Hey guys,

Im 17 yrs old, and I am very fluent in Photoshop.
My GFX skills I believe are pretty good, and I am just wondering how can I monetize this skill.

I've done some research and there are freelancing, contests, and making shirts- but those seem really risky and non-consistant.

Any ideas?

depends on where you live

buy a good camera
take lots of pictures
make an online portfolio of all your work
get good at PSD website mock ups
get good at PSD2CSS-P if you can
Master Dreamweaver too
PSD2Wordpress is also a plus
Get REALLY good at logos

then, if you live in a big city, build relationships with the local designers, website, and photo people, and have them email you work as it comes in

personally, i would stay away for Freelancer.com, etc.

because the work is sparodic and you compete with 3rd world countries

alright thanx man and what is PSD2Wordpress ?

The art of drawing a website in photoshop, converting it to CSS-P and HTML, and then converting it to a Wordpress Theme

oook i see ya i've made site templates before--but would I sell the template? or give it for free?

you can sell templates, you can sell custom template design, you can sell individual images as stock images, Logo's, mascot designs, anything really.

ya, best is to setup a company with package deals and offer


branding
logos
wordpress enabled websites
seo consulting
webmaster services
backlink building

etc.

track their ranking

get 25 clients on monthly contracts

collect checks

I have all those skills listed. Is there a good place to sell templates at?

(Don't say here or DP, I've tried that and got nothing.)

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by jtaylo49

I have all those skills listed. Is there a good place to sell templates at?

(Don't say here or DP, I've tried that and got nothing.)

Thanks in advance!

not much money in selling templates

unless you get a real winner at
http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php

otherwise - much more money in providing 'design services' and selling clients a custom template, design, and install

Look at this place:

Code:

http://99designs.com/contests

If you're good at drawing/Illustrator you might wanna check out Threadless design contests as well, I believe they give out like $500 a month for winning shirt designs. Good luck

Originally Posted by tony-raymondo

not much money in selling templates

unless you get a real winner at
http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php

otherwise - much more money in providing 'design services' and selling clients a custom template, design, and install

We'll I do that now, but finding clients as of late is very difficult.

if you are good with vectors, its possible to make a killing on istockphoto

just look at the top vector guys and see how many downlaods they have

some have made a LOT of money selling here

Originally Posted by jtaylo49

We'll I do that now, but finding clients as of late is very difficult.

This is because more and more and more people are pouring into the industry, the last 10 year have been "MASSIVE MONEY ON THE INTERNET!!!!!" and it's be drilled if you want true success, it's to do something with the internet, this has caused an entire generation (those that have graduated in the last 3-5 years) and are starting to make a name for themselves, sure business may have been alot better 5 years ago, but that's because the ones competing now were still in school.

The market is over flooded for that particular service now, it's included in development packages from many many different development companies. The only way to survive really is to expand you knowledge base to take in every aspect of web development so you can compete with the big boys and offer full deal packages. Or, take the graphics rout because there will always be people looking for graphics, it has to be good, original, and priced well, but people will buy it if it suits their needs.

Originally Posted by tony-raymondo

if you are good with vectors, its possible to make a killing on istockphoto

just look at the top vector guys and see how many downlaods they have

some have made a LOT of money selling here

I appreciate all the suggestions but unfortunately, vector art is one thing I'm not so great at. Good at everything else though... =)

Check ThemeForest to sell your templates.

Go to Deviantart Forum to get freelance work.

Originally Posted by LadRak

Check ThemeForest to sell your templates.

Go to Deviantart Forum to get freelance work.

Thanks, I didn't realize themeforest bought templates.

Have you tried elance?