25+ Ways To Make Money Online This Month As A Freelance Designer

Want to make money online this month as a freelance designer?

Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to get started and work from anywhere in the world, living that #laptoplifestyle.

From joining a freelancing website to launching an online shop to teaching your skills, there are many creative ways you can earn money online. As a designer, you already have the skills you need to get started.

The list below will help you brainstorm new ways to share your passion with the world and make money online!

Focus on one idea at a time and go all in. If it doesn’t work, try another one, and keep going until you find something that earns money for you and makes you happy.

1. Join a Freelancing Platform to Make Money Online

One of the fastest ways to get started is to find clients on a freelancing platform such as PeoplePerHour, Upwork, Freelancer, and Guru.

As a freelance designer, you get paid to design for individual clients, startups, and businesses. Clients come to these freelancing platforms looking for someone to hire. Therefore, it saves you the process of cold pitching and searching for clients directly. These clients post their project on the site, and then freelancers can send proposals for the project.

You can get paid per hour that you work on a project, or you can work on a fixed fee per design. The downside is these platforms take a percentage of your earnings for each client (from ~10 to 24%), but it’s very easy to set up a profile and start sending proposals to clients.

We’ve personally made money on all of these freelancing websites mentioned above, at one time or another over the years. However, we’ve had the most success on PeoplePerHour and Upwork.

To get started, read my post on how to set up an impressive freelance profile on PeoplePerHour. This will teach you step-by-step how to create a great profile that catches the attention of a potential client.

As a freelancer, you can work from home, on the train, at a cafe, on the beach, or anywhere with clients from all over the world.

You don’t need a website, social media presence, LinkedIn profile, or physical address. (These things can help though!) You honestly don’t even need to have a college degree or previous work experience in a job.

If you can help a client reach their end goal with your knowledge, skills, and hard work, that’s all you need (and that’s all they care about). You don’t even have to be a super talented designer to start. You’ll get better as you work with more clients and work on bigger projects.

2. List a Gig on Fiverr

Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. However, it is very different from the freelancing sites listed above (PPH, Upwork, etc…). As a freelance designer, you create specific packages, which are called gigs on Fiverr.

Examples of gigs include:

• Design a logo
• Draw a floor plan
• Create a business flyer

Customers buy your gig and pay you for a specific task they need to be completed. The possibilities are endless. You determine your price (from $5 to $999+) and create tiers for your gig.

To get started, learn from the top Fiverrs who have sold 1000+ gigs. Once you launch your gig, invite your friends and personal network to buy your gig. This will give you valuable experience. Also, they will be likely to give you a positive review, which will help your gig get more views so other people will start buying it.

This can be a great way for first-time freelancers or beginners to get started making money online. If you can optimize your workflow and process, you can earn an extra couple hundred dollars per month (or more) on Fiverr.

3. Sell Stock Photographs

If you love to travel or observe the world through a lens, and you have your own high-end DSLR camera, you can sell photographs and video on stock image sites. You don’t have to be a professional photographer, but the photos need to be high-quality, high-resolution work.

It’s a great opportunity to make money while sharing your skills and passion for photography. Or, you can improve your skills with an online course, and then sell your own stock photos.

Two popular sites include Shutterstock and iStockphoto. You’ll earn royalties every time someone licenses one of your images. This can lead to a monthly passive income.

4. Sell Your Artwork on Society6

Society6 is an online platform where creatives upload their visual work and their team turns your art into unique products for sale.

You don’t have to worry about production, fulfillment, shipping orders, or managing a storefront. You can focus exclusively on designing and creating art.

Customers can buy your visual work as art prints, home decor, kitchen and bath items, clothing, and more. You can set prices for your art, and then earn a percentage of the sales.

5. Open a Creative Market Shop

You can make money online by selling ready-to-use design assets on a marketplace such as Creative Market. With over 1 million users, Creative Market is one of the world’s largest resources for design content.

You can sell logos, photos, icons, vector graphics, print templates, website themes, texture packs, Photoshop add-ons, and even 3D assets. You set your own prices, and you earn passive income every month from repeated sales.

An alternative site is GL Stock Images, which features photos, illustrations, and vectors and pays slightly higher royalties.

