Making Money Online with Your Passion

At what point does a hobby become a job, and a job become a career? This is the million dollar question that a lot of people are looking for the answer to while combining their passion with a money making career. When it comes to making money online, you should take your passion and match it with a strong business model and make it profitable.

When I was a teenager, my hobby was music. I loved to listen to music, and the greater part of every dollar I made went to the local record store. For those of you under 25, we had to go into a store to purchase our music on these 12 inch vinyl discs called Records. Records gave way to the compact disc, and those gave way to Mp3’s that you can snap up from home on iTunes.

This post isn’t about music, but to some extent it is still relevant. I turned my hobby of music into a job when I became a disc jockey. For five years I made a living working in nightclubs and doing weddings and house parties. I loved what I did, and I enjoyed a great lifestyle while in my early twenties.  Suddenly, I noticed a shift in the marketplace. Night clubs started to close down due to the increase in violence, alcohol related issues, insurance rates skyrocketed, and business owners just didn’t want to take the risk of losing their hard earned gains to a potential lawsuit. I had to make a career change quickly, and back then there wasn’t any way for me to make money online. I didn’t even own a computer.

For the club DJ, this meant that there was a shrinking market with fewer jobs available. Times were changing, and I made a decision to get out of this industry and look for something with a brighter future. I could have easily stayed with it until the company eliminated my position, but what good would that have done me? I look back now, and I realize I made a good move at the right time. The three companies that I worked for have not only eliminated DJ’s from their payroll, but they are no longer in existence. I stayed in the hospitality industry which is something I knew quite well. I shifted into management and succeeded because I took my passion and found a new way to channel it. I still got to make people happy, but instead of packing a dance floor I was packing a dining room.

On the other side of the issue, having a steady source of income before you follow your hobby in the hopes that it will become your dream job or career makes a lot of sense. Pursue your dreams with a passion, and in the mean time do your research. Like the expression says; “Don’t quit your day job” until you know that you can make a living doing what you love to do. For anyone out there that is looking for the quick easy way to riches and a carefree lifestyle, I offer this one bit of sage advice: It isn’t out there.

If you are looking for a way to make money online, I would suggest you find something that you love, and work hard to make it profitable. Solve a problem, fill a need, or share your wealth of knowledge on a particular subject that people will pay you for. Sell a product that serves a purpose or meets a need or desire. This will gain you wealth, and lead to a better lifestyle. Live within your means until you are disgustingly wealthy, and then make sure you have a long term plan to protect your newly found wealth.  It goes quickly, especially if you never had an abundance of wealth to begin with.

One of my favorite sayings is this: “The man who loves what he does never works a day in his life.”  I try to live my life by this motto, and I also feel that when most people say that they have to go to work, I say that I get to go to work. See the difference?