Your hobby is your happy place. Whether cooking, watching Netflix (yes, that is a hobby), sculpting, gaming, photography and the list goes on. It’s any activity you do in your free time that makes you relax and happy. But why does your hobby make you feel so happy? According to psychologists, when you get all caught up in the pleasure of your hobby, your mind triggers the release of the happy hormone called endorphins. Although your daily life does bring you stress, your hobby balances out the stress hormone cortisol. So why not add another hormone into the mix? Dopamine, to be exact. Making money with your hobby will give you a sense of achievement.
Gaming
In 2020 there were over 2.8 billion gamers in the world. So if gaming is your passion, there are many ways to bring in the money while exercising that passion.
Beta Tester
You can become a beta tester. Playing the game while sorting out bugs, giving your suggestions and honest opinion to the developers while also seeing what goes on behind the scenes. Beta testing positions are regularly available at large studios. You can get paid per hour, which is between $10-15 per hour.
Hot Commodity Items
Selling hot commodity items in the game can also be very lucrative. Players in games like PlayerUnknow’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) don’t all have the patience to endure hours of gaming and tasks to build up their character to get the rare weapons and skins. Cashing in on this impatience by selling your hot commodity items will definitely up your dopamine levels. But be market-related and not greedy when you sell; look at places like PlayerAuctions to see what your items are selling for.
Go Pro
Becoming a professional gamer might be your end-game. But there is time and hard work involved to get there. Start making a name for yourself by entering gaming competitions and work to get to the top three spots. Not only might you get money back for getting the first, second or third spot, but it will also boost your confidence and gaming skills for when you try your hand at the big guns. Gaming tournaments are highly competitive and filled with players like you who want to make it big. Winning a gaming tournament will not only increase your bank account with the prize money, but you might even get a few sponsors. The highest-paid professional gamer earns around $15 000per month. This does not include sponsorships and tournament winnings. Whereas average professional gamers can make between $1000 to $5000 a month.
Get Paid While You Play
If going professional seems like too much work for you, there are simpler options available. Although it is not as lucrative as a professional gamer, many sites will pay you for simply playing the game. These sites are not only for computer games but also for mobile games. Anything between $1-$25 will drop into your PayPal account for every game you play. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but playing two to three games a day for a whole month? Yes, now you see the money starting to add up.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels
Become An Influencer
You don’t need to be a movie star or pro ballplayer to become an influencer. Just being an active, enthusiastic gamer will get the job done. To get started, do blogging. Write about your favourite games, shortcuts, give tips. Or you can even go the tech route and share your personal opinion on the gaming console, keyboard, gaming mouse or even screen that makes your gaming nights memorable. Start getting followers and gain your credibility. This is a spiral of other opportunities to come your way. You can then start tutorials on Youtube with links from your blog to your video. Charge for access to your tutorial or game guidance is a usual practice. You have built your following and credibility on two sites. You have become a great candidate for companies that invest highly in digital marketing. How do you ask? By affiliate marketing. These companies will offer you an agreement if you link a hyperlink to their products from your blog. You will get paid for every prominent purchase your followers make. Then, of course, there are reviews. When your credibility is rock solid, these companies will send you their products to review and blog about it or place the video on Youtube. Again placing hyperlinks in the comments or within the blog, and you will get the same fee when prominent purchases are made.
Take It Online
If writing is not your thing and you don’t believe you can adequately market products, that’s fine. But you still love to play, and you’re pretty good at it. Then streaming live is an excellent opportunity to up both your hormones. Although you have to upgrade your webcam and gaming desktop if it’s not adequate for this function, the profits will make it all worth it. Using the followers you already built, start streaming your game time through your Twitch account. You can either be paid with your followers to donate or a monthly subscription. The opportunity is also available where companies will offer you an agreement to either play their latest game or use their headsets, gaming mouses, desktop or other hardware or software. It’s open advertising for their brand if, let say, 7000 of your followers see you using their headset while streaming your gaming.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels
Photography
More than 152 000 people are employed as professional photographers. Even if you see yourself as a step above a novice, you can still make money with your hobby.
Capturing Memorable Moments
The bulk of a photographer’s work comes from capturing memorable moments. These include weddings to birthday parties. Hiring a wedding photographer cost around $2000. If you are trying to break into this market and only really have time during the weekend to truly indulge in your hobby, hire yourself out as a photographer. You can ask lower prices (but be honest with your clients about your capabilities), create a portfolio you can show with previous photos you have taken and start building your credibility and confidence. If it’s too much pressure at the moment to do wedding shoots, instead take on a birthday party request or even family photoshoots. There is an increase in the market for newborn photo shoots. You can really let your creativity shine with the different background options, props and themes. Not sure how to begin? Look at a few YouTube videos and tutorials on how others set up their props and even how to wrap the baby in the different raps and cloths. Newborn shoots aren’t a short session as they can take up to four hours. So when you do tell your clients how much you will charge for the shoot, remember to include the time it will take.
Photo by Bruno Cervera from Pexels
Advertising
Advertisements changed from standard billboards to digital, and all industries are utilising the easy to use far reaching method. You can either collaborate with their ideas or sell pictures you have already taken. High-quality photos are a must for any industry trying to lure more clients or followers. You can partner up with bloggers, like fashion bloggers, and spend the Saturday taking the necessary pictures they need to add to their blog. Or even magazines, offer your services to take photos for the articles they want to publish. Want to keep it local? Go down to your local restaurants and talk to the owners. Take photos of their dishes which they can use on their website, menu or even wall art in their restaurant. Airbnb to hotels and resorts need fresh photos for their websites, social media accounts, and advertising. You can take photos from the bedrooms, bathrooms, special features like a sauna or gym with your unique spin on them. Props and models can add an element of “I wish that was me” to your photo.
Events
Events can be anything from festivals, corporate functions, food and wine tasting, school events and sporting events. Everyone wants a souvenir. You can take pictures of the events and sell them, put up a photo booth with props, or even take photos of these events for the local newspaper or event social media pages.
hoto by Hassan OUAJBIR from Pexels
Mix It Up
Candid, portrait, fashion or even architectural photos can bring you your two hormone highs. Still, you can offer more to your client by mixing technologies. Standard video footage is an excellent complement to your package offer. Your client now just doesn’t have to remember the event or moment when they look at the pictures but can relive them while watching the footage. Embracing modern technology like the DJI Mini SE can give you aerial footage your advertising clients would love to have on their website and social media. Combining more than just one technology form can increase your asking price and build your credibility quicker.
There are many ways you can have your hobby pay for your hobby. For example, using social media methods, you can blog about it, review the utensils or other accessories that come with your hobby, do tutorial videos on YouTube or even go into the buying and selling side of your hobby.
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