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Increase Your Income Stream by Selling Wearable Art
How would you like to make extra income from the art you have already created and sold?
The internet has enabled artists to build and grow successful online art businesses.
You have all of the tools and resources available right under your fingers.
There are also many ways artists can supplement their income online, including online tutorials, eBooks, monetizing art blogs, and selling artwork prints on merchandise.
Print-on-demand companies have been launched to work with artists online, allowing them to sell wearable art like shirts, hoodies, facemasks, and prints on other merchandise like mugs, calendars, framed art, postcards and greeting cards.
As an artist, you can earn royalties for clothes made and designed from your artwork, and best of all, there are no upfront costs.
The “starving artist” myth no longer exists.
You do not have to rely on selling your original art to generate income.
You can quickly increase your income streams with print-on-demand services.
What Is Wearable Art
Wikipedia defines wearable art as:
Wearable art, also known as Artwear or “art to wear,” refers to individually designed pieces of (usually) handmade clothing or jewelry created as expressive art.
Wearable art is one way many artists generate extra income from their original artwork.
In the past, artists would have to print their products or have them printed by a printing service.
Today, artists can sell their artwork prints on clothes with no upfront cost using a POD service.
A POD site (Print on Demand site) is whereby individual copies of text or artwork are printed to order, typically using digital technology.
Many companies have discovered the benefits of providing a POD service for artists.
Companies no longer have to hire artists to create designs for their products.
Instead, the company offers a platform where anyone can upload digital images of their art, and they will print the art on merchandise they have available for sale and ship the item directly to the buyer.
Because it is a Print on Demand service, the company will not print anything until there is a sale. There is no risk for the company.
Artists can also benefit from this evolution and generate extra income from their art with no risk or extra work besides uploading a digital image of their work.
As an artist, you have the opportunity to generate extra money from your original artwork as long as you are good at promoting your products online.
If you are interested in generating extra income from your art, you might consider working with a POD service.
Popular POD Sites
Below are a few popular POD sites used by artists.
There are many more to choose from, but this list will give you a good idea of what is available.
Zazzle – has been around since 1999 and has become very popular with artists.
They provide high-quality prints on various products like shirts, sweatshirts, iPhone cases, bags, mugs, water bottles, stamps, and hundreds of more items.
Zazzle also allows you to set the royalty rates you will be receiving. The royalty rate you decide will affect the selling price of the product.
Society6 – is another popular POD site for creative minds. Thousands of artists have uploaded original artwork to put on everything from fine art prints, canvas prints, metal prints, throws, and tote bags.
Society6 will take the orders, print the product, and ship the product to the customer.
Another positive to Society6 is that you control the rights to your work.
RedBubble – works a little differently from the previous sites I have mentioned.
They offer similar products, but the main difference is that they allow you to set the retail price.
They have a set price for the manufacturing cost.
You decide how much money you would like to earn from each sale.
They will add your amount to the manufacturing cost to determine the retail price.
For example, if the manufacturing cost of a mug is $8.00, and you would like to earn $5.00 per mug, the retail cost would be $13.00.
Fine Art America – was launched in 2006 and is very popular with artists and photographers.
They started by offering Fine Art Prints, Canvas Prints, Metal Prints, and Greeting Cards but have recently started offering other merchandise like iPhone covers, pillows, mugs, etc.
Fine art Marketing is similar to RedBubble because they allow the artist to determine how much money they would like to make per item.
For More print-on-demand services Sites visit POD Sites and the Best Printing Companies That Print On Canvas.
How To Generate Extra Income Selling Wearable Art
Every income stream you create will involve a certain amount of work.
Selling wearable art is no different.
The work will start after you upload your image to your chosen POD site.
Your job will be to drive traffic to your listings.
Do not be fooled by businesses telling you you will have a ton of traffic seeing your products.
You have to put everything into perspective.
Yes, a site might generate a large amount of traffic.
- But how many artists are uploading images on the site?
- How many products are listed?
- How is the company at marketing?
Do not make the same mistakes many artists make.
Many artists upload their artwork and expect sales to be rolling in.
Wearable art sales do not work that way.
The print-on-demand site will fulfill and ship the order, but your job is to drive traffic to your listings.
Where To Promote Wearable Art
How often have you heard me say, “The internet has made it possible to sell art to people worldwide?“
It is a great time to be an artist or entrepreneur.
With a basic art marketing plan, you will grow your art business more abundantly than ever imagined.
Art Marketing Strategies
Here are some art marketing strategies that will separate you from the other artists selling wearable art online.
Art Blog – To grow a large audience and produce an online presence, you must start an art blog.
A hosting service for your artist blog like BlueHost is affordable and user-friendly.
Within just a few clicks, you can have a WordPress website that allows you to showcase your wearable art, showcase your original artwork, and a blog that will drive traffic to your site.
Related Resource:
- Why Artists Who Blog are Successful Selling Art Online
- How to be a Successful Blogger – Artist Blogging Tips
- Best Content Marketing Strategy for Visual Artists
For more information on how to sell products on your new WordPress website, visit:
- How To Install WooCommerce On A WordPress Artist Website
- How To Add And Manage Products In WooCommerce
- How To Add WooCommerce Categories
Social Media – Social media makes it possible to communicate your message in real time.
Keep your audience up-to-date with new artwork, events, and news about your art business.
Related Resource:
- How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan – Sell Art Online
- 9 Social Media Marketing Tips for Artists Selling Art Online
Make it easy for people to share your content with Social Warfare.
Email Marketing – Your email list will be your most valuable asset.
They will be the people who will be more willing to purchase from you. Start building your email list today.
Related Resource:
Ultimate Email Marketing Guide for Selling Art Online
Final Thoughts On How To Increase Your Income Stream Selling Wearable Art
As I have mentioned earlier, there are many ways to supplement your income as an artist, and selling wearable art is the easiest way to get started.
Artistic clothing is selling more every year online.
You can become a part of the new trend by selling your artwork on wearable art clothing.
Once you have wearable art for sale, you can start working on a different income stream to supplement your art business.
More Income Stream Ideas:
- Metal Prints
- Ceramic Art Tiles
- Large Format Prints
- Square Printing
- Monetizing Blog
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