Make Money From Your Hobbies

Trawling the Internet for inspiration as to ways to make some money out of my hobbies has left me sorely disappointed. Sure, there were loads of sites offering advice on how to get the most from your Blog with Google Adwords, but to me that’s not a hobby.

The one exception came with this really fab article from Get Rich Slowly…

Money-Making Hobbies (from 1938)

Thursday, 11th January 2007 (by J.D.) This article is about Books, Entrepreneurship, Funny Money

Note: For a modern look at this topic, check out six tips for money-making hobbies.

What would Get Rich Slowly have been like if it were produced seventy
years ago? Maybe something like this. (Or maybe not.) All text and illustrations from Money-Making Hobbies by A. Frederick Collins, published 1938 by D. Appleton-Century Company. I am not making this up. Enjoy!

A Word to You
It is my private opinion publicly expressed that there is no need for any man or woman who is compos mentis to belong to the file of the great
unemployed whether or not there is a recession on. This statement is based on the premise that every normal person is endowed by omniscient Nature with the innate ability to do some one thing well, and by dint of application to do it exceedingly well.

Now along whatever track of endeavor this faculty of yours may happen to run, you can convert it into a living wage, and often into a paying business, if you will but take your horse by the reins and fan it right
out of the gate and keep on fanning it.

Things You Can Make Out of Paper
What are called surrealistic flowers are also made of crepe paper, but, while they look like flowers, Nature in her most cockeyed mood never made a species of them that were quiet so fanciful and intriguing as these hybrid concoctions of imagination and paper. One of these is the button-button tree, and, as you see, it looks like a Walt Disney Silly Symphony.

Making Corrugated Cardboard Animals — Surrealists love these animals
because they are totally unlike any that ever trod the earth, and yet they look enough like certain species to be recognizable. All that you need to make them with is a little imagination, a few strips of corrugated cardboard which is not too heavy and is smooth on one side and corrugated on the other, and some strands of pulled crape for the hair, the heads, and the tails.

To continue reading this article, visit: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/01/11/money-making-hobbies-from-1938/ It's well worth it to ogle the odd ball pictures!

For Get Rich Slowly’s more modern slant on making money from
your hobbies, check out: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/02/12/six-tips-for-money-making-hobbies/

They’re so-oo right! We spend too much of our time doing things we don’t really want to in order to pay the bills and keep the corporate Fat Cats off our backs. So, if we’re going to try and make some money in our spare time it should be through doing something we really love, and well, which doesn’t really feel like work at all!

In which case I am going to pursue the following:

- Freelance Writing – something I’ve wanted to do for ages, so I may as well give it a shot!

- Crafts – card making, cakes, chocolates, wedding favours – It will take a bit of practice and I’ll probably trial them on my friends, before unleashing them to the public, but it looks like a fun way to earn some spare cash!

- Blogging – Watch this space!

Not for me, but ideas which might inspire you…

- Love animals? Why not become a dog walker?

- Heart the Great Outdoors? Offer to do gardening tasks for those too busy or too elderly to do their own. Only charge just above cost, the idea is to make a bit of pocket money, not rob people blind – NOTE: this will probably work best with people you already know!

- Got a Brain for Trivia? Get thyself to the local pub quiz! OK, you’ll probably have to pay an entrance fee, but if you’re certain that your knowledge is more in depth and obscure then anyone else’s you could walk away with some serious booty!

- Love Working Out? Consider becomming an aerobics instructor, you'll have to shell out for your qualifications, but you should soon reap that back if there's enough demand for your lessons!

I'm not so naive to believe that by doing any of these things we're going to become multi millionares, and also that the bit of extra pocket money will materialise over night. It's going to take time and investment, but I'm sure it will be fun and it'll keep me away from the High Street! I'll keep you regularly updated with how I'm getting on!