If you are a graphic designer, then you are in a high-demand field that is “where it’s at” in terms of what’s most important to today’s consumer market: technology. Do you know that, besides actually designing for the web, there are a number of other things you can do with your expertise to create some cash flow for yourself from the Internet? Here are five things graphic designers can do to make money online:
Stock photos. As a graphic designer, you understand the importance of well-placed images in good web design. No doubt you use images all the time for your own creations. Most likely, you even use your own camera and eye for design to snap shots that make good additions to web pages. Well, you can make money selling those shots by marketing your stock photography on sites like iStockPhoto.com and ShutterStock.com. You can list your photographs on these sites and users can view them and purchase them at different sizes for different prices. Your images are protected from theft by a watermark that can’t be removed unless the image is actually purchased properly.
Templates and themes. Design some basic web templates and themes and sell them on sites like ThemeForest.net and Templamatic.com. Depending on much time and effort you want to commit, you can either make some pocket change and eat out a few times a month on your revenue, or you can quit your day job and make a really good living designing original templates and themes for others. If you aren’t familiar with web coding, you might simply want to team up with a web developer so that you can create banners and custom widgets for him to use in the themes.
Graphics. Create original icon sets, illustrations, vectors, and any other type of graphics and sell them online via sites like GraphicLeftovers.com and GraphicRiver.net. Not only do average Joes purchase graphics from these sites, but also other web designers who don’t want to bother with creating their own graphics.
Tutorials. As a graphic artist, you possess a skill set that you can share with others – a skill set that others value and want to know something about. Write quality tutorials and submit them to tutorial sites like GoMedia.com and PstTuts.com and rake in up to $300 per published tutorial!
Blogs. You can either start and monetize your own blog, or share your graphic design knowledge by writing articles for other blogs. Even more, you can do both and link blog content to create even more of a buzz (and cash in even more on your blog). Write about what you know – graphic design – and you’ll be surprised to find that many others want to know the same things, and that they are willing to pay for it.
As a graphic designer, you are in a great place to capitalize on your talents. You don’t have to limit yourself to designing for clients. If you use the web wisely, a world will open up to you, where you can share your knowledge and talents with others, and get paid for it in the process.
About the Author: Tyree Lebarge is a full time designer with a passion for the web, communications, and law. He especially enjoys using email fax services and other online programs to simplify his business.