than to go out and buy stuff they don’t need.
So these sites put two and two together. People can do what they love ‘for nothing’ and get donations from those who like to read or use what they offer. And then the money goes to a good cause, rather than to bullshit jobs that should not really exist!
Patreon and Substack are two sites where writers, artists and musicians can earn full-time income, through monthly membership from fans. There are no ads nor social media, readers or listeners can simply join a community because they wish to support you. A great way to earn income.
