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4 Tips to Become a Successful Digital Artist

We know being a digital artist can be difficult, but there are some key things you can do every day to be successful.

You need to capitalize on what makes you and your art unique. Take the time to build your own website or personal portfolio that highlights your best work. Use socials to your advantage to not only gain followers, but supporters, too. Continue to grow in your field so you can keep up with the competition.

Here are 4 things you should do if you want to be a successful digital artist!

Showcase Your Art

Socials are fine when it comes to showing off your latest project, but having a portfolio allows you to tell a bigger story. Potential customers and hiring agencies want to see what you’ve done to become the successful artist you are today.

Website platforms like Squarespace make it easy by offering portfolio templates. You can break it down by different styles or categories – it’s up to you! Write a few sentences about each piece; why you created it and what it means to you. These details paint a better picture of who you are as an artist.

A portfolio also allows you to build on your aesthetic. Add colors and elements that reflect your art style. Make sure you have your portfolio highlighted in your social bios and on your resume if you’re actively applying for jobs.

Have a Social Presence

It’s nothing new. Everyone knows you need to be active on socials if you want to get your name and art out there. But it’s important to decide which socials work best for your audience.

If you want to create tutorials or make longform vlogs, YouTube is the place to be. Even though YouTube has hopped on the short video trend with Shorts, there’s still an audience for these longform videos. While TikToks and Reels can pop off and disappear in a matter of days, YouTube content gives your art a longer shelf life.

TikTok and Instagram are essential places to be if you want to see success as a digital artist. Instagram is still the spot if you want to create a page that’s visually appealing. Incorporate Reels and make sure you’re using tags that relate to your niche. And it can’t hurt to respond to other artists’ posts! That’s going to up your engagement rate and push your page to the right audience.

Turn Followers into Fans

Having thousands of followers is great, but how many of them are actually true fans? True fans are the ones that will comment on your posts and support you by taking a paid course, or buy your official merch.

Create content that speaks to your target audience. You won’t become a successful digital artist if you’re chasing numbers. Ask your followers directly what they want to see from you. Would it be beneficial to them if you showed your process? Consider doing a Q&A to answer questions related to being a digital artist.

This is going to help you grow your brand and it’s also important to continue to grow as an artist.

Never Stop Learning

It’s important to continue to grow and learn if you want to be a successful digital artist. Keep an eye on what new software is out there. Follow other artists to see what tools they’re using to make creating art easier for them.

Don’t get stuck in a rut. It’s important to be active on socials and interact with your audience. Find ways that you can expand on that. Offer a FREE newsletter for your supporters with insider tips and incentives. People want to feel like they’re part of something special. So give them that.

Making merch is a great way for people to support you. They can buy your custom art on all kinds of apparel. Plus, you can get a percentage of the profits! Spreadshop makes it easy for you to make money as a digital artist.

Raise Money For Your Local Animal Shelter

Looking to raise money for your local animal shelter? Try merch! Print on-demand platforms like Spreadshop allow you to make custom merch at no cost to you.

We know raising funds can be tough, and merch is a great incentive to attract donations. Supporters can get something extra AND feel good about helping a good cause.

Merch allows you to build your brand and connect with people in your community. Keep your mission in mind when it comes to the marketing of your animal shelter. See how merch can play a big part in your fundraising!

Something Extra

Raising money for your local animal shelter is tougher than ever. Costs are rising at the grocery store and at the pump, and families don’t have as much extra cash. Merch is a great “get” to help attract donations.

And merch is more than just T-shirts now. Spreadshop has 230 products that you can upload your personal designs onto. Put your shelter logo and other fun designs on tote bags, water bottles, stickers, sweats, etc.

And make sure you let people know that 100 percent of the profits will go towards helping your shelter. That way, they’ll feel even better about buying your merch!

Turn Your Shelter into a Brand

Merch is more than just a great way to raise money; it can turn your shelter into a full-blown brand. Having your logo and colors on merch is a great way to solidify your message and connect with potential partners.

We’ve seen many animal shelters capitalize on their name and likeness with their merch. People are more likely to donate to a cause they feel connected to. Creating merch with your branding builds a stronger sense of community and forms a connection with potential supporters.

It’s going to boost brand recognition, overall. The more people see your logo and your colors, the more likely they are to remember you.

Monetize Your Shelter

Ad campaigns work well for large corporations, but local animal shelters don’t have that kind of cash. Merch is a useful promotional tool that costs a fraction of big budget ad campaigns. And Spreadshop does all the heavy lifting for you! We’ve got payments, production, fulfillment, and shipping covered. All you have to do is upload your designs.

