Monetize your hobby. How to turn a hobby into a business

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Many people criticize the Internet for causing them to waste time. But while some are watching the next TV series or leveling up a character in an online game, others are learning, getting ideas, creating and sharing their creativity with hundreds of people around the world using the Internet. If you are hungry for accomplishment, start working now. And to understand where to start and what to tackle first, read the advice of those who have already overcome the fear of a blank page. In our expert survey we talk about how to start selling through social networks, having only talent, skillful hands and the desire to create.

Ksenia Bryantseva

PaperMistressStore

Communication first, sales second

I got excited about the idea of ​​a small store where I could sell the results of my creativity, and succumbed to the fashionable motivation to monetize my hobby. My friend, who at that time already had experience in selling her handmade products, helped me morally; she was also my inspiration. We decided to start a group on VK, then Instagram, but things stalled there because we didn’t know who our target audience was, what to offer them and how. We just ran the group in a blog format, held a couple of giveaways to attract subscribers, we only made one sale, but I think that if we had a ready-made concept, we would have managed it.

Only six months later did I finally understand what I would like to see in my store. I found the first old pieces of paper in my grandfather’s closet, and beautiful illustrations at a local flea market. From one of the second-hand booksellers I picked up postcards with beautiful ladies; I cut out flowers and cards from scrapbooking paper. This is how the first sets for a branch of scrapbooking, popular abroad, appeared - journaling. In our country this hobby is not so well known, but it consists of keeping a diary and decorating pages with collages.

As a result, we focused on managing Instagram; there were a lot of people interested, but we didn’t get to sales. Still, it’s not so convenient for me to discuss the nuances and show the product in direct messages.

Then I started setting up a full-fledged online store on Etsy, here I had to do it myself: pester Paypal support, provide all the necessary data, it took about three days, but in those same three days the store brought its first sale from a very patient English lady.

The most effective platforms for me are Etsy and Instagram. Since the target audience is mainly foreign buyers, and all my sales are international, I have nothing to catch on Russian sites. But I know that my competitors have successful stores on Tictail, Bigcartel, etc. I use Facebook exclusively for duplicating posts from Instagram, and I also have Pinterest. I can’t say yet how effective it is, but active subscribers noticed its appearance, although I didn’t advertise it. These days I mostly sell through Etsy. This is convenient for demonstrating goods and making payments. If these are clients who have known me for a long time, then sales are often made directly in the Instagram direct message, because they know the scheme of my work, they just ask me to send an invoice.

Natalia Petrachkova

Editor

Introduce your work to as many people as possible and make yourself known on foreign platforms. Social networks Etsy and Pinterest are a great place to promote handmade products.

Etsy is an international platform with a multi-million English-speaking audience. Foreigners love things made with their own hands, so they willingly buy them even for a lot of money. If your handmade product is of really good quality, then do not hesitate to set the price higher.

When planning to storm the Etsy expanses, keep in mind an important feature.

Your potential customers speak English, so use your description and hashtags in that language. The product name and hashtags should match the queries that your future customers enter. To work on them in Russian, use Wordstat, and to collect English queries, use Keyword Planner. We have written detailed instructions for working with each service to make it easier for you to express yourself.

Pinterest is a social platform on which users post photos on special boards, forming their own collection of images. Remember that 80% of the audience are women who make purchases by evaluating the image emotionally, not rationally. For such buyers, the visual appeal of what they see is important.

To make money selling handmade items on Pinterest, turn your account into a visual showcase. Create separate boards for different product categories and fill them with colorful, high-quality photos. Don’t forget about thematic hashtags, which, like in Etsy, need to be duplicated in English.

My store, The Paper Mistressstore, has five stars and only positive reviews. But to achieve this, you need to be very patient and cope with difficulties. For example, I often have problems due to the language barrier. Incidents have arisen when communicating with clients who do not understand English and use online translators. It is also very difficult to plan; some of my decisions turned out to be wrong, but not fatal. I try to move on and not get discouraged by failures.

Another problem is that subscribers don’t always mean sales. You can conduct various events to attract subscribers, but not make a profit. Giveaways bring only those who love giveaways, and not an active audience interested in my product, who can advise me or make a purchase themselves. So I give away my sets rather to encourage those who are already with me, the so-called random act of kindness. And by the way, an interesting fact: none of my regular customers have ever participated in my drawing, and those who participated did not make a single purchase. But they still continue to be a loyal audience.

