From Passion to Profit: 25 Hobbies That Make Money
It’s great to have a hobby. They can help you unwind, relax, spend time with others, exercise and have fun. But what if you could make money from your hobby?
There are so many money making hobbies out there, and if you can earn some extra money doing something you already love, it’s a no brainer right?
In fact, some people are even able to turn their hobby into an income generating business! Imagine being able to make a profit from your passions.
While not every hobby has the potential to bring in a full time income, there are plenty of hobbies out there that could bring in a little income – let’s take a look at some of the most popular hobbies with the potential to monetise.
25 Money Making Hobbies
1. Reading
Can you always be found with your head in a book? If you can share your thoughts in a useful and detailed way, you can get paid to review books. You can also receive free advanced copies of books in return for honest reviews. If you’re an avid reader who buys a lot of books, this can be a great way to fund your hobby!
If you’re going to be accepted for paid reviews, you’ll definitely need samples of your work in order to apply. You can get started by leaving reviews of your reads on sites like Amazon and Goodreads.
Here are some websites you can apply to review books with:
2. Listening to Music
Do you love listening to and discovering new music? Review app Slice the Pie will pay you to listen to and review music through their platform. Once you’ve signed up and created an account you can start reviewing. The better and more detailed your review, the more you can earn. Your reviews go towards helping brands, artists and record labels to make decisions.
3. Making Music
Maybe you prefer making your own music? If you’re skilled with an instrument, why not give making money from music a try? You could either join a band and start trying to book local gigs, or set up as a solo musician – if you’re a skilled pianist or guitar/vocalist you could offer up your musical services for weddings and events, or even become a session musician.
You could also create and sell your own royalty free music, or even have a go at creating and selling sound effects.
Teaching your instrument is another great way to make money from music – private tuition is lucrative and in demand.
4. Acting
Does your hobby involve amateur dramatics? Why not make some money as an extra? You don’t need any formal acting experience to get the job. You’ll need to join a casting agency to make sure you hear about available opportunities. It’s a fun way to earn some extra money and see a film or TV show being made. Here’s some more info about what’s involved and how to find work as an extra.
5. Photography
Prefer being behind a camera to in front? If you’ve a good eye and create good photos you could try selling them to stock photography websites online. If you’re good at capturing people you could set up as an events photographer, just build up a portfolio so you can show off your skills to potential customers.
6. Gaming
Who wouldn’t want to get paid for playing games? The gaming industry is huge and there are a few ways to get paid to play.
- Become a tester
Working as a games tester involves playing games to help iron out any bugs and provide feedback to improve user experience. One platform you can sign up for paid work testing games is PlayTestCloud – you don’t need any prior experience to apply. - Make money on Twitch
Twitch is a massive platform for gamers and those looking to make a bit of extra money from their gaming hobby – some people even make theri full time income from streaming on Twitch!
To be able to make money, the first thing you need to do is start building up an audience. Regular streaming along with regular promotion is a good place to start.
Once you’ve gained a bit of a following you can start to monetize. There are a few different ways to bring in income using Twitch including:
- Donations
- Brand collaborations
- Affiliate marketing
- Play casual games
If you’re not that serious a gamer but enjoy more casual gameplay, you might like to try out some of the apps and sites that pay you to play various games on your phone or tablet. These apps work by rewarding you in points or coins for downloading and playing different games for certain amounts of time. You can then exchange your points for cash or gift cards.
Try these apps/websites to get paid to play:
7. Writing
There are so many ways to make money from your hobby if you love to write.
You can make money as a freelance writer, journalist, creative writer and more!
Freelance writing
Becoming a freelance writer is a great side hustle and can even become a way to earn a full time income. To get started freelance writing you’ll need a few samples of your work to be able to showcase as a portfolio. You can then join sites such as Fiverr and Upwork to list your offering as a writer, as well as bid for jobs that have been listed.
You can also join Facebook groups for writers/VA’s for hire and advertise your services there.
