Top 10 Passive Income Ideas for Graphic Designers

It’s no secret that freelancing is a somewhat turbulent career path. When you have no guarantee of paid projects coming through the door, this can lead to a lot of stress.

But one way to mitigate that stress is by supplementing your freelance income with passive income. But what is passive income? Essentially, passive income refers to money that you make without needing to do any ongoing work.

Things like digital products, print-on-demand clothing, online courses, etc are all valid and viable streams of passive income… provided you’re willing to put in the upfront work to develop them.

In this article, we’ll look at ten different potential routes that graphic designers who are looking to generate passive income can take.

Why Graphic Designers Should Pursue Passive Income

As we’ve already mentioned, working as a freelance graphic designer doesn’t come with a guarantee that you’ll make money. In fact, when you first start in the industry, it’s likely that you won’t make enough money to live on.

This, of course, will change as you begin to work with more clients, and the word of your services spreads. However, if you find yourself in a position where you need to supplement your income with some extra cash, passive projects can be a good idea.

Why, though, may designers look to generate passive income?

Mitigating Income Volatility

The graphic design profession is known for its income volatility, with fluctuations in client projects and market demand. Establishing passive income streams provides a financial cushion during lean periods.

Reducing Freelancing Uncertainties

Freelancers often face uncertainties in project availability and income consistency. Passive income allows graphic designers to offset the unpredictable nature of freelancing.

Building Long-Term Financial Security

Passive income is a pathway to long-term financial security. By generating income without constant hands-on involvement, graphic designers can focus on creative pursuits while ensuring a steady financial foundation.

Creating Time Freedom

Passive income frees up time for graphic designers to pursue passion projects, skill development, or simply enjoy a better work-life balance. It enables a shift from trading time for money to a more sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle.

Top 10 Passive Income Ideas for Graphic Designers

Now that we know the benefits that generating passive income can bring, it’s time to explore some ideas that you can use to do it yourself.

It should be noted that you won’t suddenly become a millionaire overnight. Passive streams of income act as a buffer, a way of bringing in some extra cash to supplement your primary income. In most cases, passive income won’t be able to replace your primary income.

But over a long-term period, if you’re consistently releasing downloadables, courses, products, etc, you’ll be able to bring in some extra cash.

Create and Sell Digital Products

Design and sell digital products such as stock graphics, templates, or custom fonts on platforms like Etsy or Gumroad. Once created, these products can generate ongoing income.

The huge benefit of the two platforms mentioned above is that they also act as storefronts. So, once you release your digital product, it’ll gradually be discovered, and hopefully purchased, by people searching for the right keywords.

Start a Print-on-Demand Business

Leverage print-on-demand services to showcase your designs on merchandise like T-shirts, mugs, and phone cases. Platforms like Printful or Redbubble handle production and shipping, earning you passive income with each sale.

This is excellent for illustrators, as you’re able to upload the raw files, and the services will handle the rest.

Develop an Online Course

Share your design expertise by creating an online course. Platforms like Udemy or Teachable allow you to reach a global audience and earn passive income as students enrol in your courses.

If you have skills and expertise that you know other designers could benefit from, and you don’t mind being in front of a camera, then creating an online course will be ideal. Keep in mind that this will be a lot more work than the others mentioned on the list, as it’ll likely involve script writing, filming, editing, marketing, etc.

Affiliate Marketing for Design Tools

Recommend design tools, software, or resources through affiliate marketing. Earn a commission for each sale generated through your unique affiliate link, creating a passive income stream.

This is great for anyone who’s already creating written content, like a blog. Plus, if you’re already sharing your favourite tools, it’s a no-brainer to make the links you’re already sharing a potential source of passive income.

License Your Designs

You know when you walk around a home goods shop, and you see things like cushions and wall art with cool designs on them? All of that artwork had to come from somewhere. A lot of manufacturers, instead of hiring artists to create something bespoke for their product, will instead license out already existing designs and art to use on their products.

If you already have an existing bank of artwork and designs, this could be a viable option to get them generating some money, instead of just collecting dust on your hard drive.

The hard part is finding the companies to reach out to, but it’s not impossible. The Dark Yellow Dot has a fantastic guide explaining how you can begin licensing your work.

Build a Membership Site

Create a membership site where subscribers pay for exclusive access to premium design resources, tutorials, or a community forum. A recurring subscription model can generate steady passive income.

Keep in mind with this one that once you have people paying a monthly fee, you’re then “on the hook” to provide them with content. So, whilst this isn’t a full-time job (although it can be), it’s also not 100% passive, either.

It’s a viable option to bring in some extra money, but you will need to continue making content regularly.

Write and Self-Publish Ebooks

Gone are the days of needing the backing of huge companies to publish a book. Now, with the internet making everything accessible, you’re able to write, sell, and market your own book, all from the comfort of your home.

If you have a lot of experience (enough to fill a book!) and you want to share it, self-publishing on platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing enables graphic designers to earn royalties on ebook sales. The great part about that platform is that it’ll also print your books too.

The huge benefit of selling physical copies via Amazon’s KDP programme is that you don’t need to stock up on a bunch of copies of your book in the hopes that they sell. Amazon, when your self-published book makes a sale, will physically print it out on demand. This means you only pay for the books you sell, via a percentage that Amazon takes when processing the payment.

Publish Stock Photography

Capitalize on your photography skills by contributing to stock photo websites. Each download of your images generates royalties, providing a passive income stream over time.

Websites like Shutterstock allow users to upload their own photographs, set a price, and give a royalty every time it’s purchased. Keep in mind, however, that there are literally tens of millions of photographs on that website, and others like it, so it’s a very competitive business.

Create a YouTube Channel

When you watch a video on YouTube, you’ll often get shown ads too. More often than not, there’ll be several ads in each video. For creators, it’s these ads that contribute to the monthly income they receive from YouTube.

So, similar to making an online course, if you’re not afraid of being in front of the camera and have a lot to say about the world of graphic design, then creating a YouTube channel could be a great way for you to make some passive income.

Keep in mind, however, that building an audience on YouTube is hard. So, at the start of this journey, you’ll need to be prepared to make no money, and to create a lot of content.

Create a Design Blog

Starting a graphic design blog can help you do all of the tips mentioned in this article. As you build an audience of readers, you’ll be able to include links to your various passive income products and projects as a way of promoting them.

Additionally, if you’re going the course of the self-published book route, you’ll be able to see which content ideas and topics resonate with your audience. This will then inform the decision about which ideas you expand into full courses, or even full books.

If you don’t know where to start, here’s a guide to my seven-step method of creating online content.

Conclusion

Embracing passive income ideas provides graphic designers with a blueprint for financial stability and a more resilient career journey.

By diversifying income streams, you’re able to navigate the unpredictable nature of the industry while enjoying the freedom to pursue creative passions and long-term financial security.

You should keep in mind, as we said right at the beginning of this article, that generating passive income isn’t going to make you a millionaire overnight. You won’t be able to drop your job and live off royalties whilst spending all day lying on the beach.

Rather, the passive income ideas for graphic designers here should be treated as ways to supplement your primary income with a bit of extra cash, not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Working on passive income generation can be a great way of spending your downtime. If you’re looking for more ways to be productive when you’re in between projects, here are some ideas for how to spend your downtime as a graphic designer.

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