Many people are making the shift to digital, and artists are no exception. Perhaps you create beautiful pieces of digital art, but you may be wondering how you could make money from doing so. Digital artists can make money in a variety of ways and many of them have multiple income streams. Here are some of the successful methods to use.
Make high-quality prints
You can use your skills for creating digital art and make physical prints of your work. Customers like to have something tangible they can display. You simply put the image online, and when someone places an order, you can use a print-on-demand service to print, package and ship a print to the customer.
This makes your art available to people who may not be able to afford an original piece of art. You can sell a piece more than once, diversify your audience and benefit from passive income years after making the art. You can also choose to sell limited edition prints and charge more for them.
Sell merchandise
Using print-on-demand services also enables you to have your art printed on tangible products. You can transfer your digital art onto t-shirts, caps, mugs, stickers, stationery, journals and much more. If you have an engaged following on any social media platform, such as YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, you can sell your merchandise to them.
Different platforms have varying features when it comes to selling merchandise. For example, YouTube creators can allow viewers to see products under a video by activating the Merchandise shelf. On Instagram, they can create shoppable video ads.
Sell digital stock artwork
If you sell your designs or photos to stock websites, you will earn commission when they sell. One image can continue selling for years and earn you commission each time it sells. Some of the websites where you can sell your vector designs or photos are Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and Envato. The more work you have on these stock websites, the more potential you have of earning good passive income. You can sell logo designs, packs of icons, character designs, photos etc.
Do commission jobs
People who want custom art will pay you to create it for them. It can be difficult to get commissions unless you can drive potential customers to your artwork. You could use social media for marketing your work, but it could take time to build up an interested client base. You need to mention in your bio that you accept commissions. Using a platform that already has built-in customers looking for art will make the process quicker.
Twitch is a platform that was built for gaming, but it now has an art section. Potential customers can meet you and watch you in action as you create. Artstation is a site where you can share your portfolio. Artfinder, Art Please, and Artists & Clients are other platforms where you can connect with buyers. If you’re not sure how much to charge, look at what others doing similar work to you are charging.
Sell art on Etsy
Etsy is a marketplace that allows you to showcase your art to a wide audience that’s already interested in buying unique, creative products. There’s a guide to help you set up your store. It isn’t difficult to create listings, and you have access to various marketing tools to market your art. It is also easy to bill customers and get paid. Etsy charges a 5% transaction fee on each sale.
The Etsy website is very SEO-oriented, so it’s important for you to know how to use keywords your potential customers will use to search for products like yours. Longer keywords will have less competition and give your digital art more chance to rank highly. You can also drive potential customers to your Etsy Store through your social media accounts.
Conclusion
Artists who create digital art have many ways to earn money today. They can sell it in its original form, turn it into prints, use the designs on digital products and sell it to stock sites where they receive commission for sales. They can also do commissions for those who appreciate their work and want custom art.