Create multiple income streams in your art business

SAFEGUARD YOUR REVENUE

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this pandemic, it’s that diversifying your income is very important!

Having multiple income streams in your art business brings safety and stability to your financial well-being. If your entire business relies on one thing, what happens when something goes wrong with that one thing? 

For instance, if you only sell artwork online, what happens when there’s a mass power outage? What happens when you have trouble with your personal internet connection for a whole week? In another example, if you only sell at art shows, what happens when suddenly all events are canceled and people are not leaving their houses?

It’s easy to say that things like this won’t happen to you, but the reality is that it can. 

It’s happening now!

You need to bullet-proof yourself with multiple income streams in your art business so that when a hurricane hits, or a pandemic arises, you’ll be as stable and steady as possible. 

So what’s the best way to create multiple income streams in your art business? Read on.

TAKE A THREE-LEGGED APPROACH

Have three legs (or more) to your business. These “legs” are the revenue-generating sources that your business stands on. In simpler terms, where are you making your money? Each money-making activity is a leg. 

Mine are art shows, online art sales, and sales of ebooks for artistpreneurs. 

They’re all very honed in on the values of my business and they could all potentially stand on their own. 

Your legs probably look different. Maybe you make money by teaching painting classes, having a patreon where people pay for a monthly membership, by taking commissions, doing live painting performances, illustrating books, or a variety of other things. 

Activities that you do all the time in your business don’t count if they don’t bring you income. I write blog posts often, and they seem to be a main feature of my business from the outside, but they don’t make me any money. I don’t do sponsorships or ads for them. They serve as a marketing technique, to acquaint myself with potential clients and new artist friends. I focus on writing a lot, but writing is not a leg of my business. 

So why three? Why not twelve?

There’s safety in numbers, but not when you go overboard. When one revenue source is lost, still having two legs to stand on is a good feeling. You can rebuild your third or get a new one. If you can handle managing more things without getting lost in juggling it all or without affecting your quality, go for it! But if you feel overwhelmed at the thought of constantly maintaining twelve income streams in your art business, all which you have to come up with new ideas for and all which are fluctuating in profitability, then don’t go that far. 

My advice is to maintain three to five money-making activities. 

WHAT SHOULD YOUR INCOME STREAMS BE?

How do you decide which “legs” or income streams to have in your business?

Follow leads: what are people asking you for?

If people are always asking you to draw portraits of them, paint pictures of their dog or any other commission, you should consider making this a constant income source for you. There’s a big market for custom artwork and if people appreciate your art style for this type of work, it can be lucrative. 

If people are always asking you to put your artwork on a t-shirt so they can wear it, maybe you should pursue that. 

If people from across the country are messaging you to buy your artwork all the time, you should consider making an online shop to make it easier for them. 

Listen to what others are asking you for. Follow these leads, because there is usually a lucrative income source behind them. 

Follow your heart: what do you love to do the most and could work endlessly on without getting tired of it?

This is the real reason I make prints of my artwork. I am obsessed with making whatever illustrations I want, whenever I want. It’s my passion, it’s my hobby, it’s my business. Selling prints (both online and at shows) allows me to follow my heart, express myself, and make an income at the same time. 

If you’re highly passionate about instilling a love of creativity in kids at a young age, maybe you should teach art classes for little ones. If you’re in love with the idea of helping local businesses get off the ground, you could sell design services for their visual branding. 

The goal here is to find something you’re borderline obsessed with. Working on something you love doesn’t feel like work, and so you’ll work on it more often, and be more successful in this area. 

Follow your skills: what are you good at that can make you some money? 

Are you really good at lettering and typography? Think about postcard design or selling handwritten invitations to others’ events. Are you great at persuading others? Think about selling your services to artists who want to pitch their illustrations to a new retailer or book publisher. 

Make sure the skill you choose can be aligned with your business, morals, and artistic inclinations. Don’t get too far off track here, or you’ll end up doing something completely unrelated. I’m great at writing resumes, but that would be so off-topic to offer as a service in my business. 

MAKE SOME REVENUE SOURCES PASSIVE

If you’re trying to manage too many things you’ll get overwhelmed. Having four income streams should not mean you have four full time jobs.

When I do an art show, I am actively making that money. I physically have to be there, I have to sell, I have to set up, handle money, drive to a location, etc. It is absolutely not passive. I wouldn’t want all three of my legs to be like this. 

My online art sales are mostly passive. I make all my prints in advance on my own time. I can make a sale in my sleep, wake up to a happy email and all I have to do is pack up a print and mail it out. 

My ebook sales are completely passive. I can make a sale in my sleep, wake up to a happy email and the digital file is already sent to you and I didn’t have to do a thing. Cha-ching! Of course even passive incomes require a lot of initial set up. It’s not a free ride or anything. But once you do the work to set up your systems and have things work automatically, you can make money while you do other things and never have to lift another finger except to check to make sure it’s still working every once in a while. 

You should strive to have these same levels of active versus passive income in your art business. Some businesses are fully passive, and that works just as well. Personally I don’t expect or want to be fully passive, since I love the community created by art shows and live painting, but it’s important to have passive income to lean on. 

KEEP SOURCES INDEPENDENT

If all of your sources are dependent on the same thing, your legs are weak.

For example, both my ebooks and my online sales come from my WordPress site. If something with WordPress or my hosting platform or the internet in general malfunctions, they’re both out for the count. That’s not good, but it’s okay because I’ll still have my art shows, which account for ⅔ of my income. 

If all three were dependent on my site, and my site crashed, I’d have no income. 

Same goes for if all your revenue generating activities come from any one single place. Say for instance I design graphics for a hospital in my state. They need social media posts, website graphics, advertising graphics, etc. I also sell paintings directly to the hospital to decorate their walls and waiting areas. My target audience for commissions is also the workers in the hospital — since I’m there a lot I know all the nurses and staff. 

Three separate activities, three separate legs… right?

Not really. What if something happens, like the hospital burns down or goes out of business? Or even if they decide to hire someone else or you decide to move away?

All of your income streams will be wiped out at once. Not cool. 

If one stroke of bad luck can dismantle your whole art business, it’s not secure enough. Make sure your different activities are separated enough to stand on their own, to the best of your ability. 

MAKE IT FUN, MIX IT UP

Having multiple income sources in your art business helps you have more fun. 

Personally, I get bored if I work on the same thing, all day, every day. I need variety. And having a couple options to choose from when I sit down in the studio really helps. 

It also quenches the thirst of you multi-passionate artistpreneurs out there. Love lettering, writing, web design, and teaching all at once? Welcome to owning a creative business! Haha

So whether you need more financial stability in these strange times or you just need to have some peace of mind in your business for the future, this advice is for you. Think about the income streams you already have and the ones you want to have as your art business evolves.

And have fun with it!

P.S. Want more advice on managing your money, prices, and income goals as an artist? Check out my blog post here for some further reading 🙂