Running a successful art business requires more than just creativity and talent. It also requires a solid plan that outlines your goals, strategies, and resources. An art business plan can help you stay focused, organized, and motivated as you navigate the ups and downs of running a business. Whether you’re a seasoned artist looking to take your business to the next level, or a beginner just starting out, this guide will help you create a roadmap for success.
As an artist who has turned my passion into a successful business, I understand the importance of having a well-crafted business plan. Over the years, I have honed my skills and learned what it takes to make an income as an artist, and I want to share my knowledge with you. By following the steps outlined in this post, I believe that you too can create a solid art business plan that will help you achieve your goals and build a sustainable career.
Why You Need an Art Business Plan
An art business plan is a roadmap for artists to achieve their professional goals. Whether you’re just starting out or have been selling your art for a while, having a solid business plan is crucial for success. Think of it as a roadmap that will guide you towards achieving your goals and making your art business dreams a reality. Don’t worry if you’ve never written a business plan before, it doesn’t have to be super complicated or intimidating. You can make it as detailed or as simple as you like, just start somewhere!
As we go through this post, make sure to take notes on all the sections we cover. You can keep your art business plan in a notebook, a Google doc, or a Word document. I also have a Notion template that you can use as a starting point.
What to Include in Your Art Business Plan
When it comes to creating your art business plan, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Your plan should be customized to fit your unique goals, vision, and circumstances. However, there are certain elements that most art business plans have in common. Here are some key sections to include:
Business Summary: This section should include a brief overview of your business, your mission statement, and your unique selling proposition.
Market Analysis: Here you will conduct research to gain an understanding of your target audience, your competitors, and the overall market.
Products and Services: Describe the products or services you offer, and what makes them unique.
Marketing Strategy: Outline how you plan to market and promote your art business to reach your target audience.
Financial Plan: This section will outline your projected income and expenses, as well as your funding sources and financial goals.
Remember, your art business plan can be as detailed or as simple as you like, depending on where you are on your art business journey. The most important thing is to just start somewhere, and make adjustments along the way as your business grows and evolves.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what should be included in your art business plan, let’s dive deeper into each of these points and discuss how you can create a plan that will help you achieve your business goals.
A Summary of Your Art Business
The Business Summary section is where you’ll give a quick and easy rundown of your business. It’s important to include your mission statement, which is essentially what your business is all about, as well as your unique selling proposition, which is what sets you apart from your competitors. Think of this section as an elevator pitch – it should be short, sweet, and to the point!
Identify your business’s purpose and goals: Ask yourself what your business is about and what you want to achieve with it. Write down your answers and summarize them into a few sentences.
Define your target audience: Think about who your ideal customer is and what they’re looking for. This will help you create a more targeted and effective summary.
Focus on your unique selling proposition: What sets your business apart from others in your industry? Highlight your unique strengths and what makes you different.
Use simple language: Your summary should be easy to understand and concise. Avoid using technical jargon or complex language.
Get feedback: Share your summary with others and get feedback. This can help you refine your message and ensure it resonates with your audience.
Conduct a Market Analysis
The market analysis section is all about doing your research to gain a deep understanding of your target audience, competitors, and the overall market. It’s important to know who your customers are, what they want, and how you can differentiate yourself from your competition.
This section can include data on your target market’s demographics, interests, and purchasing behaviors. You’ll also want to research your competitors and identify their strengths and weaknesses. By analyzing the market, you can better position yourself to succeed.
How to conduct a market analysis?
Here are some actionable tips for conducting market research as an artist:
Identify your target audience: Think about who your art is meant for, what their interests are, and where they spend their time. Look at demographic data, such as age, gender, location, and income, to get a better understanding of your target audience.
Research your competition: Look at other artists in your niche and see what they are doing. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What makes your art unique compared to theirs? You can also look at their pricing, marketing strategies, and social media presence to get an idea of what works well.
Understand the overall market: Look at trends in the art market to see what types of art are popular right now. Consider the economic climate and how it may affect the art market. Look at art publications and websites to see what topics are being covered and what people are interested in.
Describe your Products and Services
In this section, you’ll want to provide a detailed description of the products and services you offer as an artist. Be sure to include information about the materials you use, the types of art you create, and any special techniques or processes that set your work apart. You can also talk about any additional services you provide, such as commissions or custom pieces. Don’t be afraid to get specific and really showcase what makes your art unique and desirable to your target audience.
Some examples of what you could include in this section are your original paintings, prints, commissions, workshops, or even merchandise like stickers or tote bags featuring your art. It’s important to be specific about what you offer, so your potential customers can understand what they’re buying and what sets your work apart from others.
