Revenue Stream Ideas for Creatives
This post explores three research techniques creatives can use to come up with new revenue streams using their skills. This approach was designed as part of a lecture to inspire multimedia students to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to their skills.
There are four questions to ask yourself as you try each technique out for yourself:
What might you be able to create and sell?
What might you be able to do if you got someone else involved – ie. Another skillset?
What is the business model? Is it product sales, subscriptions, ads?
What is the right platform? Etsy, YouTube, Redbubble, Amazon, Printify etc.
Brainstorming method: TV & Films
If you are an illustrator or designer, google what TV shows or films are going to be released. The idea here is that you are looking for characters or phrases that will be popular once the show or film is released.
If I put in a quick search for “netflix release dates november” I very quickly find a page that tells me about a new TV series called “Blockbuster” coming out from the makers of Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
The series comes out on 3rd of November 2022. If you want to create something like a greeting card, it’s a good idea to be one of the first people to watch it.
So clear your schedule for 3rd November and get ready to binge!
Greeting cards are very popular on platforms like Etsy and Redbubble and if you are an illustrator with a bit of wit it could be very simple for you to start creating in this way too.
Brainstorming method: Seasonality
Seasonality is a good technique if you like to make things. I searched for “Christmas crafts to sell 2022”. As the image above shows, Christmas ornaments and mini Christmas trees are the top results. If I go a step further with my search term and add “sustainable” into it, lots of wooden ornaments appear.
This would suggest that there might be demand if you designed some interesting decorations and sent them off to a 3D printing service to be cut. You could even stack our first idea in here and make ornaments of some popular TV show characters. Get them to join Buddy the Elf.
As I am Irish, naturally enough I had a look to see if there was a Michael D.Higgins Christmas ornament. There was not.
I’d take a punt that there might be some demand for a Michael “Tree” Higgins wooden ornament out there this Christmas for anyone who wants to take the initiative!
Brainstorming method: Trending
The third way you can do commercial research is to look at what is trending on Google Trends and Twitter. This approach is a bit of a wildcard.
At the time of writing this Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber (married to Justin) appeared on Google trends for posting a picture of themselves on Instagram together. Apparently this is a momentous occasion with one fan saying “the internet might break”.
I decided to look up Justin Bieber’s list of songs and found one called “Never Say Never”. It felt like an appropriate tagline for the occasion. Within minutes I created a stylised version of the photo with the tagline “#neversaynever” and momentarily made available to buy on Redbubble. The image shows models wearing my ill designed t-shirt.
If I was an illustrator, I’d consider creating some unique drawings of the two girls rather than basing what I create off a photo which is an infringement of copyright (and why I have not made it available for sale)!
Consider where you sell and how it affects profit margins
It’s worth highlighting that there are fees associated with whatever platform for you use. The benefits of using Etsy or Redbubble is that both can help you get set up to sell products really quickly.
Finally - if you want to make this into a solid income stream, think about how to market your products and let your target customers know they exist!
Good luck with your market research - I hope you make some extra cash with all your talents.