I do do a lot of church music - and I have fond that if you hone your act you can get paid for themed faires - but themed, specialized material helps! (i.e. maritime music, Ren music, Xmas music, Xmas carols, etc.) It has gotten much more corporate than when I started and now I have to have electronic samples to send off, etc.

But my music isn’t really bar music - I do do Celtic music, for example - but not the rowdy tunes bars like - But I do find places to play, anyway…not great profit most of the time, but it has helped me support my instrument collection/music, etc. So my hopy is paying for itself!

As a sole proprietor, you can write off the cost of new equipment, supplies, computers, internet fees, etc. against *all* of your income, not just the income produced by the business. I’ve been doing this for years with my independent consulting and online selling (on eBay) hobbies and it saves me loads of money in taxes. Some expenses are limited to what you’ve earned in the business (like the self-employed health insurance premium deductions), but it’s still well worth it in many cases.

Cheers,
-Nico

My brother builds speakers and works with audio equipment as a hobby. He makes some money at it. (”Spending money,” he says.) He notes that: “It’s not hard to make money from a hobby. What’s difficult is trying to turn it into an actual business. Moving from a hobby to a business is a pain-in-the-ass.” That’s a great point. Often when you try to ramp your hobby up to something else, the joy goes out of it, and suddenly the extra income just isn’t worth it. There’s a balance to be achieved, and if you can find it, you can have a little fun while earning some extra income.

I know people who do woodworking not as a job but because they enjoy it…the extra money is what they use to buy new tools or upgrade equipment.

And speaking of turning hobbies into money my neighbor got laid off from his job last year. He has always loved working on ATV’s and dirt bikes. He did this out of his garage for friends. So when he got laid off it wasnt hard for him to figure out his next step.

He opened up a shop here in town that not only services the bikes but also carries all the paraphenelia that goes along with the sport. His business is booming and he’s just recently had to hire more employees. He told me he’s delighted but amazed at how successful it’s been.

http://www.thewychefamily.com/beliefs/risktaking.html

All I can say is, if you enjoy your sanity, don’t do this… You cannot charge enough money to ever cover the aggravation that a geek will get from dealing with PC problems from the your less tech savvy friends and relatives!

Just a heads up on that.

Also, though most of these are highly competitive, there’s also a lot of demand for them. For a person who’s just trying to make a little extra money through a hobby, it’s not important to get every possible job. It’s just important to be open to the idea of making money through a hobby, and to be sensitive to when people seem interested. “Huh? You know a lot about computers? Mine’s been driving me crazy lately. I think I have a virus.” “You know, I could look at that for you. I have computer business on the side, and only charge $25/hour.” This last conversation is one I’ve had many times over the past five years. (I have a computer business on the side.)

@Melissa
I wasn’t aware that you needed permission to sell things knitted from patterns. My wife is the knitter, not me. I don’t pay much attention, except to admire the cool stuff she produces. I do know that it takes a lot of time and money to produce even simple items, but there’s a market for some of this stuff!

Good ideas though… but all of these ventures are highly competitive since the barriers to entry are so low.