Wondering how to start a blog with wordpress in 2021?
How will you feel that finally, you were able to start a blog helping you not only to make money online while blogging but also present your work out in the world. Maybe sell your digital products online or maybe even your physical products?
You can start a blog with wordpress in 2020 and start making money online in a matter of minutes. Or you could finally, create a storefront and start selling from this? ,Be able to lead clients and direct them to your own self-hosted platform. All this and more like your own pretty domain name, Set up email addresses, newsletters and more.
in this posts series, how to start a blog with wordpress within next 24 hours.
We are going through times when that is allowing us to stop and look at our surroundings. Raise questions about who we are being, what is important and what needs to be done with. Maybe you are still struggling with your surroundings and they are keeping you busy enough that you don’t even get the time to reflect on who you are being and which direction to take.
For me this time out by Universe has given me a safe place to go within and shed out the unwanted. These unwanted items not only include, purging my home, decluttering my surroundings but also in a good way I am exploring new ways to expand my online business and work. I see so many people going through all of this as well.
Some have been busy all their life doing 9 to 5 jobs, they don’t even love or are passionate about. It is like dragging themselves to work every day, going through the workload, communicating and frustrated with a nosey boss. And now when they got the time out they are wondering if this is how they want to spend the rest of their lives?
Maybe you too in a state similar to this, maybe you were also forced to sit at home, maybe you too are wondering what if there is something else to life. Maybe you are struck by fear and are not able to do anything creative. It almost feels like running in a hamster wheel. Forced life, but for how long? will this ever end? you love drawing, maybe gardening, maybe painting, do you really have to wait for your retirement to do what you love doing?
This pivot may mean
Leaving your job and facing some uncertain times and wondering if you can too make money by blogging
Getting overwhelmed wondering ok here I am and I would love to spend more time doing what I am passionate about but how to begin where to start from and what are my next steps.
I am passionate about helping other creative women find their inner Creative Diva and start earning a living doing what they love by blogging and selling their creativity online. And all of this starts from taking a single decision and setting a strong intention. If you are committed enough to make a change in your life, if you want to be one of the few who are strong enough to take a stand for their desires then allow me to take you by the hand and over the next few posts help you create a business doing what you love.
So in this post, I will share the initial tasks you can take right now starting today towards a strong business foundation. by setting up an online shop in less than 24 hours.
how to start a blog with wordpress in 2020 in 4 steps
Choose a blog name and get a hosting
Install WordPress in order to Start a blog
Personalize your blog by installing a pretty and functional theme
Add the right plugins to help you track data and traffic
Consistently write great content that attracts your ideal client
Monetize your blog by affiliated products or your own self hosted shop
Step 1:
Get a domain name & Hosting in order to start a blog with wordpress
If you already have a domain name then it is great ! time saved ! if not here are. A domain name is a name that people can type in their address bars to find you. This post of mine intends to set up a website for you in 24 hours so I will not write tons about each and every step but I will guide you towards your end goal, that is …. an online shop!
So your name could be simply yourname.com or yourbusinessname.com or maybe you want to be creative and come up with something interesting for your blog name. The thing is it really doesnt matter!. Focus on just getting a name and dont get caught up and procrastinating over how good a name sounds.
I am recommending 1 and 1 Hosting for this because it is the cheapest solution out there right now, you begin with paying $1 for the Domain plus hosting for the first month and then $4 onward. For the domain name, $1 for the first year is included. I signed up for the business package and have hosted two of my website paying $8.
When you are paying this low you are lowering the mental barrier of setting up a website being expensive just go ahead give it a try what is there to lose? $1 for the domain name for the first year is ample time for you to know if you are committed to running a website.
Other recommended providers are Godaddy (Starting from $5 ) Blue Host ($3.95 free domain for first year and hosting)
What is the difference between the domain name and hosting?
I often get asked this question, believe it or not, this confusion even stops many of you from taking the first step. So a domain name is like getting a URL that can be typed in the search bar, and hosting is a place where you will upload your files to. These files will include your website data, product images, blog images files, and similar.
For people to access your website, they will be landed on a webpage hosted on your hosting provider. it will show the files you stored in the form of a homepage blog or similar.
Step 2
Installing WordPress on your hosting space.
Consider your hosting space ( which you paid $1 for the first month) links to your domain name Here is how you will do it inside 1and 1 hosting. But you will see that most of the hosting companies have similar Cpanels. Cpanel is the dashboard from where you can take various tasks from inside the hosting provider.
After you signup, you will log in to your Cpanel ( Hosing Dashboard) here is how this looks like
how to start a blog with wordpress in 2020 and make money
You have icons presented in front of you with managing your domain name, creating email addresses, installing websites and stores, managing your hosting space, and your billing and account information. If you click on domains you will be able to see the domain name that you just purchased.
But to set up your WordPress Shop and blog you will head on over to the search bar on top of the screen and type install WordPress.
Give your website a title and click Create Website. Something Like ” Julias Art and Workshops” or whatever, don’t worry you can change it later at any time.
Type in the administrator login ( the login you will use to access your WordPress installation) I would recommend keeping it long and not including word admin in it. Here is a screenshot of how this looks like
Next, you will be presented with an option to install a managed WordPress just click on the second option
Next, you will be asked to link a domain name to the WordPress installation. From the dropdown choose the domain name that you just registered with.
And you are done!
Type the domain name in the URL space in your browser and your website is online!
Step 3:
Personalize your blog by installing a pretty and functional theme
For my 3 Blogs that I own i have been in a whirlwind for ages trying out different themes. The Theme in a wodpress means the whole design of the website. Think of WordPress installation as a skeleton and now you need to make it pretty. We are done on how to start a blog with wordpress now you should also think about making it pretty right?
I have added a list of recommended themes and alternatives to my own choice of wordpress theme ( Divi) in the checklist you can download it for free.
I choose Divi as my website theme because it is so easiy manageable. And besides the designers and tons of users at DIVI provide all the documentation on how to make it best work for you. And if you ever get stuck somewhere there is always a vido or help out there to overcome that.
Ofcourse there are plenty of free themes out there a few of them I have mentioned in my checklist but I choose to go with a premium one as I prefer to get all the support I can get.
Here is link to get Divi theme if you are interested.
Here is how to install a theme on your wordpress blog
Login to your wordpress wp-login
Go to Appearance
Click on themes
Click on Add New
Click on upload
Once it is uploaded Activate the theme!
Step 4:
Add the right plugins to help you track data and traffic
12 Years ago i was looking for ways to improve my graphic skills and i was looking high and low over the internet trying to find some tutorials. Coming out masters in Fine Arts (Majors in paintings) with no knowledge of ANY graphic related software i was fascinated to...
Oh my how time flies , I have been prepping my Store for Holiday promos, creating new products and planning out the launches , emails and giveaways during the holiday season and totally forgot about the ultimate Toolkit that I received around 10 days back and I have been soaking in during this time.
It is Genius Bloggers Toolkit . You might have heard about it but if you havent no worries I’ve got your back.
I signup up 10 days back for Genius Bloggers Toolkit 2019 and honestly , I am wondering why I never jumped in when I was invited a month back as part of an affiliate for this product. After getting most of my tasks of Online Shop scheduled out , I am focusing on blogging and learning more about affiliate marketing and earning money through blogging and this is when I was completely blown away by the content and value that I got from this single purchase.
For under $100 you’ll get over $7,000 worth of online courses , cheatsheets , E-books and other products that cover topics such as blogging , email marketing , product creation , course Creation , SEO , Youtube marketing , Facebook Ads and what not!
Is it worth it ? is it worth spending $97 on the Genius Bloggers Toolkit? my answer is YES , YES , YES! and here are some of the reasons why I say YES!. I will ofcourse share with you all my negative and positive experiences of buying Genius Bloggers Toolkit 2019.
