13 Ways to Make Money from Your Art Online

13 ways to make money online from your art

13 ways how to make money from your art online

Are you an artist who could use some extra income?

There are so many ways you can use your creative skills to build a side hustle to generate extra income. Or even just generate SOME income if you’re currently unemployed.

Over the last few years I’ve made over $40,000 in online income while working a full time job. While it’s not enough to quit my day job just yet, I’ve been able to pay for vacations, unexpected bills, and even part of a mortgage.

Yes, it will take time and you’re not going to be making thousands of dollars right away.

However, if you have the patience and drive to do the work and learn, you can be successful. In a few years time you could be generating a few hundred to thousands of extra dollars per month. And well, who is going to say no to that?

So what are you waiting for?

Below are just a few ideas of ways you can make some cash from your art skills online.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, but just some ideas I’ve come across and some I’ve tried for myself. You will have to dive deeper into researching each of these ideas for yourself. I have linked to my other blog posts on these topics where possible.

13 Ways to Make Money from your Art Online

Sell your original artwork or hand made goods on Etsy.
Create downloadable art prints or worksheets to sell through Etsy or your own website.
Print on demand websites and marketplaces like Redbubble, Society6, Zazzle etc.
Print on demand through your own website (Shopify, Printful, etc.)
Books and book covers through Amazon KDP.
Youtube: Film videos of yourself creating, then once you get enough subscribers and watch hours (1000 subs and 4000 watch hours) you can start generating income from Youtube. You can also make money from affiliate links by linking to Amazon products you use for your art.
Blog with affiliate links: Create articles about the type of art you do, product reviews, tutorials etc. and then you can look for affiliate partnerships like the Amazon affiliate program where you can send people to buy the products you use and recommend.
Teaching: Either through Youtube or a website like Skillshare which charges a subscription fee. If you send people over there to sign up you can get paid.
Patreon: Your fans can subscribe to you by donating a monthly $ pledge, and then you give them exclusive content and interact with them.
Social media: Build up a following on Instagram or TikTok and sell your artwork to your fans straight through the platform.
Create for virtual marketplaces: This one is kind of out there, but if you’ve ever heard of Second Life or IMVU there are many opportunities to create 3D fashion designs or other products to sell within these virtual marketplaces for real cash.
Sell design elements for other creatives or businesses through Creative Market or Etsy.
Offer your design services on Fiverr or through your own website.

Bonus Tips:

Create things people want to buy (do a bit of research).
Use high resolution images as much as possible. (Don’t start with tiny blurry photos or small pixel sizes, it’s a waste of time).
Never stop learning and growing your skills.

That should be enough ideas to get those creative juices flowing. As a creative person you will probably come up with even more ideas to make money from your art. And always be keeping an eye out for more opportunities!

Which one of these ideas resonated with you the most? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

Mandalatober Mandala Drawing Challenge Roundup

~ Julie ~ 2 Comments

You may recall least year I created my own Mandalatober challenge inspired by Inktober and the many other October art challenges that have popped up in the last few years.

I thought I was super unique and creative to come up with this, but apparently some other people had already beat me to it. So this year I decided to just follow along with the already established Mandalatober challenge on Instagram.

I only managed to get 8 of the 15 prompts done, but I’m still pretty proud of what I accomplished!

Check out all of my Mandalatober mandala drawings below. And let me know in the comments which one is your favourite!

*Please note: Some of the supplies and tools listed include an affiliate link (at no additional cost to you). When you make a purchase through the links I may earn a commission, which helps me create more content ?. I sincerely appreciate it!

Prompt: Radio

For the first Mandalatober prompt I decided to use my Chalkola chalk board and chalk pens! Which was a good idea since I had to re-draw it a few times before it looked right.

Prompt: Fish

For this prompt I was inspired to draw a Veiltail goldfish due to their beautiful looking fins. I digitized my drawing to colour it in. You can see the before and after of the original drawing vs. digital artwork below (slide the arrows).

Prompt: Polaroid

The inspiration for this piece was pretty obviously a polaroid picture. I even cut it out so I could hold and “shake it” like a polariod.

Prompt: Succulents

Succulents are so pretty! For this mandala I used my Sakura Gelly Roll gel pens which almost give it a 3d texture and luscious pastel colours.

Prompt: Hot Air Balloon

The idea of riding in a hot air balloon is so whimsical, but also a bit scary if you’re not a fan of heights. I’d love to see one decorated like this one in real life!

hot air balloon mandala mandalatober 2020

Prompt: Greek Eye

This one was simple but I like how it turned out contrasted against the black paper in my black paper sketchbook.

Prompt: Ladybug

This one wound up being my favourite. It also seemed to be my followers’ favourite seeing how it got over 700 likes! I used my gel pens again for the white part on the wings.