Writing ebooks
If creative writing is more your thing, it’s never been easier to self publish your own work – you can even do it directly through Amazon.
Blog writing
Creating your own blog is another great way to make money writing. You can blog about pretty much anything, so whatever your passion is, you can blog about it! Once you’ve started writing your blog, there are lots of ways to go about monetizing your hobby, such as displaying ads, creating sponsored content and using affiliate links within your writing to earn commission.
You can also use other writing platforms such as Medium to showcase your work. If you join their partner program you can even get paid based on how popular your articles are.
8. Crafting
Crafting is huge! So many people love to craft as a hobby and there are so many different varieties of crafting you can do. This makes it one of the best hobbies to make money from.
If you love to make and create, chances are there’s a market for your makes out there. People love to buy and gift handmade items.
To get started selling your crafts you can set up your own Etsy account and list your products. This gives you access to huge market of customers looking to buy handmade goods.
Another way to showcase and sell your items is to book tables at local craft fairs.
Plenty of people make great income selling their own handmade crafts and some have even been able to grow into a fully fledged home businesses bringing in a full time income.
Suzie from Enchanted Resin was able to turn her hobby making beautiful handmade resin keepsakes into a thriving home business that could support her family. Read her money making story in our interview here.
9. Designing
If you’re great at design and love creating graphics or are even just good at coming up with pithy slogans, you can make money with print on demand. This is where you submit your designs to POD platforms such as Printify, TeeSpring and Amazon Merch. They sell all kinds of printed merchandise such as clothing, mugs, pop sockets, custom shoes and more. When a customer chooses your design and makes an order, it’s custom printed and delivered straight to them. You get a commission for the sale.
This is a great side hustle as you don’t need to keep any stock yourself and all the processing and billing is done for you.
10. Sports
If getting active and enjoying sports and fitness is your jam, you could consider coaching a kids team as a way to make money while keeping active. You could also think about becoming a qualified personal trainer and offering fitness training services.
11. Reselling
This is one for those who love to find a bargain! The reselling community is huge, so why not give it a try? You’ll need a nose for a great deal and an eye to see what’s hot to sell. Scour second hand stores and online marketplaces for cheap items and start selling them on for a profit. Car boot and garage sales are a good place to find hidden gems at rock bottom pricing.
12. Shopping
So many people love to shop! If shopping is your thing, make sure you’re earning yourself some cashback while you’re doing it. Cashback sites such as Quidco and Topcashback (Rakuten if you’re in the US) will pay you money back when you shop via their site. It takes literally seconds to search for the retailer you’re shopping with, so it’s a no brainer to earn some money back when you’re shopping anyway.
13. Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is another way to get paid for shopping. As a mystery shopper you’ll be paid to visit retailers and complete surveys about your experiences within the store. You may also be required to take pictures of particular displays or make notes on the customer service you receive. As a mystery shopper you’ll tend to be reimbursed for the products you’re asked to buy, as well as earn a fee for your time and reports.
Mystery shopping platforms you can sign up to include:
- RedWigwam
- GBK
- BeMyEye
14. Petsitting
Do you love animals? Want to get paid to hang around with them? Why not try advertising your services as a Pet sitter?
15. Driving
If you enjoy driving, there are lots of ways to make money at the same time. If you’re sociable and enjoy working with people you could try becoming an Uber driver.
If people aren’t your jam, you could deliver for Uber Eats, or Deliveroo.
You could even sign up to become a delivery driver for Amazon, or another parcel delivery company like Hermes. If you have your own car, there are lots of options to make money driving.
16. Card Creating
Are you the kind of person that always sends a homemade card instead of a shop bought one? Those card making skills could be making you some extra cash. Why not start selling your cards online, or at local craft fairs and sales events.
17. Painting
Are you artistic and have a skill for painting? Why not recoup some of the cost of your hobby by selling your work? Advertise online or try reaching out to local cafes and stores to see if they’d be happy to showcase your work.
Painting or sketching portraits is another pathway to go down – people particularly love portraits of their pets.
