The phrase “starving artist” always kind of bothered me.
I used it for a while to describe my life living on my aunt’s couch, waking up at 5:00 am to sign as a non-union actor, and keeping my eyes glued to online listings that’ll tell me whether or not they’re seeing non-union that day.
But it kind of feels like the Law of Attraction, no? Where the more you say something, think about something, or believe something, the more it persists.
2020 put perspective on a lot of things– I’m sure for you, too!– and for me, it taught me how damaging this mindset is.
Here we are, multi-passionate, talented creatives who have a lot to offer the world, telling ourselves that we’re starving, and in turn, continuing to stay that way. There had to be a better way.
I’ve talked a little bit about being an entrepreneurial artist and seeing your creativity as an avenue for financially abundant opportunities, so today, I wanted to list out a few art job ideas in case you needed a little help springboarding some ideas off of how you can not just stop being starving, but be abundant.
Things to note about these art job ideas
I’ve worked to put these together as a jumping-off point, focusing on jobs that don’t require much training. With that being said, some of these jobs will require more, depending on your background.
Since I don’t know what you went to school for or how much experience you have in something, take these with a grain of salt! I’m doing my best to estimate the difficulty of this based on my experience, but please note that certain ones might be harder or easier based on your experience. I tried to vary them as much as possible so at least one could apply to you!
I’m also straying away from low-paying, unscalable jobs. Of course, any of these could be low-paying too, according to what they are, but I wanted to focus less on the serving, Door Dashing jobs, and more on the jobs that have more potential to be scalable, depending on how you work it.
How did we pick these art job types?
We wanted a good balance of jobs that can be scalable and not. Why? Because we know that artists thrive off all different types of working environments. While some would never go towards the bar scene, others find solace in high-energy, high-tip environments for a few hours.
These jobs include:
- Remote jobs
- In-person jobs
- Creative jobs
- Interpersonal jobs
- High energy jobs
- Low energy jobs
13 art job ideas for creatives to make money + abundance
1. Freelance blog writer
Best for natural writers who know how to turn a business’s marketing needs into a story
Requires training or education?
Not necessarily; if you feel like you’re a strong writer, then a couple of Youtube courses on how to write for blogs will help you learn how to turn that skill into a freelance career.
What you may be doing
- Writing blog posts and other marketing copy
- Optimizing writing for SEO standards
- Collaborating with SEO specialists, project managers, content managers, and business owners
- Owning the writing process and either following SEO writing guidelines for blog posts or creating your own
- Organizing blog articles in Google Workspaces or something similar
- Distributing and publishing the blog posts via WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or their website provider
Skills you’ll likely need
- A basic understanding of how to write marketing content
- A general understanding of SEO
- How to use Google Docs, Notion, or other project management tools
- The nature of blog articles, SEO, and why companies use it as a marketing strategy
How to get started
Watch a few Youtube videos on how to start freelance writing and understand the basics of SEO. Julia McCoy is a content strategy and SEO content writer, and her videos could help you get started in your journey, especially if you feel like you don’t know much about SEO content writing!
2. Social media management/content creator
Best for social media lovers who’ve already spent so much time on social media, that they might as well get paid for it!
Requires training or education?
No; in fact, even if you were to get an education, the landscape changes so often, that simply keeping up with the new social media trends and features will be a lot more useful. Remember: you only need to know more than the client you’re working for.
What you may be doing
- Planning a client’s social media schedule based on their brand and business goals
- Creating infographics, editing images, and creating reels or TikTok videos for a client’s social media channel(s)
- Posting stories
- Responding to comments, DMing for brand collaborations, working with other marketing team members
Skills you’ll likely need
- An understanding of how different social media channels can be used for marketing a business
- Collaboration skills across your marketing team
- An understanding of how to adhere to a brand’s guidelines, color schemes, and messaging to bring them to life on social media cohesively
- An understanding of how to follow trends and use those angles to apply to a business
How to get started
Latasha James has a great Youtube channel that talks all about freelancing, and particularly an entire playlist about being a social media manager. You can find one video from that playlist below, which will tell you all about how to get started in the role:
3. Voiceover artist
Best for trained vocalists and voice actors with an at-home set-up
Requires training or education?
Yes; there are a lot of nuances in voiceover work, particularly when given direction and when needing to save your voice. Experience in voice and speech training is definitely recommended for this.
