5 Steps to Starting a Calligraphy Business: Making Money on the Side as a Calligrapher!
If you are ready to make some money on the side as a calligrapher, let’s get down to business! (No pun intended, LOL)
Today, I want to talk about the 5 steps to starting a calligraphy business. On my YouTube channel, I have a video where I outline these same steps. I'll leave the link down here for you to check out!
1. Figure Out Your Ideal Customer and Niche
Your niche is what you specialize in. You have to ask yourself questions such as
“What are you gonna sell, products or services?”
“Are you selling online or to people in your city?”
There are so many things you can do with calligraphy, you can run workshops, sell greeting cards, and more. I also have another blog post where I talk about 10 ways you can make money with calligraphy if you want some other ideas!
A problem that most calligraphers encounter when starting their business is wanting to do everything! We can work on so many different kinds of surfaces and with so many different kinds of materials.
But the truth is, you can’t take on everything when running a business. You’ll end up burning yourself out, and your customers won’t really know what your business does or what you specialize in. I’d recommend that you choose a couple things to focus on for the next couple of months, then add on more offerings later. It’s better for you to specialize in a couple of things than to be a jack of all trades.
Here's another video from my YouTube where I also explain how to find your ideal client and niche:
2. Do Market Research
If you’ve never heard of this term before, market research is basically researching what else is out there in your industry. A couple of questions you can ask are:
“Who are my competitors?”
“What is the market environment like?”
“What do their products or services look like?”
It’ll be helpful for you to get an idea of what the environment of the industry is like and for you to know what you’re up against! You could do this in conjunction to the first step, which is finding your ideal customer and niche. Or, you could also just figure out what you want to do and research the market for that specific niche… maybe for you it’s the wedding industry or creating personalized gifts.
I’d always suggest searching on Google and figuring out who else is specializing in the niche you want to go into. You can type in “Vancouver wedding calligrapher,” or “Vancouver calligraphy workshops” and get an idea of who and what’s out there.
Checking out hashtags on Instagram that are niche and city specific is another great way of conducting this kind of research. Another big part of doing market research is figuring out what your customer wants. How do you know that what you want to offer is something they want to buy? How can you tailor your product or service to meet the market demand?
If you know people in your ideal target market, you can reach out to them. Ask them what they think and if they would be interested in what you have to offer.
Be sure to also reach out to your network and ask yourself where you think you could find more of your target audience. Maybe you can find them in certain types of Facebook groups or a certain kind of organization! All in all, you can test a few things out and throw a couple of ideas out there.
3. Create A Portfolio
When you hear the word “portfolio,” maybe what comes to mind is a website, an Etsy store, or an Instagram account dedicated to your calligraphy business. In reality, a portfolio is simply a place where potential clients can see examples of your work. From your portfolio, potential clients can get an idea of what your style is and the kind of work you are able to do for them.
If you’ve never had any past customers or clients, I have a tip to share with you! Try out making something for a friend or create a sample of the product you’d like to create, like a sign or card. No one has to know that no one else has paid for it – your portfolio is just a way to show off what you can do.
4. Spread The Word
I always tell my clients who are a little nervous to talk about their work to challenge themselves and share it with their friends! You can start talking about your work on your personal Instagram or Facebook account. Whether or not you create a separate account for your business or not, post about it!
An example of a type of post you can create is a Friday introduction. The hashtag “#fridayintroduction” is quite popular in the art/calligraphy community. What you do is post a photo of yourself and share a few interesting facts about yourself on a Friday. You can share this post with your family and friends knowing that your community and network will become your first supporters.
You can also read this blog post I wrote to help you grow your Instagram following as a calligrapher.
Photo by iuliafotografie.com
5. Stay Persistent and Keep Going
The fifth step in starting a calligraphy business is to never give up, keep going, and have courage. Running a business can be difficult and stressful at times but you’re in it for the long run. If you want your business to be sustainable and rewarding, it’s going to take some time and effort.
No matter how hard it gets, just keep going! You can totally do this.
If you’re looking for more guidance on how to start a calligraphy business, check out my 6,000+ word article How To Build a Calligraphy Business from Scratch, or my other blog post that outlines 6 Easy Ways to Start Making Money with Calligraphy.
If you found this helpful, you’re going to find a lot more resources in my free Facebook group for calligraphers, where I’ve done more than 15 trainings on topics related to growing a calligraphy business. Join today and get these 15 free in-depth trainings!
I’d love to hear what you thought about this blog post in the comments! Was it helpful? Do you have any questions?