Develop a Marketing Strategy
Now that you have a good understanding of your audience and products/services, it’s time to develop a marketing strategy that will help you promote your business. Some effective strategies for artists include social media marketing, email marketing, collaborations with other artists or businesses, and participating in local events and markets.
Choose the strategies that best fit your business and audience, and be sure to set goals and track your progress. For example, you could aim to grow your social media following by 100 followers each month, or to send out a monthly newsletter to your email subscribers. By developing a clear marketing strategy and tracking your progress, you can ensure that you’re reaching your target audience and achieving your business goals.
Come up with a Financial Plan for your Art Business
Managing the financial aspect of your art business may seem intimidating, but it’s a crucial step in achieving your goals. First, identify your start-up and ongoing expenses, as well as potential income streams, to determine your break-even point and set reachable financial goals.
You can use online accounting tools or create a budget spreadsheet to monitor your expenses and income regularly. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of your finances, so you can make informed decisions about pricing, marketing, and investments. In my Art Business Toolkit Notion template, I’ve included a budget tracker to help you get started. By tracking your expenses, you’ll be able to make strategic decisions that contribute to the growth and profitability of your business.
Conclusion
In conclusion, writing an art business plan may seem overwhelming, but it is a critical step in achieving your goals as an artist. By breaking down the process into manageable sections, you can create a plan that reflects your unique vision and sets you up for success. Remember to use the tips and tools provided in this post, and don’t be afraid to start small and revise as you go. Once you’ve completed all of the sections, put it all together into a cohesive plan that will guide you as you build and grow your art business. With dedication, persistence, and a solid plan, you can turn your passion into a thriving business.
Are you an artist who wants to start selling your art online? I’ve got you. Just follow the steps below to get started!
Selling Art Online for Beginners
1. Build a portfolio of high quality work
In order to start selling your art online, you should have a decent sized portfolio for potential customers to choose from. Aim for 10-25 artworks or products you want to list for sale.
You can either make a batch of new artwork, or dig up some old pieces that could work digitally or physically to sell and repurpose them.
I also want to emphasize that quality and unique-ness is more important now than ever. There is a ton of competition out there so make sure your designs are good and unique enough that you won’t get lost in a sea of competitors.
Not quite there yet? Keep practicing and honing your craft. No one really is born with some amazing artistic ability, it takes times and practice to develop skills. Over time you will get there and build your portfolio in the process.
2: Decide what type of art you want to sell
Next, you’ll have to decide what kind of art you want to sell, which will depend on your medium, style, and goals as an artist.
Identify your audience and how you want to sell your art.
Are you going to sell art prints?
Are you going to sell physical artwork, such as paintings?
Do you create sculptures, jewellery or some other physical product?
Are you interested in designing t-shirts and/or home décor products to sell through print on demand?
Do you want to sell digital products like cell phone wallpaper or graphic assets for designers?
Are you interested in selling NFTs?
All of these are viable ways to make money selling your art online. You can choose just one or a combination of these.
If you don’t already have your art in a digital format, you’ll need to digitize it in some way. Either by scanning or photographing your physical artwork in high quality with good lighting.
Scan or photograph your artwork in high resolution.
Try to get sharp lines and true colors by using a tripod and good lighting.
Post process in a program like Photoshop to fix colors, or clean up scans.
Check out my video tutorial below on how to digitize your artwork using Photoshop and Illustrator.
4. List your artwork for sale on your chosen platform(s)
Upload your designs or create listings on your chosen platform.
If you are going the Print On Demand route, only add to products that look good and work with the design. You may need to customize the design for different products, like having a version with a transparent background for stickers and t-shirts.
For physical products you can sell on your own website, social media or Etsy. Make sure the photos look good and it’s clear what you are selling. Also make sure it’s simple and easy for a customer to purchase from you.
5: Market your products
Marketing sounds hard but there are actually so many ways to market your artwork online!
You can use social media or a shopping website like Pinterest. There are many ways to market your artwork these are just a few ideas.
Share your products and artwork on social media. You can use a mock-up generator like Place It to help show the designs on physical products without having to purchase them yourself.
Create an Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook page dedicated to your art. (Ideally, choose one you use frequently so it’s not a burden to learn or use daily).
You may consider building a website, which can be a hub if you sell on multiple platforms. It could be a blog like this, or just a simple portfolio of your work.
To dive deeper into marketing, watch tutorials on YouTube or try Skillshare to hone your business skills or even artistic skills as your business grows.
Consistently create new designs so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t, then make more of what resonates with your audience.
Consistency is key!
I hope you’ve found this guide to selling your art online useful. Feel free to leave any additional tips or questions for me in the comments below!
