By Elena Stewart for La Peña Cultural Center website
If you’re a working artist, you may be looking for ways to diversify your income. It can be tough to establish a sustainable career in the arts, especially if people of your cultural background are underrepresented in this industry. But starting a side gig is a great way to expand your professional network, gain experience, and become more financially stable.
Why Start a Side Gig?
When you’re already busy at your day job, you may wonder if starting a side gig is worth it. But with a side gig, you’ll be able to set aside more money for your financial goals. You’ll also be able to sharpen creative skills that you don’t get to use in your day job.
Choose Your Side Gig
Which side gigs are good fits for artists? Acorns recommends looking into hand-lettering for cards or signage, event photography, copyediting and proofreading, publishing ebooks, becoming a makeup artist, or selling baked goods. Ideally, you want a flexible side gig that lets your creativity shine!
Finding Clients
Networking is the key to finding your very first clients. After you’ve put together a portfolio of your work, Clear Voice recommends asking people you know for referrals, reaching out to people who might need your services through LinkedIn, and going to events for people in your industry. If you want to work with clients who care deeply about addressing racial inequality and supporting BIPOC communities, you may want to network with organizations like La Peña Cultural Center that are run by and for marginalized populations. Working with clients who share your values can be deeply fulfilling, and they can introduce you to other artists who are aligned with your goals.
Use the Right Tools
When you’re working on side-hustle projects, using the right tools can make it much easier to communicate effectively with your clients. For instance, you could use a project management app to keep an eye on deadlines or use invoicing software to collect payments.
In addition, if you’re sharing files related to art or graphic design project, you can compress JPG files to easily send photos in emails. But since compressing a JPG file can result in lower image quality, you may want to retain the quality by using a tool to convert JPG to PDF for your images. And to make things even more convenient, you can use this tool to compile several JPG files into a single PDF file.
Managing Your Time
Balancing your full-time job with your side hustle can be tough. If you don’t come up with a strict time management system, you’ll end up working late nights and weekends. But starting a side gig doesn’t have to cut into your free creative time.
In order to manage your time properly, you’ll need to be smart about eliminating distractions. Put your smartphone away during the workday, and let your friends know that you won’t respond to messages when you’re working. Make sure to block off some time each day to focus solely on self-care —even an hour of “me time” before bed can work wonders for your mental health.
When you’re building a career in the arts, it never hurts to have a side gig. With a side gig, you’ll be able to work on fun projects and make valuable connections with a wide variety of clients. By following these tips, you’ll be more than ready to offer new services as a side gig!
Want to connect with your creative peers? Check out the events and classes at La Peña Cultural Center! Fill out the contact form on their website to learn more.
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