The struggle is real.
If you’re a creative person, and you desperately need to make money with your art, here are a few ideas that can help you.
First, understand that
Most People Won’t Make Money With Their Art
Most people will do menial normal jobs for their whole life. As a result, they will live happy, comfortable and well-paid lives.
Afterall, the majority of what makes the world function are these menial tasks.
There is certainly nothing wrong with contributing to society with a menial task that pays well. It always will be a good idea to have a useful set of skills that you can do over and over again.
We need people to turn sophisticated wrenches, crunch formulas, and do all sorts of repetitive tasks.
Even if you’re a “creative type”, it’s a good idea to have a few high-demand skills in your back pocket.
This article is for those that truly believe they have to do something creative to be happy and feel like they might as well make money with it.
Most people will view creative ventures as obscure and esoteric. Even risky. They are right.
Most people can’t see a future in a creative field. That’s good.
They wouldn’t do a good job, anyway. They would be motivated by the rewards of perfecting the craft, and the rewards are hard to come by and inconsistent.
In fact, if it didn’t feel like it was necessary that you express yourself with your art, you probably wouldn’t do it at all…
It’s weird and vulnerable. It’s tough to explain to people what you do – hard for them imagine doing the same thing.
But, we get good at tasks that we are drawn to. Simply, because it isn’t painful to do the thing. Simply, because we can’t possibly summon the will-power to do things that net us no returns over a long period…
Creative people are rare in that they have a need to express themselves. And whatever the art form, we are drawn to it despite how difficult it is to monetize these activities.
Some Will, Though
Highly consumed artistic content comes from a limited group of people. These people will make all the money.
This is the hard, sometimes painful, truth of creative ventures. There are a million basement musicians to every 1 that makes millions of dollars doing it. A few top writers get all the readership. Dude’s like Chris Evans get all the big roles while a thousand other actors do alright with commercial gigs and many millions eventually give up never making any money from their craft.
Very few people monetize their creativity, and those that do, do it big.
One could ask – is it realistic for all creative people to pursue a career in it?
Well, we wouldn’t have the one’s at the top… The one’s that define the culture…. if it wasn’t for the inherent willingness that all creativity people have towards pursuing their craft. It’s important that nobody really knows if they’ll make it, and everybody thinks they will so that we have this “mill” of creative work coming into the world.
Creative people must have an undeniable desire to express their unique voice to the world…
I mean, they figured it was a good idea to go down this path even though the odds were against them. They were that confident or…delusional – depending on whether you’re a creative person, yourself.
Either way, we need these people to exist or else we would lose our culture altogether…
We need creative types to be vulnerable enough to practice quirky sophisticated skills – sometimes to little or no monetary return.
We need people with their heads in the clouds, adamant that the world needs to see their art and that they will get a break one day.
But fortunately, thanks to modern tech, we have
Another Path for Creative People
This is the best time in history for any pour soul that needs to share their art. The concentration of rewards and opportunities for those at the top of creative ventures has diluted thanks to interconnectivity.
Tech makes it so we can easily distribute content on so many platforms – instantaneously. You are a DM away from your audience or any prospective employer. A related video away from your next subscriber. You have a high chance of stumbling upon someone who you can network with.
Get Gud
It’s important to note that the skill barrier hasn’t changed. People still like good, or at least consistent, work. Ease of distribution of your art does not equal ease of qualification. There are as many opportunities to be ignored as there are to be noticed…
More important than reaching your audience then, is perfecting your craft. Do you do it on a daily basis? Do you love it?
If you do, then you’ll find others.
As long as you’re competent, there are seemingly endless amounts of niches born every day that you can start to make a splash in. Your voice is bound to fit in somewhere. There are real live people that will love your unique voice, and success is only a matter of continuing your skill progress, while finding them.
The Internet is Built for Networking
For example, while you watch your favorite YouTube content creator, you should consistently leave positive and helpful comments in the hopes that you will eventually attract the attention of those who appreciate them. Perhaps you have relevant content on your website? You may have earned a new audience member this way.
They will be slow to show, but they will trickle in. If 3 people can genuinely enjoy what you do, then 1000 people can. Consistency is the key.
Eventually, there will be momentum… Your brand will materialize.
Aside from growing an audience with your personal brand, you can work on projects for businesses – using your brand as a sort of resume. Gigs are a more practical way to monetize your creativity.
A large variety of industries require creative professionals for their media and communications. The internet is an agency in itself, allowing a low barrier of entry for talent to distribute itself to the proper audience. Sometimes, that will be in industry, sometimes that will be a horde of fans, waiting on your next piece of content to be released.
Conclusion
While it’s still not easy to monetize your creativity, there are now many more opportunities to do so.
The barrier of entry to show off your determination and attention to detail are lowered, but their standards are still high. Your art can reach hundreds, right off the bat – and as long as it’s good shit, you will be undeniable.