Top 3 Ways to Make Money from the Adult Industry in 2022

Bedroom start-ups are raking in cash from the adult industry without even having to leave the house. Adults are starting a porn site and tapping into e-commerce and pay social subscriptions in order to create revenue streams that serve as side hustles and even full-time jobs. 

You don’t have to explicitly engage with pornography or escorting to create a successful business in the adult industry either. You can be centre stage in front of the camera, behind the camera or behind the website that brings in your profits. Here are 3 routes to profit in the adult industry with varying levels of involvement. 

1. E-commerce 

E-commerce covers all manners of adult products that you can sell online, so we’ll separate it into sex toys and accessories. You have endless niches and odd gaps in the adult market to fill, making it important to nail down the areas you want to target. 

Sex toys 

Within this fascinating and lucrative world, you have a full spectrum of high end to lower end products that you can sell. Companies such as Lovehoney cater for products that span this entire spectrum. If you are looking to build a sex toy business with a lot of scope, this would be the model to follow. 

Alternatively, you could target a specific corner of the market like companies such as Lelo. They exclusively create high end toys that are certainly not on the cheap side. They do, however, sell high-tech products that eclipse the lower end of sex toy e-commerce. 

Depending on how much of the market you intend to cover with an e-commerce business, you should plan ahead for your target market. There’s always room for expansion later on if your side hustle becomes your main income. 

Accessories 

You don’t just have to sell explicit adult products too. The accessories world provides a lot of creative freedom for you and your customers. For example, cosplay is a booming subsection of the adult industry and there are plenty of opportunities to sell themed costumes to enthusiastic customers. 

Specialist areas are perfect for cornering the market as well. One area of adult e-commerce with a large scope is bondage, which encompasses more than just 50 shades of grey. You could focus on products that have smaller upfront costs like handcuffs and sell a range of silk, fluffy, metal and so on. 

How to sell 

Build a website at a low cost by using WordPress or Wix. You will have full control over your designs and can tailor them to your target market. 

After your site is ready, promote it on social media through Instagram and Tik Tok to get eyes on your products. It would also be worth reading up on SEO to boost your rankings on Google or even enlist an agency’s help if you can factor it into your budget. 

2. Social Subscription Sites 

The OnlyFans wave has added a new path to profit for creators in the adult industry, but it won’t be for everyone. You will already have an image in your head of the type of content you would have to publish, however, it can be lucrative without following the norm. For inspiration, look up free OnlyFans accounts and see what others are doing. It may also be a good option for you to start out with an open account, gradually gathering an audience. If you provide quality, they will stick around even after you start charging. 

Choose the style that suits you

You don’t even have to show your face or upload anything explicit to make money on social subscription sites. There are massive communities of cosplay creators, some of which don’t reveal their identities. They can also cross-promote e-commerce products alongside their OnlyFans content, making it an option that can tie together multiple money-making streams. 

Niche areas have popped up for all manners of fetishes. You could consider targeting a quirky kink that caters for a smaller but more invested audience. 

Choose the right platform

OnlyFans is the obvious option when it comes to choosing an adult social platform, but there are plenty of alternatives that could make you more money. OnlyFans charges a 20% earnings fee on all your revenue that will eat into your profits. 

Alternatives such as Mytabu charge no earnings fees and instead opt for affordable subscriptions that allow creators to keep 100% of their earnings. Other options include Unlockd, which has a lower 15% fee but a higher minimum payout. It’s all about finding the balance when choosing the suitable platform for you. 

3. Escorting 

This is probably the most explicit method to make money on our list, but it doesn’t mean you have to be involved in the day-to-day activities. You can of course become a high-end escort, but you can also sit behind the scenes and run an agency like International Deluxe, who have become one of the most high regarded agencies around the world

Working as an escort 

You have a few options if this is the route you take. Working independently provides greater control over your work, but has fewer opportunities to advertise. Many independent escorts pay to advertise on directories that get thousands of visitors per day. 

Another option is applying to agencies who have a ready-made audience. This can be the more reliable and steadier route towards making money by working as an escort. 

Running an agency or directory

This is certainly not the route for you if you are looking for short-term profits. Running an agency, and a directory, requires large upfront costs just to build and write the platform. Be warned that agencies and directories are expensive upfront and won’t turn a profit for a while, but once your website is established you can start making millions of pounds every year.

If you are looking to make money in the adult industry and have a chunk of cash to invest, however, these businesses can be highly lucrative in the long-term. If not, a small e-commerce start-up or a social subscription platform might be more suitable for you.