But my dear in the end it is 101% your decision if you need the bundle of products and if you really want to use its products.
DISCLOSURE ABOUT AFFILIATE MARKETING
This post contains affiliate links and if you decide to make a purchase ( which is entirely upto you) I will be paid a small amount. But having said that I do not talk about anything other than what i have used , loved and gotten back loads of value from .
For those of you who dont know affiliate marketing is not a scam at all , it works on a simple formula that Great Products from some of the great names in the blogging industry joined together to create an awesome collection of products at an affordable price. The contributors get more exposure as well as sales and the affiliates and buyers like myself get loads and loads of value.
And yes the affiliate bloggers like myself get an affiliate commission that help us get our blogs goin.. and keeping us motivated to create more content and share online.
SO WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU? AND WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER GETTING YOUR COPY OF GENIUS BLOGGERS TOOLKIT
Here are some of the reasons why you should get the Genius Bloggers Toolkit every year.
IT IS JAM PACKED WITH VALUE AND WORTH EVERY PENNY
There are 90+ products worth $7000+. These range from ebooks, to courses, to stock images packs, templates and more. If you cover only a handful of these course and implement them you can easily make $97 back in no time at all. Why I am preaching is that I have already started creating a course , Created my content planner for this quarter and planned out projects and launch plan for these after just getting started on a few of the courses included.
You will find courses , e-books and cheat sheets on earning income through Pinterest , Instagram and Facebook all covered using some of the best resources .
IT PROVIDES COURSES AT INSANE LOW PRICES FROM SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE IN BLOGGING WORLD
Since I believe in learning from the best , for myself there was no question when I decided to get the bundle for myself . Some insane resources from some of the best names in the industry are available for a very low price.
IT HAS YOUR BACK WHILE YOU BUILD YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS
Yep ! Want to work on instagram , lets pull out just that , no ? Facebook Ads and marketing , yes please ….. OR maybe you want to uplevel your blog structure ? Or Set up email Marketing for now? whenever you are ready to focus on any area of expertise pull out the resource and you are good to go!. I have been binge watching all the courses and soaking up my teeny weeny brain with all the goodness.
Because I want to level up my game of blogging in 2019-20 …. Yes please…..
IT COVERS THE ENTIRE ONLINE BLOGGING AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION PIECES YOU CAN COVER IT AT YOUR OWN PACE.
Just go with the flow!
WHY YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM SPENDING $97 ON THIS BUNDLE?
YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME
YOU ARE NOT SERIOUS IN GETTING YOUR DREAMS
YOU ARE A PROCRASTINATOR
YOU DONT WANT TO START BUSINESS ONLINE AND START EARNING RIGHT NOW
Hello again Bff! I would love to learn a little about you Take some time out to answer these few questions Not necessary but completely optional ! It will greatly help me to help you even better. Name Email Address What is the aim and focus of your blog or...
Perfect! THERE'S ONE MORE THING TO DO BEFORE YOU GO ... Takes place in the CREATIVEME FACEBOOK GROUP Click the button below and I’ll send you access to the group, along with Bootcamp reminders, inside...
Blog your way to profits Ready to Start your first Profitable blog? In this jam packed 6-day experience I teach you exactly how to start, build, grow and profit from your own blog using the same strategies I have to create my 6-figure business! What we will cover...
To some this will be a very basic thing but for some this is something that they really need help with , If you are someone who is new to blogging or thinking about setting up a blog ( Start a blog is very easy do it now ) or plainly want to set up a newsletter this post is for you.
For someone who is in the initial phase of doing business online setting up all these tech can be daunting and really confusing, it all seems like it is a BIG task that you need to accomplish and chances are you are putting it off to a time when you are free or when you have time in your hands. Well you are in for a treat you are going to set up a newsletter for free in just a few steps today and even have it all set up and installed in a few steps.
Here is what we are going to cover in this blog post
Why do you really need a newsletter ?
What do you need to do in order to get the most out of your newsletter?
Which is the best program out there for starters and Mailchimp alternative?
Where to get your initial subscribers?
3 steps you need to do before you start sharing your newsletter/
Why do you really need a newsletter ?
If you have a business online or are even blogging for fun, maybe you have an instagram account that is booming and maybe you have a facebook following or a group . You think that this is the best mode of communication with your tribe . But wait! These platforms are although the best places to get in touch with your clients or readers or community. But really you can not track how many of them are loyal to your content. How many and the other metrics like what people are clicking on and what are they most interested in . These metrics can be measured only by directing these people to your website or blog and Newsletter could be your best tool when it comes to learning more about them.
Having a newsletter means , you can send them periodic offers, product launches , News about the latest and when they forget to login to facebook you can always pop in their email account. Facebook , instagram and twitter can suddenly wake up one day to a totally new rule and maybe you get locked out or whatever way universe plays. You can loose your community .
What do you need to do in order to get the most out of your newsletter?
My top tip? frequency! yep stay connected with your audience with atleast 4 emails / month . 3 of which could be full of value and one with your offer. People connect with stories , share your life and share your struggles and also give them a chance to get specials through offers and promos .
I am guilty of not emailing much and I am also guilty of removing optins from my website because I was getting 100+ email subscribers per day, while I had no time to connect authentically with them. Authenticity is the key, my email open rate for some lists have been 50% which is considered Awesome by industry standards. This mean that people are reading your emails and connecting . AND this happens when you are sharing value rich emails.
Which is the best program out there for starters and Mailchimp alternative?
I use MailerLite other programs that I have used in the past and are free to start are
Write 3-4 automation emails following the download email this can be done inside Mailerlite as well.
And done!
Now once you have created this plan of action you will continue to get consistent subscribers and they will continue to receive initial emails until your next update email send as an update.
Let me know if you need any help with this <3 I am here to help
SELLING ART ONLINE – LESSON 1 Congratulations that you are ready to set up an Art Business Online. This means a lot of things ! this tells me that you are committed to your art and you are confident that there is a potential of selling Art Online. Maybe you are...
How i use tailwind as Pinterest Scheduler to increase sales of my digital products and increase traffic to my blog
I have been listening and reading about how Pinterest is a very useful tool to increase sales and to drive traffic to your products for a while now. And I read hundreds of blog posts on the same topic too. So I started experimenting with my own account on pinterst.
I was instantly able to double my online sales ! But following and sticking to a solid posting schedule was becoming a tough task. I found out that if I use Pinterst regularly and shared my each and every content on a regular basis to my own and other group boards I was getting a spike in traffic and sales.
In case you are wondering I have a product based business on etsy where I sell Wall Stickers and Wall decals. Also I have some digital products and illustrations that I sell through this website and through etsy as well.
I admit that although I had subscribed to Tailwind for Pinterest for while but I was not fully utilizing it to its full potential and capacity. I was never a fan of various schedulers until I realized that I really need a tool to help me keep myself sane . And since I had already noticed increase in my sales through Pinterest I knew it is time to take it seriously. The very first step within your blog is to optimize your pins for greater conversion I have covered this in one of my previous posts on where I share my on blog strategy to optimize my pin you can read about it here.
Below is a screen shot from one of my pinterest profiles and this is just the current month stats.
Do keep in mind that this post contains affiliate links and in case you decide to purchase anything using my links I will get a small commission from the service provider. However trust me that I only share tools services and softwares that I have myself used and enjoyed and found also found useful.
Since I started usingTailwind I have never looked back.
I am going to share a full walk-through of how I use pinterest to get blog and shop traffic below.
After viewing my analytics and realizing that the biggest traffic driving source is pinterest , I really needed to up my game and get serious about it.
I had been using boardbooster for a while now, and I liked it to the extent that it helped me ” Pin the pins for me” but once i decided to up my game I had to play serious!