Merch is a personal promotional tool to raise money for your animal shelter. Get followers involved by doing giveaways on your social media. Ask people to follow you and comment for the chance to win merch. Photos of volunteers and supporters at events in your merch makes for authentic marketing material. This kind of content is going to be beneficial on multiple fronts. You’ll increase social engagement, draw attention to your animal shelter, and bring awareness to new merch!

Raise money for your animal shelter with merch. Open your own shop for FREE!

How to Design Your Podcast Logo

Your podcast logo can have a big impact on the success of your podcast. Listeners have thousands of podcast options these days, and a logo could be the reason they do or don’t click that play button.

You don’t want to overdo it with flashy designs. Keep it simple with imagery and colors that you want to represent your brand. Avoid overused icons and don’t be afraid to get creative using the theme of your podcast.

Check out these real podcaster examples to help you design your logo!

The Simpler The Better

You don’t need a lot of bells and whistles when it comes to your podcast logo. It’s actually best to keep it simple. Bold text and relevant symbols are all it takes.

The Local 724 podcast has shown this effectively. It’s a podcast all about the people and business that make communities in Southwestern Pennsylvania so special. Their black and yellow color scheme is incredibly relevant; these are the colors for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a neighboring NFL team.

They’ve also found ways to keep that simplicity with merch designs for their shop. Their local pride design captures all these elements perfectly. Anyone who lives in the region would recognize the symbol and what their podcast might be about. They’ve emphasized they’re all about local people and their stories with a solid logo and brand imaging.

Think Outside the Box

If you want to be more creative with your podcast logo, think about your niche. What designs are most relevant to your target market? The Ghosts in the Attic, Bodies in the Basement podcast knows their demographic.

True crime podcasts are one of the most popular options for podcast listeners. There’s something about unsolved mysteries and spooky tales that draws people in. And the GABB podcast has found a way to tap into that.

The shovel/ ouija board design tells listeners immediately what they’re getting into, be it in a cutesy way. Your podcast logo can be more unique as long as it’s relevant to your niche and your audience.

Say No to Podcast-Themed Icons

Microphones and headphones are popular podcast symbols. But you might want to avoid using them in your logo. It’s not only unoriginal, but it looks like you aren’t creative enough to come up with anything else.

There are plenty of strong symbols you can use in your podcast logo instead. Design tools like Canva have hundreds of FREE graphics to choose from. Again, it’s important to think about the theme for your podcast and how you can use that to your advantage. You can even download your brand colors into Canva to make your logo more cohesive.

Showcase Your Personality

When it comes to your podcast, your personality plays a big part. That needs to be translated in your podcast logo. And a photo of you is a great way to do it!

The Kind Mind Project is a podcast from Emily Helderman that empowers women to take control of their lives by being kind to their mind. She shows her viewers how they can develop a healthy, positive mindset. The photo above of her smiling showcases her personality and what she wants other women to feel like after listening to her podcast.

Make your podcast logo a photo that expresses to people what your podcast is all about. Maybe even rep some of your own custom merch in it. DID YOU KNOW: It’s FREE to make and sell your own merch with Spreadshop.

Take your podcast to the next level with merch!

Make Money From Your Podcast

The best way to make money from your podcast? Make and sell your own custom merch!

Streaming platforms like Spotify pay podcasters, and musicians, mere pennies. And we know how difficult it can be to connect with brands and solidify sponsorships.

Merch allows you to build your own brand at no cost. And on your own time. Sell custom apparel and accessories with your logo and other designs directly to your listeners.

See how merch can help you monetize and grow your podcast…

More Money For Less

When merch is done right, it’s an easy way to make money from your podcast. It’s FREE to make and sell your own merch when you use Spreadshop. You can have your merch shop up and running in minutes! It’s easy to upload designs and arrange the placement on your products. Spreadshop also allows you to customize the look of your site. Add a banner of your podcast logo across your homepage and feature your latest designs here, too.

But your merch isn’t going to sell itself. You’ve got to promote it.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to sell your merch is to mention it in the intro to your podcast. This is a great time to update new and returning listeners on podcast news, like official merch. Talk about your designs and what kind of products your followers can get them on, like T-shirts, stickers, mugs, etc. Point them to a link in your caption as your call to action.

If you don’t have the following to reach out to brands for sponsorship opportunities, merch can make you money right away. And why reach out to brands when you can just build your own?

