Are you a beginner or even an already established artist who is wondering how to make money as an artist online? In the past, visual artists largely made money within their localities and a privileged few had opportunities to promote and exhibit their art internationally. In this age, the internet is now available to all of us. Every single type of business you can think of is making money online and your art business can achieve this as well.
An artist can make money online through six basic ways.
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First, by offering their services online to interested clients around the world.
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Second, by creating artworks and selling as online as originals or prints to art lovers and collectors around the world.
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Third, by placing their designs on physical or digital products and selling globally.
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Fourth, by selling licences to their works to interested people who will pay to use them.
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And fifth, by video marketing. Sixth is by creating courses and selling them.
The artist must however establish an online presence using the combination of a professional email, social media platforms and if possible, an artist website to be able to promote themselves online.
The good thing is that any artist in any part of the world can make money online using either one of these methods, a combination of them or even all of them. I understand how they all work and I am using a combination of three of them so, let us discuss them.
Set Up Your Own Artist Online Presence Properly
Before you even start making money online, establish your own online presence. Set up a proper email address preferably using Google mail. Use your name and surname and appear professional. ‘Sexyartist53kuniverse@jambahoo.com’ doesnt cut it. JohnSmith@gmail,com or ‘JohnSmithArt@gmail.com’ looks more professional. Create a professional social media account for your art. Five platforms that are great for artists are Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can use one or a couple of these. Avoid posting personal items in them like photos of your dog or cat. Post professional photos of your artwork on a regular basis. Then set up an artist website.
I seriously discourage you from setting up an artist website using a free platform like Blogger, Weebly, Wix, WordPress.com (free version). However, if you can’t afford to pay for a domain and hosting, do use a free website platform. Afterall, half loaf is better than not. Just ensure you set a target for yourself to ensure you get a professionally hosted site later. When I started, I had a free website VivianUwakwe.wordpress.com but I later set it to private and restricted access to it when I purchased a domain and set up a professional artist website. You can read my article on social media marketing for artists for more tips and tricks to improve your online strategy as an artist.
1 – Making Money As An Artist Through Client Work:
The first and most common way to get work as an artist online is through client work. When you start showcasing your work online through your social media platforms or your website, it naturally attracts people who like your art. Some of them will want to hire you to make parts for them. These are called commissions.
Every axis will probably have had clients contact them offline. It is no different online. Clients who want to commission you will give you details of what they want you to create for them. You can have a standard contract form they would fill stating the time the work would take, the number of revisions permitted and the terms as well as the method of payment.
Another way of getting such clients is by registering on freelance platforms like Upwork, Fiverr or Freelancer.com. I have profiles on all three and they have afforded me the opportunity to work with clients around the world. You can read my article about freelancing as an artist here. Such sites usually have tons of clients looking for artists to commission. If you create a good profile and upload a great portfolio so that you can join the competition and get clients to commission you.
Another purpose of freelancing sites for artists is if a random client wants to commission you and you want some reasonable level of safety but you do not want to go through the legal hassles of setting up a contract, you can send the clients your contract link through your freelancing platform. This will serve as a good way of ensuring that payment is moved to an escrow account and when the commission is finished you receive your payment. Bear in mind that every platform would have it’s percentage charge for this service.
2 – Creating artworks and selling as online as originals or prints to art lovers and collectors around the world
Every artist is primarily in the business of creating and selling artworks. The internet is an efficient platform enabling artists to sell larger amounts of artworks in various multiple forms and at different price points for collectors with different budgets in the global market.
When you create an artwork you can place it for sale online through your website or your social media platforms. I went for a better way to maximise your earnings as an artist is to produce and sell prints of that work. Art prints could be limited or unlimited.
When you sell art works to clients online they will most probably be unable to come and pick it from your studio or gallery. You will need to arrange delivery to your clients.
If the artwork you are selling is an original piece, and you are shipping abroad, you will need certification for that work to authenticate you are the Creator and as will certify that it is not a stolen piece. In Nigeria where I live that certification can be gotten from the national commission for museums and monuments.
Limited prints can follow the same protocol. The internet however has made it easy for artists to create unlimited prints of their work and sell them all over the world. Tons of print-on-demand sites are offering the service to artists for a commission. You simply have to upload a clear picture of your artwork to the site and distribute a link to enable people to purchase your artwork on paper, canvas or even metal plates.
My current two favourite print-on-demand sites for selling prints of my artwork are Gelato and Displate. There are tons more and the list is growing. You can read about them in this article.
