How Do Artists Make Money Online?

Yesterday we discussed the artist’s struggle and today, if you’re ready to give up the notion that one must struggle, and always struggle, to be an artist worth a shit, then lets discuss some incredible ways to make a healthy living by harnessing the online world.

1. Create a website to offer your services and display your work. If you’re a designer and not a coder you can either follow a tutorial and learn, hire someone to put up your site - PSD2HTML is a great way to go, or if you’re low on cash, team up with a coder. Offer to design something for them in exchange for coding your site.
2. Seriously consider attaching a blog to that new website. This is a great way to display, market and discuss your art. Creating a community based around your creative process not only inspires yourself and others, but also is a way to archive your art in order to use as a portfolio for any future clients.
3. Offer free tutorials on your website (Photoshop, illustration, photography, etc.) and monetize it by putting up ads such as AdSense, Chitika, etc.
4. Offer paid tutorials like CartoonSmart.
5. Create a monster package of high resolution Photoshop brushes and offer them on your site. You could create a package of lower quality brushes which you offer for free and charge for the high res upgrade. If you’re really determined, you could even write your own Photoshop plugins.
6. Post your services:
   • Elance
   • Freelancers Network
   • Freelance Switch
   • Guru
   • Get a Freelancer
7. Participate in contests:
   • SitePoint
   • Worth1000
   • Threadless
   • Photoshop Talent
   • Photoshop Contest
8. Offer gifts such as t-shirts, calendars, mugs, bumper stickers, etc., as well as ebook and printed book covers with your artwork on a print-on-demand basis. This is a great option because it doesn’t require you to stock any products.
   • CafePress
   • Lulu
   • PrintMojo (not print-on-demand) *thanks Rodney
   • Zazzle
     
   • Spreadshirt
   • Printfection
9. Sell your illustrations, photographs and flash animations through stock, auction and store-front websites:
   • iStockphoto
   • Shutterstock
   • ShutterPoint
   • CartoonStock
   • FlashDen
   • Ebay
   • Etsy
10. Create a unique, funny, link bait-y/viral image or brochure promoting yourself and/or your services. Something like gapingvoid for instance.
11. Write about your artistic process and offer to guest post on other relevant blogs and websites to promote your services.
12. Find websites and companies who sell products or services that look like, or correspond to your artistic style and offer to revamp their image.
13. Contact video podcasters and offer to design a logo or intro segment for their show in exchange for money and/or a link back to your website.

The major reason for poor income lies in the fact that artists generally never promote themselves. It can be difficult sometimes to put yourself out there, but this is where the internet shines. For those of you that may be a bit timid, most of the above suggestions don’t even require you to ever leave your dungeon. However, the more you network, the more your name becomes a recognizable entity.

If you focus on adding one of these methods a week, in a few months you’ll have quite a few revenue streams and all you have to do then is focus on creating. And that’s what you should be focusing on, right? Get out there and do it.

Are you an artist? What are some ways you promote yourself online? How do you bring in the dough?

Image credit: smcgee.