What you may be doing
- Doing voiceover work for commercials, promotional videos, answering machines, and more
- Recording yourself in your own at-home voiceover studio
- Editing and cutting your voice recording using audio software
Skills you’ll likely need
- Voice and speech training, including the ability to convey a clear message, take direction, and protect and care for your voice
- A voiceover home recording studio, including relevant sound panels, microphone(s), and computer software
- An editing program subscription and basic editing skills
How to get started
We highly suggest you get some basic acting training or voiceover training before you get started! Voice Over Beginners offers a free course on how to get started in the industry. If you already have voiceover skills, then start learning about how to optimize your profile on Upwork, which is where a lot of businesses hang out to find voiceover talent.
4. Content creator (Instagram Influencer, YouTuber)
Best for creatives who are ready to make an income from creating content online
Requires training or education?
If so, I’ve never heard of it! Being a full-time content creator takes time, so it’s good to get started on this one once you have a consistent stream of income from another source, first.
What you may be doing
- Creating YouTube content or
- Creating Instagram content or
- Hosting a podcast or
- Writing blog content (or doing more than 1 of these!)
- Promoting your content
- Doing brand collaborations
- Creating, editing, and posting reels and other video content
- Repurposing content across different social channels to get more exposure
- Constantly tweaking and developing your own brand based on your and your audience’s desires
Skills you’ll likely need
- A particular skill, service, or piece of entertainment you’re providing: are you teaching people how to cook, doing live research, or gaming online?
- An understanding of at least 1 media channel to start on (whether that’s YouTube, Instagram, or a blog)
How to get started
Modern Millie has an entire content creator brand around, well, being a content creator! She has a really engaging, calm, yet to-the-point tone, which I love. It’s not too overly hyped like some other YouTube videos, and she has a really simple, matter-of-fact approach to doing it.
5. Short-form video editor (for Reels and TikTok)
Best for social media connoisseurs who’ve created original video content over and over
Requires training or education?
If you’ve done this for your own videos before, then you’re well on your way to being able to do it for someone else!
What you may be doing
- Editing small video snippets into something captivating and engaging
- Paying close attention to trends and adhering to them according to the brand you’re creating for
- Writing social media captions that correlate with your video
- Posting on social media channels like Instagram and TikTok
- Collaborating with other marketing team members
Skills you’ll likely need
- The knowledge of how to adhere to brand guidelines
- Short-form video editing
- An affinity for Reels and TikTok and following trends
- The ability to follow directions and take criticism well (you’ll be re-doing edits again and again!)
How to get started
Elise Darma has some great videos about TikTok and reel strategy. She hasn’t released a video in a while, but her videos are still really engaging and helpful if you’re starting out.
6. Virtual assistant
Best for organized workers who want to work from home
Requires training or education?
Not necessarily, but you’ll need a lot of patience and organization! There are definitely online courses you could take to help train you so you can best market yourself, but starting on Upwork with simple offerings for an affordable price can help you get started and figure out what you like.
What you may be doing
- Scheduling and calendar management
- Email, inbox, and communication management
- General online research
- Data entry and organization tasks like organizing spreadsheets, files, and databases
- Social media management if a business is too small to have a specialist do it themselves
- Personal finance management, like tracking expenses, creating budgets and providing financial summaries or reports
- Reminders and to-do list management
- Online shopping and order management
- Basic customer support
Skills you’ll likely need
- Project management skills
- Basic organizational protocols, like suggestions for how to keep things organized
- Patience in learning new platforms, an organization in knowing how to make things simpler, and a friendly disposition
How to get started
Le-an Lai Lacaba can help you learn the beginnings of how to be a Virtual Assistant if you’ve never been one before! She’s super sweet, and has videos on both VAing and running your own business online:
7. Calligraphy or lettering artist
Best for artists who’ve been told they have amazing handwriting
Requires training or education?
You’ll definitely need some sort of experience or natural talent doing this, so your work is of value more than if someone were to try it themselves!
What you may be doing
- Creating greeting cards and stationery
- Designing wedding and special event invites
- Working for restaurants or local shops to write signage and do other commercial design
- Teach others how to do calligraphy (this could be a YouTube channel if you’d like to be a content creator!)
Skills you’ll likely need
- Calligraphy or lettering skills
- Adobe or other platforms relevant to how you’ll be selling your work
That’s about it! Eventually, like with any business, you’ll need to have the ability to market yourself and develop your business and brand so you can make money doing what you want.
How to get started
Dina Lu’s Youtube channel is a great way to get started learning how to use your calligraphy or creative skills to have a business. She also talks about being a digital nomad, selling digital products on Etsy, and more.