3 – Placing their designs on physical or digital products and selling them globally.
Apart from being aesthetically pleasing, art has utility purposes. A person may not want to hang up your art on their wall but they might want to see it on their mug as they sip their morning coffee, or wear it on their t-shirt, or even to send it as a greeting card to someone they love.
Print-on-demand sites (which we have mentioned earlier) help artists earn income online by placing their artwork on several items and selling these customised products to people who love their art anywhere on the planet.
To earn money as an artist by creating and selling print on demand products, here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Decide on the product you want to sell: Print on demand sites allow you to sell a wide range of products. Some like Redbubble and Gelato offer several products like apparels, stationery, stickers, and more while others like Society6 offer home decor. Your preferred product choice will help in the next step.
- Choose a print on demand service: Now that you have chosen your preferred products, you now need to do your research to identify the print on demand companies with unique set of features and pricing that will meet your art business needs.
- Design your product: Now is the time to start creating artwork to customise your product. Give it your very best shot. Print on demand sites are highly competitive marketplaces so whether you are designing a graphic image or text based/calligraphic design, you need to produce very high quality professional work to beat the competition. Being an artist, you might already even have some artwork in your portfolio that you can upload. Be sure to check your external hard drives or flash disks for artwork you can repurpose. Every product on a print on demand site has its own dimensions and upload format.. Click on the product you are designing on and figure out the accurate dimension for its design so that you can upload without hassles when you are done.
- Set up your online store: You have several options to set up an online store for your customised products.One option is right there on the POD (print on demand) site. Many print on demand sites offer a store setup for the creator to sell from. This is usually free to use. I always utilise this option and explore other paid options which include setting up your own artist website and selling from your shop or using an ecommerce platform like Shopify.
- Promote your products: Once your store is set up and your products are available for sale, it’s time to start promoting them. Use your social media platforms, blog, email marketing, and other tools to reach potential customers and get the word out about your products.
- Fulfil orders: The beauty of print on demand is that you never have to worry about handling shipping to your customer. When an order comes in, the print on demand service will handle the production and fulfilment of the product. All you’ll need to do is make sure the customer’s information is correct and approve the order for production.
Selling print on demand products can be a great way for artists to start an online business with minimal upfront costs. By following these steps, you can create and sell your own print on demand products and start making
4 – Selling Licences To Your Art
One often less discussed way that an artist can make money online is by selling licences to their art. This involves selling the rights to reproduce and use their art in print or digital form on websites, magazines, books, and products such as t-shirts, fabrics, mugs, or other merchandise. It is known as licensing your art for commercial use. The artist can either sell the licence directly to a publisher, company or individual or the artist works with a licensing agent to help them find potential buyers.
An artist licensing their art would need to set the terms of the licence agreement, including the duration of the licence, the specific uses of the art that are allowed, and the amount of money that the licensee will pay for the use of the art. It is important for the artist to carefully consider these terms and to consult with a lawyer if necessary to ensure that their rights are protected.
5 – Creating and marketing video content
This is another valid way of making online income as an artist. YouTube is available to artists all over the world and it is a great platform to create videos sharing your work and potentially making some money. Artists like Jazza, RossDraws, The Art Of Aaron Blaise and Kendyll Hellegas are some of the ones I watch.
One of the ways to make money as an artist is through the platform’s ad revenue sharing program. You need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours on your channel within a 12-month period to be eligible for the YouTube partner program. YouTube will then place ads on your videos and you’ll earn a share of the revenue from those ads.
Another way to make money on YouTube as an artist is by selling your artwork through your videos. You can do this by including a link to your website, online store or even directly to the product in the description of your videos. Viewers can then click on these links and purchase your artwork.
YouTube’s Super Chat feature allows your viewers to pay an amount to have their messages highlighted in the live chat during your live streams. This can be a great way to engage with your audience and make some additional income.
Finally, you can also use YouTube to promote your art and gain exposure, which can lead to other opportunities such as commissioned work or sales of your art through other channels.
By consistently creating high-quality content and engaging with your audience, you can build a following on YouTube and potentially make money as an artist.
Conclusion
The five methods we have discussed here are not the only ways an artist can make money online. However, they can help you get your feet wet as an artist exploring ways to establish and grow their art business on the internet.
With the web continually expanding, more new opportunities will be rolling out. If you have not established your online presence, start with that and position yourself with at least one of these opportunities then grab any new ones that might suit you in future.