SIDE HUSTLES
Make Money with Canva Doing These 5 Things
Plus what to watch out for.
There’s nothing magically profitable about Canva.
It’s just a tool.
But what if its lesser-known features could help you deliver valuable work faster, or come up with new upsells or add-ons, or even launch a simple gig?
After recently digging deeper into Canva for my own projects, here are five ideas that might be perfect—and perfectly profitable—additions to your repertoire.
(Some do require a paid account. That’s money well spent, in my opinion, but I’m not here to sell you on the tool in the first place.)
First, a quick note about realistic expectations. A few of these are possible to sell as a standalone gig on all the usual freelance sites…but that will be ferociously competitive. I believe your best bet is to offer them as a high-margin addition to a service you already sell.
As always, the important part is to think and experiment for yourself. At some point, we learn best by acting.
1. Photo background removal
Nothing screams “amateur hour” like a big, white box behind your logo. Fortunately, removing it is a one-click process in Canva, and it works like a charm. Far cleaner and more precise (in my opinion) than most other tools that aren’t Photoshop.
Free tools like remove.bg also work fine. But if you were going to work with the image in Canva anyway, then it’s a pain to have to upload and download it separately.
Where I’d start: This is admittedly a trivial gig, but there are loads of successful marketplace sellers doing background removal. Do not expect much money from this alone…but if you manage to find out why people want backgrounds removed and what they’re doing with the images, then it could reveal opportunities for more interesting work. Consider it market research rather than a primary money-maker.
Pitfalls to watch for: There’s no batch processing in Canva. You can’t even multi-select and remove the background for a group of images right by each other. So be wary of taking on more than a few dozen images unless the money is unusually compelling (or it’s in service of a bigger job).
2. Become a stock media magnate
You might already know that Canva has a massive library of stock photos, videos, and audio. That’s largely because they acquired Pexels and Pixabay back in 2019.
But they’re also growing their library by paying creators for original graphics and photos.
It’s a royalty-based system, so the payout structure is a little complicated and subject to change.
Where I’d start: At first, it’s all about making efficient use of existing assets. If you’ve made vector graphics or taken custom photos for past projects (and you still have rights to them), then consider uploading them to test the water.
Pitfalls to watch for: They’re reportedly choosy about whom they accept, so it may not be the easiest if this is your first go at selling stock media. Resist the temptation to go all in and building up a huge asset library from scratch…until you know what works.
3. Beautiful AWeber emails & landing pages
AWeber, if you’re not familiar, is an extremely popular email automation tool (“autoresponder”) that lots of small businesses and direct-response marketers use.
And earlier this year, they integrated Canva right into the AWeber tool itself.
Normally, clients just want to buy a result; usually a design. Most won’t care (or even know) whether you created it with Canva or something else. But now, loads of AWeber customers are unexpected Canva newbies, so this might be one of the rare cases where people seek Canva freelancers specifically.
Where I’d start: If you’re a design-savvy marketer or copywriter who already works with AWeber users, then consider rounding out your service with a simple email and landing page design package. You could try a standalone AWeber design gig, but it’s always easier when you have a foot in the door (or at least a broader value proposition).
Pitfalls to watch for: I don’t think this raises any unique risks; it’s the same old Canva in a new context.
4. Printables & templates for your audience or hobbies
I’m sure you know that Canva is a good way to create PDFs to print, templates to reuse within the application, and even book covers and interiors for Kindle and the like.
Compared to PowerPoint and Keynote, I find it more intuitive for handling alignment and print dimensions/bleed. It’s also chock-full of stock elements for embellishment.
That all saves time, which means quicker iteration and (let’s hope) quicker success.
As of writing, Canva is testing a “Creators” program that would let you sell design templates right inside their web app.
But until that rolls out, you can sell them through a separate platform, be it a major site (like Etsy and Gumroad) or your very own.
How I’d start: This seems a hundred times easier if you have a following or clientele. If so, then look to them for guidance. What things do they track? What do you routinely deliver? What pain points do you have when serving them?
Likely pitfalls: The hard part is finding customers. Without an existing following or clientele, it’s very much an uphill battle…or at least a numbers game. You might need to experiment with paid ads, research like crazy, optimize the living daylights out your Etsy listings, and above all, crank out a lot of designs in a hurry. It’s low-barrier and therefore ultra-competitive, which may mean low returns on your time. But if you enjoy the process, then go for it!
5. Edit simple videos in short order
Last month, a project demanded some simple video editing. I hadn’t done that for ages, and didn’t have the time to (re)learn full-featured editing software for such simple deliverables.
So I dove into Canva’s video editor (still new to me at the time), and realized something…
It’s way more capable than it should be!
Obviously it’s no Premiere Pro, but it can make quick work of basics like:
- Stringing together talking-head clips, b-roll, and stock video
- Putting some text on top
- Adding jump cuts and background music
- Coming up with a slick intro and outro
The point? For clean but simple videos, it’s a remarkably capable tool with decent stock media built right in—and it doesn’t cost a penny more.
Once you’re get familiar with its limitations (and some workarounds), it’s possible to create simple videos that are worth paying for.
Now, real video pros (or even hobbyist editors) don’t use Canva. Editing staples like custom animations, elaborate transitions, and complex audio are out of the question. There’s zero point in learning this tool if you’ve already mastered another.
But for simple scenarios, I find it not only capable, but fun to use.
Where I’d start: You’re probably not an experienced video editor if you’re readying this section, so home in on the intersection of a) what Canva can comfortably do and b) how those things complement your existing services. My gut says it’s talking-head videos (like interviews or client case studies), video adaptions of articles, and even basic stop motion.
Pitfalls to watch for: Again, it has serious limitations that you might not expect. Let me know below if you’d like a separate article covering these in detail! Take half a day to push its limits and figure out what you can realistically promise, first.
We all know Canva’s not about to replace Illustrator or Photoshop, but it’s capable of some impressive stuff in the right settings.
It’s exciting to see how it brings so much multimedia design, management, and monetization capability into a single platform. Long story short, I bet use will grow from here…and so will opportunities for those who know how to use it in uniquely valuable ways.
I hope this has given you some ideas to kick around, and even add a few bucks to your bottom line.
