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Last Updated on May 8, 2019 by Work In My Pajamas
eCommerce represents about 10% of all sales made across the world. That number and its rapid growth is what spurred our love of the idea of making money from home and is why so many people live the “work from home” lifestyle successfully.
The eCommerce explosion has actually benefited group professionals that have been left in the dust over the few decades or so… That group of professionals are artists.
There is a ton of opportunity for those that are skilled drawers, graphic designers and everything in-between to make a killing online. Below are some of the most common ways that artistic digital entrepreneurs answer the question of “How do artists make money?”.
In This Post:
- 1. Sell Vector Graphics
- 2. Find Clients Through Freelancing Platforms
- 3. Sell Courses
- 4. Make Clients Come to You
- 5. Look into Digital Consulting
- 6. Boost Your Rates
- 7. Get Active on Social Media
- 8. Sell Completed Works on Amazon
- 9. Expand Your Skill Set
- Wrapping Up the Big Question of How Do Artists Make Money
1. Sell Vector Graphics
There is a big market for vector images in the business community. Basic shapes and symbols are often leveraged by teams to create various graphics for websites, print publications and more.
If you have some time on your hands, you could pump out a number of random vector images like Christmas trees, hot dogs, coffee cups and everything in between.
You can then sell your vectors individually or as a pack online.
2. Find Clients Through Freelancing Platforms
Client-work is probably the most obvious “How do artists make money?” solution. There are websites like Upwork and Fiverr that you can find people that will hire you for a variety of projects.
The platforms that you use will take a small cut of your earnings but as you find more clients on the platform, those cuts tend to reduce.
Client work can sometimes be frustrating depending on the client that you end up working with. It can also make for a solid source of income.
3. Sell Courses
Information products are always a good market to get into online. As an artist, you have a skill that a lot of people want.
If you’re a decent teacher, you could create lessons and then publish them on websites like Teachable.
Remember, today’s consumer loves video content. Therefore, if you’re going to dabble in information products, make sure that you have some sort of video component to it.
4. Make Clients Come to You
Not all artist/client relationships have to put the client in the driver’s seat. Many successful artists have clients come to them.
If you’d like to create a funnel for yourself that has people asking you for your work, publish your best art on online platforms.
If somebody sees your art and wants to commission you for something, they’ll shoot you an email and just like that, you’ll be making income remotely!
5. Look into Digital Consulting
Some businesses need more than an artist to just do a project for them. Some need an artist to totally revolutionize their image.
You can visit here for more information on what a full-service digital consultation company looks like, but to put things simply, our recommendation is that you reach out to small businesses and let them know that you’d be willing to help them develop their overall branding.
That might extend to redoing their logos, revamping their print marketing materials and modernizing their website.
6. Boost Your Rates
This tip is less about “How do artists make money?” and more about “How can artists make more money?”.
The two questions are pretty closely related though so we felt that it was worth mentioning. If you’re an artist that’s already working with clients, consider giving your rate a slight boost.
Upgrading your hourly rate by a few dollars might not mean much to your clients but it could mean thousands of added dollars to your bottom line at the end of the year.
7. Get Active on Social Media
Getting traction online as an artist is all about getting the word out there about what you do. To start making real connections really fast, social media is a great place to start.
Share your art on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Offer insight on those platforms as to how artists can maximize their craft and share funny (tasteful) stories about your experiences with clients.
Anything that you can do to get your name out there will do wonders for boosting you as an artist.
8. Sell Completed Works on Amazon
If you are a fine artist that has some completed works collecting dust in a studio, you should start shopping your work around.
A great place to do that online is through Amazon’s art pages. Amazon does take a commission on sales but so would any dealer and Amazon’s large audience makes selling art on their platform a great way to gain exposure.
Selling artwork is one of the most common “side-hustles” that artists we’ve talked to like to leverage.
9. Expand Your Skill Set
If you strictly do paints as an artist, start learning how to work with digital art. If you exclusively do digital, try working with charcoal.
The more skilled you become as an artist, the more value you’ll be able to offer customers which mean more opportunities to make serious money.
Wrapping Up the Big Question of How Do Artists Make Money
There’s no single answer to the “How do artists make money?” question. All we can say is that ways for artists to make a livable income online are virtually infinite.
If you put yourself out there and work hard, we have no doubt that you’ll find ways to string together a successful career.
Love the idea of making thousands from your pajamas at home? We do too!
As a matter of fact, that’s all we talk about on our site!
To learn more about how you can start working from home, browse some of our newest content today!