When you run a business online, you need to be prepared to be connected 24 hours a day. I have an irregular work schedule, I'm almost always cutting something out, packing something, taking pictures or communicating. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night, just in case, I checked notifications and found messages from clients who wanted to redeem the reserved item. Due to the time difference I have to adapt to the customers, but I'm not complaining, they are all very nice. Now the lion's share of my sales comes from regular customers who are satisfied with my offers. I am always ready to round up the amount in their direction, provide a coupon, add free items as a gift, or prepare something according to their individual wishes.

I promote my store myself; I don’t have the momentum to seriously engage in branding. Still, I am more focused on production, and the rest is a side hustle. But when possible, I watch webinars related to Etsy and Instagram, check two blogs weekly dedicated to selling on Etsy, then devote a few days to implement what I learned, change the banner, work with keywords in the description and tags, etc. I highlighted several important lessons from the webinars:

It is very difficult to create and sell at the same time; these are two different talents. Therefore, I advise those who are just starting not to despair and try again, and also not to ignore advice on how to manage things. It is very important to decide on your concept, understand where your target audience is and how to win it. Luckily, there are now many niche blogs that can help.

Alina Ryzhova

Good toys

If you want to constantly make money with your creativity, then you need to declare and remind yourself

My creative income began quite recently, in 2016, after actively working on the design of my online store at the Crafts Fair, and perhaps I decided to return to childhood! Yes, yes...it was raising a child within myself and loving my job that helped me get onto this platform. I left all the “adult seriousness” and again remembered that little Alina, who fantasizes and comes up with something new. This is probably why children love my toys so much.

My close people, my mother and husband, helped me a lot and are still helping me. My mother taught me to sew and knit, helped me learn to be an artist, and she instilled in me one of the main qualities of success - to always work conscientiously! My husband, my closest friend, teacher and adviser, he always supports me in all endeavors, and most importantly loves the child in me! I consider faith and love for your business to be the most important element of a successful business! Of course, investments and start-up capital are necessary. In my case, these were: buying an automatic sewing machine (the simplest, not expensive) to create toys; I recently purchased an SLR camera, yarn, fabrics, paying for an online store, etc. It is important to keep records: income, expenses, profit, so as not to spoil too much and not go into the red. I keep a notebook with a report for each month.

My main income comes through the online store at the Crafts Fair, which is where I started. Recently registered in VC And Instagram, while I’m mastering these social networks.

The difficulty I encountered, if you can call it difficulty, was my naivety. Having created a store at the Crafts Fair, I thought that minimal information about my products was enough, but it didn’t work! If you want to constantly make money with your creativity, then you need to declare and remind yourself. Properly design the store, presenting the goods through high-quality photos, because the buyer cannot touch and turn the goods live, using keywords, competent description of the goods, attracting the target audience, SEO, communication with the buyer, all this can only help you! I work on this every day, and only after that I started making sales. After I started working on the design of my store, profit appeared within a month.

Now I'm working on increasing the number of subscribers, exploring various methods. Fortunately, you can find a lot of information on the Internet. It takes me from an hour to three a day. While I do everything myself, I don’t involve outsiders in promoting the studio.

Nowadays, there are more and more people who create beauty, and beauty, as we know, will save the world. I would like to tell such people that the most important thing is to believe in yourself, despite the difficulties, because they will still be there). You need to love your job and, of course, work hard. There is a good saying: “Win ​​by loving - and you will conquer everything.” Seek joyfully and everything will answer you.”

I do not and never have treated my occupation as a business. I just do something that brings me tremendous pleasure. And the fact that people like my toys and want to buy them is just an additional bonus)

Once I saw a knitted elk in the magazine “Burda-moden” (before that I sewed to order), it was there as an accessory in a children’s clothing collection. And fell in love. And I wanted to knit one like this for myself.

At that time (2008), there were practically no patterns for knitting toys on the Internet (they are now a dime a dozen). Through trial and error, I knitted the first toy. Then the second one. Then the third one - and my friend already wanted to buy it.

I gave a couple more toys to friends, posted photos of all my creations on pages on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte. And somehow, naturally, orders began to come in from time to time, I realized that I really like creating toys, and that other people are also interested in it. At first, orders were random - 1, sometimes 2 toys per month.