Build Your Brand For FREE

Building a brand might sound overwhelming, but all you need is merch. With merch, you can turn your podcast into a full blown brand for FREE. Establish your podcast logo and colors as part of your brand, like Emily and the Kind Mind.

The Kind Mind Project is a podcast Emily launched to help women achieve personal growth through a better mindset. One of the podcast’s mottos – to put more honey in my head, one drop at a time – made its way into Emily’s merch line. Merch has allowed her to promote her message and give her podcast more credibility.

If you do eventually want to work with brands, being able to point to your merch shop shows you care about your own brand. That initiative will look attractive to potential partners and help you make money from your podcast in the meantime.

Turn Listeners into Supporters

We know how difficult it can be to build your fanbase. That’s why you need to launch your merch when it feels right. You don’t want to spend a lot of time on designs and promotion when the audience isn’t there to support you.

Once you’ve established yourself online and start to attract a following, merch can help form a deeper relationship with your listeners. It’s even better when you can get your followers involved with your merch. Ask them what kind of designs they would wear, what their favorite products are. Do they use coffee mugs or reusable water bottles more? These answers can inform what kind of merch you should be selling to get the most sales.

Merch is not only a great way to make money from your podcast, but it’s also a smart business move. You’ll establish your podcast and be able to better connect with partners and listeners.

So what are you waiting for? Monetize your podcast with merch TODAY!

Features For Your Shop

Whether you’ve had a Spreadshop for 6 months or 6 days, there are some shop features that you should be taking advantage of! These features allow you to get the most out of your merch.

Did you know you can run multiple shops (up to 10!) with just one account? Upload designs, manage your shop, and collect payments from the same place. With our automated product creation, you can see what your designs look like on your merch before it goes live. Sizing and placement is completely up to you.

Spreadshop is a customizable platform, which means you can express your personality and let your merch be an extension of that with different themes and product display options. Learn more about these unique shop features!

Personalize Your Shop

You might want to consider adjusting the theme of your shop. This can really change the overall vibe of your site. Dedicate your start page to promoting your products, or create your own banner to grab attention. Maybe feature a newly launched design here; even design a logo for your shop. This will help solidify your brand.

You can make changes to your shop layout at any time. Consider revamping your shop depending on the season. Put seasonal products like hoodies, mugs, and more up front. Update the About Me page on your site to house the most up-to-date information regarding your merch or other content endeavors.

It’s easy to link to your socials with your Spreadshop. We have icons for different platforms – Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, etc. – that can live at the top and bottom of your start page. This makes it easy for people to find you and hear shop news first.

Easily Create Your Merch

Knowing what your designs are going to look like on different products is key to creating a merch line you’re proud of. Our product creation automatically gives you product options when you upload a design. Limit it to standard options like T-shirts and hoodies, or pick from products you might not have considered, like buttons and magnets. Pro Tip: Don’t overwhelm costumers by offering everything in our merch assortment. Pick what works best for your audience!

With the automatic product creation, you can also adjust the placement and size of your designs, too. Certain designs might look better as graphics on the front of a T-shirt or as smaller designs in the corner of a hoodie, for example. This can also help you determine if your designs are print-ready. Catch mistakes you might not have noticed beforehand and see what colors will work with the options of our apparel line.

Run Up to 10 Merch Lines

You’re not limited to just one shop. You can actually house up to 10 shops all under the same Spreadshop account. This is ideal for people with different hobbies, business ventures, or organizations they might be involved with. Having these shops under one account makes it easy to track your earnings and access the backend of all your shops. You don’t need multiple usernames and passwords – it’s that simple!

Even if you don’t feel like this feature is beneficial to you right now, it’s great to have the option. Maybe down the line you’ll want to make apparel for a new hobby of yours. Or use merch to raise money for a fundraiser for your church. This way, you won’t have to create a whole new account.

Plenty of Promos

Every month, Spreadshop has promotional offers that shop owners can blast out to their followers. These promos range from 20% off to free shipping on all orders. When you use them the right way, they can keep old and potential customers interested in your shop.

We regularly make promo graphics that shop owners can share. You can find them in the Shop Promotions page of our community. We make sure to offer them in different sizes so you can get the word out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you’re true to the message of your merch, it won’t feel like you’re being sales pitchy with these promos. Use them to your advantage when you’re launching a new design or exclusive merch. This is an extra incentive to get people to buy your merch.

Don’t have a Spreadshop yet? Launch your own custom merch line for FREE!