6. Become an Envato Author

Envato Market is a network of marketplace websites that offer digital assets and services from independent creatives around the world, like yourself. You can sell anything from Photoshop actions and WordPress themes to audio sound effects and code scripts.

The Envato Market eco-system consists of many sub-sites including:

• ThemeForest – WordPress themes, website templates, eCommerce, UI design from creatives.
• CodeCanyon – All the code you need from PHP to Bootstrap, created by developers.
• VideoHive – Royalty-free videos, templates, effects, and stock footage from videographers.
• AudioJungle – Music tracks and sounds from musicians and sound engineers.
• GraphicRiver – Logos, icons, fonts, vectors, presentations, and graphic assets, created by designers.
• PhotoDune – Royalty-free stock images from photographers.
• 3DOcean – 3D models, 3D assets, HDRI images, CG textures, and materials from 3D artists.

When you sell one of your items, you will earn a percentage of the sales, which varies depending on your all-time sales and whether you’ve opted to sell exclusively on Envato Market.

I’ve used ThemeForest for a number of past website design projects. It’s one of the most popular sites for selling WordPress themes and offers a huge selection and easy-to-use interface. It’s similar in many ways to Creative Market, so I suggest checking out both sites in order to figure out which one works best for what you want to sell.

7. Design T-Shirts

T-shirts are a huge industry. You can earn money by designing and selling unique, eye-catching t-shirts to your audience.

There are many sites that make it easy to set up an online t-shirt store.

• Spreadshirt – You can create custom t-shirts to sell.
• Printful – You submit your design and connect your own online shop. They will drop-ship your products to customers under your brand label.
• Threadless – You can design a shirt and submit it for voting. If your design is voted as one of the best, it will be produced and sold.

You can put your own graphic designs, photos, typography, or unique artwork on t-shirts. It’s a scalable business, and you can evolve your designs over time.

8. Publish Digital 3D Models on Turbosquid

If you are a 3D modeler, you can publish and sell digital 3D models on Turbosquid.

Turbosquid is a top online marketplace where architects, 3D artists, designers, animators, game makers, and CGI professionals go to find high-quality 3D models for their projects.

You can upload all types of 3D files. It’s free and fast to publish 3D models for sale on Turbosquid. You set your prices anywhere from $0 to $999+ per model. Every time someone purchases your model, you earn an average of 40% to 60% royalties on each sale. You can earn more if you sell your models exclusively on Turbosquid.

Other similar websites where you can sell 3D models:

• CGTrader
• Renderosity
• Sketchfab
• 3D Squirrel

9. Sell Ready-Made House Plans

If you are an experienced architect or residential designer, you can develop and sell house plans online to supplement your income from client work. The market for architecture is changing, as future homeowners look online to find inspiration for their dream houses.

There are many online marketplaces for architectural house plans including houseplans.com and eplans.com. It is a large, growing industry.

Good architects selling high-quality designs is a positive thing for the industry. Many people cannot afford high-end architectural services or custom-designed houses. Selling ready-made house plans can allow people to access imaginative, beautiful, sustainable architecture in a more affordable way.

10. Create Graphics on PosterMyWall

If graphic design is your specialty, you can make money by designing and selling customizable graphics on PosterMyWall.

From posters to flyers to social media graphics, you create design templates, post them for free, and then make money from royalties every time your design is sold. You can earn up to 35% royalties per sale.

It’s a popular site with over millions of individuals, organizations, and businesses from around the world that use PosterMyWall to help with their marketing needs. Customers can download digital files or order physical prints of a wide range of products, including:

• Posters
• Event flyers
• Concert/band flyers
• Small business flyers
• Banners
• Window clings & wall adhesives
• Seasonal/holiday graphics

PosterMyWall simplifies graphic design for individuals, marketers, and businesses. As a designer, you can experiment with new design trends and work from home on your own schedule.

11. Create 3D Printed Products with Shapeways

If you are intrigued by 3D printing and have a creative idea, you can design, make, and sell products manufactured by 3D printing using Shapeways.

Popular items include customizable jewelry, home decor, tech, accessories, and toys.  If you don’t have 3D skills, Shapeways gives you access to a network of professionals who can help you develop your 3D file.

