Artists, as content creators, often overlook substantial opportunity for income from their art.

Someone who makes paintings can have these paintings reproduced on coffee mugs, t-shirts, or tote bags. The list of custom-printed products these days is endless. There are print-on-demand companies that will take care of the printing and the shipping for you. There are storefront companies that will accept payments, and interface with the print-on-demand companies. So, an artist would never have to keep inventory – just set up the business, and continually feed new artwork into the funnel.

Keep It Simple

An artist aspiring to become an entrepreneur can easily find someone to help them set up a print-on-demand company account (examples: Printify, Printly), and interface that with the store front of their choice (examples; Etsy, Shopify). There are some considerations about which specific companies to choose – they all have pros and cons; the artist-turned-entrepreneur will have to make some decisions. The good news is that most of this is extremely inexpensive to set up, and very simple to maintain.

By following these basic steps, an artist can have a storefront set up in a matter of days.

Focus on The Marketing

Once all this is set up, the artist/entrepreneur needs to improve their marketing game. If they make t-shirts, wear the t-shirts. Spread word to friends on social media. Post pictures when new designs are added to the store. Talk about the positive experience of becoming an artist/entrepreneur.

As your fame spreads, you’ll have more time to make more art! Win/win.

As an example of a successful artist who has become an entrepreneur, check out Fred Michael Beam, a Black Deaf artist from Rochester. When we met him, he was making art, and winning awards – but was not making money. He’s now turned this into an income opportunity for himself, and it’s a great way for him to share and spread the social goals of his art.

Here’s his store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FredMichaelBeam