In this post Kevin Sanders shares some introductory reasons to take a hobby and blog about it. In effect this is the way that I personally got into blogging – there was no intent of my blogs being anything more than hobbies in my early days – but out of writing about things I was passionate about emerged a business…. Now it’s over to Kevin….
I’ve been going to the gym for about twenty years. I’m not a professional bodybuilder or fitness instructor – lifting weights is just a hobby of mine. But I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I’ve even trained some of my friends. I often give (free) advice about exercise, diet and supplements.
I asked myself this question about ten months ago: Why haven’t I created a fitness blog? I loved the topic, and I already knew the basics of blogging.
So I did it – I created StrongandFit.net. I started blogging, using tips I learned here at problogger.net. Slowly but surely, the traffic started coming. My fitness blog is now most visited (and most profitable) blog. My only regret is I didn’t start it sooner.
Here’s my point: I think there are millions of people who have untapped earning potential in their hobbies (a certain blogger’s digital photography hobby comes to mind). They’ve just never taken the time to share their valuable experiences and expertise online.
Here are some advantages to blogging about your hobby:
Ready-made niche
All the pros agree – you should choose a niche you are passionate about. Well, a hobby is something you already love enough to do with your free time. Seems like the perfect place to start!
Ready-made posts
You’ve probably already invested time, effort, and money into your hobby. Maybe you’ve even answered questions about it or shown others how to get involved. In other words, you probably already have dozens of posts swimming around in your head. All you have to do is take the time and write them down.
Ready-made affiliate opportunities
Most hobbies have books, magazines, equipment, or other products/services. You’ve probably already invested in some of these and formed an opinion regarding which are most valuable. In other words, you are already set to endorse certain products. Your reviews could earn money and help others make good choices.
Re-Energize your hobby
Blogging could get you more involved in something you’re already passionate about. It could even get you back into something you once enjoyed. The process of blogging (research, forums, etc) has an energy to it that ads to the fun.
No expertise necessary
What if you are a novice? No problem! Just be honest about it and invite others along your journey – share what you are doing. Here’s an example from the fitness niche: I’ve seen several blogs created by overweight individuals who want to document their weight loss journey. Some of these are quite inspirational.
If you never make money, it’s OK – its just a hobby
As Darren has pointed out, most of us probably won’t make big money from blogging. My blog is making a little money for me, but I’m nowhere near ready to quit my day job. But that’s the beauty of a hobby blog – you’ll have so much fun you’ll be willing to wait for the profits.
Final Thoughts:
You have a hobby, don’t you? What are you waiting for? Start a blog and monetize it! You have nothing to lose.
Thanks for the encouraging comments, guys! Another fun thing about blogging is this kind of interaction.
The best part about having a hobby blog is, we can have fun and learn from it. It is a great show off, especially in offline circles – believe me!! It is also good to blog on our learnings from our professions. If it doesn’t earn any money, it will at least give a wealth of information that can be put to use offline.
excITingIP.com
I agree with most of the other commenters, this is a good post. If you know someone who is just getting started or if they are having a bad blog day (something like a bad hair day) and they need a little encouragement refer them to this post. Personally, I need to learn more about Affiliate programs and how they work for my personal blog and for work. I’m sure Darren has more info on this site, I just didn’t get around to reading it yet…too busy blogging, tweeting and facebooking (is that a word?) lol.
Anyway, Kevin keep up the good work and don’t let anyone chane the look of your blog until you are good an ready! Well not unless they are going to do it for FREE.
Smooches!
Hobby blogs will always succeed in the long run because the blog’s content would be filled with passion and core interest. Great post. Keep it up!
This is what Darren did with DPS, his hobby seems to be cameras.
I started blogging as a way of capturing ideas for presentations. Today, it is also a really good traffic builder for my primary business as my persona and biz blogs have merged.
About 6 mos. ago, I decided to combine my love of writing and yoga and create a yoga blog. Do I want to take off and get 1000 hits a day? You bet! But even if it doesn’t, maintaining the blog pushes me to learn more about an activity in which I’m deeply interested and want to keep doing for the rest of my life!
Hey all,
I completely agree with you! I started my blog http://www.MariaAbroad.com, because living abroad is an essential part of my life and I want to encourage and help others to experience this adventure as well. In addition to that, I have gained a lot of experience in this field and I certainly hope that my advice is helpful for people that plan to study or live abroad for some time. Thanks for encouraging people to blog about their passion and not where they hope to find quick money!
Maria
I like to take the idea of the hobby blog one step further. Some time ago, it occured to me (or I read it somewhere I am not really sure) that what you do instead of your real work is your real work.
This idea obsessed me, and I was soon designing a blog so I would have a place to finally put my writing.
Thanks for the article, it hit home!
Nice fitness blog. I’ve been definetly trying to get myself to create my own fitness blog but I end up not sticking to my workout routine.
I’m actually more focused into creating niche based websites to make money then run my own make money online blog because it’s high in competition.
Nice one, Kevin; short and sharp. I got the point! It’s time to unleash my vintange Wendy Walker collection upon the world! Best regards, P. :)
Paul,
Go for it! I bet you’ll have fun.
i love writing and my passion runs through it. i’m new in this area that’s why i am here starting from a scratch. thank you so much for giving me such a wonderful information on how i could be able to generate some money through the thoughts i put to words. i really appreciate it. keep it up.