My aim was to double my sales at that time my monthly earning from my wall decal business was accumulating to around $1200. I believe that creating amazing products is very important but then after the product is created 80% of efforts should go into marketing it and placing it in front of the right audience.
And since I knew my audience was hanging out over at pinterest. I had to take my leap.
I had previously signed up for the free Tailwind trial but it was only when i signed up for the initial month ( that gave me more pins to pin) I started seeing instant results.
Here are some of the reasons why I recommend Tailwind:
It is the only scheduler approved by Pinterest there are others like Viraltag, FriendMe+ and formerly Boardbooster, Hoostsuite but Tailwind is approved by pinterest.
It’s only 9.99/month with the yearly plan where you will get unlimited pins.
You get a suggested times optimized plan for your pinning schedule
You get access to tailwind tribes
You can create board lists and by categorizing your content you can pin them to board lists, this helps you to control the content when pinning to relevent boards.
You can use Smart Loops to create seasonal content lists, and when the season arises you have to take no extra actions and release seasonal sales , promotions and posts on autopilot.
Access to Analytics to better optimize your content sharing strategy this includes
Profile performance,
Board insights,
Pin inspector,
Website insight,
organic activity
Referral Traffic
Here are some of the reasons why Tailwind will help you gain more clients:
With increase in more eyeballs on your product you will be able to increase sales
You can have more traffic to your website
You can increase subscribers and followers
You can have tailwind set up once and then forget it.
Your posts will get published across all media while you concentrate on creating and working on new ideas
Tailwind Strategy that I use to increase Sales:
CREATING A POSTING SCHEDULE
One of the features that tailwind provides is the optimized time slots. You can create a weekly pinning schedule where tailwind will autogenerate time slots for you that best suits you. You will be asked to choose number of pins that you want to pin daily and hit create schedule and BOOM! youve got yourself a time based plan !. All the pins that you pin will be released to pinterest whenever the next time slots allows it to. So this means that you have a total control over number of pins and frequency of the pins that you want to push through Tailwind.
This is a screenshot from my Tailwind dashboard, you can access this from under the publisher tab on the left hand side menu. You have choice to choose how many pins you would like to pin each day. The green slots are the suggested times provided and set by Tailwind. And the green dotted times are Other suggestions that I can use with just one click!.
I also have the option to add time slots manually should I choose to do so , You will find a Add time slot button on left side in order to manually add time slots.
If at any later time you decide not to post on a time slot and delete it , no worries because the pin will automatically be shifted to next available time slot.
So how do you know when is the right time to pin, it really depends upon person to person and content to content. There is nothing to loose, I personally started with pins as less as 15 and increasing my pinning keeping in view the interaction that i saw on my pins. Currently my plan includes 50 pins per day.
BOARDS LISTS AND HOW TO USE THEM
WHAT ARE GROUP BOARDS?
The best thing you can do to increase eyeballs on your products , services or blog posts is to join various group boards. There are tons of group boards on various topics. So which boards to join? look for boards that have your audience, people who are likely to interact with your content, blog post or product. If your niche audience is mom bloggers then look for group boards where they will hang out. Use PinGroupie to find some boards and send them request to be added.
HOW TO FIND AND JOIN GROUP BOARDS?
The trick is to find high quality boards. I usually measure this by looking at the number of pins, followers and number of contributors. Most of the boards either require you to send them email , join their facebook group or simply leave a comment. Usually their descriptions will mention the process.
Another way to find good group boards is by spying on your competition, see which boards they are contributing to and you can join those boards too.
Al you have to do is to go to their profile , then to their boards list and scroll down to find group boards joined by them, the group boards have a round icon with sections.
USING BOARDS LISTS IN TAILWIND
Now comes the fun part , once your profile is connected to Tailwind you will be able to create lists of boards, they can be listed and grouped in various ways. You can list them in category, by subject or by interest. I like to keep separate board lists to promote my products, and a separate list to promote my blog posts. Again you can figure this out once you have joined a few group boards and you are aware of your audience. Where they are and what they are interested in .
Creating a board list is very simple. Go to “Publish” and “Board Lists” tab, click to add a new board list and organize your boards in categories. It’s so easy to sort out your boards and it will save you so much time in the future. Whenver you are ready to pin one of your pins to multiple group boards , the board list will come on top of list and you can simply choose from there.
Tailwind will distribute this pin to all the boards keeping in view your time schedule ( explained in detail below)
SMART LOOP FEATURE
Think about all the content that you have ever created all the product listings , blog posts , items that are currently sitting idle but could be working for you , driving traffic back to your website.
Smart loops makes it easy for you to find every piece of content that you have pinned from your website and find the best performing ones . it then recirculates those pins for you at the best times for engagement over and over again , so that you can get back to doing what you love creating
You can even setup seasonal loops that will circulate only at the specific time of the year . And smart loop will keep track of every loop and pin so that you can perfect your performance over time.
How to create a new loop?
Choose the name for the loop that you are creating based on the category of the items you would like to create looop for maybe it is a list of reciepie blog posts, graphic design articles , or your products. Then decide which boards you would like to share it to? you can include the list of all the boards ranging from your own and group boards. How exciting is this!
You will be able to pull list of group boards right here with just one click, or you can choose single ones as well. This will pull groups that are either yours , from a boards list or from your joined boards.
Next you will give it a time frame confine it to just a custom time of the year or all round the year. Tailwind will pull your best content and will allow you to choose pins of your liking so that you can add them to the loop.
How can you use it to drive sales for your products?
Good question right? think about it you no longer have to worry about creating and then worrying about your products sharing all the content again, you really dont have to worry about now. Just create loops based on your products categories and then loop them up. While you are busy creating new posts, new products or simply affiliate products they will keep on looping on auto to those boards for you.
Pinterest templates – Free download
HOW TO SCHEDULE NEW PINS USING TAILWIND
You can easily install chrome extension for tailwind once installed the tailwind button will appear over the images once mouse is hovered over them.
This is really simple, easy and fun way to schedule all your blog posts, your products and your content across all the social medial platforms. When you are scheduling you can add the same pin to facebook, twitter and sharing with tribe members for additional boost. I have found Tailwind as hands down the best social media platform !
Which platform do you use? would you like to try tailwind? get a free month when you use the link provided below!
Are you an entrepreneur / biz owner who is still trying to figure out the perfect logo that speaks to your brand spirit? Or you love your logo but feel lost when it comes to other graphical aspects of your business side.
You struggle with your designer , or feel lost when it comes to designing your letterhead , product tags , social media posts , social media styling. Somehow and every time you struggle going through canva or in your computer trying to get just the right thing out?
Possibility is that you are missing one essential part of your business that is your brand styling guide.
Do you really need one?
Every Business needs a brand styling guide , be it a startup or a big name . When I started working as a designer my first mistake had been not to create my own brand styling guide. Due to this I know how it feels to be lost trying to figure out where your brand identity lies. Every aspect of your business feels like a brand new design job and nothing matches the next.
Chance are my friend you missed creating a proper brand style guide when you started your online business.
What is a Brand styling guide?
A brand styling guide includes distinct guidelines on how each and every graphical or visual aspect of your company will be handled . It is something you can always refer to when creating your online presence.
This guide establishes rules for creating the presence of your brand online and in the market. This includes everything from a logo , a visiting card , letter head design, the look of a website and product design.
Brand styling guide acts as a personal communication guide for your social media , advertising and product design needs.
Your brand styling guide also serves as a guide for designers , including typefaces and styles to color palette , image use , text and tone and also emotional portrayed by the brand.
Above all a brand style guide brings every aspect of your business together to attract the right sort of clients , compels them to do business with you and enables you to create authority.