I took a walk around my neighbourhood and stumbled upon these bright red flowers which worked perfectly in this photo.

Prompt: Halloween

The final Mandalatober prompt was Halloween. I decided to take it off the page and decorated an actual pumpkin, using regular acrylic paint for the base and my Aroic Acrylic Paint Pens for the mandala and doodle part.

It turned out pretty good! Plus I can keep it for a bit longer than a traditional carved pumpkin, and probably even cut it up and eat it afterwards!

Mandalatober Conclusion and Takeaways

Since I didn’t create this challenge myself I wasn’t as invested and therefore did not complete the entire challenge. I also decided not to participate in some prompts that didn’t resonate with me as much.

A few of these designs have been turned into products for sale in my Redbubble store, while others will remain as mandalas in my sketchbook for all eternity!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Mandalatober drawings this year. Now on to the holiday season prep!

Cheers,

Selling your art on Print on Demand Websites – Zazzle vs Society6 (Part 1)

~ Julie ~ 14 Comments

Welcome to part 1 of my 2 part series about Selling your art on POD Websites: Zazzle vs Society6!

I’ve been selling my designs on Zazzle and Society6 for several years now. So, I would like to share what I’ve learned so far about these two different Print On Demand demand platforms.

I hope this guide can help you decide which of these sites could be best for you!

“Print On Demand” basically means an item is printed or created after it has been ordered. You upload your art or designs onto a website and digitally place them on different product mock-ups. Then, the company prints and ships the product to the customer after they buy it, and pays you a commission in return.

You do not have to pay for anything or maintain an inventory, so this is a fairly risk-free way to get your art and designs out into the online world!

There are several websites out there who offer this service. I chose Zazzle and Society6 after doing some research because they are both popular and widely known, offering good customer service and fair designer programs.

Pros and Cons of Zazzle vs Society6

Now I would like to discuss some of the major differences (mainly pros and cons) between Zazzle vs Society6. This is my experience as someone who lives in Canada.

Audience

Society6‘s audience is fine art based. There is more of a focus on prints, and different ways of displaying unique art work (ex. framed art prints, tapestries).

Zazzle caters more towards audiences looking for graphic design based products. Think wedding invitations, birthday cards, and business cards.

Also, graphic t-shirts with funny/topical sayings are top sellers on Zazzle.

Store Front

As an artist I prefer Society6‘s store front, as you can customize your store front to show either just your designs as prints, or the different products you have for sale. You can also sort by new, random or most popular.

On the Zazzle storefront your “Home” tab is the landing page for your storefront.

Under the “Home” tab your “Most Popular” products show up first, followed by your “Categories”, then “Recently Sold” products, and finally “Latest Products”. You can customize which categories are shown and re-arrange these under the Store Settings.

There is also a “Products” tab which shows a mix of your most popular items, a “Collections” tab (which can include your own products as well as other people’s), followed by “Comments” and “About” tabs.

While this storefront is a major improvement from what they had before, I find it a little cluttered and also think it may be confusing or overwhelming for a first time user.

A redeeming factor for Zazzle is that you have the ability to have multiple stores under the same account, which is not possible on Society6 at this time.

Ease of Upload

When I first started I thought Zazzle was easier to create products with, but once I caught on to Society6 I realized it is actually less work in the long run.

This is because first you upload your original image and choose the appropriate tags, and then your work is automatically placed on all of their different products. You may have to adjust the size or orientation for some products but most of them should work if your image is large enough.

On Zazzle you upload your image only once but then you have to create each item separately (they do have a “Quick Create” tool but I don’t recommend using it), and then add custom tags for each product. This one by one process can be very time consuming.

One thing that does set Zazzle apart though is that you (and your buyer) can customize each individual item with text or other images, all within their website.

Society6 has no options for customization after you’ve created your products, besides changing the colours of some items.

Earnings

Now the part you really want to know – which of these websites can make you the most $$??

Personally I have made more on Society6, but it will completely depend on your style of artwork, target audience and how well you market your products.

On Zazzle you can set your own commission rate, so it can be as high as you choose — but keep in mind it will be hard to compete with other stores and get sales. The typical commission rate is usually around 10%. I get anywhere from 0.10 cents to $10 depending on the item sold.

On Society6 you get a fixed commission rate on products, but you can choose your own commission for prints. I generally earn about $4-$5 per sale, so the set commission rate seems pretty fair to me.

Also keep sales cycles in mind. Generally I get the most sales around the Holidays and Back to School (August) while the Spring and early Summer is generally quite slow.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 of Selling your Art on Zazzle vs Society6 including information about: Payment, Quality of Products, Marketing of Products, Shipping, and my own Summary remarks!

What has been your experience selling on Print on Demand websites? Do you have any of your own tips to share? Feel free to leave your comments below!

Cheers,