If you want to start a print on demand business then you’ve come to the right place! I’ve created this list of the top tools for your print on demand business.
I’ve personally been selling my art through print on demand websites for over 8 years and have tried many different tools and approaches. In this post you’ll get all of the top tools and resources I’ve found for getting started with print on demand and scaling your business.
To get started selling your art online you’ll need to create some designs and optimize your artwork for print. Then, you’ll need to decide on a platform and upload your art or list your products there while using targeted key words to help them get found. Finally, you’ll need to market those products to your customers and continue learning to grow your business.
So let’s get into the top tools for your print on demand business!
* Please note, some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using the links below I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support and it helps me create more content for you to enjoy!
Creating your Designs
First, you’ll need to create some designs or digitize your existing artwork so you can upload them to print on demand websites. Keep in mind the type of products you will be selling. A design for a t-shirt will much different than one for fabric for example.
Below are a few different (free and paid) design tools and resources for creating your designs for print on demand.
Procreate – If you have an iPad you can use this app to create your designs
Book Bolt – Design and research tool for Amazon KDP (julie20 for 20% off membership)
Creative Fabrica – Digital assets like fonts, graphic designs etc.(35% discount on monthly all-access subscription)
Websites to Sell Your Art
The next thing you’ll need to do is decide on one or more print on demand websites to sell your designs through. Below is a list of sites I’ve personally used and sold my art through.
Preview of Flying Upload software dashboard and connected websites
Keyword and Niche Research
In order for people to find your products you’ll need to make sure you’re including key words that people are searching for! Include them in your title, tags and description. Here are some tools and resources to help you with this.
Marketing helps drive sales and raise awareness about your designs and the products you offer. You can do this in a variety of ways including through social media, Pinterest, blogging and more. Below are some excellent tools and resources to help you with your marketing efforts.
Place It – Create unique mockups of your designs on products
Buffer – A tool to schedule Twitter, Instagram and even Pinterest posts
Canva – Create blog images, social media posts, image editing and more
Pinterest – Create boards and pin your products, designs, blog posts etc.
Mockups like this can help drive sales
Business Tools and Resources
As your business grows you’ll need to implement good business practices like keeping track of finances, doing your taxes, building a website, email list and general organization.
I’ve recently created an all in one Art Business Toolkit to help you get your business started and organized!
Further Education
In order to grow your business you’ll need to continue learning and honing your skills in both design, marketing and overall business skills. There are many excellent resources out there, here are a few of my favourites!
There are so many resources and tools out there to help you grow your print on demand business. What was your favourite resource? Did I leave something out? Feel free to leave links below so we can all benefit.
If you’re looking for some ways for artists to make money you’re going to love this post. I’ve personally researched and compiled this list of over 100 ways for artists to make money!
I’ve created sections for both traditional and digital artists so there’s bound to be something for you. I’ve even gained some new ideas for myself in the process.
Yes, it is possible to make money from your art and creative skills, and even make a full time living from it!
* Please note, some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using the links below I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support and it helps me create more content for you to enjoy!
Traditional Artists
1. Galleries: The most traditional way for artists to sell their work is through an art gallery. Look for “calls for submissions” at local (or international) galleries that align with your style.
2. Art fairs: Another fairly traditional way to sell your artwork is to rent a booth at an art fair. These can be expensive so consider sharing a booth with other artists if you’re just getting started. Art fairs can be great for exposure and networking opportunities.
3. Sell through an art agent: If you can find an agent to represent you this is probably the easiest route. They do take a cut of your sales, but will also expose you to more galleries and clients than you would likely find on your own.
4. Online marketplaces like Etsy, SaatchiArt, and Fine Art America: These are just a few of many online marketplaces that allow you to sell original artwork, like paintings, through their marketplace.
5. Sell directly from your art studio: Artists often host open studio events where people can come right into their studio to observe their art making process, which is a great opportunity to make sales.
6. Pop up markets: There are often farmer’s markets and other local events where you can rent a booth and sell to your local community. Bonus points if your art is related to the theme of the event.
7. Sell at a local park or beach: There’s always someone selling paintings or illustrations in a local town square or at the beach, so why not you? These generally cater to tourists so local landscapes or cityscapes work well for this.
8. Music festivals: Festivals are often looking for vendors, and people love to bring home a souvenir from these events.
9. Plein air paintingor illustration: Draw quick portraits or caricatures of people in a public place, usually geared towards tourists. Or set up your easel and start painting, it’s sure to get people interested.
10. Local coffee shops or restaurants: Approach your favourite coffee shop or restaurant to see if they’d be willing to hang some of your art on their walls. Include a sticker with the price and your contact info to indicate it’s for sale.
