Just this morning, Hubert, our co-founder, and I were discussing ways of earning in the future. We strongly believe that for us younger generations, the best way to monetise will be via several revenue streams – a diversified form of income.
There are many benefits to creatives diversifying their income streams. Let’s lay it out.
Provides stability
You won’t be affected too badly if and when one income stream dries up. You’ll still have other sources of income to fall back on, which will help cushion you from tough times.
Offers flexibility
When you create multiple income streams, you will get more freedom regarding working hours. You will have money to survive even if the market takes a downturn.
Creates growth opportunities
Creating multiple income sources means you have access to different opportunities and markets. As long as you’re willing to expend effort and learn new things, this can lead to bigger paychecks in the future.
Can expand your skill set
You will learn new things and improve your skills by working in various markets. And that’s valuable in any industry. This way, you can overcome challenges and stay ahead of the curve.
Even in difficult times—like the current economic recession—opportunities will still be available for talented individuals like yourself.
Prepares you for changes
Relying on a single income stream can cripple you financially if the economy takes a nosedive or your business model becomes obsolete because of new technology.
Consider the latest digital image generation tools like DALL-E and similar AI models that could be an alternative to illustrators and animators.
But you can protect your livelihood by income diversification and learning to generate passive income from various markets. If one sector of the economy takes a dip, you can rely on another.
Convinced yet? We thought so. Now let’s look at the ways in which we can diversify our income as creatives.
Web3
My friend Jadyn Violet, a music artist based on the east coast, just made $1800 from his first single in 24 hours. That’s more than he would get for 700,000 streams in web2 (Spotify) and reaching that number would require money and time. If you want to know more follow him on Twitter and TikTok.
Within the web3 community in Twitter there are niche pockets and platforms that enable artists to sell video, music and art NFTs for various prices. It is worth investing in the community to build a clientele. Read our Web3 newsletter for more information.
Brand Partnerships
As an artist growing a community, brand partnerships are a great way to fund a project. On top of promoting a big brand’s goods in exchange for cash (and growing your following with their reposts), offer to up the ante by co-creating courses or products featuring both your brands.
Sell Your Knowledge in Course Form
If you are good at something, create an online course about that topic and sell or monetize it. For example, there could be a course for “How to Write a Killer Song,” “Create a logo with Adobe Illustrator,” or “The ins and outs of perfect TikTok editing.”
Many creative industries would benefit from having more content created by professionals (like writers, digital marketers, or visual artists), so there’s no doubt that courses in these fields will be popular in 2022.
There are several options for monetizing your courses. Upload them on platforms like Coursera and Udemy, where learners can enroll for a fee. You can also sell them through your personal website.
One of the best ways to sell your courses is through a freemium model. It involves offering access to the course for free but charging for additional premium features or material (for example, access to more lessons or PDFs).
Creating a course can be easy if you have the right tools. There are many free online resources and plenty of affordable paid tools. You could structure your course in many different ways, from offering a full-blown system with materials, exercises, and extra resources to providing just the lessons or activities.
You can write your course from scratch or purchase an existing one and modify it to suit your needs. Plus, there’s always the option of creating a hybrid course incorporating both writing and video content.
Blogging
Blogging is one of the most effective ways freelancers can build their reputation and connect with other professionals in the same field and potential clients. It can give you the required exposure to build your authority in a niche and establish yourself as an expert.
Write in your free time and earn extra money through these monetizing strategies:
- Sell advertising space on your website or blog. Google Adsense and various other Ad Management services allow you to make money from display ads.
- If your blog has enough visitors, sell sponsorships or subscriptions to your content to secure an ongoing income.
- When you are an authority in a particular niche, others will pay you money for publishing guest posts and sponsored content on your website.
- You can charge for eBooks, templates, or other downloadable resources that you create.
- Do affiliate marketing. Promote products from various companies and earn commissions for qualified sales.
