nerd radio

Get ready for the new daily show

Turning Your Nerdy Passions Into A Real Career

June 25th, 2021 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

If there’s one thing that defines what it means to be a “nerd” today, it’s having a passion for something that can, sometimes, be hard for others without that passion to understand. Often, it might seem like we’re way too into our hobbies, but that’s because it can be hard to see how fulfilling they can really be. Part of that fulfillment can be turning your passion into a real career. Here, we’re going to look at how your love of pop culture, technology, and creative pursuits can become a real money-maker for you.

Pro gaming

There might be a lot of people reading, thinking “how could I possibly turn my love of gaming into a career?” There are more potential answers than you might think, but if your number one skill is being really good at a game, then the e-sports world has grown larger than it has ever been, making competitive and professional gaming a viable choice for those at the highest levels of their game. It’s not a stable career even at the top levels, but a lot of people who go this route later spin it into careers are influencers or even working with the development teams behind the games they gained fame from.

Writing

Do you consider yourself a natural storyteller, with a keen sense of how to grab people by the heartstrings and pull them along for narratives of your own creation? If that’s the case, and you have a flair for language to boot, then the demand for writers has been growing due to the internet. Nowadays, it’s easier than ever to get yourself set up with an account on sites like https://www.smashwords.com/ and post your own formatted eBooks. What’s more, a lot of freelancing sites can help authors connect with those who are looking for ghostwriters to bring their ideas to life. A lot of people have stories they want to tell, but none of the skills necessary to do it, and writers can find their niche there.

Copywriting

If you have a love of writing, fiction might be your personal wheelhouse, but there’s another way to turn it into a career, and one that offers a steadier rate of pay for many. Freelance writers are in huge demand, even if there are lots of them to compete with. You can work with marketing agencies, get set up on freelancing boards like https://www.contena.co/, or set up your own website and work hard on getting a client base that specifically sets up to find you. Out of the three options, the latter takes the most work, but it also typically pays the best. It can involve writing all manner of blog pieces, help articles, marketing copy, press releases, and more.

Art

Making it as an artist can be hard. However, if you’re an artist with a few nerdy interests such as gaming, anime, comics, or other pop culture media, then you might have a niche ready-built into your career. Selling fan art might not be as prestigious as getting shown around in galleries, but it can help you get seen for your art and design skills, and there are a lot of passionate nerds with disposable income who are willing to pay for what you can do. This can involve running a Patreon for fans, selling art through online stores, and attending anime and game cons to set up an artist booth to sell prints and commissions on the spot.

Streaming

Streaming on websites like https://www.twitch.com/ might seem like it’s predominantly a path for gamers. Indeed, gamers do tend to make up the bulk of the content. However, artists, writers, musicians, and a much wider range of people are also finding their audiences by streaming online. Don’t be mistaken, it’s a highly competitive field, one that is attracting more and more people with each passing year. However, even building a small community can see you earning a grand or more a year so long as you’re consistent, have a charming personality, and are willing to engage with people from all around the world. If you’re the extroverted type of nerd who loves to talk and display their passions openly, streaming can be a great path to take.

Photography

If you have a keen eye for images, then snapping them up as a photographer can be a fulfilling way to immortalize those moments that can be so easily lost otherwise. If photography is your hobby and you work at it, then there are more than a few ways to make money from it. Selling stock photographs, selling photos to publications, and setting up a freelance photography business are just a few. With the help of sites like https://www.drdrone.ca/ you can increase your repertoire, allowing you to add niche services like aerial photography, as well. It is a fairly competitive world out there for photographers, but with how visual the internet is as a medium, there’s also a bigger demand for them than ever.

Blogging

We’ve mentioned a few ways that you can make money with your writing skills already. However, if you’re able to make a connection with an audience over the things that you truly love, then blogging can be a hugely fulfilling way to make some money. There are a lot of different ways to monetize a blog, whether you work with affiliate marketing companies, as an influencer with specific brands, or sell your own eBooks and the like. Take a look at the different monetization strategies around and see which best fits your own style and skills. Of course, you have to find a blogging niche that you can stand out in, as well.

Graphic design

If you’ve developed some keen art skills, especially in digital art, then not all of your work has to be in the field of recreating beloved characters from nerd culture IPs. You might have a knack and a love of designing your own things as well. Graphic designers get a lot of work, especially with web developers, branding agencies, as well as bloggers, streamers, and influencers who are looking to create their own distinct brands and visual styles. Getting discovered as a graphic designer can be tough at first, but there are tools like https://www.canva.com/learn/portfolio/ that allow you to create your own online portfolios, making it potentially easier to get discovered amongst the sea of competitors out there.

Selling merch

There are a lot of artists that do a lot more than simply doing commissions. They create merch of their favorite characters and properties, including things like pins and buttons, keychains, plush toys, and more. Though some online stores do have pretty strict rules about whether or not you can sell products using intellectual property that you are not technically the owner of, there are still people who can make a decent chunk of change by doing just that. Aside from selling on sites like https://www.redbubble.com/shop/fan, you can always take the merch that you make to those same cons whether others will be selling their art, as well. So long as you find a way to sell it, you can be assured that people will buy all manner of merch including their favorite characters.

Link – CC0 License

Testing games

If you have a love of games, there are other ways to make money by playing them. Becoming a games tester might sound like a dream career to many, but the truth is that it might not be what you expect. It often involves testing the same inputs, areas, and mechanics time and time again. However, a lot of people who do it are glad to be part of the game development experience. It is far from unheard of from people who begin as a game tester to then go on to get more involved in the development of the games that they love, as well. So long as you live near a dev studio, become a game tester might be easier than you would think, too.

Game development

Many gamers dream of getting into development. We all have our pet ideas and theories about gameplay that we would like to see become a reality. The truth is, in most cases, you need to bring more than ideas to the table. Being a writer can help, but usually, it’s the animators, coders, and artists who get the opportunity to have the input represented and there is always a demand for them. There is a crunch culture in game development as well, which can mean long hours and demanding work, so it’s not for the work-shy, by any means. However, it’s an ever-growing industry.

Breaking into some of the fields mentioned above can be tricky, there’s no denying that. However, many of them have the potential to become full-time or, at worst, help you earn some cash as a side hustle.

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.