The coronavirus pandemic has impacted artists income from touring in a big way, and this is where side hustles come in handy.
While it may be a while before artists see those income streams fully return, there are alternative ways to earn income that are becoming popular. Namely, there are a ton of opportunities in the freelance economy.
It’s also known as the collaborative or sharing economy — which sounds nicer and gives a clearer picture of what freelance work involves. Creative side hustles are a great way to tide yourself over until you can get back on the road.
A side hustle is a way to make money alongside your primary income source. With the freelance / gig economy, you can access work using nothing but a phone, tablet or PC. This is where side hustles become important for artists, and can even become full-time work when needed.
If you’re ambitious and have big plans for the future, it’s an excellent way to get paid as you develop new skills. It’s also a great way to profit from the skills and expertise you’ve already developed as an artist.
For example, an artist might start freelance writing as a side hustle. You can use the expertise you pick up, such as branding, marketing and blogging, to promote yourself in the future. Creativity is the best way to inspire more creativity — as well as being a way to make money.
Plus, if you ever get stuck creatively, flexing your brain muscles in a different direction is a great way to regain focus.
With freelance work, you take on projects of your choice to earn additional income. They can be big or small and come from huge or tiny companies. The best thing about gig work is that no matter what, you usually have work to return to. Once you’re back on tour, you can dip in and out if you’re bored or need to make money, or you can leave it behind entirely.
Creative people tend to get bored faster than those who are happy to work in their office cubicle. As such, you’ll find that the creative gig economy is a diverse and intriguing landscape. These are some of the best side hustles for artists to leverage during downtime:
Freelance writing can help you to hone your communication skills and develop your creative mind. With so many topics on the internet, you’re guaranteed to find work that suits your interests and knowledge base. Many clients will actually pay extra for the kind of expertise that artists are uniquely suited to offer. That could include music industry knowledge, audio engineering, event management, among others.
If you’re a musician, it seems like a natural choice to create music samples as a side hustle! With the digital content creation sphere booming, bespoke music is in high demand.
If you’re a DIY musician, graphic design or even web design might be something you’ve dabbled in while promoting yourself. You can easily use these skills to make money through freelancing sites.
Video editing and VFX are rapidly growing creative industries that rely heavily on freelancers. If you’ve been doing your own video work, you’ll find there are a lot of companies and video publishers that could use your talents.
If you’re looking for easy side hustles to make a fast buck, website user testing is an excellent side hustle. With marketers wanted to deliver great user experience and often times something unique and cool, artists perspectives can be invaluable.
If you’ve got a decent microphone and dulcet tones — why not do voice-over work or read out audiobooks?
There is a myriad of awesome benefits to creative freelancing, including:
Don’t miss out on leveraging the skills you’ve developed to add additional income streams. Seek opportunities to learn and grow to get one step closer to achieving your dreams — no matter what’s going on in the world.
