Making a Living Online

We all have hobbies, things we like to do in our spare time that make us happy. What happens when doing something you used to do for fun changes into a way of making money, a business? Well it really depends on whether you keep that love for what you are doing and maintain a steady stream of income from it, content with that as it is or it becomes about the money and no longer about the hobby.

Lets say there is a young woman that begins painting pictures. She was inspired by the class she took and wanted to explore the art. As she painted more and more, she began to dive deeper, going to art exhibits whenever time would allow. A art dealer picks up on some of her work and offers to buy a couple pieces. What would you do in her situation? Of course, sell the pictures, especially if you needed the money.

A year later, she begins to sell her work regularly and what was once a hobby is now a business. One’s outlook doesn’t necessarily change in an instant, this young woman had no idea that when she started painting it would lead to the majority of her income. A gradual alteration on what she is doing takes place, there is never an epiphany or defining moment.

I started making a living online a few years back. Video games, like most pre-teen males, was the entertainment of choice. I made clan websites and forums for discussion and it was fun for me. I found it very captivating to design websites, create, modify, improve and get feedback for the work i was doing. Jumping ahead a year, i started exploring the possibility of making a little money by creating niche sites for the purpose of running ads on them.

It didn’t happen in an instant, in-fact, it was almost like a voice in the back of my head, just the idea that this could be the way i buy my first car, move into my first home, provide for my future family, that idea slowly built until i couldn’t ignore it any longer. So.. Do i still enjoy what i do? Is it just about the money or do i get something more from the niche sites i create. The answer is: I enjoy what i do, i love design and love to see a website come together but money makes the world go round. My enjoyment is to a lesser extent because of this.

Hobbies are a wonderful thing but when money is involved, it becomes a business. Business is just that, business. What’s your take? Has something changed in your life that you’d like to share? Please, weigh in.