11. Auction your art on Ebay: Set a reasonable starting price and let people bid on your artwork!
12. Sell directly through Instagram: You’ve probably already been sharing your artwork on Instagram so why not offer it for sale? Write in the description that people can DM you to purchase, with no website or middle man needed.
13. Sell through Pinterest: Pin photos of your art, or works in progress, to Pinterest with a link to your website or contact information for interested buyers. Bonus points for videos and “Idea Pins”.
14. Sell through Facebook marketplace: Basically the new Craigslist, Facebook marketplace makes it super easy to snap a photo and list your items for sale. Why not your original artwork?
15. Directly through Twitter: Similar to selling through Instagram, post your artwork on Twitter (don’t forget to include a few hashtags) and negotiate sales directly through DM.
16. Your own website: You can simply post images of your artworks for sale and include contact information for interested buyers. Or set up an e-commerce store with a platform like Woocommerce or Shopify.
17. Sell your art through Youtube: Post videos of your process, time-lapses or finished work and mention it’s available for sale. You can include contact information in the description for interested buyers.
18. Instagram and Facebook shops: Separate from Facebook marketplace, you can actually add a store to your Facebook page if you have one for your art. You can also link it to your Instagram account.Read my post on how to set up a free Facebook shop.
19. E-mail list: Collect emails directly through a simple landing page or your website and sell directly to your subscribers via e-mail.
20. Sell directly through TikTok: Similar to other the social media mentioned, you can share videos of your art and process, then sell directly through TikTok DM’s. Also see my post on How to Use TikTok for Artists.
21. Offer commissions to friends and family: Especially if you are just starting out, this can be a great way to get your first commissioned work. You can offer commissions in person or through social media.
22. Custom portraits of people or pets: Offer to make custom portraits for your followers, family and friends. These make great gifts and people often commission these to give to someone else.
23. Apply for grants for artists: There are many grants available to artists through the government and other bodies so do some research to see if you qualify and apply away.
24. Apply to be an artist in residence: Want time to focus on your work and either get paid, get free studio space or even have your living costs covered? Consider applying to be an artist in residence.
25. Enter art competitions: See if there are any art competitions in your area or country, there are often monetary prizes for the winners.
26. Street art and outdoor murals: There are often opportunities for local street art on walls and businesses in your city or town. They usually give you some money and it’s also really great exposure and experience. You don’t have to be a graffiti artist either.
27. Interior muralson the walls of a local café or shop: Shops and cafe’s are often looking for artists to create a feature wall, or paint the interior of their store with some cool art. Be on the lookout for opportunities in your area.
28. Public and community art projects: Similar to street art, cities are often looking for local artists to help work on various public art projects. There is often a substantial budget for this so it can be lucrative to apply if this interests you.
29. Illustrate or make paintings for books: Authors are not always artists themselves and are often looking to hire someone else to illustrate or make paintings for their books.
30. Prints and merch using traditional printmaking techniques: Some people really want to buy shirts or art prints that are made via more traditional printmaking techniques like linocut or screen-printing. If you have experience with that it can be a great way to stand out from the crowd.
31. Bookmarks: You can draw or paint bookmarks and then laminate them to sell alongside your more expensive artwork to make it more accessible.
Digital Artists
32. Art prints through your own website: You can print and ship them yourself or use a print on demand service like Printful which integrates with popular e-commerce platforms.
33. Printable art prints: The customer purchases a downloadable file of your artwork and prints it out themselves. You can sell these on your website or another marketplace of your choice.
34. Sell prints at art fairs: Make prints of your art and sell them at art fairs, or many of the same methods listed above for traditional artists. Prints are generally sold at a lower price point so they can be more accessible.
35. Graphic assets: Design elements, digitized watercolour elements, logos, icons and vector graphics are just a few types of graphic assets you can sell through marketplaces like Creative Fabrica.
36. Print on demand: Turn your art into home décor, clothing, accessories, art prints and more via Print on Demand websites like Redbubble and Society6. Read more about selling through Print on Demand in this post. This is probably one of the easiest ways for artists to make money.
37. Blank notebooks, journals etc. with your art on the cover: Also known as “low content books” you can sell simple lined notebooks, journals or planners with your art on the cover through Amazon KDP. Learn more about KDP in this post.
38. Sell wholesale prints of your art in a local boutique: Small boutique stores are often looking for local artisan’s goods to sell in their shops and you could fall under that category! Approach the owner with some samples of your work and see if they’d be willing to sell it in their store (obviously they get a cut).