She registered the store at the Masters Fair in 2009, but these were 3 works that could be posted there for free. Quite by accident, they bought two toys from me there, and then everything stopped for two years. Until I took the risk of paying for the placement of more works in 11.

Then I began to study the rules for submitting work, the secrets of text descriptions and successful photographs. I studied using free materials that I could find on the Internet. And I tried to apply all this in my store and on the website.

In addition to the store on YAM, I have my own website. In fact, I created it only to organize toys by type of animal in one place, so that it would be more convenient to give a link to those who were interested in my work on social networks or at local fairs. But from time to time, orders also come through the website.

I've been on Instagram for at most 3 years, and then mostly out of interest. I do not consider it as a sales channel and do nothing to promote it. I just post new photos periodically) All sales mainly come from the store at the Crafts Fair. Everything else can be called simply communication on social networks. Orders from there are a matter of chance. But communication helps to establish contact with the audience, and this is very important for running your business.

Daria Krupoderova

Gift "I - stylish knitted clothes

A tasty picture is 50% success

I have been knitting for as long as I can remember, since I was about 8 years old. I have no art education. But I always had a great desire to dress myself. The idea to offer my work to others and take orders came in 2011, when I had to quit my day job. I already knew what I would do. I initially had an understanding of what I wanted and what I should do, as well as a firm belief that everything would work out.

I didn't have any starting capital. Therefore, initially my activity was based not on selling finished products, the fruits of my creativity, but on working with the wishes of clients. And until now this work makes up about 90% of my creative time.

What I immediately invested in was buying a good photo camera. I understood perfectly well that in online sales, a high-quality, “tasty” picture is 50% of success. The client does not have the opportunity to touch and try on things. He sees the photo and thinks “I want the same” and places an order. Or, if the photo doesn’t catch your attention, he scrolls through it and goes on searching.

Over time, I also realized the need to shoot my work in a photo studio. I myself became the face of my brand. And every time I try not just to demonstrate clothes, but to create a complete image, a story. These are my fantasies about what she is like - a girl in a floor-length lace loin dress, or in a fashionable oversize sweater, or an expensive jumper made of silk or cashmere. So that women who see photos of my works say this cherished thing - “I want it too”

If we talk about payback, then probably for the first couple of years there was no talk about it. Since there was no start-up capital, there was no decent portfolio of work. I took on all the orders that interested me for a modest fee and even for free, just to make myself known, gain experience and clients. Everything I earned was spent on development - developing a corporate identity and packaging. I always tried to rise one step higher. Leaving the budget segment of the market and creating highly labor-intensive works from premium materials is my conscious decision and goal.

I promote my brand myself. I did not seek professional help. For now) The main difficulty for me was the difference in the features of promotion in various social networks. What goes off with a bang at the Crafts Fair doesn’t work at all on Instagram. You have to learn all the time, try different promotion tools. This is interesting. By education, I am a marketer myself. And although I haven’t worked in my specialty for a day, I still have certain knowledge and skills. And now it helps me a lot.

Another huge difficulty is, of course, the lack of time. I have many clients from European and Asian countries, but these are all Russian-speaking ladies, immigrants from the CIS countries. And so, in the spring of 2017, I made an attempt to conquer the international site Etsy. My English was not enough to properly design the store; I hired a person who translated job descriptions and specific terms. But this was not enough. Some main promotion lever on this site remained unclear and inaccessible to me. And I did not have the opportunity to study this issue. Therefore, this direction had to be abandoned.

As for existing promotion channels, I have several of course. It all started with a store at the Crafts Fair. It was on this site that I learned to present my work beautifully - take photos, write selling descriptions, etc. For some reason I really wanted to conquer this particular resource)

At the same time, I posted photos of my work on Odnoklassniki. And although in all forums and webinars on doing business on social media. On the networks that I listened to, “Odnoklassniki” was presented as a resource not worthy of attention, but it works for me. For a long time, the percentage of orders was distributed approximately equally between the Masters Fair and Odnoklassniki. Despite the fact that promotion in Odnoklassniki did not cost me a penny. Only time costs. And here

Probably every person has a cherished dream - to make their favorite hobby bring not only joy, but also profit. However, this is not so easy to do - perhaps you have already made several attempts that did not end in the most successful way. But you shouldn't despair. It is worth understanding that not everyone can simply turn a hobby into a job, and you need to act not at random, but in accordance with a specific plan. This article will teach you how to monetize your hobby so that it brings you both happiness and money.

