Are there months when you struggle to sell your original fine art or prints of your artwork?
If you rely on income generated from selling art, slow months can be difficult if you do not have money in reserve.
Diversifying your income streams will make slow months less stressful and easier to manage.
The good news is making passive income is possible, and in this post, I am going to show you how to get started.
Passive Income For Artists
By the end of this post, you will know…
- The best strategies to make it as an artist
- Different passive income ideas for artists
- How you can make money with your artistic skills
- What makes an artist successful
How To Make It As An Artist
The technology available to you makes it possible for you to make a living as an artist.
Even if you do not want art to be your full-time job, you can make some decent money for fun stuff like vacations or even retirement savings.
Before I talk about earning a passive income, I would like to talk a bit about how to make it as an artist.
First, you have to spend time enhancing your art skills.
Enhancing your artistic skills will be something you should be doing for the rest of your career.
Try Bluprint, stream 3,000+ hours of expert video tutorials for inspiration, and learning different techniques that will improve your artistic skills.
The next step is to think like a business owner.
If you are selling your artwork, you are in business.
Peter Economy explains 7 ways to think like an entrepreneur in a post he wrote for Inc.
- Choose Your Mind-set
- Be Determined
- Build A Solid Relationship Bridge
- Slow Down And Lead
- Know Your Business “Health” Metrics
- Be Prepared To Swim Upstream
- Resolve To Succeed
To learn more visit 7 Powerful Secrets Of Thinking Like An Entrepreneur.
It is essential to know what your objectives are before you can start to develop an art marketing strategy that will sell your artwork.
To learn more visit:
How To Write Art Business Goals How To Succeed
How To Develop A Visual Artist Marketing Plan That Sells Art
Setting goals is an important step you do not want to overlook if you are interested in selling your original art as well as setting up different passive income strategies.
Make a list of what you want and set timely goals.
Related Source: How to Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook
About Passive Income
What is passive income?
Passive income is money you earn in a way that requires little to no daily effort to maintain. (Resource: Dave Ramsey)
Some passive income ideas include blogging, renting out a property, or art licensing.
It may take some time and effort to get started, but they could eventually earn you money even while you are sleeping.
I have come up with a list of different ways you can earn money relating to art.
Some ideas outlined below will require more effort than others.
Take a look and see what will be a perfect match for your art business goals.
Passive Income Ideas
- Teach art classes – You can generate some good money by teaching your art style in group classes or one-on-one sessions. Teaching art classes is not considered passive income, but you could record the lessons and sell them on your own website and social media.
- Create video art tutorials – Many artists are earning money selling online video tutorials. You can use platforms like Patron, Thinkific, or sell them on your WordPress site.
- Publish art tutorials on YouTube – You can generate income with YouTube ads if you get enough subscribers and video views.
- Sell instructional books and eBooks – Amazon makes it easy for people to self-publish eBooks online. Amazon also allows you to sell hard copies of your books as well. You can also sell digital products on your website with WooCommerce. You can also create a coffee table of your favorite art for people to enjoy.
- Offer prints of your art on merchandise – It is easy to sell prints of your artwork on merchandise like coffee mugs, phone cases, calendars, greeting cards, art prints, shirts, hats, bags, etc. with print on demand sites. I am currently using Printful for most of my print on demand merchandise. Selling digital art online has never been easier.
- Blogging – Blogging about your artwork and art business is essential for your online art business. Your blog will drive traffic to your site where people can view and purchase your artwork, courses, eBooks, pints, and so on. But that is not the only way you can make money from your blog. You can earn passive income from AdSense and affiliate marketing. Many bloggers are earning four figures a month, just on AdSense and affiliate marketing alone. To learn more visit Art Blogging Tips.
- Digital Downloads – Selling digital downloads like art, e-books, and workbooks are easy with WooCommerce and Gumroad.
Best Passive Income For Creatives
What is the best passive income for artists?
Unfortunately, there is not a simple answer to this question.
The answer depends on your business goals and what generates well with your unique target audience.
The best way for you to start earning passive income is just by starting.
Try one of the ideas above and see how it works for you.
If it is working, keep at it.
If you feel you are spending too much time on an idea and you’re getting nothing out of it, discard it and put your energy on a different plan.
In time you will discover what works best for your art business and you will start to generate income while you are waiting for your original art to sell.
What Are The Top 5 Easiest Ways To Make A Passive Income
There are many ways you can earn passive income from your artistic skills.
Here are some of the easiest ways you can get started.
- Blogging
- Sell art prints on POD sites
- Sell merchandise with POD sites
- Sell digital downloads
- Rent your art
How To Make Money With Art Skills
You have a unique talent that could earn you a lot of money.
You have to think outside of the box and come up with different ways you can help solve a person’s problems.
Below are some different examples you can earn money from your skills:
- Help people with choosing the right colors for their home.
- Teach people how to care for their art after purchasing original artwork
- Teach people how to pick the best frame for their artwork
- Offer commission work
- Teach DIY crafts
There are so many ways you can earn an income from your art skills.
Think outside of the box and try different ideas.
Some ideas might not work, but if you keep trying, you will eventually find a goldmine.
What Makes An Artist Successful
Successful artists:
- Learn how to generate passive income with their craft
- Strive to enhance their artistic skills
- Learn about online and offline art marketing
- Network with other artists
- Willing to try new ideas
- Take time to learn about their target audience
Earing a living as an artist takes a lot of dedication and hard work.
There will be many strategies you implement that will not give you the results you were hoping for.
You must be willing to change gears and try something new.
As time goes by you will:
- Become a better artist
- Become an expert at marketing art
- Enhance your time management skills
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Are you ready to take your art business to the next level?
Investing in marketing courses and tutorials will maximize your profit and speed up the growth of your business.
Below are some of the most popular art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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