39. Customizable gifts: People love giving and receiving personalized gifts. Consider adding your artwork to a website like Zazzle where you can create products that the buyer can personalize with their own text and/or images. See my video below on how to do this.
40. Templates: Design templates for Canva, Instagram, Pinterest etc. for small business owners to use for their social media or other marketing. You can sell these via your own website or a marketplace like Creative Fabrica.
41. Web Design: If you are technically inclined you can build whole websites for clients using your graphic design skills. Much of web design is visual and as an artist you likely have an eye for what looks good in web design.
42. Fabric: If you make seamless pattern designs you should definitely consider selling your art on fabric. There are a few places you can do this but I highly recommend Spoonflower. Check out How to Sell Your Art on Spoonflower for more information.
43. Stationary: Through print on demand or a print shop, you can design your own line of stationary products featuring your artwork and sell them as sets.
44. Enamel pins: Another fun product you can make from your art are enamel pins! They are usually sold at a lower price point and are highly collectible. You can make these yourself or use a service to make them for you.
45. Zines and ACEO art cards: Another highly collectible item in the art world are Zines and ACEO or Artist Trading Cards. These are usually small and easy to make. You can sell them on Ebay, your own site or in person.
46. Stickers and t-shirts made with a Cricut machine: If you already have a Cricut machine, or enjoy DIY crafts, consider making and selling stickers and t-shirts of your art with it.
47. SVG files: Speaking of Cricut machines, you can make SVG files (Scalable Vector Graphics) for other people to use with their own Cricuts. Make sure to include a text file with copyright information and usage rights.
48. Background textures: Think marble, wood, concrete and abstract textures that graphic designers or business owners might use for their own graphics. Bundles of this sort do well. Sell these through your own website or a marketplace.
49. Fonts: Create your own fonts and sell them via your own website or a marketplace like Creative Fabrica. You can use an app or website like Calligraphr to build fonts.
50. Brushes, Colour palettes, Presets etc. If you use Procreate, Photoshop or another design software you can easily create custom brushes, presets and colour palettes which you can offer for sale.
51. Pre-made branding kits: Small businesses and entrepreneurs are often looking for pre-made branding kits for their business. These usually include logos, banners, a colour scheme and matching marketing materials.
52. Custom branding kits or logos: Along the same vein as above, you can offer custom branding packages or logos for clients and charge more than you would for a pre-made package.
53. Create textures for 3d worlds: This one might seem kind of random but with the rise of the Metaverse it is actually quite relevant. 3d worlds like Second Life actually rely on 2d and 3d artists to create assets for their marketplaces. You can texture things like clothing and hair or even whole houses and landscapes!
54. Design book covers: Publishers and authors of novels and other books are often looking for striking covers which you can design for them.
55. Coloring pages and books: If you do line art you can draw and sell coloring pages and books of your art. People can either print them off at home, you can get them printed locally or use a service like Amazon KDP.
56. Sew products with fabric featuring your art: If you follow my advice above and sell your seamless pattern designs on fabric, you can purchase the fabric and make things from it! If you’re handy with a sewing machine you can make things like scrunchies, skirts, purses and more.
57. Art workbooks: This one might take some thought but you can create art workbooks for beginner artists. Think step by step tutorials or templates and guides. These can be digital or sold through Amazon KDP.
58. Coffee table books: Remember those? Imagine a stunning coffee table book chock full of your artwork. You could do this through Amazon KDP and choose the hardcover option to make it premium quality.
59. Comic books: Another option to sell through Amazon KDP, or set up some sort of membership for people to receive comics that you’ve drawn and written.
60. NFT’s: Yes, NFT’s are still a thing. And yes, collectors are still buying them from marketplaces like Opensea, Rarible, and now even more traditional avenues like Sotheby’s are getting in on the action.
61. Write and illustrate a children’s book: Have you ever wanted to write and illustrate your own children’s book? It’s easier than ever to do this now and self publish it through Amazon KDP. You can also try pitching your book to publishers and have it sold worldwide!
62. Greeting carddesign: Greeting cards are an excellent way to repurpose your artwork. You can sell blank cards with just your art on the front, or add some text and a clever interior caption to make it really stand out. Or create designs specifically for greeting cards if you are so inclined.
63. Calendars: People do still use physical calendars, and usually go for ones that feature beautiful art or photos they can enjoy looking at every month. You can sell these through Print on demand sites or get them printed at a printshop.
64: Cell phone wallpaper: Offering cell phone wallpapers of your art is a great way to make it more accessible, especially to young people who love to customize their phones.
65. Design wedding suites: Custom or pre-made wedding design suites are always in demand. Zazzle is a great place to start selling wedding suites since they have a huge range of products in this category.