Why it is important for your business , blog or shop?
A good brand style guide must capture the essence of your business Your brand identity should speak the essence of your business and must resonate with the core message of your business. It should be something that makes your heart sing when you look at it.
YOUR BRAND IDENTITY MUST REPRESENT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS
So What is included in a Brand style guide.?
Below are a few brand styling guide should include
Overview of brand, including history, vision and personality
Logo specifications and examples of usage
Typography palette
Color palette
Textures and patterns
Image use specifications, including photography style
Letterhead and business card design
Social media guidelines
I have created a checklist that will help you come up with your brand style guide step by step . This checklist includes exact steps working towards creating your basic style guide which you can always come back to once need arises.
A Brand Board starts with your fonts, Main Colors and Images and Patterns of a same theme across all platforms
I can truly say that this blog is dead in terms of earning revenue , i have been using this blog to pour down whatever my heart desired but i never took time out to monetize it .
Well i think now is the time
When one is an artist and a blog is a playground then we rarely think about monetizing it . but i think i will give it a try.
I realize that i have all the necessary ingredients already available on this blog i just need to make a few changes .
So starting this month i will try to update you with a monthly income report of this blog and i will also share with you the steps that i took along the way .
The changes i made and i found useful
So to begin with right now i will not be sharing the income report that will be posted by the end of the month
Below are few of the changes that i made.
Changes i made to monetize this blog.
1- I upgraded my hosting SERVICE
My current hosting provider is Hostmonster. I have been using their services since last 12 years . During that time the biggest mistake i made was to shift host once when i felt the need of up gradation . But now i am back to hostmonster again and this is where i am staying with this blog.
2-Uplifted the blog theme
I have been using Fabric Child Theme running on Genesis frame work . The theme stayed there for the whole time while i stopped posting on this blog. Now once i decided to run this experiment of monetizing this blog my first thought was to change the theme .
I needed an eCommerce platform so i looked around and decided on Bazar theme bought via theme forest. I love how i can easily integrate the ability to sell and while doing that have a clean look of the website that is responsive as well.
2- Added Adsense ads
I have tried using Adsense in the past but not with much luck. But now again i have added a few of them in the side bar .
3- Added a storefront for Graphics
With Bazar theme it was easy to add the store front to the blog , now the home page opens to some content from the store and some from the blog.
4- Social Editorial Calendar planned.
Ok i am not that much of an expert but i took some time out to lay down a social editorial calendar . I have found a few tools useful to make it practical . And i hope to make it work for me.
5- Re-linked and Organized
This one single task is such a big one and believe me i am still working on it . I re categorized the posts . Used a few plugins that helped me get this worked out smoothly . And then changed the header links entirely.
6- Exported my Etsy shop
I am Done with Etsy!
yes i do not plan to work more towards my etsy Aifactory shop ,
i do not plan to update the shop at etsy with new contents. So i exported all the listings from from Etsy , took a while to figure out how to but phew , its done!
If you are interested inhow to start a blogyou can read about it in my previous post .
Do you have any experience working towards monetization of a blog? any ideas and suggestions? don’t forget to leave a comment if you do have any suggestions for me.
[private]Taking some time out to update my friends of a new website i started please take some time out to visit my other blog of FREE party printables @ PRINT me a PARTY blog Do visit the customized digital party printables at my store as well .
Through the blog i will be offering , completely free printable party invites , matching cupcake toppers printable sheets , thank you notes , teachers printables , teachers resources and worksheets , free recipe cards and much more . Follow the blog as i will be soon updated loads and loads of free printables!
There are number of great tutorials , freebies and resources available throughout the web , and daily the number of helpful articles pop up !. But when it comes to print there are not many useful and practical guides which make you understand the process . It can be a bit tricky but with guidance in right direction can help you understand the process pretty fast . (more…)
Welcome I am Asma’ a Graphic Designer Blogger I help Graphic Designers and illustration artists create and sell graphics & Stock Photos Online NEW START HERE Review 2022 for a better 2023 Join over 10k subscribers! Get instant access to our FREE 2022 Year in...
A quick google search would probably give you tons of websites to sell stock photos and illustrations from.
How I started to sell Stock photos and illustrations and why you should too.
It all started way back around 12 years ago when once i was sitting in front of my computer clueless and projects less . Nothing to work on and no idea to where to get work from.
(THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY IS REALLY BORING, BUT YOU CAN FIND IT HERE.)
That’s when i started to think backward , by backward I mean i wondered from where all the cool illustrations and graphics coming from that we used to buy for our projects. Not aware that I could too sell stock photos online as a side hustle and bring in some extra income. At that time I was working in a telecom company and my job was to create multimedia sms . I would score the internet looking for inspiration and graphics to use . But to tell you the truth the job was 9-5 and not much fun.
As i wondered from where these graphics coming from I now looked at the source sites with a different eye . As I looked i found a little button saying Contributor / Sell Stock Photos. Now what was that I had no idea. I clicked on that and read it through and signed up and after that soon my graphic design profession took another turn.
I was soon crazily creating illustrations and uploading them to multiple contributing website. Since photography is not my jam and I know I am good at Adobe illustrator I knew that I could also make money online if I start and sell stock illustrations. The day that i earned my first $.30 was such an encouraging day. I was “Freelancing” earning for myself !. How satisfying this $.30 was ! I was hooked!.
And then I started looking further for more sites to contribute my stock illustrations and sell photos online !. And pretty soon my portfolio was up at 5 websites and i was waiting for my first image sale and I was earning form myself. It started from $.30 from each image sale and now the whole process has grown into my very own website for graphics you can check out my custom cliparts for sale here
The good that came out of all this is a satisfaction of being ones own boss and alongside client based custom illustration jobs.
I would like to share a few websites that I have contributed in the past and hope that it might open doors for opportunity for someone else as well. If you are wondering how I market my portfolio of images on sale through these websites you might want to look at how I promote it using Pinterest on autopilot. I have now been selling stock photos for a while now , and have also successfully used my own creations to create products and sell digital products and photos online.
Simply put, stock imagery means any art that already exists and is ready to use. A stock agency curates a library of images on large number of subjects and licenses those images to customers. People often refer to “stock photography,” but “stock” can refer to any type of visual content, including photos, videos, or illustrations.
below are some of the stock sites that i have personally used in the past during my obsession with stock image contribution. These are in order of revenue that i generated and still generate from them.
At Vecteezy, you can sell vectors, stock photos, and stock video clips. You’ll need to complete an application and submit a few samples of your work. Once you’re approved, you can submit resources through the contributor dashboard or via FTP. Vecteezy does not require exclusivity, so you can submit the same creative resources you sell on other sites.
An interesting detail about Vecteezy is that you can (optionally) make money by offering free downloads. They have millions of free resources on the site and contributors earn $5 per 1,000 downloads.
You can sell stock photos , Vector illustrations and various design elements from this website. After you apply as a contributor you are provided an ftp area as well as upload interface.
If you are uploading vector files then you need to save them as EPS files . I have shared a post about how to prepare file as an eps for submission a while back . That can be accessed here.
Shutterstock has been one of my favs when i started uploading work. The uploading process used to be a bit simpler but still it is not too techy. Once you are on the site the Become a contributor button is on the top right. Shutterstock sell royalty-free images, footage, vectors and illustrations. You can apply to be a contributor here.
For me shutterstock had been a favorite one because they don’t pressure you into exclusively distributing images or video . Your content is yours to control to maximize your selling opportunities and profit.
Why you wont find my portfolio on istock ? it is simply because you have to be an exclusive with them to start selling. And if you are an exclusive then in my opinion going to the road of stock imagery and earning from a multiple streams becomes a bit difficult. But hands down istock is one of the best stock photo website out there. Though it is a bit difficult to be accepted to sell stock photos but once you get in chances are you will do good!