It’s very easy to get started. You upload your 3D models to Shapeways or work with one of their 3D designers. Then, set your price, add your own pictures and a text description, and then use the category and tag features.

When a customer is ready to buy, they can choose from a wide selection of 3D printed materials and colors.  Once your product is sold, Shapeways will process the order, 3D print the item, and ship it directly to your customer. You earn a percentage of the sales.

If you create awesome 3D content, then opening a shop on Shapeways can help you promote and sell your work.

12. Do a Design Contest on 99Designs

As a graphic designer, you can try your hand at a design contest on 99Designs, 48 Hours Logo, or crowdSPRING. You earn money if you win a contest.

How these sites work: the client posts their creative project needs. You and other freelancers work on spec (for free) to create a potential design for their project. You submit your designs to the contest. Then, the client chooses which one they like the best and want to continue developing further. If you win the contest, you are paid for the work.

It’s a good option for new freelancers because you can gain experience and build up a portfolio, even if your designs are not chosen. However, more experienced designers may not enjoy this approach to freelancing.

13. Start an Etsy Shop to Make Money Online

You can make a full-time or part-time income by opening an Etsy shop. Almost everyone I know has or used to have an Etsy shop!

Etsy is a global marketplace for creators, makers, designers, and artists. People from anywhere in the world can discover, buy, and sell their products. The focus is especially on handmade goods, crafts, vintage items, and art.

Did you know you can sell digital products too?

You can sell products that are instantly downloaded files (nothing is shipped), such as templates, planners, art prints, and more. With 30+ million registered shoppers, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of successful digital download shops, which means there is a high demand for this.

14. Become an Amazon Seller

Amazon is one of the world’s largest retailers and has created an online platform where anyone can sell almost anything.

This is a great option if you sell physical products. Amazon can help you reach a wider market.

You’ll have better success if your product listing it is accurate and complete, including high-quality product images. Amazon notifies you when customers place an order. You can also have orders fulfilled and shipped by Amazon through their Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service.

15. Put an Ad on Craigslist

Use Craigslist (or whichever classified ads site is most popular in your country) to post an advertisement for your design services. You can list your freelance services and offer consultancy services to local businesses or remote-based work.

16. Sell Custom Products with Printful

Printful is a Latvian-American startup business that offers print-on-demand (POD) service with no minimum orders.

You can make money by uploading your designs and selling custom products which are printed, packed, and shipped by Printful on demand – under your brand.  Their inventory of products includes t-shirts, tote bags, posters and canvas prints, clothing items, throw pillows, and more.

It’s easy to use, and there’s no setup fee. You’ll need to create your own website first, but in the long run, you’ll earn more money than selling with sites such as Society6.

17. Leverage LinkedIn to Find Freelance Clients

Everybody is already familiar with LinkedIn, an extensive online network of professionals from around the world. It serves as your online professional CV.

Nonetheless, how can you leverage LinkedIn as a freelancer?

As a freelance designer, there are many ways you can use LinkedIn to make money online and provide value with your knowledge and skills.

• Discover, connect, and nurture professional relationships with potential clients or employers.
• Join and participate in LinkedIn Groups, which provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share insights, build connections, and ask for guidance.
• Reach out and cold pitch yourself to potential clients.
• Check out the LinkedIn Job Listings for remote or freelance opportunities.
• Last but not least, you can create an impressive LinkedIn profile with samples of your work and highlight yourself as a freelance designer for hire. Recruiters, headhunters, and businesses use LinkedIn to find job candidates or freelancers, so make it easy for people to contact you.

18. Find Freelance Projects on Behance

Behance is the world’s largest creative network. It’s one of the best places to showcase your visual work in an online portfolio.

Did you know Behance has its own job board?

In the main menu bar, click on Jobs. Then, filter the results by Job Type and search for Freelance. You can find a wide range of freelance jobs for special projects or ongoing collaboration work with organizations and businesses.

This is a great way to make money online for experienced designers with an amazing portfolio.

19. Offer Tutoring to Make Money Online

You can make quick money by offering 1-on-1 private lessons to anyone who wants to learn the knowledge you already have.

Many students and young designers are frustrated with their skills and want direct guidance from someone more experienced. Break down the subject into easy-to-understand weekly lessons to help your students master the design skill.

