Learn how to sell your illustrations online and start earning money with your creations! Thanks to the internet, there are many ways to get an extra income with your drawings, regardless of your knowledge or the money you can invest at first.
Not only that, but your illustrations will reach millions of people around the world, something unthinkable a few years ago. It’s time to get down to business!
5 Ways to Sell Your Illustrations Online
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Passive Income on Print-on-Demand Platforms
Without a doubt, this is the best option to sell your illustrations online if you are a beginner or if you would like to start for free, without any prior investment.
What does Print on Demand mean?
Print on Demand (also known as POD) marketplaces or websites offer a series of generic products to which you can add any design you want, including your own drawings.
This is how Print On Demand works:
- You register on the platform of your choice, free of charge.
- You upload your drawing or design and apply it to the different products available (t-shirts, mugs, posters…), this process is usually very intuitive.
- When someone makes a purchase, the supplier is responsible for printing the design and shipping said product.
- You receive a percentage of the sale.
In other words… you don’t have to take care of the entire sales process and you can focus on what you like the most: creating!
Print on Demand has very interesting advantages and many internet “gurus” will sell it to you as the solution to your problems, but it has certain drawbacks that should be taken into account too. For example, the percentage of profits is usually low and, in addition, these platforms usually have a lot of competition, so it is difficult to stand out among all the artists.
As with any method, you will have to spend time marketing and promoting the products, sales are not going to come out of thin air!
If you want to know more about this option, take a look at our Print on Demand guide here.
Print-on-demand marketplaces
There are countless Print-on-demand marketplaces and platforms, but these are some of the best-known:
Print On Demand Clothing and Accessories
Print On Demand Books
Print On Demand with Shopify or WordPress
In these two cases, you will have to create your own website or Etsy store first, keep reading and find out how!
Design Marketplaces
If generating passive income has caught your eye and, in addition, you know how to use graphic design software such as Procreate, Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer, this is another easy way to sell your illustrations online.
With the digitization of many companies, graphic design is booming. There are countless platforms where you can sell different resources, such as icons, templates for social networks, fonts, illustrations…
These resources are extremely useful for small businesses that cannot afford to have a graphic designer on their staff. As with print-on-demand, all you have to do is create an artist profile, upload your designs, and you’ll earn a percentage for each sale you generate.
Here are some of the most popular marketplaces:
Sell Online Courses
Selling products is not the only way to earn money with your own drawings, there is also the option to share everything you know with others.
Online training is increasingly popular, not only because of its ease of access but also because it is much cheaper. Are you going to let this opportunity pass you by?
There are specialized platforms such as Udemy or Skillshare, thanks to which you can easily generate income with your courses, without having to create a website. YouTube is another well-known option, where you can earn money from the ads that appear in your videos.
Sell on Etsy
Etsy is a marketplace specialising in artists and artisans, with a large amount of traffic and recognition among those looking to buy something unique and one-of-a-kind. In addition, it is another simple method for beginners: you just have to open your store and start publishing products. The process is very intuitive!
You can earn money by selling your drawings, either in physical format (for example, on posters, or greeting cards…) or as a digital download. And if you can combine your illustrations with other skills, such as transforming them into earrings, clothing or decorative objects, you can further differentiate yourself from your competition.
In this case, you will have to make a small initial investment of $0.20 per published product. Once a sale is generated, Etsy will take a small percentage of it.
Sell on your own website
Finally, if you prefer to sell your illustrations online independently, without depending on third-party platforms, you have the option of creating your own website.
At first, you may think that the process is quite complicated or that you will have to invest a large amount of money, but that couldn’t be further from the truth!
As soon as you start generating some sales on marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon, you will realize that the money you pay in commissions quickly exceeds what it would cost to have your site.
The biggest advantages of creating your website are that you can customize it 100% and add a large number of plugins that will allow you to combine it with any of the methods that we have mentioned before: create your own eCommerce, sell products using print on demand companies, upload your own courses…
However, you will not have the reputation and positioning of the large marketplaces at first, so you must have dedication, patience and perseverance to attract your customers until your brand becomes better known.
How to create your own website
Depending on your level of knowledge, there are different options available:
- Shopify, which is perfect for beginners. It is specialized in eCommerce sites and they have many pre-designed templates, as well as a very intuitive interface.
- Squarespace is also a great alternative for newbies since you can have your website up and running very quickly.
- For those who are more experts, the combination of the CMS WordPress + your own Hosting is recommended. With this option, the sky is the limit, since it has plugins that can do almost everything you can imagine.
Whichever option you choose, the sooner you have your website, the sooner you can start building your email list, with all the advantages that this entails. Also, you will no longer have the fear of depending on just one platform controlled by another company.
If you are interested in the step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own website, follow us here to receive the tutorial as soon as it is ready!
And now… What do I do?
As you have seen, there are many ways to sell your illustrations online. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, so none is better than another. The most important step is to take the plunge and get started!
Also, as they say, it is better not to put all your eggs in one basket: try several methods, experiment with them for yourself and keep working on the ones that bring the best results for you only.
Last but not least, remember to be realistic! Earning money with your drawings can be a reality, but it requires effort and perseverance. Many people start selling their illustrations online but give up quite quickly… If you are patient, you will have a big advantage over your competitors.
Ana Castillo
Email Marketing & SEO Specialist
Hey there! I’m Ana Castillo, your friendly guide to the world of arts and crafts entrepreneurship! With more than 10 years of experience in email marketing and SEO, I’ve been there, done that, and even ran my own online shop selling handmade goodies. Now, I’m here to share my passion for creativity, along with my marketing know-how, to help fellow artists like you succeed in the online world. Let’s turn your creative dreams into a booming business together! Get to know more about me here or follow me on Linkedin »