I am totally agree with you.Blogging is my hobby and another good thing is that we are earning from our hobby.I really appreciate this post.
Yep. Some never made money. Just like myself. But if its a Hobby, you can never stop yourself from doing it. You just continue to do, then money will just come at a least expected moment.
Don’t think of the money. Enjoy yourself. Money is just a dime you found when you played in the park.
Right on. I love reading about someone else’s interests.
For my part, I decided to start a blog about something I was interested in but actually had no prior experience. Now I write, in part, about becoming knowledgeable in my field of interest and all the crazy snafus and gaffes along the way.
After being laid off for the first time in my 26 years as a business consultant, I decided to start up an online business. I looked at my passions and what I love to do, and created a blog and website. Having the heart of a servant, blogging meets my need to serve others with good, valid information. I looked to see if this niche was being met and found it was not. So, I went to work. I now provide online Christian based resources, tools and materials for the small group (bible study) community. A BIG thank you to Problogger. I just finished the book too. Problogger has really helped me get my business off the ground.
A hobby blog is easy to start. I followed horse racing since 2002 and started a blog on it.
Great post. Blogging about something that you have passion about is very important. I have 3 sites, each one covering different aspects of my life from work to hobbies to my general lifestyle.
Hey funny you post this, right in tune with my work I did today on my handpicked deals hobby products website. Click my name let me know what you think.
Thanks for the article, it hit home…..
Thanks for this post. Just as in your example, I blog about my journey to lose weight and I am overwhelmed with the response but never gave much thought to monetizing it. This got some ideas flowing, thanks!
I agree 100% and the internet is so huge that it’s got room for all of us.
I am pretty darn curious about the poll on in the sidebar! Over 1800 people come here and don’t have a blog. Those are only the people that decided to participate in the poll as well.
Darren, I wondered if you had any thoughts on that? Perhaps you’ve written about it already somewhere or you’re wondering the same thing. I know that it’s not going unnoticed though. It’s actually one of the things that I noticed recently as I’ve been building up my new project to help 1000 people before 2010 and take action.
I wonder if there is a reason they are not starting a blog but visiting this blog. Is it preparation, or perfectionists? People researching for school projects that don’t blog?
Something to think about
Emily,
If nothing else, you may want to put adsense on it and just see what happens. Then you could put affiliate links (amazon, shopzilla, etc) for products that are helping you. Email me and I’ll help you in any way I can. The advice is free and it’s probably worth what you paid for it :)
Blogging and dieting are similar–you gotta be very stubborn to see results :)
Good post ineed to blog about something i like
This post pretty much is what I am doing, I don’t make any money from my hobby, but I may one day. Just see how it pans out..
My hobby is make money online, what do you think about that?
Really Awesome post!!!!
This will really help everyone to generate revenue from their Hobby.
Handcrafted Silver Jewelry is my crazy Hobby and now my Hobby Blog!!… and it’s just starting to take off! I quit my job last week and I’m loving staying at home with my kids, creating jewelry and blogging! Great tips! Thanks, Darren!
I want to make my hobby my life because I’m consumed by it and enjoy the journey.
Nice article. Making profits with a Hobby Blog is quite a challenging thing but If you are really like mastered in it and you know how to market it then you are surely gonna make profits with it..
Regards,
Typhoon a.k.a Sushant
http://www.smartbloggerz.com
I started my blog(s) sort based on my hobby. I used to collect gif image files that were interesting to me and built a huge archive of these. I looked around a little bit and only found a few competitors out there and thought it would make an interesting blog. Need to supply more content for SEO, but I’m getting better.
http://www.dailygifblog.com/
Had a lot more girl gifs so I also made :)
http://www.gifgirl.org/
DB Dan
I agree, it makes it easier to write about!
I started a blog based on my hobby of rubber stamping and scrapbooking 3 years ago simply because I wanted to be able to share my passion for creating cards, gifts and scrapbook albums. At that time I had no intention of trying to build it into a business. However, as my blog readership grew, I started to see income-generating possibilities. As of 2008 I would consider my “hobby” blog ( http://www.andreawalford.com) to be my full time business and have managed to generate a six-figure income with it that continues to grow.
I also wanted to mention that since finding your blog about blogging I’m excited about being able to take my blog to a whole new level.
If we use blogging just to make money, we will not get any success in that but if we use it share good content with people, we can make money from that.
Good write-up.I strongly agree with depression’s word.If we use blogging just to make money,we won’t get any success in that.So we should share good content with people.So that we can make money from that.Thanks for sharing.Keep it up.Keep posting.
Some very nice ideas here. I enjoyed the article and thanks for the wonderful information.
Man what a great article!!!
I can’t get enough of reading your blog Darren, there’s just one article after another of great informative content. I only hope that someday I am as successful as you!!!
Thanks,
Larry C.
Great article, I just decided to start a new blog, not sure if it is about something I could call a hobby. I was wondering should I move the information I have written on my regular blog over or maybe rewrite it.
I agree with you, this is really a great article. I am also doing blogging but i never thought this type of idea & when i read this article i’ll change my mind, first i think blogging is my business but i think that its a my hobby.. It feels me really very nice..
We should make a blog on that topic that we love