If you love graphic design and want an affordable, easy to use, and highly versatile platform to create stunning designs, look no further than Canva.
I use Canva all the time in my businesses, including for logo development, video presentations, and blog images.
But it not just a useful tool for business. You can actually leverage Canva and its powerful features to make money in a variety of ways.
I am going to cover 9 strategies you can use to make money with Canva.
I use several of these strategies myself and am able to make real money from them. Let me show you how!
For quick and easy access to any of the strategies I am going to discuss, just click on the appropriate link below.
Become a Freelance Designer Using Canva
Become a Social Media Manager Using Canva
Create a YouTube Channel Using Canva
Create a Blog Using Canva Images and Videos
Become a Pinterest Mogul Using Canva to Design Your Pins
Get Affiliate Commissions By Promoting Canva
Create an Online Course Using Canva
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and complete a transaction, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The information contained in this post is for informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation to buy or invest, and it is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. You should seek the advice of a qualified professional before making any investment or other decisions relating to the topics covered by this article.
What is Canva?
Before we get into the money-making techniques, let me start with a very brief introduction to Canva.
Canva is a graphic design website where you can get access to images, videos, design templates, stock music and much more. Some of the things you can do on Canva include designing logos, and creating business presentations, video montages, social media posts, posters, t-shirt and mug designs, and much more.
How Much Does Canva Cost?
Canva has a free version and a paid version.
I use it extensively, so I pay the modest monthly subscription fee (which as of now is $12.99/month). I started with the free version but quickly migrated to the paid version because, well, the paid version is just much better.
For example, the free version gives you access to 1 million+ photos, while the paid version gives you access to 100 million+ photos. You also get access to way more templates, designs and so on.
If your goal is to make money using Canva, rather than just being a casual user, investing in the Canva Pro plan is the way to go.
I have an affiliate arrangement with Canva, so if you use this link, you will get access to a free trial of Canva Pro, which you can cancel if you decide it’s not right for you.
Become a Freelance Designer Using Canva
One of the most popular ways to make money using Canva is to become a freelance graphic designer. If you have an eye for this type of thing, you can quickly make stunning designs using their simple and intuitive interface.
One of the best features of Canva is their vast library of templates (over 610,000 if you have the paid version), which you can customize.
So if your customer is looking for a logo, just hop on to the logo templates section, find one that matches their general design criteria and easily modify it with the desired colors, text and design elements.
The same goes for flyers, posters, brochures, newsletters, book covers, business cards, calendars, menus, and much more.
As I mentioned above, you can even design t-shirts, as well as mugs and other items (which can be a terrific way to get customers who operate a print on demand business).
Plus, it’s easy to market your services as a freelance designer.
Just go on freelancing platforms like Fiverr. Browse and see what other graphic designers are doing (including how they are presenting themselves and pricing their services). See what works and emulate the best parts.
Become a Social Media Manager Using Canva
Another great way to make money using Canva is to become a social media manager. One of the tasks that a social media manager may perform is providing regular updates and posting content on the customer’s social media channels.
Canva makes doing this a breeze because they have an entire area devoted to social media materials. Just as you can access templates for general business purposes (like we just discussed), you can enjoy access to the terrific library of social media templates that Canva has on tap.
With the paid plan, you get access to tons of templates for Instagram (including Posts, Reels, and Stories), Facebook (Posts, Covers and Ads), TikTok Videos, Linkedin Video Ads, Twitter Posts and Pinterest Pins (more on that later).
Just like graphic designers, you can freelance as a social media manager using Fiverr. They have an entire section devoted to social media marketing, so browse around and find an area that resonates with you.
Become a Tutor Teaching People How to Use Canva
If you become really proficient at using Canva, there are plenty of people who would love to pick your brain (and pay your for the privilege). Canva has over 50 million users, so that’s a huge customer base that you can tap.
Getting started is easy. You can sign up as a tutor on places like Teacheron.com and Wyzant.com. I found a sizable number of Canva tutors on both platforms.
Of course, you can use traditional social media channels to market your Canva tutoring business as well. For example, in my research, I have come across a decent number of folks on Instagram who are touting their Canva tutoring business.
Create a YouTube Channel Using Canva
This is one of my favorite ways to make money using Canva (and it probably is the main reason why I love the product so much).
You can create a YouTube channel using just stock images and video clips from Canva. What I love about this strategy is that you don’t have to show your face at all. If you have a good script, you can match that script against the huge collection of images and videos that Canva has to offer.
My YouTube channel (RLT Finance) has nearly 30,000 subscribers. And one of my videos went viral and has gained over 1.2 million pageviews using this simple process.