I love this place, if you are ready to bundle your creations and are ready to create some awesome resources for designers and artists then you might want to consider joining creative Market
Although I have a very small portfolio there but I do continue to get commission every month, maybe if I get serious posting new content I will be able to increase monthly revenue coming from this website. It has a lot of potential.
Creative market is more of a full content resource website , from where you can take a step further and start selling templates , themes , fonts and other resources too. I love the simplicity of creative market and I see a great potential in selling through creative market BUT if you package your content well.
Graphic river has been in the industry for a while now and has proved to be a good resource for graphics. I personally like to buy through creative market when it comes to themes resources and fonts. But Graphic river is a good competition and has turned a lot of sales for me over the years. My portfolio is really really very small over there but still I get a small chunk of money now and then.
Update:Fotolia recently closed and partnered up with Adobe Stock Contributor and my portfolio was automatically shifted there
I currently plan to take my graphics down from fotolia , reason you ask? at times fotolia used to bring sales that ranged from $5-$10 each graphics . But lately I have noticed that their royalty has fallen down to $0.30 , just rechecked gone down to $0.25 . It seems that they have sold out rights to images to some other websites as well , as I have found my images being sold from there on couple of other “unknown” , websites as well that sell stock images.
Alright so Etsy is hands down i have found to be just ok among many mentioned above . The amount of images that you sell through Etsy needs additional advertising on your part . While when you are selling through stock photography websites 1-7 all you need to know is better keywording . But once you start selling through etsy you must be aware of ways to drive traffic to your shop , SEO , social media marketing and more. Check out the blog post where I share how to monetize your shop by updating your listings.
10-Zazzle
Zazzle in my opinion can drive you more earnings if you have a potential of visualizing your products on various products. You can upload any of your graphics and then using bulk tool create multiple products ranging from stationary to homeware or more. Despite the fact that I am no longer creating many products through Zazzle but my Birthday invitations storeand Art Prints shop are giving me an extra income.
Last but not the least there are a few more websites through which you can sell your photography stock imagery and graphic design resources. these are …
Sell Your Graphic Designs in a few easy steps! If you are looking for a good place to boost sales and get great exposure you are right on the spot! Just fill in the form on a website describing your deal, and don’t forget to give MasterBundles some links to preview some pages of yours.
If you are now selling your deals elsewhere – no problem, they can always sell your products on better terms.😉 MasterBundles is the only marketplace that offers vendor’s cuts up to 50%.
Bonus Stock Photo Websites for free Marketing
Stock photo website that are not so monsters in industry t are a good way to get additional eyes on your portfolio you can become a contributor as a free provider.
Unsplash
Pexels
Pixabay
Just like etsy Artfire gives you ability to host digital content for instant downloads but then you have to work extra to drive traffic to your shop . That can or may include your social media skills to sell art online .
After my masters in Fine Arts with Majors in History of Art , I came out with the pride oof knowing the work of the Masters. Inspired by the modern Era and impressed by the Renesance. There is no where in my dictionary digital Art , infact at that time digital Art was non existant.
Slowly I got interested in creating Art through photoshop, manipulating images and creating fantasy images. At that time that was the thing , exploration of photoshop!
My digital art was expressional at the moment and I often wrote small pieces of poems to accompany my Art.
I got hired in an animation studio to create story boards in traditional hand drawings, while i taught Art in Dubai. Here I saw for the first time use of Adobe illustrator, next day I was sitting there reading help of illustrator and drawing.
So i started creating my own after reading adobe help files, with screen shots explaining everything that is when i got creative and create some of the most early vector tutorials on this blog in 1902
Pretty quickly i started getting traction and my blog picked up and daily hits shot to 5-6 k per day. It felt amazing! , that is when i started sharing resources for illustrator , vector brushes , that was so early on and not many people were doing these things.
I remember my competition was limited to a very few, all of this exploration of self kept me moving forward and now I share clipart images with my readers.
There is still a bit of hesitancy when it comes to use of clipart by graphic designers in their projects but there is a whole separte worlds of scrapbooking artists, creators , crafters, small business owners of hoodies, tshirts and invittions who use cliparts in their projects .
Early cliparts that gave it the name were a few lines , but today they are provided by artists as a pack of matching items in one single bundle.
This helps creators Unleas Creativity with Free Clipart Images, clipart bundles and more detailed cliparts. Still there are many people who really do not use cliparts in their “professional” projects!
I love them!
I love creating them and I really know the power behind a bundle or pack of cliparts that will help you accomplish your project much much faster !
This post will address frequently asked questions. Hopefully, it will also help readers develop an appreciation for the artists.
Clipart images are PNGs and JPGs that can be upto 1200 px or 6-8 inch at 300 dpi, why? because they are created keeping in mind the use of these images. which includes, use in social media headers, avatars, blog website icons, banners, featured icons, Digital Scrapbooking, invitation design, t-shirts and other merch.
Simpler than the usual detailed vector illustrations cliparts are more suggestive and fun, with not much details and sometimes outlined they can be easilily used in projects that are creative and for the witty audience.
Unleash your creativity with these simple illustrative art objects and create invitations for kids, educational books, merchendise for kids, coloring books for children, blog images and much much more
They are fun
Simple outlines
Basic colors
Less details
Non complexity of the art gives freedome to be creative with its use
Create packs of merch or related products in a theme using graphics available as a bundle and by the same artist.
Cheaper than the usuall vector illustrations they are a best alternative giving you access to same Style of work by the artist.
Google suggest the top searches that are really very simple cat clipart, woman clipart, flower cliparts, black and white cliparts so when it comes to finding cliparts there are many many searches that are popping up!
Slowly it is become a much saturated market but still my suggestion is to find an artist behind the image and stick to him/her for same style of images this will give your final project the branding aesthetics and consistency of your brand
Popular Clipart Sources
Etsy
Creative Market
Creative Fabrica
ArtFire
Freepik
DesignBundles
Using Free Clipart Images
Editing and Manipulating Clipart
Clipart images can be edited and manipulated using photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop.
Clipart images can be resized, recolored, and altered to fit the desired design.
Clipart images can be combined with other images to create unique visuals.
Combining Clipart Images
Clipart images can be combined with other images to create unique visuals.
Clipart images can be combined with text or other clipart images to create a composition.
Clipart images can be combined with photographs to create a unique image.
Conclusion
Clipart images are a great way to add visual interest to any project.
Free clipart images are easily accessible and can be used for personal and commercial projects.
Clipart images can be edited and manipulated to create unique visuals.
Learn how to draw a corporate background image in adobe illustrator, vector illustration using basic tools #adobeillustrator #graphicdesigner #graphicdesigntools #vectortutorial #vectortut
Creating backgrounds which are effective is an essential part of the process of creating good designs .Here we will create a background which you can use for multiple projects in the end , ie background for presentations , for websites or simply an ad. This is a simple tutorial showing step by step how to create one using tools such as Pen tool , brushes and a simple Arc Effect.
Step 1
Creating background
Start off by creating a simple gradient background Here is the Theme of colours we will follow
It is always a good idea to have it clear in your mind what theme you are going to follow . I use often use colourlovers.com to help me in this process.
Step 2
Drawing Bleded lines
Using the pen tool draw two white stroke Lines having no fill.
Go to Object> Blend> Blend options
Adjust your blending options to some specified steps , something like this.
