Just the other day I was trying to explain to my parents what I was accomplishing with my art while working a traditional day job. My folks have heard about this art/writing stuff before, of course.

Mom was kind of my first editor when I was in the fifth grade.

She had looked at me with a puzzled expression after reading my first handwritten paragraph on blue-ruled school tablet paper. I was a big fan of horse stories in grade school: Black Beauty, King of the Wind, etc. All the horses in them had nice-sounding names, and so I picked the name “Lincoln” for my horse. The story began, “Lincoln was born in a pasture on a hill top…” Mom chuckled, looked even more confused as I launched into my explanation and then she said, “Oh, I thought you were writing about President Lincoln!”

Back to the present time: my parents know I make some money on the side through original jewelry design and eBay. But when I described what I was doing as a “side hustle” Mom looked puzzled. I guess hustle had a different meaning in the 1970s!

I think that beauty of the side hustle is that it allows you to explore what you really love to do without actually letting go of your full-time paycheck, yet.

But I still want to be a full-time artist and writer. It’s scary, trading a paycheck for doing something you really love. Or does it have to be that way?

I wish I could tell you I know the secrets of art business/writing business success. I don’t. I am still learning how to balance the side hustle art with my regular retail job.

Currently my little Etsy jewelry shop, Bohemian for Life, has been online for four years, has steady small sales and 40 followers. I began jewelry design in 2014, motivated by a friend who made a big success of it when the handmade jewelry market was beginning, before it became a commonplace idea. Did I have the idea of success fast? Oh yes.

But the market is now pretty full, rather like the self-publishing market for books. Once a novelty, now it’s big business, one in which new names struggle to be noticed.

So maybe it’s best to get in on the beginning of an idea.

Or it might be good to feed into the social media machine and have fantastic product samples for your readers and fans in form of product photos or snippets of text from your work.

Here’s a brainstorming list I came up with of ideas to work that side dream job and create your own (mostly) free advertising:

–run a contest with a free book or a free art/craft item up for grabs

–market via your own website as well as the ones you sell on(my friend Keanan Brand has a good example of an author website)

–offer regular perks like special sales and coupons

–have a shareathon on various social media platforms

–post short videos about your story or art: book trailers, for example

–explore local venues for art and writing –farmer’s markets for art, local hotspots to leave business cards

–as a writer, can you get an opportunity to speak to students, or to join a writer’s group for local events to get your book name/your name out there?

–check your local shops for opportunities to sell both art and writing

–check with the local paper for an opinion piece opportunity

–start small, but think big (what will you do when your company grows?)

–network with bloggers in the same fields

–make the story of your art and writing personal, let your audience get to know you

While most self-published writers are trying the largest markets(often the most crowded ones)have you tried alternatives to some of the big names in e-book publishing? Here’s a blog post that might get you started: Alternatives to Amazon

If you have other ideas to add to my shortlist, please give a shout-out in the comments.

And keep working that side hustle, my artist and writer friends! May it turn into something much, much more.