Passive Income, as part of your calligraphy business
A few years ago I was working a lot! I was designing for my clients, printing orders from my shops, creating my first few online classes, and teaching workshops all over town. Seven days a week was the norm for me, and my husband also traveled a lot for work, which meant I was the kid’s numero uno.
I kept that pace for about a year and then started to feel burnt out! Migraines hit me on the weekly and my creative juices started to dry up. I also started doubting my business and wondered if my passion was slowly dwindling. I have to add that my kids are now independent teens, so other than the usual dinners, drives to activities, their friends, etc. they didn’t physically need me the way they did when they were younger.
I dreamed about the day that I could start joining my husband on his business trips and enjoy seeing more of the world rather than living and working in my little neighbourhood.
Then it dawned on me, I couldn’t ever travel freely without closing my shop, and my business to go on holiday mode. Closing meant that a large portion of my income would stop! I did have some passive income streams set up and making me some money, but it certainly wasn’t enough to live off of.
So over the next few months, I made some hard decisions.
I looked at al the income streams that I currently had in my business. I analyzed what took up most of my time, how much money I earned from a stream, and what I needed to do to replace it. I realized that I had lots of active income streams in my business that I relied heavily upon.
Active income streams basically included things that required my time, my skill, and my attention, to complete the job and to get paid - usually only once for.
My print shop was an active income stream. I printed orders, hand wrote thank you notes to include in those orders, packaged them, and literally stood in line at the post office to mail them. Then there was communication, emails, inquiries, etc. I’d spend my time, make a sale, and that transaction was done. I did this multiple times, daily, seven days a week.
Closing my print shop and letting go of my wholesale clients was one of the hardest choices I made and was one of the first steps to creating more passive income in my calligraphy business.
Passive income streams are a really important part of my business. They allow me to have time freedom and wake up to new revenue 7 days a week, year-round. The best part is, I do the work once, and sell that work, over multiple platforms for years and years.
If you have a calligraphy business, you most likely have started by working in the wedding industry, or custom lettering pieces for clients. They are all active income streams.
I want to challenge you to think of ways that you can introduce passive income streams into your revenue plan and business.
The benefits of creating passive income streams are immense!
you will have more time freedom,
you will earn more money while you sleep and spend time with your loved ones,
you will avoid seasonality and dry spells,
you will earn money for years to come.
I’m extremely passionate about passive income streams and believe that in this day in age, especially with covid-19, having an online presence, where you are able to earn income passively means that you can lessen the stress of money and finances quite easily once you’ve set up a tested system!
I challenge you to look at 1-3 ways that you can introduce passive revenue into your business.
Here are some questions to help get you going!
What style is your calligraphy? Is it formal? Elegant and flourishy? Bouncy and modern?
What items can you see your calligraphy on?
Do you know how to digitize your calligraphy?
Here are a few of my favorite ways that I earn passive income every day in my business
Print on demand sites (I really love Society6)
Etsy selling digital items
Creative Market (I sell my photography there - a side passion of mine)
Licensing (this deserves an entire course!)
There are so many other possibilities! I suggest you start by asking yourself the questions above, begin researching the passive income ideas that I listed, and even download my handy guide where I share my Top 8 Tips to starting your calligraphy business.
If you are interested in learning more about passive income and active income and even how to start and grow your calligraphy business, I have an online course that is open for enrolment soon and has some pretty sweet bonuses that you shouldn’t miss out on!
Click here to learn more and make sure you get on the waitlist so you can get a special offer that I only give to my subscribers!
Starting and building a calligraphy business is such a fun and gratifying experience! My goal is to save you some time and frustration!
Let me know if you have any questions about the passive income, or your calligraphy business! I’m happy to direct you and help offer my many years of experience.
Nicki x
