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Do you have a knack for calligraphy and want to monetize it? Now is the best time to turn your passion into a profession, as the demand for calligraphers is sky-high. It brings in numerous opportunities to earn sufficient income each month.
This art of beautiful handwriting has fascinated people with its grace and elegance for centuries. In recent times too, the interest in calligraphy has surged immensely and people are looking for ways to turn it into a profitable business.
If you are also one such person, this blog post is for you. We will explore different avenues and strategies to teach you how to make money with calligraphy and set up a thriving business. So let us start your calligraphy business today!
What is Calligraphy?
The question is pretty simple, but the evolution of printing media has made the answer vague. Hence, it is difficult to give a reasonable definition of calligraphy. It is much more than an ornate lettering technique or beautiful handwriting.
Simply, we can define it as an artistic process of creating single compositions and beautiful symbols by hand. These symbols are arranged to make the words show integrity, rhythm, harmony, ancestry, and creative fire. These terms are the core components of calligraphy that help design a coherent and pleasing piece of art.
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Integrity: The term refers to the admirable proportion and design of calligraphy.
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Rhythm: It indicates a certain pattern in writing to emphasize a particular part. To do this, calligraphers vary and repeat spaces.
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Harmony: It describes a warm relationship among different visual components in calligraphic work. These include words, letters, text as a whole, parts of letters, and surrounding space.
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Ancestry: It emphasizes how the heritage of calligraphic letters, materials, shapes, and techniques is preserved.
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Creative Fire: The element shows the individuality of art. It allows every individual calligrapher to leave his or her own mark and make his or her work personalized.
Hence, calligraphy is a high-quality piece of art that strongly connects with viewers on both linguistic and creative levels.
Pre-Requisites to Set a Calligraphic Business
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Before going into the market and offering services, here are some prerequisites calligraphers need to know. Working on these aspects can help you:
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Attract clients
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Smoothly enter the market
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Set up a thriving business
So let us explore!
1. Define Your Niche
You can work as a generic calligrapher who writes on every niche. But to stand out in the industry, one needs to be specific and niche-oriented. So, identify the niche you love the most and start working on it.
There are different types of calligraphy and you can choose one of your keen interests, such as:
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Western calligraphy
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Eastern Asian calligraphy
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Southern Asian calligraphy
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Islamic calligraphy
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Traditional calligraphy
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Modern calligraphy
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Wedding invitations
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Personalized artwork
Specialization will help you:
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Target and cater to a specific audience
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Set your calligraphy apart
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Highlight your unique selling points
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Develop more custom designs
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Pay attention to detail
2. Sharpen Your Calligraphy Skills
This is the initial step you need to take before jumping into the market. Take a deeper look at your calligraphy skills. Improve and refine your calligraphy style. To do this, you can seek help from free resources, workshops, online courses, and calligraphic communities. You can also learn from big and experienced calligraphers.
Next, practice different styles, materials, and ink colors to develop a unique flair. It will help you:
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Build a strong foundation
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Enhance your skills
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Set yourself apart in the calligraphic market
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Establish a sustainable business
3. Build a Portfolio
Now that you have defined a niche and sharpened your calligraphic skills, it is time to create a well-curated portfolio. It will work as an indispensable tool to attract clients by showcasing your immaculate skills. Make sure to compile your work samples that demonstrate high-quality artwork. It should include different writing styles, fonts, and materials.
Keep on working, creating amazing projects, and updating your portfolio from time to time. Don’t forget to also add good reviews and testimonials from clients. They will be proof of your professionalism and top-notch creativity.
4. Offer Services
Once done with the previous steps, you are now ready to work as an online calligrapher or set up a business for yourself. In the next section, we will explore several avenues helpful in monetizing your calligraphy skills. These range from writing an e-book and selling greeting cards to launching your own training course.
8 Super Easy Ways to Generate Passive Income from Calligraphy
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Let us answer how to make money with calligraphy with this detailed and extensive guide. It includes all the calligraphy services you can try to generate passive income. Selling crafts on an Etsy store may be the ideal option you know. But, in this section, we will reveal several platforms and areas you should explore to make more money.
1. Sell Personalized Gifts
People love customized gifts. No matter what the event, a personalized gift is considered a top-notch necessity to show thoughtfulness to our loved ones. The good news is that the gift-giving season is never over. So you can stay active and work all year. You can design personalized birthday cards, framed quotes, home decor, wall art, planners, etc.
You can take start with these simple steps:
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Thinking of items people often purchase as gifts
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Applying your calligraphic style to make them unique
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Designing some personalized gifts like mugs, mouse pads, and journals
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Writing motivational words like inspire, love, peace, or a friend’s name
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Letting your friends know you have some amazing products available for purchase
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Taking pictures and sharing them on social media platforms, saying you accepting customized orders
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You can also browse some craft stores to get inspiring ideas
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Build your own website and list all your custom-made products
Passive Income with Printables – Free Workshop!
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Access this free workshop and learn how to generate passive income by selling printables on Etsy. You’ll learn about the types of products that sell, how to get your Etsy shop set up, and how to make sales and ensure that your shop is a success.