Hit Alt+Ctrl+B ie Object>Blend>Make
Create in the same way two more lines using Pen Tool (P) and using Object> Blend > make
Since your lines are all placed up now will be a good idea to play around with the nodes ( click on the End of start of your original line) adjust handle and stroke to get a better effect and curve in the lines. Here is my final result which i am happy with
Step 3
Elements Build up
Now we need to bring some elements into it . I brought This worldmap from my library and pasted it on the workboard
Right Click > Arrange> Bring to Front
Using a colour coinciding with the theme of your work colour the map accordingly
Step 4
Using Effects
I will use some effect to modify this map a bit
Go to Effects> ARC
Apply the effects you will get something like this
Step 5
Creating Arrows using Brushes
create some more random lines using the pen tool
open up your brush pallete Window> Brush Libraries > Arrows Standard
Select all your random lines and pick out an arrow brush and apply
Select each line one by one adjust stroke and width until you are satisfied with the outcome go to object>Expand your lines and drop a gradient shade to it , here i picked up from my colour pallete white and grey.
Step 6
Refining and Balancing
I am not too happy with the background at this point so i will add up a few more shapes .
And more
fill them up with the same gradient colour lighter than your background’s adjust transparencies until you are satisfied with the final outcome!
I have been selling stock photos Online since 2007, and at that time I could easily make well over $600 per week through selling my illustrations via various stock photo websites. But before that I always wondered how much money can be made selling stock photos online.
You can cross post your stock photos to multiple websites and earn a good flow of income from all Stock image websites. Earnings per image download can range from $0.35 to $5.80 for stock image download and around $50 – $100 for Extended License downloads. But you can make a lot more money if you follow the tips that I shared in this post.
It is best not to be exclusive with one stock photo website. Uploading the same portfolio of work to multiple sites can bring in a consistent flow of income which depends upon how many images you have uploaded.
My Story of Selling Stock illustration and Money that I Made
Since I am living in a country where $ currency converts well for over 10 years or so I was making good money by selling stock illustrations and images. Sounds crazy right? . For a graphic designer and illustration artist it is a dream!
Dreamstime pays between 25% and 60% commissions, resulting in $0.35 to $12.24 for a royalty-free download. You can earn up to $40.80 for extended licenses. In addition, Exclusive users get $0.20 per accepted uploaded image.
I kept of creating and submitting illustrations religiously……..But then….I decided to alter my path as life happened and I moved on from creating more stock illustrations to selling them as part of products through POD websites. until recently I checked back in my portfolio of work and still there was a good chunk of money waiting for me. This is why I am sharing my starters journey with you here in this blog post so anyone who is a beginner can understand how much and how soon money can be made through selling photos.
You can see that I was able to get an average of $60-70 per month from dreamstime at that time my portfolio wasn’t big enough as well. Which was pretty decent as a starting bonus coming from a single website.
Most of my images were vector illustrations and EPS files, Dreamstime accepts eps files that are good and clean . If you are wondering how to ready an illustration for submission then you might be interested in this tutorial where I shared how to clean your illustrations for submission as vector illustrations
Then gradually I started posting the same illustrations to other stock photo websites. I have covered all the best place to sell photos online in another blog post. In this post I will be drilling further on the idea of how much money you can actually make by selling photos and illustrations.
At that time i created illustrations in bulk and i really loved it too, I gave myself challenge to create 100 illustrations ( Even wrote a blog post in 2008 about it ).
Shutterstock works great for contributors as well, at that time Shutterstockhad an active forum that helped a lot when it came to driving traffic to our new submissions as a contributor. See below my limited stats from 2007. I am sharing stats from that time because I wanted to show how much you can start making within your first month from these websites.
My portfolio started growing steadily and I started uploading them to other stock photo websites. Later on when I lost the drive to create more illustrations and stock photos and changed my direction into Art Licensing my works. My portfolio stopped growing and so did my earnings.
So How can you make a steady stream of income? IF you are deciding to go down this route then the only way you can earn a good chunk of money through selling photos and illustrations is by keeping your portfolio alive.
You earn between 15% and 40% commission when one of your images or videos is downloaded at Shutterstock. This means you get paid $0.10 to $5.80 for images, $10.20 to $39.80 for extended licenses, and $1.25 to $47.92 for each video.
But in order to earn a good passive income through these websites you must be publishing content regularly, updating your image library, adding more content and uploading them to these websites. This doesn’t mean that you can just throw these out on the websites. You will be required to do a proper keyword research add these keywords in titles and tags of the photos in order to make more sales.
A few of my illustrations that are from back in 2007 are not that well keyworded as at the moment making money on these websites was comparatively easy.
How to increase sales and make more money Selling Stock Photos Online?
Here are a few of my tips if you would like to maybe start selling or increase your earning through stock photos. This is not a get rich quick scheme at all so if you are one of those people who are hoping to make good money then maybe this path is not the right one for you.
So what is required of you if you choose to stay the path?
1- Consistency
Keeping a consistent flow of new images and stock photos is very important. This will not only keep your portfolio growing but also each new upload will push you towards recent images search results hence pulling your complete portfolio to front of the websites. Hence making more sale , hence making more money selling stock photos.
2- Keeping up with the Trends
Keeping up with the trends is very important. All year round there is consistent demand for new images and stock photos and illustrations , vectors, video footage and more. So as a creator, contributor and artist you must have a mindset of pre-projection of which images are going to be search next.
For instance right now we are entering Oct , marketing companies and clients have already created the advertising material, products or updated their online content with Halloween images. So if you are creating halloween images, illustrations or stock photos then you must have them already up on the website a month before.
I keep myself updated through a simple calendar that is well 2 months in advance for every holiday so I really get the idea about when to start creating which illustrations.
3- Keyword research
Doing keyword research has become integral part of if process now. As your title and tags must contain words that are being searched. You can use google keyword planner or any other advance keywords planner to find the right words and tags.
I really love the shutterstock keyword generation tool which really helps in finding searchable keywords. Once I have generated keywords inside shutterstock I take it to other platforms and mostly use the same keywords. So if you are batching your upload process then this becomes really easy to post on multiple sites in less time.
4- Quality over Quantity
Now when i look at my work that was posted & mind you got sold and STILL does is not at all I would approve today for posting. People can buy such ugly images as well at times that makes me wonder really? someone needed that ?.
Not really ugly but a very simple illustration of mine of a stick figure fairy made me around $2000 cumulatively over the years. I even received a thankyou note from someone who purchased my illustration to create a memory book for her mother.
Example of how much a stock illustration sells for
You can see the breakdown of cost over the years for this particular illustration the range of amount you can earn varries.
You get paid more for a larger file size or a vector format.
The same image gets sold for various keywords defined by the searcher of image. Keeping your tags various will help you get noticed and make more sales.
Same image got sold for $13 and $0.35, $2.0 , $7.5 , $5. 7 so it really depends upon the size and the subscription plan of the buyer.
Example of Various Prices for Various Sizes of images Sold
The feeling is great when you recieve this kind of appreciation. My stick figure fairy couldnt give me good monetry return if you think of it . But yeah she is cute.
5- Sharing your portfolio on Social Media
It is advisable to drive traffic to your portfolio, more eyes fall on your work it is better. Pretty much all of the platforms have widgets and embed options for images or portfolio so why not?. So one of the aspects of how much money can you make selling stock photos is how much you bring it in front of the right audience.
One of my highest money making months on stock photo websites have been the ones where I shared my portfolio in the forums and over social media as well. More traffic comes to your portfolio more money you will be able to make.
It is said that 20% creativity and 80% marketing, with artists and creators this part becomes a bit difficult when they immerse themselves so much in the creativity aspect that they do not spend their energy over marketing it. Marketing is what brings in more clients and hence more commission and money.
6- Signing up as a referral
The best thing that I did besides creating illustrations for stock photo websites to make money was to sign up as their referral. Referral is when you invite others to signup to their website either as a seller or a contributor. You can make money by selling stock photos and illustrations and while doing that you can also make money by sharing their website. So it is a win win.
