Etsy, Inc.
ETSY82.15
I'm starting to worry that I have gotten too tech heavy, but I still feel good about my portfolio going forward. Here it is:
Deere -Caterpillar -Disney -Square -Starbucks -Paypal - Amazon - GM - Microsoft - Apple - Tesla - Dollar General - Nvidia - Adobe - Etsy - Nike - Mastercard - Enphase - ARK G - ARK Q
And I have my eye on Boeing and Vulcan Materials. Anything I should consider adding? Trimming off? All advice is welcome!
If you like to doodle random things and don't have much space to work in, consider selling clip art.
You'll need a scanner and some basic know-how if you paint traditionally (with water colors or whatever) or just your computer and a Wacom tablet or an iPad and an Apple Pencil if you work digitally.
The advantage of digital downloads is that once the item is up in your store, it's hands-off passive income. You don't have to worry about dealing with people's weird requests or deadlines or anything. Just promote your work on social media like Instagram, Pinterest etc. and you're good to go.
Niches to look out for: teachers, students, planners, bullet journalers, crafters and card makers, adult coloring enthusiasts (I just sold two adult coloring packs of my mandala work this week), and people who like to make paper crafts (think paper dolls, models etc.)
One warning about clip art. I would recommend staying away from licensed character art (like Disney). It's not worth the liability. Yes it's mad sales but if you're violating copyright law, your store could literally be shut down at any moment - you'd be playing with fire. Stick to your own designs and play it safe.
I sell clip art and stickers and I have a small workspace also, but I did get a small cheap vinyl cutter (they're not too terribly big and they're not super expensive) and if you figure out how to make stuff like cutouts and cards and things, people will buy the files you use and then run the files through their cricut machines to make the cards etc. You can also ship cards and stickers to them if you don't mind handling merchandise. I just send my sticker packs in plain greeting card sized envelopes with a plain ol' stamp.
I have a strong background in promotions and making merchandise and it's literally in my blood, so I took to this whole thing like the proverbial duck to a body of water. I don't know your background. I don't have many sales yet but I noticed my conversion was ridiculously high (if people see my art, they do tend to buy it). I only started with Etsy the past couple of months though.
Another idea is art commissions and selling fine art prints.