How To Start Making Money Off Your Art

Do you want to be an artist but hate the idea of being a starving artist? You can make good money from your creations if you follow these steps.

Research Your Competitors

Before you start selling your art, you should look at potential competitors. Consider what they're selling, how much they charge, and where they market their art. Then, you can see if there are any gaps that you can fill in the market.

For example, maybe there aren't any artists that currently sell digital prints. You could offer those and share how digital art is more convenient for the buyer. Or you could look at reviews of artists to see if maybe you can offer better customer service or something similar to help you stand out.

Make Your Art Appeal to Buyers

Depending on the art you do, your art may already appeal to buyers. However, you might need to adjust the format, size, or other factors to make the art easier to sell. You might come up with ideas for this when researching the market.

But you may need to do more research to see what types of art people buy. For example, people may not buy a standard print to hang on the wall. But they might buy a keychain or a smaller print, so you can decide to offer those formats for your art.

Sell on a Marketplace

If you want to start selling your art sooner, consider using a marketplace. Etsy is a popular site that artists use to sell their goods. Using a platform like that means you don't have to build your own audience before you can start making sales.

As long as you use keywords and follow Etsy policies, you may bring in sales. There's no guarantee of that happening, but it can be easier to start than if you used your own website. Plus, you can sell to anyone in the world rather than just your local market.

Learn Business Skills

No matter what you sell, you should learn some basics about business. Everything from accounting to marketing to negotiation training can help you. Then, you'll learn how to predict your revenue and how to price new art that you sell.

You don't need to get a business degree or spend tons of time learning about business. But be sure to learn the basics so that you can run a successful art company. That way, you don't have to rely on others to help run your business.

Experiment With Your Rates

As you start to get sales, you may want to experiment with raising prices. Then, you can see if you continue to get sales or if buyers stop coming. If you stop getting sales, you can lower the prices to see if people start coming back.

That will help you figure out how much to charge for your art. Just make sure that you charge enough to cover the cost of materials and your time for making the piece.

Take on Commissions

If you want to make money before making a bunch of art, consider doing commissions. This is where a person or group hires you to create a specific piece. You can charge a bit more than you would for a piece you make to sell later.

Plus, you won't have to spend time working on art that you aren't sure will sell. Once you get some commissions, you can learn what people like so that you can make art to sell later on. You can even have a contract that gives you the right to sell copies of a commission to make more money.

Conclusion

Making money from your art is possible if you know the right steps. Keep these things in mind when making art your career.