Graphic design is a very broad field and it’s hard to know where to start when you want to make money from it. However, once you have the right knowledge, you can monetize your graphic design skills online in many different ways.
Here are some of the best ways for graphic designers to make money:
- Create a beautiful portfolio website
- Start a blog about graphic design
- Work on Upwork, Freelancer, or Guru
- Become a brand strategist and help startups grow
- Offer services on Fiverr or PeoplePerHour
- Graphic design contests and crowdsourcing websites
- Apply for remote jobs on the Remote Graphic Design Jobs page
- Selling your own designs online
Best Ways to Monetize your Graphic Design Skills Online
1. Create a beautiful portfolio website
Create a portfolio of your best work and promote it on social media, and make it easy to navigate—and find out more about you!
You can also use your portfolio website to promote your services and sell your products. If you’re not a designer, consider working with one for a project or two. Get paid for your opinions about design work. If you have strong opinions about what makes good design, why not get paid for sharing them?
2. Start a blog about graphic design
Blogging is one of the best ways to make money as a freelancer, and it’s also a great way to build your portfolio. You can write blog posts about things that interest you or that you feel passionate about—whether it’s graphic design or something else entirely.
When writing these blog posts, it’s important to keep in mind who your audience is going to be: other designers (and potential clients) who are looking for knowledgeable information on graphic design topics. You’ll want to make sure that your writing style appeals directly to them by being informative and entertaining at the same time.
If there are any blogs out there already dedicated exclusively towards graphic designers (or even just marginally related topics), then become familiar with their content so that when creating new content for yours, it’s easy for readers who visit those sites regularly (or even casually) will know where yours fits into their reading diet.
3. Work on Upwork, Freelancer, or Guru
The next step to monetizing your graphic design skills online is by working on freelance platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Guru. These sites are perfect for freelancers who want to increase their income by picking up extra jobs on the side.
These sites will help you find jobs that fit within your area of expertise and skill level. They also enable you to earn as much as $1,000 per day depending on how many projects you are able to complete in a given period of time.
It’s easy to get started with these sites – just sign up for an account first!
4. Become a brand strategist and help startups grow
Being a brand strategist is one of the most rewarding ways to make money as a graphic designer.
Branding and marketing are essential to growing any business, but startups have an even greater need for help in these areas because they’re still small and don’t have the resources of bigger companies.
As a graphic designer with branding experience, you can help startups with their websites, social media presence, SEO (search engine optimization), or any other aspect of their branding or marketing strategy.
5. Offer services on Fiverr or PeoplePerHour
If you’re interested in creating a portfolio of your work, then offering services on Fiverr or PeoplePerHour can be a great way to get started. Make sure you check out our article about the best softwares for graphic designers before starting out.
Both of these sites are freelancing marketplaces that connect graphic designers with clients looking for their services. While both sites offer similar opportunities for earning money with your design skills, they have different payment models: Fiverr pays up front, while PeoplePerHour offers hourly payments (plus a bonus).
6. Graphic design contests and Crowdsourcing websites
Graphic design contests are a great way to test your skills. Artists who want to enter into a contest are required to submit their work, and then judges will choose the winner based on the criteria they’ve set out. These contests typically offer cash prizes and can be found across the web.
Crowdsourcing websites can be another way for you to make money from your designs. You can upload your work, then wait for people who need design help to come to ask for it!
If you want feedback on your design portfolio or if you need help with fine-tuning it so that it looks professional, crowdsourcing sites such as Upwork allow designers like yourself to post samples of their work so that potential employers can review them before deciding whether or not they want you on board. This is also a great place for designers looking for jobs or clients in need of graphic designers/writers/developers etc. since these platforms act as middlemen between those seeking services with providers offering them up on their own website pages (or even directly contacting each other through email).
7. Apply for remote jobs on the Remote Graphic Design Jobs page
You can apply for remote jobs on the Remote Graphic Design Jobs page. Once you’ve found a job that seems like a good fit, follow these steps:
- Create an email address specifically for receiving messages from the company that posted the job listing so that it doesn’t get lost in your inbox (you can do this by signing up for an email service such as Mailchimp).
- Send an informal yet professional message introducing yourself and explaining why you would be perfect for their team. It’s also important to include examples of previous work so they can see what kind of skillset they’re getting if they hire you! A recommendation letter from someone who knows what kind of worker I am helps too If they have any questions after reading my message then I’ll answer those too!”
8. Selling your own designs online
Sell your designs on social media. If you have a large following on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter it’s possible to sell your artwork there. Social media sites are good for selling single items and not so well suited for offering custom products (though it can be done). This is something you’ll need to decide based on the kind of work you do and how much time you want to spend managing orders and shipping them out.
Sell your designs on marketplaces such as Etsy or Society6 (both require membership fees). These are great options if you want a regular income from graphic design work but don’t have the time or energy to maintain an online shop yourself by setting up an Etsy store or adding listings yourself through these other platforms. You can also sell t-shirts directly from Zazzle which offers similar benefits but doesn’t require monthly fees as Society 6 does.
Set up an online shop with Shopify’s print-on-demand service called Printful where customers can order any design printed onto various products like t-shirts, mugs, etc.
You can make money with your graphic design skills with the right knowledge of how to make it happen online
To start, you need to know who your audience is and what they want from you. This will help you build a portfolio that speaks directly to them instead of building one for everyone. You also need marketing and sales skills if you want people to buy what you’re selling, no matter what it is (artistic or not).
You must be able to work effectively with a variety of people and personalities because that’s part of being an entrepreneur—some days will be great while others may be downright terrible! But don’t let it get too hard on yourself; just keep pushing forward until someday soon when everything clicks into place perfectly as planned out by God’s own hand 😉 In addition, learn how time management works because with limited time at our disposal each day there won’t always be enough time left over after work hours end so carefully plan out each detail accordingly in order for things not falling apart under pressure later down the line when deadlines arrive unexpectedly fast around midnight before christmas eve arrives.
Conclusion
We hope this blog post has given you some great ideas on how to make money with your graphic design skills. This is definitely not an exhaustive list of options, but hopefully, it will get you started in the right direction. If you have any questions or would like more information on these topics, please comment below or contact us directly at contact@pivotedpixel.com!
Recommended reading: How to Learn Graphic Design at Home for Free (2023)
FAQs
What is graphic design?
Graphic design is the process of visually communicating a message, idea, or emotion to an audience with the help of art and technology.
What is the future of graphic designers?
The future of graphic designers is bright, as long as they continue to push the boundaries of their field and stay abreast of new technologies.
Is graphic design a dead profession?
Graphic design is not a dead profession, but it’s changing. In the past, graphic designers were able to make a good living by creating logos and other visual elements for businesses; however, in today’s digital world, the role of graphic design has changed.
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