For example if right now if you went and signed up as a contributor , since you are wondering how much money can you make selling stock photos online, I will get a %age of commission every time someone buys your portfolio too and/or if someone buys stock photos or illustrations using the links that I shared.
So even if you are not making money through your portfolio of stock images you can still make some extra income by sharing it.
You must have seen other free vector illustration and image sharing websites that do it for free, have a portion of their search pages taken over by Shutterstock or Dreamstime. This is how they make money, ie by driving traffic to shutterstock . You can view this in action right here 🙂
Now if you are like me and would like to branch out and multiply on the amount of money that you make through selling stock photos you can very well create products and sell them through other websits. Afterall you have a great portfolio of work now and you can definately cash it out in multiple ways. One way is to sell it through your own blog or website ( Set up a Woocommerce Store ) , You can sell them as bundles through Etsy ( Claim 40 free listings to get started) or You can sell products created using your images through other POD websites .
Conclusion: Can you + How Much Money can be made through stock photo websites.
You can earn well over $1000 or so with a portfolio big enough and good enough by selling your same work through multiple websites. And if you create and sell them further through other websites beside stock photo website you can easily create multiple $$$.
+ To use this product knowledge of vector brushes is required but you can always learn to use them ! +
These are created with original hand drawn drawings then created in illustrator and converted into vector brushes. Great for scrap booking , digital designs creating greetings and much more!
This price comes with commercial use license no credit back necessary if you would like to learn more about how to use vector brushes visit my blog www.aivault.com
Product Detail
Set: 36 brushes view images for more info includes EPS 8 file making it usable with eps 8 and above
Installation instructions:
Assuming that no Brush palette is open in Adobe illustrator . Go to Window>Brushes (short cut F5)
Click on the small arrow on the window panel of Brushes Open Brush Library Other Library to browse to a new brush file or the brush set already loaded.
Illustrators use a variety of techniques to create images for books, magazines, websites, and other media. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or trying to learn new skills, these resources will help you create stunning artwork. I have been compiling this...
How to do Reverse Image Search for your stock photo or illustrations.
Google’s “Reverse image search” seems to be a pretty handy tool for designers and artists , for an illustration artist or graphic designer , who are selling or licensing their artworks this little but mighty tool can be quite useful . This can be used to help artists find unauthorized uses of their works.
Discover all sorts of content that’s related to a specific image. Just specify an image, and you’ll find other similar or related images as well as relevant results from across the Web.
What s Reverse Image Search and Why do I need one?
Even though my Free Vector PNGs are free to download but they do come with a limitation of credit back with a link to my website. Many content creators and bloggers sometimes repost these images without doing that.
Can you Reverse Image Search to find Graphics?
Of course you can reverse image search to find your graphics I have done it multiple times and have sent DCMA notice a couple of times and go them removed. For example my tutorial of how to recolor artwork in illustratorhas some pretty high quality black and white outlines.
Hence many coloring book websites have stolen images from this tutorial and posted them as their own. Using Reverse image search on google has helped me tremendously to find these.
Can you reverse search an image on a phone?
You can reverse image search on your Android device with Google Chrome. You can also reverse image search through google chrome on your phone. Open a web page by tapping and holding the image and then choosing to search with Google Lens. If the image is stored on your phone, you can tap on the Google Lens icon in Chrome’s search bar
What are the best Reverse image Search Tools?
Searching for the original source of an image you find online can be a tedious task. These free sites make it simple to find out where a photo came from by doing a reverse search. Reverse image searches are especially useful when you’re looking for a safe use of an image or if you want to find out if your content has been stolen.
Keeping in view my experience from a creators point of view although google will deliver many images for each search result it is NOT OK to simply save the images found in searches and using them in your projects. Thankfully you have the option to dig deeper and find out the source of the image. Find the copyright information or the creator of the image.
Reach out to the designer where necessary to get the permission to use their creation on your website with proper link back and credit information. IF this is too much you can else search Vintage Stock photo websites for images or buy or purchase stock photos with relevant usage rights.
Google reverse image search engine is one of the first ones that started providing its services and back in the days I only knew of google image search.This is how I found out early on when the Art Licensing agent I was working with kept selling my art through POD websites without my consent.
Simply go to google and look up for reverse image, or Click here to land on the page to do the search.
Upload an image from your computer
Drop the image into a search bar
Click “Search”
2- Yahoo image Search
Doing image search on yahoo is pretty much the same as the other search engines that do the reverse image search for free. You have the image ready with you and simply upload it to the search engine to do the image search.
The results are not exactly the same on search engines, which is due to the search results and website indexing on the said search engine.
How to reverse image search using Yahoo Image Search?
Select an image from your computer
Upload it or drag and drop it into the search bar
Click “Search”
3-Bing visual Search
Bing visual search is provided by Microsoft back in 2014. You can now use images to search the content instead of using text to do this task.
How do i search Bing with an image?
Select the Images tab at the top of any search results page, or go to Bing images.
In the search box, select the camera icon.
4-Tin Eye image Search
Believe it or not but my very first encounter with reverse image search was with using Tin Eye image search. A vary handy similar extension for firefox which i have been using for a while is TINEYE . Which is i guess MORE practical for me and a bit more quicker! .
How does Tin Eye work to search images?
You can do that by uploading an image or searching by URL. You can also simply drag and drop your images to start your search.TinEye constantly crawls the web and adds images to its index. Today, the TinEye index is over 56.0 billion images.
5-Pinterest Image Search
Being a graphic designer and visual artist Pinterest image search is by far the most loved website I use. Since the flip side of using pinterest search is that if you are creating products then this tool will definately come in handy.
How to use Reverse image search on mobile with Pinterest?
“Computer vision technology is no longer just a futuristic idea — it’s made its way out of the labs and into the hands of Pinners who use the technology every day. From camera search where a picture is entered as the query, to saving Pins, visual signals power search, recommendations and results across Pinterest.” – Pinterest blog
While using Pinterest app you will see a search icon at the bottom of your feed. Tapping on the search icon will present you with a text box and a camera button this feature in Pinterest is called pinterest lens. Lens lets you discover ideas inspired by anything you point your Pinterest camera at which is awesome!.
Open the Pinterest app on your mobile device and tap
Tap in the search bar
Pinch to zoom or tap on a specific object to focus your camera
Tap the button to snap a picture or select a photo from your camera roll
Explore and discover ideas.
Can you use pinterest lens to do reverse image search? Yes ! sure you can just upload your photo and see pinterest score the internet and find your images and graphics. Really cool if you are trying to find your artwork used online or elsewhere.
CONCLUSION
Being a creator and Artist it is vital to keep an eye on your graphics and illustrations if you are using Graphic Design to create products to sell online. Using reverse image tools can save you time and in some cases money by finding people or websites using your images without proper credit backs. I have found it to be useful for myself and would suggest that you should do the same.
I would love to know how you use image search feature online and what are your experiences being a designer and artist. Have you found these website useful in your creative process as I have?
How to do Reverse Image Search for your stock photo or illustrations.
How to sell art online and make money as an artist
How to Sell Art Online and make money as a digital artist
These past few days I have been focusing more on creating hand painted art beside digital art. Although having Masters in Fine Arts degree up my belt and a gold medal as a painter once i fell in the “trap” of creating digital art I totally shifted my line of work. Now spending 20+ years selling art online I think it is time for me to turn to traditional watercolor and canvas.
A while back I wrote a blog post about selling art online in a blog post ( 16 places to sell stock photos and illustration online) this post alone got me plenty of recognition and was bookmarked and saved by many. Now I wanted to share some of my tips on making money selling your art online. The digital era that we have entered after this pendamic hit us, everyone is goint online!. Artists are also looking for ways to reach out to galleries and many turned to instagram as a resort for sharing their work.