You can earn up to $20-40+ per hour as a tutor teaching InDesign, Photoshop, 3D skills, or a full start-to-finish workflow process.

To get started, post an ad on Craigslist, at your school or library (usually there is a bulletin board for this, but you may need permission to post), or on local Facebook groups. You can meet in person or online via Skype.

20. Start a YouTube Channel

You can launch a new YouTube channel focused on a specific design-related topic. Once you grow your subscriber base, then you can make money from ads being displayed on your videos.

You can teach design skills, offer tips and tricks for your industry, or give step-by-step tutorial lessons. If you aim to provide value and always create videos that are helpful or entertaining to watch, then you can build a large following.

For more ideas, check out my post: The Best YouTube Channels to Learn Architecture & 3D Modeling.

21. Teach an Online Course

You can create and sell a beautiful online course to help other learn and grow. Online courses are an amazing way to learn, and you can share your knowledge and make money in the process.

Two of the best sites you can use to launch your course include:

• Skillshare – an online community marketplace for classes.
• Teachable – a platform used by entrepreneurs to launch and sell courses. They believe everything is teachable.

It takes a huge amount of work to launch a course, but there’s likely an audience who would like to learn your skills and would be willing to pay for it. You can create a bundle which includes the course content plus bonus extra to help create a course that provides value, is irresistible, and has no competition.

22. Write and Publish an Ebook

If you enjoy writing, then you may want to consider packaging up your knowledge into a downloadable ebook. You can share your unique insight with others.

The most popular way to sell an ebook is through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. You can earn up to 70% royalty on sales.

An alternative self-publishing option is Leanpub. Their philosophy is “Publish Early, Publish Often.” Leanpub is a tool you can use to create, publish, and sell in-progress or completed ebooks and courses. You earn a royalty rate of 80% per sale, and you can sell your book elsewhere if you want to. Another feature is you can offer flexible pricing to buyers. For example, you can set a minimum price of $24.99 and a suggested price of $59.99 for your ebook; the buyer can pay what they want.

23. Join SolidGigs, a Premium Freelance Community

For advanced freelance designers, you should check out SolidGigs.

SolidGigs is a premium freelance community in which you pay a monthly membership of $9.79 per month (basically less than $2.45 per week), and as a member, you have access to a weekly list of the very best freelance opportunities available. You also have access to a wealth of resources, videos, articles, and podcasts to help grow your business.

It’s not a job board, but a curated list (saving you tons of time and headache) of location-independent or remote opportunities from real clients who have serious money to spend on someone with the right talent.

SolidGigs is brought to you by the amazing team at Millo. They bring vast industry knowledge to the table and strive to include only the very best clients with reliable track-records and real budgets.

24. Offer Services to Family, Friends, & Your Network

If you are totally new to freelancing, don’t be afraid to announce to all of your family and friends that you are starting out as a freelance designer!

Let them know what you offer and how you can help. Ask them to share with their friends or anyone who they think could use your services. You can gain valuable experience and get more freelance work by word-of-mouth contacts via friends and family.

25. Create Your Own Website or Online Shop to Make Money Online

Launching your own website is one of the best things you can do for yourself as a freelance designer and entrepreneur.

It allows you to showcase your work and market your services to the world. You can use your website to get leads, to sell products, or to link to your freelance profile.

You have complete control over every aspect of your website from the visual aesthetic to the sales experience to everything else.

If you don’t think you’re ready for your own website, then start out with the other options on this list. They can be easier to launch and get up and running quickly. The benefit is they are established platforms that offer you ready-made audiences (meaning, people who are in a shopping mindset and are ready to buy)!

A Final Note!

As you can see, there are many options for how to make money online as a freelance designer! All you need is a computer, wifi connection, and a strong dose of determination.

I’ve been a full-time freelance designer since 2011, and even though I’ve experienced highs and lows, it’s amazing to think that I’ve been able to turn my computer into a money-making machine that has allowed me the freedom to live in foreign countries and work for myself on my own terms.

The possibilities on this list are meant to inspire you, but I’ve only included the ones that I believe are the most realistic to get started and actually make money online, regardless of your education, work experience, or portfolio.

Now, it’s your turn to choose one and take action!