Month: June 2018

Art Gush’s latest weekly course is #6 of 6 of the series “How to Make Money as an Artist: Income Streams for Creatives of All Kinds.” This current course takes a look at the freelancer approach as well as contains details on starting a membership website. As an exclusive blog reader and/or member of Art Gush we are bringing you the highlights of this new entry on our blog.

Becoming an online freelancer and providing services that relate to your art form can be a terrific income stream. All aspects of providing the service can be done on the web so you can be a freelancer from any part of the world as long as you have an internet connection.

Another wonderful income stream for artisticpreneurs is starting a membership site that relates to what you do creatively. The thing that is ideal about creating a membership site is that it provides a passive income. Web surfers find your site on the internet and sign up for it without you having to raise a finger. You can sell online individual courses as well as the membership plan which gives the user access to all the installments collectively.

Next week we are going to take a look at a special topic for artisticpreneurs: “How to Get New Customers.” This means attracting fresh clients, customers and fans with ease. Whether you are selling a creative service or your online artistic goods, you aren’t going to want to miss this one.

And now let’s explore the bullet point synopsis of the 6th and final installment of the “How to Make Money as an Artist” Art Gush series.

• Curb you desire to make your idea into a corporation right away.
• Test you idea that is for a business that is related to your art form.
• If you have a useful art related solution to a problem, you will eventually start to make money with the idea and this is when you can incorporate.
• Another way you can make money as an artist is to offer your services that relate to your art on freelance sites.
• The great thing about freelance sites is that they often have their own traffic.
• But you should still focus on getting your own traffic as well.
• On the freelance site you advertise a service that is available for a fee.
• Services for which you can charge a fee include a writer doing writing services, a musician could do beats and music tracks, a filmmaker could do video editing and so forth.
• The key here is to figure out things you can do that relate to your art and can be delivered digitally for a fee.
• Whether we like it or not we live in an age where reviews do exist.
• When doing digital services make sure to communicate clearly with your online client so that when they review you they give you a good review.
• Be sure to share through your website the good reviews you get.
• Another way to make money as an artist is to create a creative membership site.
• This idea is related to doing online education, but the difference is that you charge a monthly fee and provide the user access to a large number of courses that you have created or have gotten someone else to create.
• There are many programs that will allow you to do this online. Check search engines to find them.
• You can still sell the courses separately but the motivation for someone to join your membership site is that she or he will have access to ALL of the courses on the site for a much better value than if she or he was to purchase the courses one at a time.
• Before building a membership site test the idea on friends and by checking forums.
• Once you are equipped with research data in the affirmative, proceed!
• Regarding building your membership site you should do an extensive search for the program that is just right for you.
• For example WordPress has membership plugins.
• To start your membership site take a look online at all the possible vendors. These days you can usually do a monthly fee with a company that will supply you with a template based site.

In our last ArtisticPreneur blog entry and newsletter we talked about how to make money as an artist. We covered income streams for creatives of all kinds including musicians, writers and filmmakers etc.

Today we’re going to continue that train of thought. We’ll be exploring strategies to sell your art online in the form of mp3s, eBooks and even movies etc. It is an exciting time in regards to media access for the motivated creator.

It is assumed you create terrific work and only need help with marketing. Also, you might be a creative person who is thinking of starting or has started a small business possibly related to your art.

We will follow the same format as we have before and provide you with a series of bullet point items to consider integrating into your promotion plan.

The bullet points are in no particular order and for this week include topics such as building your brand, creating a portfolio, getting a job and even starting a business.

These bullet points will ask you questions and provide you with food for thought as well are designed to help get your creative marketing juices flowing.

• How will you get people to purchase your digital art? You can do it by building yourself up as a brand. Think of ways you can build your brand.
• The more visible your brand is, the more likely someone will buy from you.
• To succeed in building a brand you need to keep consistency in every aspect.
• Make sure that everything you do is based on making your brand visible and soon you will reach a stage where people will want to purchase your digital art online.
• Should you purchase social media ads?
• The benefit is that you can very specifically target who you are trying to reach. Always make certain ads cost you less than what you are making per customer.
• Depending on where you are with your art, one way to make money is to get a job in a field that is related to your art. This is especially good if you are just starting out.
• Make a list of the ideal jobs you would want as an artist.
• Seek out jobs of this kind. You can even make your presence known to those not looking to hire.
• There are some who will say, “How the heck am I going to get an art related job when I can’t even get a non art related job?” And to this we say that it is all in the way you present yourself.
• Remember to build up your online portfolio.
• Make it easy to link to portfolio.
• You do need to have a certain amount of confidence.
• Remember, you can even create a job where one might not exist.
• Present yourself to the person who has the knowledge you want and show them creatively why they should hire you.
• Another way you can make money with your art is to start an art related business that offers some product or service that is going to be of interest to someone.
• A good guideline here is thinking in terms of offering a solution to a problem and your product/service is a part of the solution.
• Write down every single source you can think of where you might make money and where you might find clients.
• Don’t jump right out there though and incorporate. Test your idea first as a freelancer and then build from there.
• Try out your idea on people you speak with.
• Do you get a positive reaction? Which aspect do they seem to be most interested in?