The real fact is that you can not just wake up and start making money online selling art unless you are clear about your objectives as well as few tools understanding. Here are few platforms of my choice when it comes to making money selling art online.
Sell art online free through instagram
When it comes to selling through instagram your first step would be to create a creators account on instagram. Write a compelling bio with the keywords like Art, Artist, Watercolor Artist, Buy Art Online, Art for sale and like wise. The best place to add your keyword is your username as this is the place that Instagram search looks for when someone enters a keyword. Secondly use these keywords as part of your bio when you are writing it. Third point is to add a call to Action that may include DM me , Signup , Download Now or something like that.
Now after you are set up for instagram your next mission is to bring consistency to your posting schedule. Categorize your content in 3-4 buckets that may include work process videos , finished artwork , artwork in use or your personal life. Posting consistently is the key when it comes to increasing your audience and eventually selling art through social media.
How to Sell art online and make money through POD websites
The best way to actually sell your art is on various products. POD stands for Print on Demand websites. These include Zazzle, Cafepress, Gearbubble and Printful. After you open up an account you will have the choice to choose the products on which you want to sell your art on. These can be T-Shirts, Cups, Mugs, Aprons, Bedsheets, Hoodies, Cusions, Pillow Covers, Laptop Sleeves and so many more.
All you have to do is to simply upload your art and place it on pre-made product mockups, add a title set a price and post for sale. Everytime an artwork or product is sold you are rewarded in form of a comission. You really dont have to run after printing or shipping the POD websites will do this for you and you will recieve royalties for every purchase you make.
Again if you would like to recieve orders via instagram or your own website, and have it printed and shipped you can make use of the websites that help you sell find art online on canvas and as art prints. A few of these are Zazzle, Cafepress, Artprints , FineArt America.
Using pinterest to drive traffic to your website
However if you choose to sell your art online through your own ecommerce website, you can choose platforms like Shopify, Wix or likewise to create with a few clicks. The improtant task after that is how to drive traffic to your website and make a sale. Many of us during their initial phase of website launch are not ready to invest in facebook ad and google ads to drive traffic to their art portfolio. Pinterest comes in handy ! I have previously shared how I use Pinterest to drive traffic to my website using Tailwind you can read it if you are interested. Otherwise all you have to do is create compelling pinterest long pins , that can be done easily via canva and then have it directly published to your pinterest boards. Want to know about my strategy ? check out this post.
Using Email to sell Art
Once you have a website, or maybe you only have instagram as your point of selling art you can easily setup a mailing list that will help you capture fans and clients. Use Mailerlite or mailchimp as your email list provider and give a signup incentive to your fans. Most popular way is to offer 10% OFF to your subscribers when they sign up. Now start regulerly emailing your fans with the latest updates and offers for your special subscribers. This will help you drive more traffic to your website as well as sales!
Conclusion : If you are wondering how to sell art onine and make money, consistency and a plan of action is the key no matter what path you decide just keep doing it……. Read how I nearly gave up !
How to Sell Art Online and make money as a graphic Designer in 3 Steps
If you are regular reader of my website and know my journey as an artist then you might be aware of the time when I threw away the whole concept of trying to sell my art online and how I came back to painting after 3 years. No journey be it selling art or achieving any of your dreams is without challenges ( you might consider reading What artlicensing is and isnt) . When it comes to starting out as an artist earning a recurring revenue from your Art then you might be curious on how to sell art online or where to sell your graphic designs, illustrations or vectors online.
Keeping in view a complete starter I have compiled a list of websites where you really dont need to have an extensive portfolio of work and just start selling right away. All you require is a skill as an artist and the knowledge to just start !
Step 1
Sharpen your tools to sell art and make money Online
So online is a digital world so your physical portfolio of work will not help you here much. You need to have proper set of tools to begin creating your portfolio of work. I will not go into details in this post for creating a portfolio of work and placing it online. Right now my aim is just to give the power of selling art in your hand so you can just start creating art right away and start earning comission from it as soon as possible.
You need to get aware of the graphic design tools and softwares and get aquinted with some specific skills. these include
Learning Adobe Photoshop ( Learn how to create mockups , learn how to convert your drawing ,)
And if these graphic design tools seem too techy for you at the moment you can choose from a few simple graphic design tools like Stencil , picmonkey or canva to do the job for you .
Step 2
Hacks to create product mockups Online
in order to represent your work you will be needing beautiful product mockups . These websites provide tools that will help you create beautiful mockups using free stock photos. Not necessarily you will be using free stock photos you might want to consider using Stock photos from a few leading websites including Dreamstime, Shutterstock, Istockphoto and Canstock.
Even if you dont plan on using printful as your choice of selling art on your products yet , but signing up and using their mockup creator tool is recommended. You are able to create beautiful mockups with just a few steps!
Use Product mockups using Zazzle’s Product creator to sell art and make money .
Secondly since Zazzle is also one of the 16 places from where you can sell art onlinethat i recommend, you can however choose not to sell art dirctly from them but use their product image creator instead. Like Printful just drag and upload your artwork to their website and you have a mockup like canvas, Art Prints, T-Shirts created in no time at all.
Use Stock photo websites to download Stock Photos with mockup of various products including T-Shirts, Tags, Towels and many more to create beautiful mockups. Here your skill as a Photoshop expert will come in handy. You can also use these stock photos free for commecial usethat I shared recently
Step 3
Start Uploading your and Selling your Art on Products
Here are some of the pointer websites that can help you sell your art. All you have to do is upload your artwork, these are called Print on Demand websites. As a print on demand artist you will upload your art over their mockups and once you make a sale they will print and ship it for you.
Previously I have mentioned creative market in many of my blog posts and it is one platform that very quickly caught the attention of graphic designers and illustration artists. Although there are many other competitive platforms to sell illustrations and art but in my opinion creative market has the best quality of digital products oniline and as a seller you get to recieve best benifits of selling your art. There are multiple types of products that you can create and sell including but not limited to mockups, Photoshop and vector brushes, cliparts, seamless patterns and more.
Here is a breakdown of a few of the points that in my openion set it apart
You get to keep 70% of your sales comission which is way better than many other competitive websites.
No exclusivity lock meaning you are free to sell your designs in other platforms as well.
Easy upload interface is one of the key features of creative market it is really easy to get started as a seller.
Recieve free downloads from other creators if you want to use. Artists share their work as free downloads and creative market promotes them as well through their email campaigns so you get extra exposure when you open up your shop at creative market and sell art online.
These website include Zazzle, Redbubble, SpoonFlower, Printful , gearbubble
adobe illustrator tutorial draw RSS icon in vector step by step tutorial
Step 1
Lets start by creating a new file , pick out the bright orange colour in your selected colours and start off by making a square with rounded rectangle tool
Step 2
Draw a small circle using Ellipse tool pressing shift while creating will give you a perfect round.
Step 3
use the pen tool to read a path something like this with stroke edges selected as straight as seen in the following image
Step 4
Repeat step 4 this time add a central node as well which will help you achieve a better shape by adjusting it using anchor points
Step 5
Select both the paths and go to object>Expand in the menu which will show up the Expand window , select the stroke expand and hit ok….
Related vector Tutorial : How to Create a drop of water vector tutorial
Step 6
now select all the assets and right click and group . This is important as now when we are going to apply a 3D effect to it illustrator will take it as front face….
Step 87
Now go to Effects>3D>Extrude and bevel with the group selected
Step 8
Play around with the options in the window i have chosen 42 perspective , extrude depth 25pt , and rotate dimensions accordingly . You might like to keep the preview checked and view what is going on 🙂
Step 9
here i have taken the image to photoshop to give it some gradience and play around with it since it is already done you can now do anything with it!
CREATING A POSTING SCHEDULE