Part of the mosaic

How many young and talented businessmen started their own project, took their first steps, introduced new and even innovative ideas. However, everything ended badly, as something was always missing. Everything seems to look great - the concept, the distribution system, the service, and hundreds of other little things. But out of all this it’s impossible to squeeze out what everything was started for - money. Monetization is becoming a stumbling block, and if this applies to you, then know that you are not alone. But this does not mean that you should quit what you started and just be sad about what you could not achieve. First and foremost, you need to learn one incredibly important lesson. Monetization is only part of the puzzle. Moreover, monetization happens last, meaning you will need to do a huge amount of work in full before you eventually start receiving real money.

Love what you do

Any business you are about to start will be much more successful if you put your whole soul into it. In fact, many entrepreneurs quit their business at quite early stages because they do not get any return from it. This is because they are doing work rather than doing what they enjoy. Naturally, they don't have the patience to do work for which they are not paid enough. If you love what you do, then this is what will allow you to survive even if for some time everything falls out of hand. Remember that brilliant ideas and incredible concepts are not the foundation of a successful business. The foundation is your love for your business.

Monetization

When it comes to the final stage, that is, the monetization itself, you need to be patient. No business will start paying you dividends a few days after opening. Be prepared to wait from several weeks to several months, and in the case of particularly ambitious projects, more than a year. The main thing is to believe in success and do everything necessary to ensure that your business survives this difficult period and survives until the monetization period.

Find your passion

Passion is what drives your project, it is what is at its core. You need to be clear about what your heart is in order to pursue it seriously. And don’t think that passion is some word written in chalk on a blackboard that suddenly came to your mind. Don't build a concept around such passing fads. Better decide what is truly important to you.

Combine your passion with what you're good at.

Your passion is what your business will be built around, but, as usual, desire alone will not get you far. So the first thing you need to do is combine your passion with your skills. You may have to give up something because your skills won’t allow you to do it, and you may have to work on something because you don’t have enough skills, but in general you must understand that you cannot work on pure passion - you need More tools to bring your ideas to life.

Look for the market you would like to operate in

At this stage, many people make a common mistake - they are looking for a market where their project will be bought faster. This is the wrong approach because your goal is not to sell something as quickly as possible, but to build a reliable and long-lasting business that you will enjoy. Therefore, you need to choose the appropriate market - the one in which you will be pleased to work.

Develop a persona of your client

Everyone understands perfectly well that it is impossible to sell something to absolutely everyone - there will always be some specific target audience. Therefore, you need to mind your own business, developing an image of your client to whom you are going to sell your goods or services, and then continue to work specifically targeting him, and not all potential buyers.

Develop a Marketing Plan

This is one of the most important steps along the entire path. You need to fully work out how your company will operate - from the production of goods to advertising campaigns. You must understand that a social network or your website is not a complete marketing plan. Yes, companies sell products and services through Facebook, but they only get 20 percent of their traffic through the social network. Make sure that your marketing plan covers absolutely every aspect of your business.

What should you do about it?

So now you know what you need to do to succeed with your own business. The best job is a high-paying hobby, so monetize your passion, but remember that money won't just come to you as soon as you open your own business. You will have to try, you will have to lose at something, but in the end you will be able to succeed if you follow the simple rules outlined above. Do what you love - and you will succeed.

Is it possible to make money from your hobby? The question, which is relevant not only for young mothers or students, can be answered in the affirmative. Earning income from handicrafts is a relatively new type of income, the success of which depends little on luck, talent or investing a large amount of money. We recommend that the reader avoid downloading hundreds of training courses, because effective concepts are combined in this material. From it, the reader will learn how to make money on handicrafts, what preparation for sale includes, and how you can optimize your activities without leaving the comfort of your home.

What hobby can be monetized?

The answer is simple - whatever you put your soul into. Examples of profitable handicrafts are:

• knitting (clothes for children or adults, children's toys),
• sewing wardrobe items, dolls, pet clothes,
• cross stitch,
• beading,
• macrame,
• decoupage (decorating objects),
• scrapbooking (production of designer cards, books, photo albums),
• clay crafting,
• soap making,
• drawing,
• burning.

