Art, music, photography, and videography make the world a more interesting and beautiful place. Creativity is a special talent, and when you dedicate time to making art, it helps to balance mental health. At the same time, by sharing your artistic abilities, you can help people find the entertainment and distractions they’re looking for. Yet, you might have wondered if you could actually make money from your creative side projects and crafts. Here are the best strategies to transform your hobby into a project that generates income.
Sell One-of-a-Kind Merchandise
Whether you’re great at macrame, needlepoint, or making music, one of the quickest ways to earn money from your creativity is to sell merchandise. If you’re an independent musician, you can benefit from selling t-shirts and sweatshirts that display your band’s logo or album cover art. If you’re into crafts and design, you can take advantage of the meme economy and use your unique artistic style to turn the most popular memes into art for pillows, stickers, mugs, and more.
Don’t let the process of setting up a merchandise store intimidate you. All you need is a secure website, a payment portal, and an efficient shipping API, and you will be set up to sell and ship items to customers.
Engage with Fans on Social Media
Today’s world is almost completely virtual. People experience art, music, and videos online. When you’re ready to turn your creativity into a side hustle, you can start showcasing your work on social media. Your art should have its own pages that aren’t intertwined with your own. That way, fans can feel the fantasy of your art and creativity on its own merit. Make sure to include multimedia experiences such as videos that show the process of making a piece of art and a behind-the-scenes tour of your studio.
Take Commissions from the Public
Once you have established a presence on social media, you can earn extra money by taking commissions from your fans. Many people hate shopping for boring, industry-standard gifts, and they would rather support you, an artist, who can make them something unique. Show your followers that you can offer a wide range of sizes and prices of art commissions. That way, you can attract people with various budgets who want to support you and your art. You could consider different sizes of personalized paintings or various levels of complex crafts, such as a simple macrame plant holder all the way up to a highly complicated wall hanging.
Explore Freelance Creative Work
If your hobby is creative writing, photography, or videography, you could find an additional revenue stream from freelancing. Many businesses and small firms are constantly looking for hard-working individuals with great creative skills to provide SEO content, product photography, social media videos, and more. This type of work is often flexible but comes with specific guidelines provided by the company paying you. It may not be the most creatively fulfilling, but it can help you sharpen your skills and give you a reason to keep practicing your art.
Pursue Brand Partnerships
As you grow your social media following, you may be able to leverage brand partnerships for extra income. Businesses rely on social media marketing to reach young consumers. If you have an established fan base, you could offer important online real estate by opening up your profile to sponsored content.
Of course, you should only take brand partnerships that you believe in, such as products or services you would buy or use. Also, consider your audience. If you have mostly middle schoolers and high schoolers following your page, you won’t want to take a brand deal with an alcohol company.
The image of the starving artist is a common trope in society, but it doesn’t have to apply to you. There are many ways you can use your artistic skills and creativity to make extra money outside of your full-time job.