Every creator gets the DM eventually. "Can you make one just for me?" A drawing of their dog. A birthday video for their best friend. A workout plan that works around a bad knee. A track with their partner's name in it.
It's the clearest buying signal you'll ever get: someone has already decided they want what you make and is asking how to pay for it. Most creators fumble it anyway. They name a number on the spot, sort out an EFT in the DMs, start work before the money arrives, and end up doing three rounds of changes for the price of one. This is how to do it properly.
What counts as custom work
Custom work is anything you make for one person, to their brief, that nobody else gets. It sits next to the other ways fans pay you:
| What it is | Who it suits | How it sells |
|---|---|---|
| A product (a PDF, a preset pack, a beat) | Anyone with something reusable | Make once, sell to many |
| A membership | Creators who post on a rhythm | A monthly payment for ongoing access |
| Custom work | Creators with a skill people want applied to them | One job, one buyer, one price |
A product sells while you sleep. Custom work only sells when someone asks, and it takes your time every single time. That's why it should cost more than anything else you sell.
Some ideas, by type of creator:
- Illustrators and designers: pet or family portraits, a logo for a side hustle, a phone wallpaper with someone's name in it.
- Musicians and producers: a custom beat, a verse, a short song for a wedding or anniversary.
- Photographers and editors: presets tuned to one person's photos, or an edit of their own shoot.
- Fitness and food creators: a plan built around one person's goals, budget, allergies or injuries.
- Writers and poets: a speech, a toast, a poem for a specific person.
- Comedians and personalities: a birthday, congratulations or "get well soon" video.
- Educators and niche experts: a 30-minute review of someone's CV, portfolio, channel or business plan.
Price it from your time, not from your nerves
The mistake is pricing custom work like a product. A product's price can be low because you sell it many times. A custom job you sell once, so the price has to cover the hours.
Work it out before anyone asks:
- Time the job honestly. Not the making alone: the back-and-forth in the DMs, the brief, the revisions, the delivery. A "quick" portrait that takes two hours to draw usually takes three once you count everything.
- Pick an hourly figure you'd be happy with. Multiply. That's your floor, not your price.
- Build a small menu. Two or three set options are easier to say yes to than "it depends". Price the top one high; it makes the middle one look sensible.
- Add the extras as extras. A rush job, more revisions or the right to use it commercially each cost more on top.
Here's what a menu might look like for an illustrator who does pet portraits. The prices are made up to show the shape, not a rate to copy:
| Option | What they get | Example price |
|---|---|---|
| Sketch | One pet, pencil-style, digital file | R200 |
| Full colour | One pet, full colour, digital file | R400 |
| Family | Up to three pets together, full colour | R750 |
| Rush | Delivered within 48 hours | +R150 |
| Extra round of changes | Beyond the one included | +R100 |
Note: if a business wants your custom work for its own marketing (a shout-out video for their shop, a jingle for their page), that's not a gift for a fan. It's an ad. Charge brand rates, not fan rates.
Once the menu exists, put it somewhere you can link to: a pinned post, a highlight, a note on your page. Then the next "how much?" DM takes ten seconds to answer.
Send a brief before you start
Half of all custom-work headaches come from not asking enough up front. Have a short message ready to paste:
Note: a brief to copy. "Love that you asked! To make it, I need: (1) the name or names and anything personal you want in it, (2) two or three photos or examples of what you like, (3) the date you need it by, and (4) which option you'd like from my menu. Once I have that I'll send the payment link, and I'll start as soon as it's paid."
Keep their answers. If they come back later saying it's not what they asked for, the brief is what you both agreed on.
Get paid first
This is the rule that saves you. No payment, no start. Fans who are serious about it don't mind paying up front; the ones who mind were never going to pay at the end either.
A few ways to make it stick:
- Use a payment link, not a screenshot. A link that takes the payment and tells you when it's cleared is better than asking people to EFT you and send proof. Proof-of-payment screenshots are easy to fake, and an EFT from another bank can take a while to land. Wait until the money is actually in your account.
- Take a deposit on big jobs. For anything that takes more than a day or two, ask for half up front and half before you hand over the final file.
- Send a taster. For work you've already made, send a watermarked preview or the first 15 seconds and release the full file once it's paid.
- Don't hand over an editable file until you're paid in full. A low-res preview is fine; the full-size file waits.
Agree on time and changes, in writing
Two things to say before you start, every time:
- When it'll be done. Give a date, not "soon". Add a few days of buffer. Delivering early feels like a gift; delivering late feels like a broken promise.
- How many changes are included. One round is normal. After that, each round is an extra on your menu. Say so in the brief so it's never a surprise.
It also helps to decide, once, what you won't make. Nothing hateful, nothing featuring someone who hasn't agreed to it, nothing you'd be embarrassed to see shared with your name on it. Saying "that's not something I make" is easier when you've already decided.
Turn one happy buyer into the next one
Custom work sells on word of mouth more than anything else you do. When someone loves what you made:
- Ask if you can share it. Their reaction ("she cried reading it", "he's made it his lock screen") will sell the next job better than anything you could post yourself. Always ask first; it was made for them.
- Show the process. A time-lapse of the portrait or a clip of the beat coming together is content in its own right, and it shows people what they'd be paying for.
- Spot the repeat requests. If five people ask for nearly the same thing, that's a product. Make a version you can sell to everyone at a lower price, and keep custom work for the people who want it to be theirs alone.
The checklist
- Write a menu of two or three options with prices, plus extras for rush jobs and extra changes.
- Save your brief message somewhere you can paste it from.
- Set up a way to take payment through a link, so you're not chasing EFTs.
- Rule: no payment, no start. Deposits for big jobs.
- Give a delivery date and say how many changes are included.
- Ask happy buyers if you can share their reaction.