5 Easy Things Designers can do to Generate Extra Income

There are many designers who earn extra income while having a full-time job and most of the time this extra income doesn’t even require 10 hours a week.

I know a lot of designers, for both print and the web, that are looking for different ways to fully utilize their skills to earn more. The problem is they don’t know where to start. It’s a good thing there are services and people out there that can help solve their problems.

Looking for a sideline?
Do you want to earn extra cash using your design skills but you don’t have enough time because of your full-time job?

Fret not. I’ll provide 5 easy solutions that can get you started right this instant. Most of these solutions will only take 5 hours a week to accomplish, I know you have the talent to do it.

Are you ready? Show me your war faces! Roar!

5 Easy Ways Designers Can Do To Generate Extra Income

1. Write Tutorials and Tips

That was predictable, right? Yet many designers fail to realize that this can be a very lucrative sideline. Every designer I know has their own portfolio,but not everyone uses it to their advantage.

See, the thing here is that you can actually use your finished work and make a tutorial about how you accomplished them. A lot of design blogs are very willing to accept tutorials and would definitely pay for them, some even paying up to $200 depending on the quality. And it only requires a basic explanation of the steps you took to finish the project. Chances are, if you made it, you will definitely know how to explain the process.

Do you have some designs you want to show off? Why not send us an email about it and we’ll talk about making a tutorial out of it! It can be a print design for a brochure, a sleek business card, web interface, web elements, logos, and a lot more. It won’t hurt to try, right?

By the way, are you blogging yet?

2. Write and Sell eBooks

If you have enough patience, you can focus on one topic and write an eBook about it. Just like what we did with 1WD’s three eBooks! The great thing about selling eBooks is that after you’ve written and released it if you have marketed it well-enough, you’ll soon have a passive income that you will enjoy until the end of time!

1WD’s eBooks earned more than $1,000 in its first month  and we’re only doing minimal marketing for them! Imagine if you wrote your own eBook about colors, design theories or how to design a website, how much could you make while working your day job?

It is not an easy task, since you will have to write an entire eBook by yourself. You can also look for a partner, of course!

Have you checked our eBooks page? You’ll see three awesome videos there. We can help you do that too, for free. Yep! You read that right. For free. How? See below!

3. Produce Video Guides

Not everyone is built for writing, so why not try producing video guides? It works the same way as eBooks, but it involves you talking and teaching your techniques to people. How can it be profitable? It’s actually simple:

  • You can create an introductory video to a course or tutorial that only members can access in full.
  • You can also use a video guide to sell a product, which can be print templates that you featured on the video or something else.
  • You can also turn these video guides into lead generation. Who knows, you might pique the interest of someone who’s looking for a designer!

So, I promised I’ll teach you how to leverage video guides like the one on our eBooks page.

As many of you already know, we have partnered with LabSecrets and came up with LabZip, where you can find everything WordPress related.

Presenting LabVidz, the easiest way to monetize your business video!

See the demo on LabVidz  and don’t forget to resize your screen or check it on your smartphone/tablet to see the responsive layout!

What’s in the Free Plan?

  • Includes a child-theme that runs on Responsive Theme (to date it already has over 152,000 downloads).
  • Free hosting of up to 3 videos, and all the features you see on the video above.
  • If you are serious about running a video membership website, then might I suggest the hosted version which only costs $25 monthly. More fun in there!

LabVidz and LabZip are 1WD approved services, so you don’t have to worry about anything!

4. Sell Templates

If you’re a designer I’m pretty sure that at some point in your career you have landed at Themeforest or Graphicriver. Browse around and you will see that people actually sell their PSDs and all sorts of templates in those markets.

“But you said it will only take around 10 hours a week, and I want my weekends to count,” is what you are probably thinking. This is the reason why, as a designer, you should always carry a sketchpad, no matter how small, and a pencil. Seriously. Then during your lunch break you can sketch a few lines here and there, or while on the bus on your way home. The idea is you need to capture every idea that pops into your mind.

5. Partner with a Developer

When you partner with a Developer, you can create something like this! From PSD to a working website!

See PSD to HTML tutorials here.

There are designers who love working alone with their heads wrapped in headphones, then there are those who work better with someone else. If you are the latter, then you might want to find a like-minded developer who can convert your art into working WordPress Themes and sell them to different marketplaces. Great designer plus a great developer will definitely end up with a work of art!

I’m being an optimist here. Of course you can’t do this by simply dedicating 10 hours of your week. This needs higher commitment, but the return is very great.

You may also partner with a developer and both write a book, or even refer each other to some clients. In fact, it is a must that you should have a good developer friend, and vice versa!

In Closing

There are many ways a designer can earn extra income and by dedicating at least 10 hours a week it might yield a very good outcome. All of the options I listed above, save for writing for blogs, generate passive income and in this busy and confusing world, everyone needs passive income!

So, start dedicating at least 10 hours of your week (you decide how you slice the pie) and plan ahead for your future. Money, money, money!

Don’t forget to share your income ideas below!