18. Baking
You don’t have to be Mary Berry to make money baking! If you’re a creative baker you could set up your own bakery from home and sell your tasty bakes via Facebook or similar. Cakes are always popular for birthdays and other events, so if you’re a whizz in the kitchen and enjoy cakemaking, it’s a great way to make money and not have to eat everything you make yourself!
Just make sure you get yourself the right food hygiene certifications!
19. Coding
If you love to code in your spare time, you can definitely make money from your hobby. The demand for decent coding is huge and there are so many projects out there to work on. Advertise your services on platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork and you’re sure to be able to make some cash.
If you really love coding, you could even consider making it your full time career choice. Programming, development and coding work is always available and pays good money.
20. Face Painting
One for the more artistic among us! Facepainting is a fun way to let out some creativity and make some money along the way. Advertise your services and pitch for work at kids parties, festivals, fetes and so on.
21. Knitting and Crochet
Are you always sat with needles and wool keeping your hands busy? People love handmade knitted and crocheted items, so why not sell your creations for cash? Set up a store on Etsy or simply start advertising to friends and family via social media and see how far you can grow. There are so many options you could make to sell, here are a few ideas:
- Blankets
- Scarves
- Baby cardigans
- Soft toys
- Gloves
- Coasters
22. Dog Walking
Do you love dogs? Love being active and out and about? Dog walking is perfect for you! I didn’t even know this was a thing you could be paid for until I met my next door neighbour’s dog walker, who comes every working afternoon to walk the dog! People who are busy and just don’t have the time in the day to walk their dogs will pay people to take them and make sure they get walked.
You can advertise your services locally, in online groups or in local shops.
23. Walking
If you love walking and getting your steps in, why not be rewarded for it? Whilst there’s not much money to be made from walking, there are definitely rewards to be had! There are lots of apps that ‘pay you to walk’ both in money/vouchers and discounts or even free products. These apps will measure your steps and convert them into points which can then be redeemed for prizes.
One of the most popular step reward apps is Sweatcoin.
25. DIY
Rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – which leaves the door wide open for those that do love a bit of DIY!
Whether you’re handy with putting furniture together, laying a patio, painting and decorating or just general odd jobs you can advertise your service out for hire.
25. Gardening
Do you have green fingers? If you enjoy getting out and doing the gardening, why not share you skills with those who can’t even keep a houseplant alive? People will pay for gardening services or even just to have their lawn mowed. Advertise your services in local facebook and neighbourhood groups.
Another way to make money from your gardening skills is grow and sell your own flowers or produce.
How to find a hobby that makes money
- Investigate
Before you go any further, make sure your chosen hobby has the potential for monetisation. Investigate the ways you might be able to make money, how other people are making money and whether you’re well placed to jump in and meet potential needs. - Choose something you definitely enjoy
Don’t choose a hobby you don’t enjoy just because you think it will make money. This is supposed to be a way to make money from something you like doing, rather than getting stuck doing something you hate just because it continues to bring in an income. You need to be sure you’re good at it too!
There are some hobbies which just may not have as much opportunity to monetise – although there’s always the option to offer to teach your hobby to pass on your skills to others (and get paid for it!). - Plan ahead
Seriously consider how you’re going to go about things. Make sure you’re clear on how much money you’ll need to spend on your hobby, how affordable it is, exactly how you plan to find customers or employers. Don’t throw a lot of money you can’t afford at a hobby you may end up not making money from.
In other words, make sure you do your homework first.
What to do if you make money from your hobby
If your hobby starts generating an income, you’ll need to make sure to keep good and thorough records of all your income and expenditure. You’ll need this when it comes time to declare your taxes.
In the UK, you’re allowed to earn up to £1000 of additional (casual) income before needing to declare it to HMRC. This is called a trading allowance. If your income exceeds this, you’ll need to register for self assessment and will need to complete a tax return each year to declare your earnings.
Get paid for your hobby
There are so many fun and different hobbies out there that could lead extra cash or even new business ideas.
What do you enjoy doing that might have income potential?
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