After writing this post on starting my own brick and mortar store for my hobbies, I was thinking that there were quite a few ways in order to make money off my interests. Here are 5 ways I can see people monetizing their “nerdy” hobby:

1) Own your own retail store - I know sometimes when I go to my local hobby shops, I can’t seem to find the things I’ve been looking for and have to go to various places to look for them. Well, not only can you make money selling the things you enjoy but you can also source the products you love and even meet new people and make new friends.

2) Produce your own product/service - This can range from drawing your own comic/manga strip, designing your own cosplay costumes or even creating your own custom toys/plushies/figures. I know there are creative people in this world and if you like something, there are bound to be other people who also enjoy it as well. The key should be to start off small and get a feel for the product/service and hopefully get as much feedback as possible to improve upon it.

3) Online Auction/eBay seller - Most people don’t have much money to open their own store or produce their own unique product/service, so most fans usually sell their goods and services online through auctions such as eBay. Not only do auctions reach a worldwide audience, but people can sell their stuff inexpensively and in the comfort of their own home.

4) Have your own booth at a Convention - At conventions or shows, the attendees are usually people who are very interested in buying the things you have offer and you reach your target market. People can have their booths at the dealer area or even in the independent artist alley. Not only could you find new products, you can network with different distributors, sponsor upcoming events and even gain exposure to what you are offering.

5) Create your own Website/Blog - While you can write content pertaining to the things you enjoy, you could also make quite a bit of money along the way. You could have affiliate links on your site and earn commissions on selling products/services for other people. Depending on the amount of traffic you get on your site or even the target audience, you could also sell adspace, reviews and even backlinks to other sites. Having your own website is ideal since purchasing a domain and hosting is fairly inexpensive and content isn’t easily duplicated (unique content is rewarded in the eyes of serach engines like Yahoo! and Google).

However, the bottom-line is…no matter if you are making money or not on your hobby, as long as you sincerely enjoy it, that’s all that really matters. I don’t recall where I heard this quote before, but I remember someone saying, “Figure out what you enjoy first and then worry about how to get paid for it later.” Wise words indeed.

-Stephen