Attention Artists: What to Know Before You Start Your Side Gig

Photo courtesy of Burst on Pexels

 

As an artist, you know that having the time and energy to create and follow through with your artistic goals is critical to not only your success as an artist, but your mental and physical health as well. Therefore, having an outlet that not only allows you to make money and support your creative endeavors while at the same time providing enough time and mental energy so you can continue making your art (no matter what it is!) can be a way to fully support yourself and your artistic goals. Let’s take a look at a few things you need to know before you can establish a profitable, flexible side gig.

First thing’s first: Passive income is still income

As you know from your work in the creative industry, you can generate income without doing the work every single time -- written works collect royalties, visual art produces income through shows and licensing, and video production and its various offspring (e.g., streaming or creating social media videos) make money via ads and other similar revenue. This is referred to as “passive income.” There are quite a few ways to earn passive income (as mentioned above). But starting your own small business can be a way to earn passive income from the art you’ve already created while at the same time creating more art that can be sold or used in the same way. It takes an upfront investment of money and time as you’re setting things up, but in the end, you have a working business model that allows you to put food on the table and still achieve your creative goals.

What is your gig?

Making money as an artist doesn’t necessarily have to mean making money from your art. It can also mean making money doing something else in the off hours while spending time on art during your optimal working time of day. Here are a few ideas to kick around before you settle on what your side gig actually is: 

• Start a blog
• Take surveys online
• Freelance write or draw
• Do art commissions
• Get a virtual assistant gig

 Any or all of these are valid -- and valuable -- ways to create an income for yourself while devoting more time to your creative aspirations.

Establish your brand

For a lot of artists, your name is your brand and your brand is your name. So it’s important to make sure that people (or potential customers) are aware of your brand and who you are. To do this, you need to know a little about online marketing techniques and how to create a brand that resonates with people across multiple demographics. The trick is creating a marketing strategy that doesn’t break the bank and is pretty intuitive. Social media marketing, for example, is a great way to gain a following, engage personally and directly with the community, and create brand awareness without costing an arm and a leg. Creating authentic content directed at your followers can have a positive impact on sales, lead generation, and more.

If you’re communicating with a client about design or art ideas, you may need to send them graphics to approve. If you’re sharing graphics or art, compressing a JPG file will make them easier to email, but this could degrade your image quality. Instead, using a convert JPG to PDF tool will preserve your image’s quality, and you won’t have to deal with email delays and issues.

You need more time to create and share that creation with others. Picking up a side gig and letting it pay the bills for you can be a great way to achieve that goal. Good luck out there!The Underdog Print Shop offers an incredible variety of print designs, home decor, and wall art. Browse our collection today!

 

Guest Author - Lucy Reed