How to Showcase Your Art and Make a Career of It

Showcase Your Art   by Abby Holt   

Choosing to follow your passion can make for a successful and fulfilling career. But as an artist, you will face numerous hurdles along the way as well.

One of the major ones will be getting discovered, followed by finding ways to monetize your effort. Whether you’re an aspiring fashion designer, craft maker, or digital artist, you need to learn the best ways to showcase your skills and stand out from the crowd.

In this article by Smart Knit Crocheting, we’ll explore a host of useful tips on how craft artists can get discovered.

Apply for Freelancing Roles

As an upcoming artist, it’s best to get some work experience under your belt through freelancing, as not only will you have the freedom to choose your projects, but you’ll start earning while developing a strong portfolio.

Here are the best ways to consistently find freelance work

Utilize Your Personal Network:

Depending on the type of art you create, reach out to family and friends to receive your first wave of commissions. You can also consider using your skills to create gifts for special occasions.

For instance, if someone’s birthday is around the corner, choose to put your crochet skills to the test and sew a jacket rather than buy something from a store.

Apply on Freelancing Platforms

Websites such as Fiverr and Upwork are great options to connect with potential employers looking for the best artists on a per-project basis.

While establishing yourself on these platforms can take some time, once you start receiving a steady flow of projects and good reviews, the opportunities will keep coming.

When it comes to applying for jobs on freelancing websites, some employers will ask for a resume as part of the application.

Given that you’ll customize your resume for each position, consider using a PDF editor to make edits on the fly and never miss out on great opportunities. If you’ve never used an editor before, click for more info to understand how it can help you land freelancing jobs.

Create a Portfolio Website

Another great way for creative individuals, especially those involved in crafts such as knitting, crocheting, leather work, flower crafts, etc., to get discovered is to develop a portfolio website.

A website serves as a collection of your best work and reflections. There are a host of free website builders one can use to get their website up and running within no time!

Here are some tips for creating a great website, according to Kinsta:

• Keep the design simple, with plenty of white space to make your designs and images stand out.
• Make it easy for users to navigate. It’s common for artists nowadays to create a one-page website where a user keeps scrolling to access different sections.
• Remember to include an ‘About Me” section that includes your contact information, and a business email address.

Showcase Your Art:  Promote and Monetize Your Art on Social Media

Social media platforms such as Instagram, and TikTok are great places not only to promote your art but drive traffic to your website as well.

A visual search engine such as Pinterest is also a great way to get found.

Additionally, building a loyal social following by consistently uploading engaging content will increase the chances of landing more gigs and converting your passion into a fruitful career.

Types of streams you can consider include - DIY content, contests, and more. Additionally, you can start publishing members-only content on sites such as Patreon or Substack, where your followers will pay to access additional content and interact with you one-on-one.

Once you begin to gain traffic to your website, a newsletter is a great way to create interest and eventual sales.  Don't wait, though to begin collecting emails.  Even sending out a newsletter to a few subscribers can make a huge difference as your traffic begins to collect momentum.  Think about it as the snowball effect.

Sell Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a passive way to earn extra income and sell other people's products on your own website. Amazon is the most well-known platform and it does have the widest assortment of products to support, but their commission rates are low.

If you are an artist, you are already buying supplies from online retailers.  Go to your favorite online store and search their footer for Affiliates.  Almost every large supplier encourages affiliates so that is a good place to start and the commission rates are higher than on Amazon.

Consider an Ad Management Program

Once your website is established, you may want to investigate additional streams of income.  An ad management company will pay you to allow them to place ads on your website. The more traffic your site gets, the faster your income will grow.

Each company has their own eligibility requirements so be sure to read their expectations.  Google AdSense may be a good place to start until your site attracts more visitors.  Here are a few more agency you may want to check out.

Mediavine is a well-known ad management platform that has helped publishers maximize their ad revenue. They require websites to have at least 50,000 unique monthly visitors per month so they may not be an alternative for someone just starting out.
Publift is a good alternative to Mediavine but it does require more than 500,000 page views per month so again, a brand new site may not qualify.
Ezoic is another Google-certified partner and ad network for publishers.  Ezoic can be attractive to new publishes because it doesn't have such a high page view requirement.  It does require that your site be content rich, so if you are running an e-commerce site, it might not be a good fit.
Monumetric is one of the most popular Mediavine alternatives for bloggers and small publishers that requires a minimum of 10,000 monthly visitors and has a tier program that pays more for more monthly visitors.
AdThrive is an excellent choice if you have a lot of traffic.  The minimum requirements are 100,00 views per month with the majority of your traffic coming from the US and other English speaking countries. It does pay top dollars if you qualify.

Google AdSense is one ad agency that many small publishers initially begin with before they gain the traffic needed to migrate to another platform.  They don't have a minimum requirement for visitors or views but the website must be at least 6 months old.

Showcase Your Art Last Words

When it comes to getting discovered as an artist, it is important to have a professional-looking portfolio website and to promote it using the right social media channels.

For those interested in knitting and crocheting, sites such as Etsy and Ravery are ideal for getting found

Applying for freelancing roles is also a great way to showcase your skills and gain exposure. But, remember to use an editor to customize your resume for each position and stand out from the competition.

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Showcase Your Art:  About the Author

Abby Holt created Craftability to inspire you to put your own crafting abilities to good use, whether it's painting, jewelry-making, quilting, or calligraphy."

Disclosure:   This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase from one of these links I will get a small  commission.

Hi, there, I'm Janice, the voice behind this website and avid knitter and crochet enthusiast. I want to share my passion with you and help you learn how to knit or crochet, smarter.

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