Graphic designers use different ways to earn a living. Some choose to work in a design studio, other freelance, running their own business, or combining the above.

Sometimes working for a client might not allow you to express your creativity as a graphic designer. This is because you need to follow his instructions even if the designs are dull.

You also limit yourself to building a portfolio and learning new techniques. However, I have some good news for you! There are many passive income opportunities you can do if you are a graphic designer.

This article will take you through a comprehensive guide on these passive income opportunities you can use to sharpen your design skills.

Graphic Design Passive Income Website

Brief Summary: What Exactly Is Passive Income?

Many people have different opinions and approaches as to what passive income is. First and foremost, passive income is not an easy way for graphic designers to earn.

This is an approach that also needs work. When you are working on your client’s projects, you will get a flat rate for your project. In this case, the amount of money you can get is limited by the time and the rate you are working for.

In the passive income approach, you also need to work, but the money you make is not dependent on the hours you work. This means that you can earn money repeatedly for a particular job.

What are the Benefits of Passive Income for Graphic Designers?

Like I mentioned above, passive income requires you to put in some work just like active income. So, how do designers benefit? First, let’s see the benefits of this type of income to designers.

1 You Don’t Have to Depend on Clients

Freelance designers who use this approach have significantly reduced client dependency. I know that working for a client is also great. However, you cannot depend on the approach 100%.

You have to keep on looking for new clients to find projects to work on. Additionally, you have to sacrifice your time to develop proposals that you are not sure if they will accept them.

Sometimes you can go for a long time without work, and this affects your income negatively. Choosing passive income will give you more stability when your client is slow and has no work.

2 Extra Source of Income

Who doesn’t love an extra coin? We all do! Diversifying your income is great since it gives you more financial stability. In addition, you don’t necessarily have to depend on your slow client if you have another good option.

3 Supplement Client’s Work

You can also choose passive income for graphic designers to supplement the work you get from your client. However, depending entirely on your client to earn a living can be hard and, at times, frustrating.

You will be dealing with a strict client and many challenges. However, if you have additional sources of income, it will be easier on your side.

4 Make More Money

You can earn more money from other passive income approaches. While it is not a guarantee that every designer will make more on this approach, its income potential is higher.

5 Freedom

You might not enjoy much freedom when working for a client or employed as a graphic designer. However, the passive income approach makes working fun, and you have more freedom.

You have the freedom to decide what to work on. This makes it better because you can focus and work on something you love.

6 Flexibility

Depending on passive sources of income will help you have a flexible schedule. You can choose the right time to work depending on what you want. It’s also easier for you to work as you travel.

7 Sharpen Your Skills

Trying different passive income approaches can help you develop more skills. You have the chance to works on things that you wouldn’t do if you were working for a client. You also get the chance to learn new skills for your projects.

8 Great Downtime Projects

If you don’t let your client go, you can incorporate passive income into your schedule. For instance, you can fit these projects between your client’s work. You can also use this opportunity whenever your client is slow. Then, you can easily design some great templates, and when your client resumes, you can put your work aside and focus on his projects.

Ways to Earn Passive Income for Graphic Designers

Now that you know the benefits of earning passive income, it is great if you also know some passive income ideas. I will take you several of them that you can consider.

1 Template Design

You can design and sell a wide range of templates for websites, brochures, social media, and business cards, among others. All these templates have high demand, and you can earn more from them passively.

2 Theme Design

Apart from templates, you can also design and sell your themes. For example, you can create different types of Themes for Shopify or WordPress. It can be great if you have coding knowledge. If you don’t have, you can work with a developer.

3 Blogging

Another source of passive income is blogging. At first, you need to put in a lot of work, but you will get potential passive income later. When your blog grows and attracts more visitors, you can start making money.

4 Graphic Design Resources

Passive income requires you to be creative. You can design and sell a wide range of graphics and other resources. You can choose brushes, icons, patterns, UI kits, illustrators, and PSD files, among others.

If you create these digital resources, then you can make money from them over and over again. They can generate income for many more years.

5 Fonts

Tell me about one graphic designer who doesn’t love fonts! They all love fonts because they are essential in their projects. If you have the skills to make fonts, then you can make money from that.

