On the path to wealth, the most crucial milestone you can reach is financial stability. Financial stability can require multiple streams of income, which is where passive income comes in. Passive income for creatives can be necessary, especially if they’re in the beginning stages of their craft or career. Throughout this article, you’ll learn about some of the best passive income ideas for creatives and how you can get started with one.
What Is Passive Income?
In simple terms, passive income is money earned with little involvement. While the name suggests that you don’t need to do much work to make money, you’ll likely need to initially invest time and effort to get your passive source of income up and running.
To earn a passive income as a creative, you need to understand the different types of passive income, the potential risks, and the rewards. You must find a strategy that aligns with your skills and interests. For instance, as a graphic designer, you can sell designs on online marketplaces. Similarly, photographers can sell stock photos on similar platforms.
Passive Income Strategies for Creatives: Types of Passive Income
There are three main types of passive income. They include invested passive income, asset building passive income, and asset sharing passive income. Each of these offers several passive income ideas and strategies. More information about each type is listed below.
Investing
When it comes to passive income, investing offers more enticing opportunities. However, it may be capital intensive if you want to generate meaningful returns on your investments. You can own dividend stock and get regular payouts from company profits, own real estate and receive monthly rent, or own vending machines.
Asset Building
Asset building mostly requires time and effort to build an asset that will generate income. You should keep in mind that it may not generate as much as investing can offer. There is also the risk of not being able to sell your assets after some time. You could build digital products like lesson plans, ebooks, mobile apps, and NFTs. It is also possible to license your images and music and earn passive income from them.
Asset Sharing
Asset sharing is often the last consideration while choosing a passive income stream. It involves making use of the assets you already have and renting them to others to make money. It’s a lot like the ride-sharing platform, Uber, but you don’t have to actually drive the car yourself. Companies like Turo make it possible to rent your car out to travelers. You can also rent out your bikes on online platforms for the same purpose.
10 Best Passive Income Ideas for Creatives
1. Dropshipping
Dropshipping involves advertising products on an ecommerce platform without stocking the products. When customers buy the products, the seller sends the order to the manufacturer and they fulfill the order for you. It is excellent for people who do not have the capital to pursue other methods. Some people can earn six figures through dropshipping on Shopify and Amazon.
2. Run Tiktok or Instagram Advertisements
If you have an audience on social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok, you can consider running ads for brands on the platforms. People who do such jobs are called influencers and they make a lot of money helping brands push their products and services to younger audiences. It often includes posting videos, which typically doesn’t take too much time and can make you thousands of dollars, depending on which brands you work with.
3. Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is an excellent way to earn passive income. You can post educational videos and get paid through ad revenue from YouTube or influencing gigs from brands. If you have certain creative skills like drawing or graphic design, you can start a YouTube channel to showcase your skills or teach others about them.
4. Write an Ebook
You can write and sell ebooks on platforms like Amazon without having to spend extra money on printing paperback copies. This does require initial effort to write the book and hire an editor to polish it up for publishing, but afterward, it requires no effort from you. People can begin to buy the book and it will popularize your digital profile and build your reputation.
5. Selling NFTs
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are the latest trend. They represent a new class of crypto assets that allow users to transact digital goods such as memorabilia, collectibles, and in-game items. Presently, you can use platforms like OpenSea and Rarible to promote and sell your NFTs. It is an excellent way to make passive income as an artist.
6. Affiliate Marketing
You can earn money passively through affiliate marketing. Start by building a website that caters to your specific niche, then partner with brands and add their affiliate links that match this niche. If any reader clicks your link on the page and buys an item, you will receive a commission. You may need to dedicate some time to this strategy at first, but it pays for itself later on.
7. Online Courses
Online courses are quite handy when it comes to passive income. You can start by simply passing on your design skills and knowledge to your audience in the form of an ecourse on platforms like Skillshare or Udemy. This passive income idea will require some work in the beginning, but it gives you a chance to earn a high passive monthly income.
8. Start a Blog
You can use your design skills to start a blog. Many creatives start design blogs that are centered around the design profession and somewhat educational to readers. Others write about topics that are entirely unrelated. Regardless of the topic, blogs can earn you quite a bit of money and help to attract new graphic design clients.
9. Printables
You can also earn passively by selling printables. Printables include graphic designs and simple artworks. It does not take too much time on your end because the buyer is responsible for printing the digital file. These printables are very affordable and this is why it is easy for buyers to purchase them. Some great printables to consider include calendars, planner templates, wall art, worksheets, and graphics.
10. Stock Photos
If you are a photographer or you just love photography, you can sell stock photos online. It is an excellent way to have fun in your field and make money from it. This is a good strategy because blog owners and other entrepreneurs prefer to use non-copyrighted images. You can sell your stock photos in iStock, Alamy, Getty Images, Adobe Stock, and Shutterstock.
Other Ways to Make Extra Money as a Creative
- Monetize social media. Monetizing your blog or social media profile is a great way to earn. This can take many forms, from adding affiliate links to promoting different design products in your posts, or advertising for brands with your page.
- Patreon. This membership platform allows fans of your freebie works to pledge membership fees monthly to receive benefits from the artist. However, to use this platform, you must have built a large audience on social media.
- Sell notebooks. Selling blank page notebooks is a good way to make extra income. It could be a bullet journal, diary, sketchbook, or notebook. Well-designed covers will catch the eyes of buyers and you can sell them on online marketplaces.
- Podcast. Podcasts can also be used to make some money on the side through ads. You don’t need a lot to create a podcast. Just get a microphone and some audio editing software and you’re good to go.
- Sell fonts. If you are talented in hand lettering or have good handwriting in general, you can create your own fonts and sell them. You can also customize them when necessary.
How to Make Passive Income for Creatives
To make passive income as a creative, your ideas should be innovative and catered to your skills and interests. Some of these ideas may require a lot of capital and effort to start, but they eventually pay off. If making a passive income through investing, building assets, and asset-sharing sounds interesting to you, then start your journey now with these passive income strategies.
Passive Income for Creatives FAQ
You can start a blog, sell printables, write online courses, or run a YouTube channel as a creative. You can also buy and sell domain names, create business card templates, or sell other digital assets.
One of the most profitable passive income sources is selling online courses. This may require some effort to formulate the course and publish it. After that, though, you can begin to make money from students who buy your course online.
A good way to get passive income with no money is to write an ebook and use Kindle Direct Publishing. All you need for this is a creative mind because platforms like Amazon offer all the support you need to sell your book. The platform also prints the book in paperback for readers who prefer it in that format at no extra cost to you.
Passive income is taxable just like active income. However, there are some differences in how both are treated by the revenue authorities. Passive income is not taxed as high as active income streams. Some examples of taxable passive income are interest and dividends.
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