If you haven’t seen it yet, Jacques van Heerden posted a priceless article on his star blog CreativeOverflow.net with the magnetic title “10 Ways A Designer Can Make some Extra Money“. The article introduces you a list of websites that allow you to take something you’re already good at(photography, design, art etc.) and turn it into some $$$ I think that’s awesome. However, I think we could add a couple…

Cafe Press

CafePress.com offers a plethora of products to append your designs to. Whether it’s word art, vector, abstract, concept, or anything else, you can get it printed on CafePress. CafePress does charge a royalty, but they make it clear how much they get, and give you the power to set up your own store, advertise how you like, and potentially make a killing from your skill/style.

You can customize everything from t-shirts to mouse pads. Literally hundreds of options. You’re pretty much limited by your creativity by this one.

SpreadShirt

Spreadshirt does what CafePress does, only it’s all shirts… well there’s a few other bits too, but mostly t-shirts. In some ways, they do it better too.. but it’s all a matter of opinion.

Threadless

Threadless offers what SpreadShirt does, but they seem to have a much more active community. There’s a bunch of contests, challenges and such. You can win free tees, sometimes money. Heck you could even score a job if you’re lucky.

There’s a few others, but don’t spread yourself out too much. Your best bet is to build your portfolio up on one site at a time. Once you’ve reached your potential, don’t sit around and wait for results, continue building on another site. Consider creating multiple accounts as well, and focus one account on a particular type of art or design. This way you can gear your customers/visitors towards you, and you won’t have to gear yourself towards them. Now spread your wings and fly.