This is the perfect side hustle if you:
- Want to work from home
- Don’t have much time
- Like the idea of selling on Etsy
- Don’t have prior experience
2. Sell Handmade Greeting Cards
Selling handmade greeting cards is an effortless side calligraphy business. As a calligrapher, you already have a lot of much-needed items like cardstock, paper, brushes, inks, and color bottles. You do not need to know any bits of graphic design or visit a printing shop now and then. Sit in the comfort of your room, create beautiful cards, and sell them.
You can start with these simple steps:
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Design 10 Happy Birthday or Thank You cards with decorative typography and calligraphy prints
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Visit a nearby stationery store and buy 10 envelopes to wrap the cards
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Let your friends know you have greeting cards to sell
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Take captivating photos and post them on your social media, with a specific quote for each card
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Your friends will love your artwork and recommend it to others
4. Sell Framed Quotes
Quotes are the new craze among people. Almost everyone follows some Instagram account that shares motivational and inspirational quotes about certain aspects of life. You just need to bring it offline and inspire people with your decorative calligraphy skills. All you need to do this are:
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Calligraphic supplies, such as papers, brushes, inks, and calligraphy pen
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Frames from a local store
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Impressive calligraphy custom fonts
You can start with these simple steps:
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Brainstorm to find something inspirational that you would like to add to your home
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You can explore online calligraphy stores to get innovative ideas and the preferences of buyers
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Write it on paper with decorative typography
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Buy frames in bulk, as it would be cheaper than buying individual frames
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Insert your art in the frame and set it for purchase
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Take cute pictures and share them with your social media followers
4. Start A Calligraphy Gig
If you think freelancing platforms like Fiverr are just for professional services, you are wrong. Their scope extends beyond content writing, graphic design, and VA. If you explore these tools deeply, you will find people who provide all sorts of services here. One of them is calligraphy, too.
So you can also try Fiverr to make money with calligraphy. There are already many calligraphers who have set their profiles on the platform and are earning a good income. Their calligraphy gigs and packages can help you showcase your skills and set a price accordingly.
You can try creating custom fonts or hand lettering for bloggers, businesses, and web developers. All you need to do is to come up with a unique selling point, and the gig is all yours. For instance, you can create non-English typography and sell it.
5. Teach Your Friends Calligraphic Art
Your calligraphy skills might have made rounds in your circle and a lot of friends are asking you to teach them this beautiful art. This can be a good way to generate some side income. You just need to teach them what you have mastered.
Teaching your friends first relieves you from a lot of hassle that you may face if you launch a proper calligraphy training course right away. For instance:
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Renting a location
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Hosting a workshop on teaching calligraphy
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Designing worksheets
Once you get the ball rolling and feel more comfortable teaching others, then you may consider launching a workshop or creating online courses.
6. Sell Personalized Wedding Invitations
Selling personalized wedding invitations is huge in the wedding industry these days. Couples always want something unique and custom-made for their wedding. But not everyone can create a personalized touch as they want. But a calligrapher can do this job effortlessly through hand lettering and custom fonts.
You can showcase your skills and offer different packages for delivering wedding invitation calligraphy services. The rates in each package may vary depending on the:
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Size of the guest list
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With or without envelope calligraphy
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With or without addresses
While deciding on the price of each package, you must consider the cost of materials. Calligraphy supplies like stationery, calligraphy pen, brushes, inks, and shipping expenses should be carefully estimated.
7. Start A Calligraphy Blog
Blogging is a great way to connect with like-minded people and create a helpful community with other calligraphers. By starting a blog, you can easily let other people know about your calligraphy skills. Over time, you will get good followers who like and appreciate your work, and ultimately, will buy some of your pieces.
A calligraphy blog can be slow and steady, yet it is a sustainable way of monetizing your calligraphy skills. Your blog can generate income through multiple streams, such as:
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Directly selling products
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Advertising
To win this, you need a little SEO knowledge. Do some research about keywords people most commonly use to find things related to calligraphy. It will help you devise a content strategy that aligns with your interests and the searches of your target audience. Next, follow SEO best practices to implement your strategy.
Produce content such as:
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Blog articles in which you mention the tools you use for calligraphy
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Guides on instructional topics
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Calligraphy tutorials
8. Sell Educational E-Books
As you are just a beginner, creating an online calligraphy course might be challenging for you. Hence, you can initially design educational e-books on calligraphy and sell them. There are many people who are very interested in improving their hand-lettering skills, and an e-book can be a handy and affordable way for them to learn calligraphy.
Through this e-book, you can share your skills and experiences with your readers. It can include useful exercises and tips to hone their calligraphic style. Later, once you get used to it, you can create a full-fledged training course with a price range you truly deserve.
Final Thoughts
Calligraphy is a beautiful handwriting art people have been loving for ages. A classic and never out of style, it can be a great way to earn extra income or set up a thriving calligraphy business. If you have all the required skills but do not know how to make money with calligraphy, this blog post addresses that. It includes all the potential strategies to channel your efforts in the right direction. It helps you hone your calligraphic skills, build an impressive portfolio, and present yourself as an artist.
There are also enlisted smart options to monetize your expertise, out of which you can adopt any one or multiple. You can start with simple methods like selling inspirational quotes or handmade greeting cards. Over time, you can develop high-quality content, promote products online, and target a bigger audience. You can also follow top-earning calligraphers to get inspiration and ideas on how to further improve your craft.
The post Monetize Your Passion: How to Make Money with Calligraphy appeared first on Vital Dollar.
