What is this thread all about?
Just a place for general discussion. A place to unload whats on your mind and talk about anything - personal, health, help needed, achievements, daily highs and daily lows, theories, predictions and what have you.
Does not need to be Q related.
Hoping someone might have some advice for me.
I'm disabled and unable to work a decent job, so I fall back on being an artist. Finding work has been next to impossible. Clients I relied on have disappeared and now my family and I are barely able to stay afloat. We've almost depleted my savings, and now I'm in a bind.
I decided to make an anime styled printable paper doll in an attempt to generate some passive income while I continue trying to get new clients or other art related jobs, but no one is viewing my Etsy listing.
Does anyone know a way I can get it in front of more eyes (without having to pay for advertising) so maybe some people would actually buy it?
I have full faith in the plan and that things will get better, but I'm terrified of my family losing everything after we just recovered from losing our home a few years ago. We escaped homelessness by the skin of our teeth and the grace of God. We love our home and don't want to lose it. We've cut everything we can.
Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.
Yes, I used to do that and ran into the same issue of vast under exposure. I spread myself very thin trying to post to as many outlets as possible and it never got me anywhere. The market, and my area of work in particular, are extremely over saturated. I'm trying to build myself up into trying it again, but it's a lot of work for very little reward.
I'd love to design some Pepe merch! Pretty sure I can't advertise it in here, but I'm going to give that a whirl. Thanks for the idea :D I've been wanting to do Patriot themed merch as well, but I don't want to profit off of this movement necessarily, and that seems like skirting the line.
99designs does freelance artwork. Have you tried that?
Thank you very much for the suggestion! I have looked into that, and that's not at all my area of expertise. I'm more for character design, character art, and semi-realistic portraits at best.
I don't fully grasp the NFT concept, but it appears to be a way for artists to essentially manage their own works. May be something to look into, Gamestop just launched their NFT marketplace.
Not for work per say, but may be able to monetize your artwork and make some passive income.
lol I've tried repeatedly to understand NFTs and just can't grasp it or how I would go about creating a successful one.
I know people don’t like these platforms that I’m going to mention, but it could help you with selling your art.
YouTube. Go to YouTube channel, and start posting short videos of what you do.
Rumble. Do the same one rumble.
Facebook. Do the same on Facebook.
With a three above channels, what you do is join other channels that have similar interests as you. For instance… I started a nature video channel, so I got a YouTube channel and a Facebook channel. I then went and joined a bunch of other nature video type channels, or photography channels of nature and animals. By doing this, each time you post on your Facebook page it’ll go to all those channels, of whom which have lots of followers, then that information will go out to them. It’s a quick, easy, and affordable way to advertise your channel.
If you want it to be effective, you really have to stay on top of it though. Posting one video a week, would keep you relevant. With all of those channels, each video you need to make sure that you put links to your Etsy account, and any other way that people can purchase your products. I would suggest Instagram as well, but I think that’s for somebody who’s already has a decent following.
Another idea I had for my channel if that might work well for you, is making a calendar. I have some beautiful photographs of the nature videos that I make, and in November I will create a calendar, and I’ll be doing a more official launch of my channel and my brand at that time. The money raised with the calendars will go towards me being able to make more videos.
Since you are an artist, I’m sure you could come up with a great calendar, and also some type of theme for your calendar each year. There’s calendar apps, or software online, and the calendars are created by a company each time somebody orders one. You don’t have to have items in stock yourself, or mail them yourself. It’s all done automatically. I think the calendars run $20 a pop, and that’s with you making some type of profit.
Another idea would be to try a photo stock app, or company. You upload your photos, or your pictures, and people buy them to use them. Maybe it’s $3-$5 for each picture or photo. It may not be much, but if you start selling multiple copies of photos or pictures, I’m sure that moves you up in the algorithm of said Photo stock app.
These are just a few ideas, so you could stick with what you know, and what you love to do. There are many other ways people can make money online, or working from home. But I think your love for art, and what you do, makes it a more enjoyable living. It can be overwhelming at times, but if you just take one task, and do it to your best ability, then you move onto the next one. Before you know it, you’ll have a decent little side hustle, and you’ll start building your brand.
God bless you and I hope that you have a great day and that the Lord finds you successful within the next six months.
Thank you so, so much for the thoughtful and detailed reply.
I've actually had a Youtube channel in the past and it really didn't go too well. It was a huge amount of extra work and expense trying to get it off the ground and the amount of extra work required for each video never really paid off. I would like to attempt it again though.
A calendar is a really good idea. I'll explore that, thank you!
God bless you as well. Thank you so much for your kindness and encouragement. You're a beautiful person.
You are very welcome. Even if just one idea helps you out, then it was worth the time for my reply. God bless you and I pray that God will bless you and your future endeavors.
Are you able to sit at computer? It's not art, but I know someone who makes $16/hr. calling businesses for roof jobs. Maybe you could find something similar for the time being.
Thank you for the suggestion! I have no means of making phone calls but a job working from a computer would definitely be ideal. Finding one is the hard part. There are so many scams out there.