66. Become an art teacher: This is a pretty traditional route but if you can get a job as an art teacher at a school or university you’ll get a steady paycheck. And bonus: summers off!
67. Teach in person classes or workshops: Rather than teaching through a school you can self host some classes or workshops in your area. You could also do this through a local community center.
68. Teach live virtual classes or workshops: You can host live classes through Zoom or even Facebook. Charge an entry fee, then teach from the comfort of your home or studio. Since 2020 many more people are interested in virtual classes.
69. Host “paint night” parties: These are usually easier and more casual than a traditional art class, and often include adult beverages. They can be in person or virtual events. Check out this guide for more information and ideas.
70. Teach through an online education platform: Create video courses for an online education platform like Skillshare or Udemy. This takes some effort up front but once it’s done you can reach an unlimited number of students and get paid for watch time.
71. Youtube: Create tutorials or share your art process on Youtube. Once your channel reaches the threshold of 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours you can apply for monetization.
72. Ebooks, PDF guides and tutorials: Create an e-book or PDF guide on your specialty (ex. Watercolor for Beginners). Sell these through your own website or use a marketplace like Sellfy.
73. Tracing worksheets: Many people learn to draw by tracing, so you can create tracing worksheets for people to practice drawing various things. Check out WowArtTemplates for examples of these.
74. Blogging: Start an art blog (like this one) and drive traffic to your various offerings by using content marketing strategies, like sharing tips and tutorials. There are many benefits to having a website and blog for your art business so I highly recommend this one!
75. Mentoring or coaching: Work with aspiring artists one on one in your area of expertise.
76. Consulting: Similar to mentoring, but these can just be one off conversations to help someone with a particular question or problem in your area of expertise. You can consult via Zoom, or in person and charge for your time.
77. Start a Podcast: Podcasts are another great way to drive people to your various offerings and even monetize with ads. You can talk about your art, life as an artist, business strategies and more.
78. Add a membership section to your website: Offer premium content or the ability to directly message you by creating a paid membership section to your website or blog.
79. Guest blogging for art websites or magazines: Share your story or expertise by writing blog articles for websites in your field. Sometimes these are paid opportunities, but it can also help send more traffic to your paid offerings and reach a wider audience.
Other Ways for Artists to Make Money
80. Start a Patreon: On Patreon people can pledge a monthly amount (anywhere from $1 to $500 and up) to access exclusive benefits. You can offer monthly freebies, one on one advice, exclusive art pieces and more.
81. Freelancing: Look for gigs through Upwork, Fiverr and other freelancing websites. This can be a great strategy to build up your portfolio with paid client work and then move on to work with companies directly.
82. Art licensing: Companies like Target, Homesense and even boutique stores are constantly on the lookout for trendy artwork to license for their own product lines. Search for companies looking to license art and apply with your portfolio!
83. Art curation: If you’re an artist you may have an eye for good art, so why not become an art curator! Look for opportunities at a local art gallery or even online. You can network while helping other artists in the process.
84. Affiliate marketing: Promote products you already use and love like art supplies or business tools through your blog, Youtube or other social media. Just add your affiliate link in the description.
85. Illustrate for magazines: Magazines are still a thing and they always need graphics and illustrations for their articles. Search online or in stores for publications that might fit with your style and reach out with your portfolio.
86. Sell stock photography: Many artists are also excellent photographers, and you can sell your photos via stock photography websites. You can also sell videos and drone footage through these sites.
87. Art critiquing: Yes, people will pay you to critique their art! Especially if you are an expert in a certain style or medium and they are beginners wanting to level up their work.
88. Organize an art collective: Join forces with other artists and start your own art collective. Then you can pool resources to start your own art gallery, either online or in person.
89. Offer calligraphy services: If you’ve got a knack for hand lettering or calligraphy you can offer custom services for weddings and other events. Also for small business like cafes for their menus and signage.
90. Rent out your art studio or workshop: If you’re lucky enough to have your own art studio or workshop, why not make some extra cash by renting it out when you’re not using it? And help other artists in the process.
91. Make and sell your own custom tools of the trade: Have you developed your own custom tools over the years of practicing your craft? Why not sell those tools to other artists either online or in person.
92. Business tools and templates: Consider selling the templates and tools you use to keep your business organized. Things like spreadsheets, Notion templates or marketing worksheets. Artists who are just starting out find these resources extremely useful.
93. Work at a print shop: If you are experienced with printmaking techniques this would be a satisfying job for you to look into, and often includes a steady paycheck.
94. Become a tattoo artist: Line art and illustrations can be turned into tattoos with the right tools and a good amount of practice!