I know you can easily get some free fonts available for download. But if you create professional and high-quality fonts, then you can generate revenue from them. There are various places you can sell your fonts, like marketplaces and different websites.

6 T-shirt Designs

You can make money on print-on-demand jobs which increases your passive income streams. Moreover, you can sell your t-shirts on different platforms like Printify, Printiful, and Merch by Amazon, among others.

7 Niche Websites

This is a strategy you can use to create a website that needs a particular design. For example, many niche websites publish content with specific keywords to get more traffic from Google. As a result, you can rank high on Google if you select a low-competition keyword.

Creating niche websites also needs more patience and time. However, you can still get some money within the first year, and with time things even get better.

8 Web Icons and Elements

There are over 200 million active websites online. All these websites require icons and elements. You can design unique web icons and stand out from the crowd. Selling these icons will be an excellent way for designers to earn money.

9 Printable Wall Art

Home decor is constantly growing around the globe. You don’t need to ship your products physically to your customers. Instead, you can design printable wall arts where customers can download and print them.

10 Writing eBooks

You can write ebooks to sell your graphic designer knowledge. You can do a step-by-step guide to help beginners get more information. Apart from selling ebooks, you can also sell resume templates. They are also popular among many people looking for jobs.

It is easy to self-publish your ebook with the Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. You can choose to sell the content as a paperback book, ebook, or both. Selling your ebook on Amazon also gives you a larger audience since millions of people use the platform to shop.

However, this doesn’t mean that you should not promote your ebooks. For example, you can promote them on your blog or social media to get more traffic.

11 Teach Graphic Designers

If you don’t like freelancing or selling products online, then you can try online tutoring. On the other hand, if you have a passion for teaching, you can make money.

E-tutoring is available today, and if you are a skilled graphic designer, you can sell your course through different platforms like Skillshare, Udemy, and Teachable.

12 Start a Shop or Marketplace

While you can sell your graphics and other creative items on marketplaces, you will also experience some drawbacks. First, the marketplace will take their cut, and you have limited control. Second, you might not be in a position to set your price based on the marketplace.

To solve all these problems, you can sell your items on your website. I know this is an approach that needs time and effort to get traffic, but it will work out with time.

13 Membership Website

This is for graphic designers who want to create a long-term business. It is a great option if you already have a blog and need ways to monetize it. Alternatively, you can come up with another site.

Membership website means you will be charging a fee either monthly or yearly to get access to some premium content. Maybe you have downloadable tutorials or design tutorials. Such sites have a high-income potential because of the recurring fees. You can easily create it if you need long-term passive income.

Passive Income Tips for Graphic Designers

If you want to succeed in making passive income, some tips will help you. I have outlined these tips as follows.

1 Purpose

The first thing that you need to determine the purpose or why you want a side project. Are you looking for freedom, or do you want to do something that you enjoy? Do you want to learn new skills?

If you know the purpose, then it is easier to get the right motivation to do it. Whether you want to get extra money to complement your income or any other reason, then passive income can be great. Knowing the purpose will help you stay motivated.

2 Know Your Schedule

One of the main problems that you will face with side jobs is the time limitation. It is great to know your schedule well and be as realistic as possible on the time you allocate for the project. However, always have the time limitations in mind before you start to fit the side project well in your schedule.

3 Set Time For Your Project

If you are a full-time freelancer or have a full-time job, you need to create some time for your projects. For instance, you can dedicate the evenings or weekends to your projects. However, if you don’t set time, then you might not work on your side projects.

4 Start Small

We all start from somewhere. Therefore, it is excellent if you start your projects small. At first, you might think that doing everything at once within a limited time is great. However, this can compromise the success and the quality of your project.

For instance, if a website is your side job, it is great to keep everything basic even if you have bigger plans in the future. Do everything well, and then expand your site later.

Final Words

As you can see, there are numerous ways in which graphic designers can get money from passive steams. If you are a graphic designer, I hope the above tips have given you an insight into the passive income ideas you can choose.

Regardless of the option you choose, you can make more money doing your things. It is great to invest your time in every project to get the best results. I hope you will benefit from these tips.

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