5 Proven Ways to Make Money with Canva in 2021
- By Frank Morrison
- August 2, 2021
- 10:00 am
- No Comments
Canva is a well-known graphic design tool that was launched in 2013. The platform allowed users to create presentations, posters, and content for social media by using a drag-and-drop editor.
Because of its ease of use, it became an appealing option to many beginners and people who wanted great-looking designs but put little effort into them.
As of right now, the Sydney-based company has more than 30 million monthly active users from 190+ countries and the user base keeps expanding.
There are many content marketers, freelancers, and social media experts out there who rely on Canva and make a living off of it.
In this article, we’ve made a list of 4 different ways you can earn a full-time income just from using Canva alone.
Working As A Freelancer
On Upwork, you will be paid by the hour, and for freelancer designers and Canva Specialists, that will range from $15-$90 per hour depending on how much experience you have.
This Argentina-based designer on Fiverr charges $40 for creating 6 Instagram post templates and 1 IG story, which is work that could be done in less than half an hour.
Thanks to platforms like Fiverr and Freelancer, outsourcing and hiring talent with specialized skills has become quite common.
As a freelancer using Canva, you can take advantage of that as well, since there are many graphic design related activities you can earn money from which includes creating:
Logos
Ebooks and lead magnets
Social media posts
YouTube thumbnails, Facebook Ads
Infographics
Web banners
Resumes
Flyers
Brochures
Having an established presence and an extensive portfolio will help you get more projects. The reviews your customers leave also play a major part in how often will you get hired. To put it in another way, putting the effort into your work and providing top-notch customer service is going to pay off down the line.
How to Become A Freelance Canva Designer
This video from Mike Vestil will show you the process of earning money from Fiverr using Canva.
Becoming a Canva Contributor
As of 2020 April, Canva reportedly paid $9.5. million (annualized) to its contributors and that number is updated regularly. The exact amount you can earn as a Contributor can vary from a few dollars to a few thousand depending on how many times your artwork is used.
A Canva Contributor is a photographer, graphic designer, or an artist in general who submits their artwork (stock footage, videos, illustrations) to Canva’s native library.
You will be paid royalties, which is 35% of every sale. Here’s how it looks like:
a design license is $1, your royalties will be $0.35
a multi-use license is $10, your royalties will be $3.5
an extended license is $100, your royalties will be $35
If your assets are used by Canva Pro or Canva Enterprise subscribers, the royalties you get will be determined by the number of times your assets were used.
Canva looks at each asset type differently and they are also “weigh” differently:
- “1 weight” assets: images and graphics
- “3 weight” assets: soundtracks and videos
When it comes to payouts, you can choose PayPal, Payoneer, or Skrill. You will receive the payment on the 15th of each month if you made more than $100. It’s possible to lower that threshold, but Canva charges a 2% fee for payouts below $100.
How to Become A Canva Contributor
To become a Canva Contributor, you need to sign up for the Contributor Program.
It is free to join, and anyone who’s at least 18 years old can become a part of the program.
Additionally, you will need to submit a portfolio and a document that verifies your identity.
Promoting Canva As an Affiliate
Canva pays out $36 for each new Canva Pro subscriber to its affiliates. The more referrals you make, the more money you’ll make. To give you an example, if you make 30 referrals a month, you’ll take in $1080 a month.
There is nothing wrong with promoting products and services you believe in. The Canva Affiliate program allows you to do just that: you have the opportunity to make money just by referring to Canva.
The process is simple: Canva will give you a unique referral link, and when someone clicks on that link and signs up for Canva Pro, you’ll receive a one-time commission.
The payments are made via PayPal or wire transfer, and as an affiliate, you’ll get priority support from Canva.
The program is made for:
design influencers
bloggers & content creators
design educator
sites with large audiences
people who love Canva in general
How to Become A Canva Affiliate
The program itself is entirely free to join, and there are no minimum sales or monthly targets.
Applying for the Canva Affiliate Program is simple: you can apply on Impact.com or directly on Canva’s affiliate webpage.
After you submitted your application, Canva’s affiliate team will manually review it, and within 1-3 business days, they will get back to you.
The affiliate program has a high acceptance rate, so you are likely to get approved, even if your audience and reach are smaller.
Although setting up a website isn’t always necessary, having your own platform can be quite an advantage down the line. The process of building a website is pretty straightforward, you can set one up easily with WordPress.
You will need a hosting provider to start. If the price matters to you, and you want to get a good value, Bluehost or Hostinger will be a great choice. Host providers like Liquid Web or WP Engine offer higher-quality service, and their servers can handle vast amounts of traffic.
If you aren’t a fan of WordPress, and you are looking for a “one-stop-shop”, all-in-one option, consider going with Squarespace or Kartra.
A great way to make money as a Canva Affiliate is to create content around it – that’s exactly what we do, here on our website. That could mean:
writing reviews, blog posts about the platform’s features and upcoming updates
creating social content on sites that allows the use of affiliate links such as Pinterest
creating a lead magnet about Canva and giving it away for free
The biggest obstacle you are going to face is what many affiliate marketers struggle with: getting traffic.
This guide will tell you how to build a profitable affiliate website, and this one from Localiq will show 17 ways to get traffic to your website.
Teaching Others
Let’s do a hypothetical: if you are selling a course for $47 and 150 people buy in a month (5 people per day), you will earn $7050, which is a decent, full-time income in countries like the United States.
Clearly explained, instructional videos that break down complex concepts are something everyone can benefit from, whether they are experts or beginners.
If you know the ins and outs of Canva, you can teach others how to use the platform – there are many overlooked features and nuances you could talk about in your courses.
Platforms such as Teachable, Thinkific, Udemy, and Skillshare give you the ability to host online courses and earn money from them.
You could also upload parts of your course to YouTube and put a link in the description for more or just upload the entire course. If you choose the latter, the money will be coming from advertisement revenue once your channel gets monetized.
No matter which platform you choose, expect a saturated market and high competition: you need to make sure that your course stands and has lots of value in it. Also, you have to realize your course will not resonate with everyone, so instead of marketing to everyone, try targeting a specific audience.
Sidenote: Offering specialized training for brands and one-on-one coaching sessions are also worth giving a try.
How to Create Canva Courses
This video from Mike Vestil will show you the process of earning money from Fiverr using Canva.
Conclusion
Canva isn’t going anywhere: in April of 2021, they were valued at $15 billion, and their annualized revenue reached $500 million, which is a 130% increase compared to the last year.
They have both the financial and Human Resources to expand their platform and keep coming up with new features that will make online content creation easier.
In other words, they have the financial resources to expand their platform and keep coming up with new features that will make online creation easier.
Canva is undoubtedly an industry leader and its user base doesn’t seem to stop growing.
At the moment, there are plenty of ways for you to make money from Canva, and in the future, there will be even more.
Are you already using Canva? If yes, which feature do you like the most?
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