95. Become a henna artist: Like tattoos but non permanent, if it is a part of your culture consider becoming a henna artist.
96. Become a social media influencer: You can make money as a social media influencer by making viral videos and posts. And yes you can do this within an art niche.
97. Get a traditional job in a creative field: If you like the idea of a steady paycheck but still want to be creative in your day job, consider something like graphic design, UX/UI, video game design or animation.
98. Work on movie or theater sets: If you live in a place where movies or TV shows are produced, or have a few theatres around (for plays, not movies), look for work as a set designer making backgrounds and other set props.
99. Go live on social media: Consider going live on Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, or another platform of your choice where you can get monetary donations from your audience in real time.
100. Art restoration: Make money by restoring original artworks! Basically people bring you their old or damaged art and you fix or sometimes repaint it. This does require some professional training to do this properly.
101. Make custom canvases for artists: If you have a shop (or garage) and the right tools you can make custom wood framed canvases for artists looking for a certain size or just a hand made canvas for their artwork.
Conclusion
Wow, you’ve made it to the end of this list of 101 ways for artists to make money, and now I want to hear from you!
Is something missing from this list? Did any of these ideas inspire you? Let me know in the comments below.
Creating and selling your own artwork has never been easier. There are multiple selling platforms, a range of products to choose from and more accessible mediums than ever before. So, whether you’re a traditional artist or a digital whizz, we’re going to explore a few ways you can get in on the trend.
From Art Fairs to NFTs, read on to find out how to get involved and be inspired to create and sell your artwork…
Selling your artwork: Traditional art
Back in the day, artists often had to create their own paint, stretch their canvases, and have models standing by for days. Thankfully, those things are in the past, and a variety of traditional mediums are widely available at good art supply stores.
We all have our favourites – some prefer sculpting, others love gentle watercolours, but there are markets and audiences for all. If you’re unsure which medium would be best for sellable art, look at the places you could sell it and work out what sells best. Check places like:
Etsy
Local craft fairs
Local galleries
Any local pop-up shops
Any shops that sell on consignment
Your local government website for street-selling rules
Traditional artwork is often regarded as top-tier with the time, effort and quality often considered in the price, so it’s less likely to be found online outside of sites like Etsy and your website if you have one.
The marketing and selling process is simple as there are limited places to sell actual physical artwork, and most people like to see pieces upfront before confirming a sale. It’s just a case of displaying your art and enticing a buyer with a one-of-a-kind piece via word of mouth, social posts, and blogs on your website if you have one. It is a more challenging market but does carry a premium price.
Sculpture and moulded artworks like acrylic placemats, decorative cups, figurines, and decorative trays are still technically traditional art, but they are significantly easier to mass-produce and keep consistent. Card-making is similar to these, especially if you use stamps or Cricut machines alongside the huge range of card-making materials available in the market. The material accessibility and easy processing make these an ideal option for someone looking to be creative and more time or cost efficient overall. Unfortunately, this also means the market is a bit saturated with similar products, so make sure you find your niche and stand out from the crowd.
Selling your artwork: Digital Art
With the recent advances in technology, it’s no surprise that art has turned more and more digital in recent years. It offers significant efficiencies such as less clear-up, more mobility, and you can replicate a variety of techniques on screen. The most recent artwork craze is NFT and AI art.
What is NFT art?
NFT art is what’s called a Non-Fungible Token. The idea is that it’s a unique piece of digital art that’s rooted in cryptocurrency – sort of like trading cards, but digital. The difference is that when you buy an NFT, you own the copyright, and there shouldn’t be duplicates anywhere, though there have been high-profile cases of NFT theft.
They can be GIFs or jpegs, even videos, and you can sell them on dedicated NFT marketplaces like Rarible, OpenSea and SuperRare.
What is AI art?
AI art is another new market contender. It’s created using purpose-made apps like Dall-E and starryai that are coded to use algorithms to interpret your prompts and create art based on them. These are typically weird and funny pieces of digital art, but their selling ability isn’t very high, though more professional AI-aided and inspired art has made money in the past.
Other digital art options
The more common kinds of digital art are things like:
These are all pieces of art you can create and sell over and over if you wanted. They’re far more time-efficient as you create them once, then you can sell them repeatedly on different marketplaces like Etsy, Redbubble, MyFonts, social media and more. Because they’re so mass-produced, the price you sell at is lower, though if you’re doing commissions, there are more earning options.
There are multiple opportunities for selling your art, both digital and traditional, it’s just up to you to find the niche and material choice that suits you best. So, do some market research, see where your skills lie and start exploring the money-making world of being a professional artist and entrepreneur.