Hundreds of years ago, artisans, merchants, and small traders made money from handicrafts. They produced useful goods and then sold them. The scheme for making a profit from a hobby is still relevant today, so a novice entrepreneur will achieve success. However, you need to take into account three rules that will help you make money with handicrafts:

1. You love your hobby and create with your soul.
2. You have a unique style.
3. You know how to competently promote your offer.

Selling your goods or services is the most difficult stage. But we will dispel this myth and tell you how to make money with handicrafts without any problems.

Ways to earn income

There are several methods for monetizing handicrafts. These include:

• selling the created product to the consumer,
• conducting paid master classes on handicrafts for interested parties,
• selling training lessons (courses) on creativity to websites or online stores,
• creation of an online store with subsequent sales, promotion, and customer search.

Direct selling is a classic option for making money through handicrafts. The first buyers may be relatives, friends, acquaintances who had the opportunity to evaluate your masterpieces. Surely a woman who does needlework in her free time has heard enthusiastic reviews from her friends many times. So why not let them know first that you've opened a home-based business? It is very easy to offer them to purchase a valuable exclusive item at a 10-20% discount and earn their first money.

The circle of close people is quickly narrowing - within a month, everyone they know will know about your creations. There is a need to expand the customer base. How can you do this? For example, a woman on maternity leave will tell other young mothers about her handicrafts while the kids are frolicking on the playground. Or a student who regularly wears self-made pieces of jewelry will arouse the interest of colleagues at the educational institution.

If your friends ask you to tell you about ways to create unique things, jewelry, interior items, or the secrets of needlework, know that this is a recognition of your skill. Here you can go two ways - keep the secrets to yourself or make money by holding a home master class for those interested. Selling knowledge pays well, and teaching handicrafts will bring a more substantial profit than a one-time transaction. The more people who want to learn a new skill, the more money you will make.

Of course, inviting loved ones to paid master classes is inconvenient. You can motivate them (and not only) this way - for each invited guest, give a 20% discount on the cost of the lesson. A visitor who brings five new clients receives free training. He is happy, and you are in the black: people who are willing to pay money for it want to learn.

If a craftswoman has been creating for many years, has mastered all the basics of the craft, and is in demand among her friends, she can try to make money by selling training videos. Clients will be interest groups on social networks or other resources focused on creativity. However, the best way to make money from handicrafts is to create an online store.

Monetization using social networks

Anyone who wants to experience the principle of leverage (“work less – earn more”) should try selling online. The main advantages of owning your own online business are:

• unlimited number of potential clients,
• savings on advertising,
• convenience of sales,
• own office at home, zero rent.

For a detailed consideration of the issue, below are the steps on how to make money from handicrafts using the Vkontakte social network.

1. Creation of a group/shop on the Internet.

Technical issues are ridiculously easy to deal with. Next, images of handicraft items to be sold are uploaded to the group, indicating the cost, main characteristics (material, etc.). After completing the initial steps, you should think about the design of your online store.

1. Inviting friends to the community.

People who have had the opportunity to appreciate your hobby will gladly accept the invitation. It’s also worth creating a “Reviews” section and asking your loved ones to write a few good words about the skills of the needlewoman. Voila – your small portfolio is ready!

1. Store promotion.

Instead of inviting all the people in a row, we decide on the target audience. Let's say a handicraft product is stylish hair clips. The male half of users are immediately excluded from the list of candidates, but representatives of the fair sex from 15 to 35 years old may be interested in this.

1. Setting up a delivery service.

If the product is sold within one locality, you can carry out independent delivery for a couple of hundred rubles. Otherwise, it is worth connecting courier or logistics companies, mail, and other entities.

1. Setting up payment for orders.

The easiest way for a consumer to buy a product without leaving home is to pay for it online. For this, there are payment systems Qiwi, WebMoney, Yandex.Money and others. Setting up payment methods for goods is carried out when creating an online store.

What is the maximum profit?

You can earn an extra couple of thousand rubles per month through handicrafts, but history is familiar with cases when a hobby led people to wealth.

