Are you looking for new creative ways to supplement your your art sales without having to take a boring 9-5 job? There are many sources of income to consider. Throughout my career as an artist, I sold other artists’ work, gave private art lessons, painted on apparel for a renowned designer, organized art exhibitions, and wrote art reviews for gallery catalogues. I was determined to be self-supporting in a field I loved, until I could earn a living as an artist.
Now, as a career coach and mentor I help artists achieve their financial independence. With some creative imagination and practicality you can turn your special skills and interests into an additional income stream. In this article I offer a few ideas that have worked for artists I know.
Do you have a desire to help other artists?
Is there an activity you enjoy that other artists dislike?
Many artists dislike selling their own art, handling their accounting, writing and editing their promotional materials, and maintaining their websites and blogs. If you have any of these skills you can become very busy and financially successful serving the needs of others.
Several artists I know who belong to an artist’s run gallery or exhibit in alternative spaces sit each others’ shows. They receive an hourly fee to sit in the gallery plus a small sales commission. The artists gladly pay each other to provide this service, especially those artists who cannot travel to their exhibition venue.
Do you have good design skills?
I know an artist who has developed a successful business designing other artists’ graphic design materials. She taught herself many design skills watching instructional Youtube videos and uses sites like canva.com and snapp.io for a lot of her design ideas.
Do you like doing research online?
Many artists would be willing to pay for galley leads, juried competitions, and other resources and opportunities on their behalf that are specifically oriented to their style and medium.
Do you enjoy teaching your artistic skills?
Offer personalized one-on-one creativity consultations via Zoom or create a series of online master classes using videos — or design any other option in between. Many artists offer these services for amateur as well as professional artists seeking to advance their creative skills. I have seen examples of such offerings at fees from a consultation at $100 to more than $1,000 dollars for a set of master classes.
Want to help artists deliver their artwork?
An artist with a van offers a service that includes packaging and delivering artwork to galleries and art buyers for artists. He’s helped many artists who otherwise worried about getting their art to their exhibitions and their customers. And, he’s met a lot of galleries and collectors this way!
Are you a social media maven?
If you have talent in writing attention-getting posts on social media there are many artists who would beg you to come up with new ways of posting about their art. A way you could help is to provide them with a weekly or monthly list of posts and then hand them over to them or offer to post them using hootsuite.com, buffer.com, or a similar platform.
Do you have a large following?
Some artists I know have attracted tens of thousands of followers to their social media pages, Youtube channel and/or blog. They convert those numbers into extra income. Individual professionals and businesses who want to reach your followers’ demographics are eager to to have their advertisements displayed on your sites.
How and What to Charge for your Services
You should determine your hourly rate for these services. Decide how much you want to earn a week and then you’ll know how many billable hours you need to reach your financial goal.
When you decide which services you want to offer reach out to arts organizations, post your services on social media, and ask artists to help you get the word out! Discuss your rates with fellow artists and compare them to others offering the same service. Check out websites where freelancers post their services and fees, such as Upwork.
Final Thoughts
I’m sure you’ll agree the money-making ideas for artists offered in this article are a lot more creative and satisfying than having to work at job outside the art field. And, the knowledge that you’ll be helping fellow artists, through the services you offer, will be a special bonus.
Once again you have well written creatibe ideas for artists. Thanks so much, Renee.
Thank you Susan!