Guest Post Author Bio: Debbie is an experienced writer currently based in the UK working for Affinity Agency. Her main goal is to help others learn and develop through well-researched and informative content.
This class has been a labour of love and I couldn’t have done it without the help of Skillshare.
As part of their (free) “Teach Lab” program, they basically guided me through the entire process of creating and filming the class, and even edited it for me!
Check out the intro video below:
The class encompasses all I’ve learned from the past 7 years of selling my art online, and contains much of the information I have shared here on my blog over the years in a nicely condensed video format.
Are you an artist who wants to make money by selling your art on real life products through print on demand websites like Redbubble and Society6? Then this class is for you!
Join me as I teach you how to sell your art online through print on demand (POD) websites!
Whether your designs are digital or traditional, you will learn the basics of making an income from your art using POD websites.
During the class I take you step by step through the process of opening up your first print on demand store so you can start making passive income from your art!
In this class, I will guide you through the following steps:
Digitizing your artwork
Setting up a print on demand store
Uploading your first design on products
Marketing your products
Business tips
Bonus *PRO* tips from an established print on demand artist!
This class is great for beginners, or already established artists who are looking to earn passive income online.
Are you looking for art journal page ideas? I’ve got some fun and easy aesthetic art journal page ideas and inspiration in this post.
I started an art journal a few months ago and these are some of my best pages so far.
Art journaling is a fun and therapeutic creative activity. I’ve really loved the freeing aspect of being able to create art with no specific purpose.
Art journaling can be simply a hobby, a way to keep track of ideas, play with new types of art supplies, or even work through emotional trauma via art therapy.
Some of the supplies I used in this art journal include watercolour and acrylic paint, paint pens, and sharpie markers. A variety of other supplies including highlighters, pencil crayons and gel pens were used as well.
The journal itself was from Indigo books here in Canada. I wouldn’t say it was the best book for art journaling. I got a lot of bleed through from page to page. Putting down a base of acrylic paint was the best way to prevent bleed through. But I still had to be careful around the edges to not get paint on the other pages.
Next time I will use more of a mixed media sketchbook with thicker pages.
I still really like how these came out though, and even used some of the ideas to create designs for my Redbubble shop.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my best art journal pages and found them inspiring enough to create your own. If you post any of your own art journal pages on Instagram, feel free to tag me @julieerindesigns so I can see your work!
You may also like this video I made showing my sketchbook filled with aesthetic mandalas I created for the Mandalatober art challenge on Instagram:
Cheers,
Looking for even more art or drawing inspiration? You may also enjoy these posts!
Today I’d like to share some amazing Skillshare classes for Artists and creatives.
If you haven’t heard of Skillshare before it’s an education platform with all sorts of courses which are created by individal teachers.
I’ve known about Skillshare for a while now, and have done some of their free courses in the past. I wasn’t sure if the premium membership was worth it. I got a deal for 40% off the yearly subscription and decided to give it a try.
I’m so glad I did! I’ve been plowing through courses and found some really excellent ones. It’s helped me improve my skills and turned out to be a great investment for my personal and professional development.
The courses on Skillshare are particularly good for artists and creative business owners. Not only can you improve your artistic skills with classes taught by professional artists, but you can learn all sorts of business and marketing skills which are important if you want to make a living from your art.
I thought I would share some of my favourite Skillshare courses with you today and if you are interested in trying out their premium membership you can use this link for a 1 month free trial.
Skillshare Classes for Artists
If you are anywhere in the Print on Demand space you have likely heard of Cat Coquilette (aka CatCoq). She is very successful with art licensing, and has some amazing classes on Skillshare! These are a couple of my favourites, but honestly they are all good.
This class guides you through several exercises to help hone in on your person illustration style. Below is a sample of some of the illustrations I created in this class.
Want to learn or improve on your watercolour painting techniques? There are a ton of watercolour courses on Skillshare. Here are a few I’ve done recently:
This course helped me re-brand my entire website and social media profiles. It’s a must follow for creatives who want to level up their businesses and have a more professional-looking and cohesive brand.
Delores Naskrent has a lot of interesting classes. Many are in Illustrator and Photoshop so if you want to improve your digitial art skills then her classes are for you.
If you want to be a successful artist then being on social media is kind of a must. You can even find some artist specific social media courses on Skillshare, like this one:
And finally, you can learn to become a professional artist and illustrator with Ohn Mar Win! This is an extremely insightful class that will give you a realistic perspective on what it takes to become a professional illustrator (without immediately quitting your day job).
I’m actually going to be doing a workshop to learn how to make my own Skillshare class! It seems like a great opportunity for creatives to make money by sharing their knowledge and skills.