An example is a creator from Japan, on the Internet, known under the pseudonym Sakae. His activity is the production and sale of unique jewelry. The master does not divulge the secrets of his handicraft, but the masterpieces cannot be found in the store - they are sold only at auctions on the Internet or live auctions. The amount of money that buyers are willing to shell out for Sakae creations is impressive. A small lilac hairpin, the starting price of which was about 3,500 rubles, was transferred to the final buyer for 99 thousand! Seeing images of jewelry from a Japanese master in the photo, many involuntarily exclaim: “I, too, can do something like that and make money from it!”

Obviously, you can successfully earn money through handicrafts - it all depends on diligence, hard work and talent. Following the three rules of a successful entrepreneur and the success stories of famous needlewomen will help newcomers to home-based businesses overcome obstacles and achieve financial freedom in their hobbies.

You can make money from almost any hobby.

1. Handicrafts

The most obvious way to make money when it comes to a hobby. The list of hobbies in this area is extensive:

• knitting (crochet and knitting);
• embroidery;
• making toys;
• scrapbooking;
• sewing;
• modeling flowers from revelur;
• burning;
• soap making;
• creating homemade cosmetics and perfumes.

List, and finding your buyer is not so difficult. True, if you want to earn money not occasionally, but constantly, you will have to add PR and SMM to your list of hobbies. You will need to find and develop sales sites and communicate with potential buyers.

Irina Butenko

Journalist, creator of the wool toy store @gornostaika_toys_ on Instagram.

I make toys from wool. For a person far from dry felting, this is a rather strange process: I take wool that looks like cotton wool and poke it with a needle many, many times. And it turns out to be a toy. I've been doing this for five years now. I sell toys.

For those who want to make money selling handmade goods, I advise you to find your own type of creativity so that the activity does not start to infuriate you after a week. Do not buy the cheapest material for testing, take the middle price segment. Or it may turn out that you have talent, but nothing worked out because of poor materials or tools.

Don’t forget about the 10 thousand hours rule: it is believed that this is how much you need to spend on a business to become a master at it. Don’t skimp on advertising; take part in competitions to make yourself known. And get rid of it when it seems that you don’t know how to do anything and are trying to sell people some kind of nonsense. Let them decide for themselves.

2. Computer games

You can, of course, take a shot at eSports, win a major tournament and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars as a prize. But this path is long, thorny and does not leave time for the main work that you need to do if you want to live to see the championship.

There is an easier way - to raise characters. Among newcomers there are people who do not want to play weak heroes. Some of them are willing to pay for high-level characters. To participate in the deal, you just need to have the right product. If you spend a lot of time in the game and enjoy leveling up your heroes, this is a great opportunity to make money.

The method is not suitable for those who attach themselves to the character with all their souls or identify themselves with him.

Charming people should remember good old streaming - broadcasting gameplay, for which they pay. But here just playing is not enough. Now audiences have seen almost everything - you will have to work hard to attract an audience. Knowing English will be an additional bonus, so more people can understand you.

3. Board games

You can organize tournaments or gatherings of like-minded people, hold corporate parties for those who want to play on the tables and not dance. This way you kill several birds with one stone:

• popularize board games;
• play by yourself, and often in new companies;
• you earn money.

For mass events, a site will be required. It is worth looking for places that will provide it cheaply or for free, as they are interested in attracting visitors. Pay attention to antique cafes, libraries and board game stores.

4. Drawing

You can paint, sell drawings on photo stocks, make posters, illustrations, create caricatures, stickers for messengers.

Much depends on what exactly you are drawing and what techniques you know. It is important whether you want to create from inspiration or are ready to follow the technical specifications. In the first case, your unique style of work, bright personality and entrepreneurial spirit will help you out, since you will have to look for an audience that will appreciate what you do. In the second case, you will need customers with projects that you have to implement.

5. Plant breeding

There are huge communities of people who buy seedlings of indoor and garden plants from each other, wait for delivery from the other end of the country, groom and cherish their green pets. If you are a sociophobic agronomist, it’s time to post on the Internet photos of your fist-sized strawberries that bloom all year round with the caption “for sale.”

6. Video editing

If you love editing videos, but you don’t have ambitious plans to create original content, you can offer your services to someone else. Many people are interested in them, from video bloggers to large companies that urgently need a motivational video for a corporate event by the morning.

7. SMM

Full-fledged SMM is not an easy job, often boring and monotonous, with analytics and numbers. When generating content is a hobby, you can do the most interesting things, albeit for little money. For example, if you have the talent to create, find funny pictures and videos with the most hilarious cats on the Internet, many resources will be willing to pay for it.

