How to Make Money as a Creative - 5 Things to Do

Let me be honest with you: I have no right to write anything about making money as a creative, because I don't. Like, AT. ALL. I spend more than I get. BUT, this is a conversation that I have had time and time again with many of my creative friends - How DO you make money from creative endeavors? Here are 5 things that come up in our conversations.

Now, let me preface this post by saying this: Please, if you are a creative who is making lots of money as a creative, then I am absolutely happy to be called out and corrected. So, if I am wrong about anything, then let me know (in a nice way. Please don't make me cry).

Let's do this.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A CREATIVE

I believe that there are 5 main things that you need to do to make money from your creativity, be it: drawing, painting, sewing, writing, crocheting, knitting, card making, resin-pouring, making soft toys out of dryer lint, etc.

1. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

2. Invest TIME

3. Learn MARKETING

4. Invest MONEY. And, also helpful:

5. Get SUPPORT

Number One: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Have you heard the sayings:

'You are what you think' -Ben Carson

or:

'You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are' -Brian Tracy

or some other quote with different words but that means the same thing?

It's the truth. This point is at number one because it is most definitely THE most important point.

To make money as a creative, you need to believe that your creativity is worth money.

This is a money-making MINDSET.

If you don't believe that your creations are very good or worth much money, then you aren't going to get very far.

All of these points are interconnected in some way. If you don't believe in yourself or your work, then it is unlikely that you are going to invest the time or money that you need to earn a living from your creativity.

I struggle with this point, as I believe a lot of creatives do. If you are the same, then point number 5 is for you, so, read on.

(I wrote about this point in my blog post: Help! How Do I Deal With Imposter Syndrome?)

Number Two: INVEST TIME

If you believe in yourself, then you are more likely to prioritise your creativity and invest the time you need to create the things and make the business of selling your creativity work.

Creating things takes time. Often, creating enough things to sell to make money from your creativity will take away time from other things, be that time with friends, a lazy day at the beach, Netflix time, sleep, playing with the kids time, working a paying job time, or whatever else. You cannot do ALL of the things. If you want to make money from your creativity, then you will need to invest the time to make the things, AND to run the business of selling. Selling your art takes time. This includes marketing, and leads me to my next point...

(I wrote about this point in my blog post: How Do I Get All The Things Done?)

Number Three: LEARN MARKETING

If you are selling your creative pursuits, then you are running a business. You can choose to keep the selling as a hobby and not treat it like a business, or you can choose to treat it like a business and put the time and effort in to run it as successfully as possible.

Yes, sometimes people are LUCKY and are in the right place at the right time to have the right person hear about them, then score a big deal or contract, or have an influencer mention their product and take off. This is great for them. But, the vast majority of creatives will not have this luck, no matter how good their product is.

If you want to make money from your creative endeavors, then you will need to think of your creations as products and learn how to market them:

• Identify your audience,

• Identify what they want,

• Identify where your audience is, and

• Get your product in front of them.
  

There is a lot more to marketing than this. People study marketing for years. But getting clear on these things is a good start.

I wrote about this in my blog posts:

8 Reasons Why You Must Read This Book,

Conventional Hippie Author Seeking Target Audience, and

Branding Marley - Creating a Brand

Number Four: INVEST MONEY

Yes, this point is probably my most controversial. No, not everyone needs to invest lots of money, and I certainly am NOT suggesting that you go out and take loans to rent a shop or buy expensive equipment, or anything like that. What I am saying is that the old saying that 'you've got to spend money to make money', is kinda correct. Sometimes.

You can probably make a little bit of money without investing a lot, but if you want to earn a lot of money, then you probably have to believe in yourself and invest money to grow your business. To know where to invest your money, you need to know your product and your audience, and probably know a little bit about marketing.

I fall down at this point, too. I simply:

• Do not believe in myself or my product enough to invest much money in my creativity

• I do not know where the best place is to invest money, and

• Don't have a whole lot of extra money to invest in myself and my creative pursuits.

I can hear you thinking 'But, what do I invest in?' And, THAT is the million-dollar question (literally!)

I can't answer that for you, but I can tell you that if you invest your money in the 'right' place (wherever that is), then your business will grow, because your product might improve or expand, or might end up in front of more people, or perhaps the right people?

A lot of people choose to invest in EDUCATION first, to learn more about how to do what they do, how to run a business, or how to market their product, so, maybe this is a good place to start researching. But again, I want to reiterate that I have no freaking idea! Do not take this as business or financial advice, just food for thought.

Number Five: GET SUPPORT

To succeed at anything, you need to have support. This might be friends and family members, but it also could be a customer or client, a team, a group, a fellow creative. You need people who believe in you, who can pump you up when you feel deflated, who can help you carry the load and do the work, and who can help give you knowledge. You need people who've got your back, who can leave reviews or testimonials, you need inspiration, and you need listening ears and ideas. It takes a team. Time to assemble yours.

What do you think about the five points listed? Do you have any more to add? If you are making money from your creativity, then I want to hear from you! What are your money making tips?

Much love - Marley x