If you strike on the right video ideas and you execute them well, you can make thousands of dollars doing this (once your channel meets certain view and subscriber milestones, YouTube lets you monetize your channel with ads).
Here is the video with over 1.2 million pageviews, if you want to see what a super successful Canva-created YouTube video looks like. Everything image and clip in the video (including the thumbnail) was created using Canva Pro.
Create a Blog Using Canva Images and Videos
Another outlet for making serious money using Canva is by creating a blog that uses Canva logos, images, and videos.
As a blog owner, I can attest to the importance of having high quality images that you can freely use. It makes the user experience that much better (sometimes a well placed image can convey an idea so much more powerfully than words).
This blog, for example, exclusively uses Canva images (and often I create unique collages that consist of multiple stock images and text that are unlike anything else that is out there).
The last thing you want to do is scrape something off the internet without permission and get a copyright claim later on. Now, to be fair, there are other image and video providers (some are even free), I have tried most of them.
While some aren’t bad, I think Canva has one of the largest selections of images and videos that actually don’t suck. They are my “go to.”
Of course, creating a successful money-making blog involves more than having a great logo and compelling images, You need to get traffic from Google Search or other channels and need to write helpful content.
To learn more about how to build a blog from scratch, check out my full tutorial on the topic here.
Become a Pinterest Mogul Using Canva to Design Your Pins
If you have a blog or YouTube channel (or really any business), you can market it using Pinterest. You do this by creating a business account at Pinterest and posting Pins. Those Pins will be viewed by people and you can create links in those Pins to your website, YouTube channel or business landing page.
Canva is literally the perfect tool for creating Pins. They have tons of Pinterest templates (actually they are really gorgeous) and I used them all the time to create my Pins for RLT Finance.
It is one of many marketing channels you can use to promote your stuff, but it can be a powerful one, especially if you operate in one of the niches that Pinterest works really well for, such as fashion, travel, home decor, design, DIY, and more.
Get Affiliate Commissions By Promoting Canva
If you have a social media presence that attracts a sizable number of followers or you have a blog or YouTube channel, you can promote Canva and earn commissions every time someone buys a paid subscription.
You do this by signing up as an affiliate with Canva (you have to apply and get approved). Once you are approved, you will get a customized link that you can place in your blog, YouTube channel or on your social media platforms.
You can then promote Canva and start earning commissions whenever someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a qualifying purchase.
It’s as simple as that.
Of course, you should be a true believer in the product and actually promote it because it has meaningfully helped you (like it did for me).
You don’t want to be scammy with this, because your audience comes to you for real advice and recommendations. Losing credibility for a few dollars in affiliate commissions is just not worth it.
Contribute Your Media to Canva
Canva needs to find their stock images and videos from someplace. That’s where you can come in.
If you are a photographer or videographer (pro or amateur), you can make money licensing your work product to Canva through their “Contributor” program.
If you love designing, this program is also open to your graphic designs and animated stickers.
Not only will your creations get access to tons of people worldwide (55 million people as of the date of this writing), you will make a commission each time someone uses your intellectual property.
It’s free to get started, so it’s very low risk. If you want to learn, here’s Canva’s page on this program.
Update: Due to high interest, they have currently paused new sign-ups, but I would check in periodically to see if this program opens up again. In the meantime, you can check out sites like Alamy and 500px.com if you want to become a contributor and sell your photos and videos.
Create an Online Course Using Canva
If you prefer a one and done way to make passive income with Canva, you can create an online course on how to use Canva. And of course, much of that course, will revolve around you showing people real world use of the Canva application.
I looked at places like Udemy (which is a popular online course platform) and saw a fair number of successful online courses doing exactly this.
Now, you may want to niche down a bit so there’s less competition (for example, you can focus on teaching people how to use Canva for designing logos, creating print on demand designs, or even target specific demographics, such as teachers or entrepreneurs).
Of course, this will require you to devote some time to really become an expert on Canva, but that shouldn’t really be a problem if you spend a good amount of time using the platform.
Plus you can pick up some really cool tips and tricks from experts on YouTube (there are tons of videos on this topic).
Of course, you are not limited to just teaching people how to use Canva. You can actually use Canva to create an online course on any topic that you have expertise on!
Conclusion
So there you have it – 9 great ways to make money using Canva, with pros tips on how to get started.
If you want to learn more about how to start a freelancing side gig (whether it is with Canva or with other platforms), check out my article on the 12 Easiest Freelance Jobs for Beginners [No Experience Required].