8. Blogging

Not the easiest way to make money is your blog, public page or Instagram page. Fifteen years ago, a LiveJournal account was considered promoted if it had a thousand subscribers. Nowadays a much larger audience is expected from a blogger.

And yet you can make money on your page, especially if you are ready to broadcast unique information to readers. Money will come to you either as donations, or from advertisers who want to demonstrate the product to your subscribers. Another way is payment from the site where you post the content, which is essentially the same income from advertising, only indirect.

Ivanna Orlova

Copywriter, creator of the fan page “Bill Skarsgård | Bill Skarsgård | Our Belyash" on VK.

What drew me to little-known films with Bill Skarsgård was my long-standing fascination with Swedish culture. I started looking for information about him, for like-minded people, and was disappointed: the groups that were found on VKontakte were boring, weakly active and clearly abandoned.

There was only one way out: do your own thing. The result was a kind of platform with a sincere atmosphere for fans to communicate. But then the movie It came out, in which the subject played Pennywise, and the number of group members increased. There were no intentions to monetize anything. I screwed up the donation button when I was studying the capabilities of the admin panel, and for fun I signed it: “Admin for a beer.” And imagine my surprise when they started pressing on her!

I can’t say that my idol feeds me - just like that, he feeds me: the amounts usually fall from 100 rubles and above, the registered maximum is 1,500. I made a souvenir a couple of times, but the income from it is meager - so, to fight off the moral damage from communicating with Russian Post " Recently I held a ten-day prize-winning quiz marathon in the group, and several people also donated with thanks. In general, on pins... but these are my pins!

9. Fitness

When your abs can be rubbed like carrots and your biceps are stronger than adamantium, it's hard to resist telling others how to eat and exercise. If you direct your desire in the right direction, then you can get money for it, not reproachful glances from friends buying burgers. However, you need to undergo training.

Now there are many online trainers on the Internet who work without any certificates, but it’s better not to do that. Otherwise, you risk causing harm and earning not only money, but also a stain on your karma.

10. Cooking

The services of home confectioners are popular. The commercial success of custom-made cakes is evidenced by the fact that she became interested in this area Based on the results of the raid, income declarations were provided tax service.

There are enough cakes, cupcakes, and pies on offer, but this does not mean that you will not find a place in this market. People want to eat, so culinary services will be in demand.

11. Animal care

You love animals, you easily find a common language with them, you have a large apartment and work with a flexible schedule. Why not become a nanny for someone else's dog, cat or hamster when their owners go on vacation. In return, you will receive money and a lot of new emotions that the furry creature will give you.

12. Equipment repair

Perhaps, since childhood, you liked to disassemble and assemble watches, radios, a food processor, and you have reached that level of mastery when after all the manipulations there are no unnecessary parts left. If everything works properly at home, but a screwdriver and a soldering iron give you no rest, fix other people's things - for a fee, of course.

Photographer, teacher, Panasonic Lumix ambassador.

At first I was forced to take up photography, then I fell in love with it, and then I exchanged my main job for it. Before going into hobby, I spent 12 years in journalism and advertising. Then there were 9 years of business, my own studio, photography school. Now I still shoot - and for myself, for money.

For beginners, I would recommend thinking three times before monetizing your passion for photography. Any business lives by the law of the market. And competition in this segment is high. First, you need to learn how to shoot well, and then sell yourself at least as well. In between, find your target audience. Realize that you made a mistake and correct your position. And constantly grow, learn and develop.

14. Shopping support

If you love shopping, masterfully remember the entire assortment and know how to find diamonds in “Everything for 50” baskets, many people need your services. Someone wants a yellow shirt with 7/8 sleeves, but in no case 3/4, someone needs the cheapest oak laminate that grows in the Middle Urals, and they themselves cannot cope with the search. You can make wishes come true and make money from it.

15. Tricks

Your childhood dream has come true: you know how the rabbit appears in a hat and three balls turn into one. But a magician, like any artist, needs an audience. Which, by the way, are often willing to pay if you show your art at their event.

What other hobby can be successfully monetized? Share your ideas in the comments.

Doing what you love and getting paid for it is probably almost everyone’s dream. Nowadays, it has become easier than ever to monetize your hobbies. If you are good at something and enjoy it, why not make money from it?

