How to Generate Income As A Creative
When it comes to choosing a career path, many often get stuck second-guessing what they already feel is intuitive. The heart correctly signals at the creative, fulfilling, but unpredictable path worth taking but the mind often overrides that decision and opts for the path with some degree of certainty. When we ask questions such as “How much does a [insert profession here] make?” we are subtly looking for ways to override the path we truly feel we should be exploring. We formulate such questions because many of us are wired to give precedence to financial safety and security over personal fulfillment. But what if neither of those things have to be sacrificed? What if we could formulate a better question that inspires us to align and pursue the work we know, deep down, we should be doing?
Instead of asking “How much does a [insert profession here] make?” What if we begin to ask “How can I generate income as a [insert your desired profession here]?” The former operates under a limiting mindset; the assumption that your options for generating income are, by default, limited. You may also be led down a career path you may not be passionate about. The latter, on the other hand, relies on a growth mindset; it allows you to take control and choose your own path, and challenges you to creatively explore the many ways in which you can begin to generate income doing what you love.
SO HOW CAN YOU BEGIN TO GENERATE INCOME IN YOUR LINE OF WORK?
It begins with the Temple & Pillar System!
If you’ve listened to our podcast with type and graphic designer Viktor Baltus, you’ll relatively be familiar with this idea. Essentially, the Temple & Pillar System is a quarterly strategy for generating a reliable income stream with your creative work over a given year. The temple represents your income model or financial aspirations for a given period of the year (ideally quarterly—3 months at a time), and the pillars represent the foundational elements or works required to uphold your projected income model for that period.
Simply put: in any given quarter of the year (every 3 months), how much would you like to make? Whatever your answer is, that is your temple! And in that same quarter period, what are the various methods you can reasonably employ to meet that financial goal? Those methods are your pillars!
Illustration, courtesy of typedesignclass.com
Your income pillars will largely depend on the type of work you specialize in, and generally speaking, should include approximately 3-4 pillars. The goal, essentially, is to have multiple streams of income that form the core foundation of your business.
Each pillar represents a different category for which you will have to get creative and consider all the possible ideas that can help you generate income within the context of your professional practice. Such categories include but are not limited to:
CLIENT WORK (Freelancing & commissions)
RETAIL (Shop & products)
KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS (Courses, resources & workshops)
PASSIVE INCOME (Affiliate programs & sponsorships)
THE METHOD
In a given quarter (3-month period), what is your financial goal? Once you know that, divide it by 3 so that you know how much you will need to make for each of those three (3) months.
Consider which pillars of work you will be using over the 3-month period to collectively generate your desired income. Additionally, consider this: will you be taking on only a few pillars of work with a longer deliverable time and higher billing OR several pillars of work that will require a combination of short- and medium-term projects with an array of prices? (Make sure the work you select in each pillar category is able to be completed within a 3-month timeframe.)
If you are doing CLIENT WORK: What are the many ways you can work with clients in your line of work? List them. How many clients can you take on comfortably each month? How much time would each client work take (a few weeks? 3 months?)? And how much would make sense to charge for your optimal clientele so that you are able to meet your projected quarterly income goal?
If you are doing some RETAIL: What are the different types of products you can offer with your set of skills and experiences? List them. How much time can you dedicate to managing, marketing, and shipping & handling of the products? And how much in sales can you project for the each of the three (3) months given the amount of time and resources you can deploy?
If you are offering KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS: What types of courses, resources, workshops or presentations can you offer with your set of skills and experiences? List them. What combination of courses, workshops, and/or presentations can you produce and make available to the public in a span of 3 months and at what individual cost?
If you are employing PASSIVE INCOME strategies: What affiliate programs or sponsorship opportunities are available in your line of work? List them. And how much time per month can you devote to creating content and material that would quickly translate into valuable resources for your audience and a passive stream of income for you within 3 months?
Include any other CATEGORIES not mentioned above that best suit your line of work and expertise.
Develop a comprehensive strategy using the information you generated in the previous step and map out a detailed actionable plan for your first-ever quarter. It helps to know every step you need to take in order to bring the item(s) from each pillar to reality. For example, to launch a course, you’ll have to do research → develop the course material → build landing pages and/or sign up to a learning platform → write copy → deploy marketing posts, blogs, & emails → and much more. (See Type Design Class for reference.)
If you follow this method, it should get you up and running to begin generating a reasonable amount of income with your work. If you are curious to learn more about how to apply these steps, you can listen to our recorded podcast with designer Viktor Baltus below. He’s even created a free Temple & Pillar System template for you to begin planning your quarterly goals! Happy earning!
