Making a living as a designer isn’t always easy. Many times, we’re left without clients for small periods of time throughout the year or simply can’t fit any more hours in the day to add any more projects to our list.
Raising rates vs. diversifying income
With all design businesses there comes a time when you either have to raise your rates or find other sources of income in order to increase profits. While raising your rates is fine and good, I prefer to work on diversifying my income. My passive income. That way, when client pools temporarily dwindle or I can’t justify raising rates for the third time in a year, I still have a steady, secondary source of income.
Passive income tactics for designers
Below, I’ve included a list of ways designers can take their design business to the next level with passive income. Have a look and let me know what you think:
1. Selling themes, vectors, photography, etc.
Because it’s one of the most common ways designers make passive income, I wanted to include this tips first on the list. The easiest way to make consistent passive income as a designer is to sell themes, photographs, vectors, etc. on sites like MOJO-Themes or the Envato network. Pay attention to rejected designs or elements of a design project that you could potentially turn into items you can sell. This means little extra work for you with a steady stream of income down the road.
2. Joining affiliate programs
Another great way to make extra money as a designer is to join affiliate programs that make sense for your business. For example, I am an affiliate for 2 printing companies and a web hosting company. Every time my clients ask for a recommendation on printing or web hosting, I give them my affiliate links. When they make a purchase, I get a percentage. Of course, if I didn’t support these services 100%, I wouldn’t recommend them. That’s the key – use affiliate services to make some extra money, but only recommend services that you condone.
3. Start a blog
Another popular way designers make extra money on the side is by starting a blog. Blogging can bring you income in the following ways: • Helps new clients find you • Gives an opportunity to sell ad space • Gives an opportunity to sell products (ebooks, design resources, themes, etc) • Helps you promote your sales of items #1 and #2 of this list Blogging can be helpful to your design business in many ways and I recommend it to any designer who wants to take their income to the next level. It’s a rough road at first, but if done right, can have big payouts later on. How are you going to take your business to the next level with passive income? This post has barely scratched the surface for designers who are serious about generating passive income for their design business. What ways do you plan to (or do you already) make extra money through passive income this year? Share your ideas with me by leaving a comment! I’d love to hear them.