There are three ways to monetize your hobby - sell products, sell services, or place advertisements related to your favorite activity. For example, if you knit, you can sell knitted products, teach knitting, or write a blog about knitting and place advertisements for craft stores there. This applies to almost any activity. If you sing or play a musical instrument, you can make money by performing, selling lessons, or advertising, for example, on your YouTube channel.

Needlework

Any type of handicraft can be monetized. The main condition is that you like what you do. There is no need to monitor the market to determine what is the best buy. If you have to force yourself to make, for example, fashionable scrapbook cards, although you would prefer the less popular quilling, then the result is unlikely to be of high quality, and you will quickly get bored with your new hobby. Buyers immediately see what products and services you put your soul into, and what you do just to make money. There are thousands of needlewomen selling their goods. How will you be different? Its history, its style, its “handwriting”. The more of yourself you see in your products, the more likely you are to be loved. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about marketing either. Actively maintain pages on social networks, a blog, a video channel. Choose the type of information presentation that suits you best. Team up with craftswomen who work in other techniques, organize marathons, competitions, flash mobs to attract subscribers.

You can sell your products on your own website, on social networks or through specialized sites. For example, on https://www.livemaster.ru/, https://www.etsy.com/ or http://handmade-online.ru/

Copywriting

If you love to write, have a good command of words and a sense of style, you don’t need to write “on the table.” You have several options on how to turn words into money. First, you can blog. Yes, it seems that the days of blogging are a little behind us, but if you really have something to say, then it’s never too late to get your own website. Moreover, now there are many designers on which you can easily create an attractive blog yourself. https://www.wix.com, https://tilda.cc/ru/, https://ru.wordpress.com/, https://www.blogger.com - these are the most popular and simple platforms on of which there are free plans. How to monetize a blog? Regular contextual and banner advertising no longer works well. It is best to review products and services, as well as connect to referral programs of online stores. You need to talk about the products you have chosen, provide links and receive a percentage of each sale that occurs as a result of your recommendation. Many stores have such programs.

Another option is to become a copywriter. Choose your niche and look for online publications that need a writer on your topics. It may take weeks to search, but sooner or later you will definitely find an employer who needs you. You can search for vacancies on large sites like https://work-zilla.com/, https://hh.ru/, https://www.superjob.ru/. Or type in a search engine “wanted author”, “looking for author”, etc. Some employers do not use sites with vacancies, but post information about searching for an author on their site. Just don't try to write about everything. Pick a few topics in which you are an expert and hit that spot.

Photos

If you don’t part with a camera or know how to take a photo on your phone so that it feels like a studio shoot, turn your hobby into a business. Finished photographs can be sold on stocks. The most popular are https://www.shutterstock.com/ru/, https://www.istockphoto.com/ru, https://ru.fotolia.com/. The main criteria are quality and a popular topic. And on Instagram you can maintain a portfolio and teach your subscribers the art of home photography.

Computer games

If you can't be torn away from computer games, why not combine business with pleasure? You can record playthroughs of popular games, upload them to YouTube and earn money from advertising. Perhaps game manufacturers will start contacting you so that you can review a particular game. In addition, you can advertise gaming equipment stores or themed goods.

Cooking

If you love to cook and enjoy it, you can start cooking to order. But don’t forget that for this you need to get at least a health certificate. You can run a culinary blog, video channel or account on any social network, gain subscribers, and then make money from advertising or conducting master classes.

Trips

Do you have to travel a lot for work or are you just crazy about traveling and visit other cities and countries whenever possible? Again, start a blog! This could be a traditional blog site or an Instagram account with colorful photos and useful travel tips. Please note that it is the tips that will bring you more subscribers and potential advertisers, because photographs are, of course, beautiful and interesting, but real tips and tricks are what subscribers need. Once you have a large following, you can even contact travel agencies and go on press tours for free.

And much more

Wood carving, drawing, embroidery, caring for pets, fishing, a healthy lifestyle - all this can be turned into a source of income if you set such a goal. In order not to be afraid and believe in yourself, first find on the Internet examples of those who did it before you, watch videos, read books. For example, Danielle Laporte’s book “Light a Fire” will help you reconsider your attitude towards hired work and find the strength and confidence to do what you are passionate about.