Anniversary Gifts

I Need A Hobby At Home

Express yourself! 
Harness your creativity and start writing. Leave a legacy for your loved ones, make new friends and earn some money too!


This article will explain why you should consider blogging as your new hobby, and will recommend HubPages as one of the best online resources to achieve your goals. 


I often hear my friends say "I need a hobby at home". When I ask why, it's usually for one of these reasons:
  • They are getting close to retirement and want to have something to do when they retire, 
  • Their children have left home / gone to university, and they're bored, or
  • They want to make some extra money to supplement their income or pension.
For me, it's a combination of all three. I'm getting closer to retirement, most of my kids have left home (or are at least old enough to take care of themselves) and I'm concerned about the prospect of living on a fixed income. 

Start Writing Today!
The hobby that I decided to take up is blogging, or for those of you new to the terminology, writing articles. 

I've always had a creative streak and have often thought about writing a book. The trouble is, I don't have the skills, expertise or patience to write a novel. With blogging, you write bite-size articles about specific topics, whatever interests you, whenever and how often you want.

Here are some ideas for topics that you might like to write about:
  • Sports that you like to play or watch
  • Vacations that you have taken
  • Reviews of books or movies
  • Favourite pastimes: Gardening, bird-watching, playing chess
The Benefits of Writing:
Here are some of the benefits of writing as a hobby: 
  • Immortality: Once you've published your first blog, you have achieved immortality! Assuming the internet sticks around, your creation is online for all the world to see, even after you've gone! What better legacy to leave your loved ones than advice, stories and experiences from your life!
  • Therapy: Writing is therapeutic - it allows you to put your thoughts into words, share your experiences and seek input on your thoughts and ideas.
  • Community: There is an excellent sense of community in many of the larger blogging sites. Your fellow bloggers will read your work support your efforts and share your interests. 
  • Generate Income: Blogging can generate income if you do it right. Basically, there are advertising programs that place ads into your blogs which generate income if they are clicked. Although I do know people who make over $1,000 per month blogging, I have to caution that this is not the norm and you'll likely just make a few dollars every now and then. My advice would be to do it for the love of writing and recognize that any income you generate is a nice bonus.
Why You Should Consider HubPages 
I have investigated a number of different blogging sites and the one that I recommend to someone new to blogging is HubPages.

Here are the reasons why I prefer HubPages:
  • Simple to sign-up: Simply go to the HubPages Sign-up Page to get started.
  • Easy to Use: The software to create Hubs (their name for your articles) is very easy to use and intuitive.  You can easily add capsules for text, photos, videos, maps, tables, polls, quizzes and even links to Amazon and eBay.
  • Online Help: There is a very good help facility with guidance for virtually every type of question you might have.
  • Income Generation: HubPages provides their own earning program which pays you a small amount for every visitor you get. In this way, the more people who read your work, the more money you make.
  • Sense of Community: There is a real sense of community as fellow Hubbers welcome you, are extremely supportive and leave positive comments on your work. So far, I have never seen one negative comment on a Hub. 
  • Contests: They run contests periodically where you ahve a chance to win more cash by asking  and / or answering questions from fellow Hubbers.
  • Referrals: You also get paid for any referrals that you make either for new members or to other people's hubs. 
Check Out Some Examples
Before you sign-up, you should check out what the Hubs look like. Here are some samples that I have produced recently: 
Sign-Up for HubPages Today!
I hope you agree that they look pretty good. I'm no expert so if I can do it, you can too! Click here to sign up at HubPages today!

I hope that this article has inspired you to take up writing so that you no longer have to say "I need a hobby at home"! 

Happy Blogging!

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