As a subscriber to the NYC Create Newsletter, you know that each week we add another bullet point list installment that provides you with step by step assistance to become the best ArtisticPreneur possible. We are now on entry 3 of 6 of the series “How to Make Money as an Artist” providing suggestions for yet more artistic income streams that can contribute to your career as a creative.

In this entry 3 of 6 we are looking at two more sources for artists of all kinds including musicians, writers, filmmakers and actors etc. The two income streams we are exploring are sponsorship as well as creating and selling creativity oriented eBooks.

As you likely know by now eBooks are selling like crazy on Amazon. Also, for authors the process of self publishing has become the norm. It is no longer necessary to go through a publisher to get your work out there. The internet has created a means for getting information into the hands of those who need it.

So even if you are not a writer by profession, you likely have something to say on the topic of your art form or expertise which would be of value to readers. The key is to first determine the solution you are providing as well as who the audience is that needs it. If you start an ecommerce site you can sell your eBooks directly to your target demographic. And if you are an artist/author who is writing a nonfiction book on how to do something that relates to your art form, you are essentially simultaneously promoting your creative career as well.

Another area that we will be delving into in this current “How To” bullet list is that of sponsorship. This can be a viable income stream, or as you will learn, can also be a way to barter with businesses who have a product or service that you need. Of course, the key here is developing your base so that you have an audience that your sponsoring business desires to reach.

But now, let’s jump right in and get the step by step details on how to publish and sell your eBook as well as secure sponsorship. If you are reading this on our blog and wish to receive weekly updates on empowering your dealings as an ArtisticPreneur, be sure to sign up for the NYC Create Newsletter. Without further ado here are the steps continued from last week…

• In the last installment we spoke about doing merchandising. Hopefully you’ve come up with some good products. If not, please do so now. Just create a list of possible things.
• Clearly these items will be purchased by your fans which if you are a YouTuber that’s a great way to build the fan base to which you sell.
• If you do decide to become a YouTuber remember that even as a YouTuber you are offering a solution to solve the problem of the audience.
• Nurture and develop your audience either through an email list or YouTube channel.
• Even with just a handful of fans or viewers you can move on to an important step.
• You see, another stream you have available to you is through sponsorship. If as an artist you have built up a fan base which is a target demographic that corporations would like to reach, you can get free stuff from those sponsors.
• Getting free stuff means not having to pay for it which is saving you money which is much like earning it.
• You can get things that you need . For example if you are a painter you can get painting supplies. A musician can get music supplies, a filmmaker could get camera gear etc.
• Make sure you have a presentation to show the potential sponsors and be clear on what you want from them. You can also sweeten the deal for them by doing “product placement” in which during your YouTube show or email list you mention you are using their products and services.
• Sponsorships can take a while to land and can come about through emailing or if you’re brave, cold calling.
• Make sure when emailing you have something to link the reader to that is impressive and tells the sponsor how you have an audience that they will want to get their services and products in front of.
• Again, don’t expect immediate results, this can take time and several sessions with a potential sponsor.
• We’ve covered merchandising and sponsorship, so here is another unique way to create an income stream from your fans and clients: the making and selling of eBooks online.
• Making and selling eBooks online is a great way to bring in money from your art even if you’re not a writer. You can write about your art in a “How To” format and sell your work in the nonfiction area of Amazon.
• You can also offer these books on your ecommerce site.
• You will be successful doing eBooks in direct correlation to how well you are able to drive traffic to your eBook. Or more specifically, the RIGHT traffic. People who are interested in the solution you are providing.
• As we’ve mentioned in past installments, the easiest way to get targeted traffic is to pay for it. Facebook and Amazon for example can sell you targeted traffic.
• Make sure you figure out what your per customer acquisition cost is to determine if it is worth your while to pay for traffic. It should cost you considerably less than what you are selling the eBook for.
• As we’ve mentioned it is not always necessary to use Amazon to sell your eBooks. You could have an online store.
• And the great thing about having an online store is that you could sell someone else’s products.
• If you sell someone else’s products be sure to make an arrangement that you will take a percentage for all items you sell.