Maybe you're looking to make a career out of selling your creations, or you're just looking for a bit of extra pocket money? Either way, this article goes into various methods to do just that!
Many of these techniques will work well for Artists, Graphic Designers, Illustrators and even Photographers. So why not take a look and start earning now!
There are many platforms available (free of charge) to showcase your designs and products, so many in fact that it can be overwhelming. To try and make things a little bit easier I will go over some of the most popular and well developed sites available....
Lets start off with Zazzle, you may have already heard of it but the site has some great features and is definitely worth a mention! Sign up is free and gives users the opportunity to create their own store and apply designs to a huge range of fully customizable products. New items are added regularly and the site is constantly updating and improving due to increasing popularity.
Its very easy for anyone to set up a basic store and start creating products but if you have basic html knowledge and a platform for PHP hosting then you can really make the store your own using the Store Builder to give your site a unique look. Zazzle also has a bunch of useful tools such as 'Quick Create' which allows you to create 100's of products at a time (which is great if you're a lazy bugger like me) and a whole range of promotional tools to take the hassle out of marketing your products.
I have found Zazzle to be the most successful out of my on-line stores and have sold quite a few items over the years. In my experience the most popular selling products have been Business Cards & Clothing but every store is different and you may find that one particular items suits your designs better than others. I've also included a few of my more popular products below to give you and idea of what has worked well for me;
Next up is RedBubble, a well designed and easy to use site where you can build up a portfolio and offer your designs on a variety of products such as T-shirts, iphone cases, canvas prints and much more.
I joined RedBubble while it was in its infancy, but over the years it has continued to grow in popularity. I have also found the community to be very friendly; making RedBubble a great place to get feedback on your work as well as making some money.
Behance is a stylish online platform that focuses mainly on showcasing artwork and connecting users with companies in the creative industry on a global scale
The site attracts millions of visitors and even distributes your work to other genre-specific galleries to maximise exposure. Behance also offers a feature called 'ProSite' which gives members the opportunity to create a fully customizable portfolio with a professional look.
Creators of the site also provide help & support to the design community through annual conferences, a web magazine and events coordinated by members twice a year. They also offer a range of apps that seamlessly integrate with your portfolio to help your work stand out and connect you with other like-minded individuals.
DeviantArt is another excellent place to promote and sell your artwork & photography. The site allows you to sell your art in a variety of formats and boasts a huge potential audience of over 30 million members. Not only that but its a great way to get feedback on your work and learn from artists all over the world.
The site also provides a huge range of useful user uploaded content for fellow artists such as Stock Photos and Resources (Adobe paint brushes/Vector art) to use.
Hopefully this article has been useful and will help you get well on the way to increasing your income as an artist.
If you have already heard of the majority of these sites, there are many more out there and you may want to give some of these a try;
Coroflot is a useful site that can be used by a range of creative individuals to showcase and promote their work. It's is also great for connecting employers with artists and advertising jobs within the industry.
Not only that but Coroflot has also collected salary information from thousands of creative professionals from around the world to give you an idea of what you should be earning in your field of work.
Similar to many of the platforms shown previously, Society6 allows you to add your artwork to a range of products. What makes this site stands out is that it offers a few extra products such as Duvet Covers. Shower Curtains and Rugs. Designs also look great in the preview images of the products, which makes things a lot easier when marketing your self to others.
If you're a dab hand at photography you may want to give iStockPhoto a try. The site gives you the opportunity to provide stock photos and earn a 15% royalty from every download. If you make iStock the only place you upload your images you can also become an exclusive contributor and earn 45% (not bad eh!) instead.
If iStock isn't for you there are many other alternatives out there such as;
Alamy: with a standard royalty of 50%, Fotolia: 20-63% royalty dependant on the popularity of your portfolio, DreamsTime: up to 60% royalty and Shutterstock to name just a few.
This site provides a focus on Fine Art, Illustration & Photography on Framed and Canvas prints. TheUntappedSource is a simple & easy to use site that helps you reach a global audience. Membership is free but for around $30 a year you can get a premium membership which offers a bunch of extra benefits and features.
Similar to Zazzle/RedBubble etc Cafepress gives users the ability to sell their products on a wide variety of products. The site is simple, easy to use and another way to connect your artwork to its audience.
Skreened is another popular site that focuses mainly on high quality custom apparel. Users can set their own commission rates on a variety of ethically sourced/sweatshop free products.
The site also sets aside a portion of their profits for various charities and focuses on having as little impact on the environment as possible.
Both of these are very well known and give hobbyists and craft artists a marketplace to sell their items to large audiences. They are great tools for selling handmade products or you could also use them combined with one of the websites mentioned previously to increase sales.
Anyway.....I think that's enough talk from me, Now go forth and make some money!
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