8. Etsy digital product designer
Best for template lovers who know how to turn a blank canvas into something valuable
Requires training or education?
Not really on designing the products, because there are so many free templates on Canva or ones you can purchase to help you. The real need is to know how to market this so you can actually sell them!
What you may be doing
- Create templates for businesses or for yourself for others to purchase on Etsy (this could be anything from an interior design template to a business plan template)
- Design your templates so they’re easy to use and valuable
- Market your digital products through Etsy
- If you’re doing this for a business, working with other creative team members
Skills you’ll likely need
- Canva or Adobe
- A specialty in a particular area so you can create value in your template
How to get started
Kate Hayes talks all about working from home hustles, which include selling digital products via Etsy! This video can help you get started selling digital products on Etsy (or see if it’s something you really want to be doing!)
9. Digital business manager
Best for entrepreneurial artists who want to support busy business owners on their growth journey
Requires training or education?
If find that you’re naturally good at managing business operations, then not necessarily! I’d highly recommend Deya’s Digital Business Manager Bootcamp, which can help you undergo an entire training if you’re interested in getting started in this field. Her YouTube videos helped me get to full-time freelance work and her insights are incredible. I haven’t taken the course myself but I’ve heard from many people how amazing it is.
What you may be doing
You’ll be right-hand to a business owner or CEO, helping them:
- Manage remote teams
- Plan and launch digital products
- Manage projects from start to completion
- Run the BTS systems and operations, from checklists to spreadsheets
Skills you’ll likely need
- Entrepreneurship, and a general understanding of how and why business owners scale online
- Organization, so you can confidently present systems that CEOs and business owners will like and trust
- The ability to plan and work with project management tools so you’re in the weeds on all the projects
How to get started
I highly recommend the Digital Business Manager (DBM) Bootcamp, which will train you through a course, which will help you become a trained digital business manager by a successful one, Deya! Her Youtube videos helped me a lot when I started freelancing and I’ve heard from many people how amazing her course is. You can also watch this video to get a deeper understanding about it:
10. Nanny
Best for lovers of children
Requires training or education?
No, although I believe that a need for loving children and a general understanding of how to communicate with empathy is required. You’ll be going above and beyond by coming into your interviews with some questions for your families; plus, if you find the right one, it can be a great job that brings in regular income.
What you may be doing
- Supervising children in their activities
- Driving them to and from appointments, activities, and playdates
- Helping adhere to their daily routine: mealtimes, naps, playtime, activities
- Feeding and meal-prepping in adherence to the parents’ guidelines
- Teaching them self-care and at-home duties, like personal hygiene, cleaning dishes, etc.
- Helping with homework or activities
Skills you’ll likely need
- General patience and empathy toward children
- Early childhood education experience or training, including how to communicate with different age groups
- Infant experience (if needed) including diaper changing, naptimes, and more
How to get started
The Hapa Family isn’t particularly about nannying, but it is about teaching Montessori skills at home, which I believe to be one of the best ways to communicate with and care for children. With experience in the childcare world myself, including experience working with a world-renowned pediatric sleep expert, I’ve found that this approach helps instill the most compassion, understanding, and adherence to guidelines under ‘freedom within limits.’
To learn more about this methodology, I highly consider watching The Hapa Family’s Youtube channel, to help you instill your own method of childcare. To get started yourself, join some local Facebook groups and start posting about your availability for childcare.
11. Photographer
Best for naturals behind the lens who see a need for photos in their community
It depends on what type of photography you’re offering. Wedding photography is going to be more high-stakes than family photography, but either way, you’ll need to know your way around a camera and be able to get positive feedback from others before starting to charge for it.
Requires training or education?
What you may be doing
- Creative directing photoshoots
- Using different lenses for the optimal pictures
- Communicating with and organizing clients in a CRM
- Editing photos through Adobe Photoshop or a similar platform
Skills you’ll likely need
- Knowledge of a camera, its lenses, angles, lighting, filters, editing
- Or a willingness to learn through a course or more education
How to get started
Explore John Branch IV Photography’s channel, where he walks through how he’s monetized his multi-hyphenate career.
12. Carpenter or scene shop worker
13. Flower or plant shop worker
We hope this ever-expanding creative and art jobs “listing” helps you decipher a few options for how you can pursue your multi-hyphenate love!
Your talents are typically not just limited to your one sole passion and can expand to multiple different avenues to help you live a financially abundant, gratifying, and creative life.
