Creatives — artists, filmmakers, and writers — tend to be right-brained people. They can draft new worlds out of thin air and imagine things that never were. But, ask them to draw up an invoice or execute a marketing plan and their genius often fails. Fortunately, side gig sites for creatives help with the nagging details so creatives can create and still collect the money they need to eat.
Side gig sites for creatives
Online platforms designed for creatives do one or two important things: They connect creatives with clients and/or they invoice and collect their bills for them. However, there are only a handful of sites that help all types of creatives. Most specialize in helping just one type of artist. Thus we’ll break this down by the type of creator best served by these sites.
All-purpose
There are three side gig sites for creatives that help all sorts of creators to find work — WorkingNotWorking, Fiverr and Creatively.
WorkingNotWorking and Creatively both serve as marketplaces that connect clients and creatives. They don’t impose any fees on workers. They’re financed solely through fees paid by hiring companies and individuals. These companies include brand names like Nike, Penske, and Dotdash Meredith.
However, where both WorkingNotWorking and Creatively make it easy for companies to find creatives that meet their needs, they are not involved in the hiring process. They also do not collect payments on workers behalf.
What they do is encourage creatives to post detailed profiles that spell out their work history and provide multiple samples of their work. WorkingNotWorking has a 400-member board that evaluates new members. Those with extraordinary experience and credentials get tagged as “vetted.” This can help clients screen candidates.
Notably, WorkingNotWorking is owned by Fiverr, which has a similar vetting process for “pros.” If you have extensive experience, you can apply to Fiverr’s pro network. If you pass the site’s screening, your profile is tagged and you get access to business-to-business work that’s not available to the run of the mill creative listed here.
Unlike the others, Fiverr charges a 20% commission on any work booked through the site. However, it also collects payment for you. The site is a wonderful place for animators, illustrators, writers, marketers and voice-over artists to find gigs. What makes Fiverr unique is that workers here essentially say what they’ll do and how much they charge. Clients simply choose a “package” that they pre-pay for. When the job is done, Fiverr remits the payment to the artist.
Artists
If you draw or paint, several sites can help you sell, rent or license your work. These sites work much like art galleries, taking an interest in — and commissions from — artists they like. However, these galleries are online.
SaatchiArt, for instance, will sell original art works ranging from paintings and photographs to scultures through its website. You decide how much you want to charge and upload photos of the piece. Saatchi markets it, and, if it sells, sends a courier to pick it up. You pay Saatchi a 35% commission on each sale.
TurningArt will also sell paintings and prints. More interesting is the site’s licensing arm, which allows you to rent and license your art to companies that want to use rotating art displays in their offices. The licensing deals might only net you 20% of the rent. But your involvement is minimal. You simply upload good quality images, TurningArt prints, mats, frames and transports them to corporate users.
And dozens of print-on-demand shops encourage artists to upload images, which can be used to make puzzles, t-shirts, shower curtains, quilts, hats, coffee mugs and hundreds of other items. Anytime a product with your image sells, you earn a royalty. Some of the best print-on-demand sites include FineArtAmerica, noted for its prints and puzzles, and Spoonflower, which specializes in repeating pattern designs for fabric.
Filmmakers
If you want to make a major motion picture, you need an agent. But if you’re one of the thousands of independent filmmakers, who make short films for advertising and promotion — or are among the cinematographers, lighting experts, makeup artists, costume makers and designers and thousands of other below-the-line workers in the film industry, there are two side gig sites you should know: StaffMeUp and ArrayCrew.
Created by writer/director Ava DuVernay, ArrayCrew aims to make movie sets more diverse. However, it doesn’t discriminate. Any adult who has at least one film credit — and that can be a personal production — is able to set up a profile on the site for free. Your credit can be from animation, film, television, live events, commercial, industrial, gaming, music video or web-based projects. Employers who use this site, including Disney, Netflix, Apple TV and Fox, pay all the costs of hiring.
StaffMeUp is a job board for seasoned film industry personnel. The site allows staffers to sign up and create a profile for free, but you must have at least to film credits to list here and they can’t be from multiple episodes of the same show.
Writers
Creative writing is a notoriously uncertain profession. However, a handful of side gig sites provide opportunities for ghost writers, comedy writers and editors, who can make good money while pursuing their dreams.
Reedsy, for example, is a website that helps self-published authors create and hone their work. The site enlists seasoned writers and editors to work with these authors. Writers and editors just need to sign up and provide a detailed description of their experience. If accepted, the site will connect you with authors looking for help. They provide information on their project and you bid on the work, saying what you’d charge and when you’d expect progress payments. The site collects for you in exchange for a 10% commission on your revenue.
ServiceScape also allows seasoned writers and editors to post a profile to connect with clients who need writing and editing help with everything from manuscripts to academic papers. You set your own rates here too. But ServiceScape extracts a hefty 50% commission, so price accordingly.
Meanwhile, Cracked invites comedy writers to submit story proposals for possible purchase. The site is big on listicles, like “5 SNL Hosts Who Got The Job Mainly Because they Were Hot,” and “5 Funny Page Comics Intended for Mature Audiences Only.” If your story is accepted, you’ll generally earn $150 per piece.
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