Let me share a true story with you first.
I have a friend named Xiaomin, a full-time stay-at-home mom with a two-year-old kid. She tried all sorts of side hustles before: she got scammed doing online order brushing, couldn’t sell anything as a WeChat business vendor, and just wasn’t cut out for article writing. At the end of last year, she said to me, “Am I never going to make a single penny?”
Guess what happened? This March, she suddenly sent me a red envelope and said, “Treat yourself to milk tea on me.” When I asked her why, she told me she’d earned over 10,000 RMB the previous month drawing pictures with AI.
I was totally shocked. She’s never taken a sketching class and has never even held a paintbrush—how did she pull this off?
She explained: “I use Midjourney to draw custom avatars and children’s picture books for clients. I charge dozens of RMB per avatar, and two to three hundred for a full picture book set. As I kept taking orders, old clients referred new ones, and my business blew up.”
Today I’ll break down her complete method for you. You don’t need any drawing or design skills at all; all you have to do is operate a computer and learn a handful of prompts to get started.
I. What exactly is this business selling?
Simply put, two core services:
1. Custom personalized avatars
Have you noticed that lots of people on WeChat, Xiaohongshu and Douyin use profile pictures that look like them but aren’t actual photos? For example, stylized versions of themselves in Disney, Studio Ghibli or cute chibi cartoon styles.
These people are willing to pay money for this service. Hand-drawn custom avatars cost anywhere from 50 to several hundred RMB, while AI can generate a polished high-quality version in just a few minutes.
2. Custom children’s picture books
Say your child loves dinosaurs and princesses, but you can’t find a book titled The Dinosaur Princess’ Adventure anywhere in stores. You can use AI to create an exclusive original story featuring your child’s name, paired with custom illustrations to make a one-of-a-kind picture book.
Parents absolutely love this idea. As birthday or holiday gifts, a personalized book tailored to their child feels far more meaningful than a generic toy, even for just a few dozen RMB.
II. Three simple tools you’ll need
All tools are either free or low-cost:
- Midjourney (top recommendation for best image quality)
- It requires network access and starts at $10 per month. If you don’t want to pay upfront, domestic free alternatives like Tongyi Wanxiang and Jimeng work great. Newcomers should practice with free platforms first before upgrading to paid tools.
- Xiaohongshu and Xianyu accounts
- These are your order channels. Xiaohongshu showcases your artwork to attract potential customers, while Xianyu lets you list services to capture search traffic. It’s best to set up both platforms.
- Basic photo editing software
- Meitu Xiuxiu or Xingtu are more than enough. You’ll occasionally need to fix minor AI generation flaws, such as extra fingers or misaligned eyes.
III. Lesson One: Generate stunning avatars with AI
Don’t feel intimidated by prompts—I’ll give you a universal template you can simply tweak as needed.
Universal Avatar Prompt Template
A cute [gender] portrait, [age] years old, [hairstyle and outfit description], [art style] style, [background details], soft lighting, high quality, 4k --ar 1:1
Example
If you want an avatar of a 3-year-old girl with double ponytails in a pink dress, Disney style with a garden backdrop:
A cute girl portrait, 3 years old, double ponytails and pink dress, Disney style, garden background, soft lighting, high quality, 4k --ar 1:1
Style keyword reference (copy directly)
- Disney style: Disney style, cute, big expressive eyes
- Studio Ghibli: Studio Ghibli style, soft muted colors
- Chibi cute cartoon: chibi style, kawaii aesthetic
- Photorealistic: realistic, portrait photography
- Watercolor: watercolor painting, soft washes
- Pixar 3D animation: Pixar 3D render style
Step-by-step workflow
- Open Midjourney or your free domestic AI drawing tool
- Paste your customized prompt and generate 4 preview images
- Select the most accurate portrait and press U to upscale it
- Touch up small imperfections like extra fingers or crooked eyes in Meitu Xiuxiu
- Finished
Once you’re proficient, the whole process takes less than 5 minutes per avatar.
IV. Lesson Two: Create custom children’s picture books
Picture books are slightly more complex than avatars, but they follow a fixed repeatable workflow.
Step 1: Generate the children’s story text with AI
Prompt template:
Write a short children’s story with the protagonist named [Child’s Name], aged [X years old], who loves [animals/toys/colors]. Split the story across 5–7 pages, with one short sentence per page. The core theme should be [bravery/kindness/sharing], and end with a warm uplifting closing line.
Example prompt
“The protagonist is Xiaoyue, 3 years old, who loves rabbits and little stars. The story theme is bravery.”
The AI will output a story draft like this:
Page 1: Xiaoyue stares at the stars by her window, wishing she could touch them.
Page 2: A rabbit hops through the window and says, “I’ll take you there!”
……
Step 2: Split the story into page-by-page image descriptions
Ask the AI to convert the story into individual Midjourney prompts automatically:
Extract a separate Midjourney prompt for each page of the above story. Every prompt must include the protagonist’s features (Xiaoyue, 3-year-old girl with straight bangs), scene details, and art style (watercolor picture book style). Ensure the character’s appearance stays consistent across all pages.
Step 3: Generate illustrations page by page with consistent character likeness
This is the most critical trick: how to make the AI draw the same child consistently. Use the character reference image function.
On Midjourney, upload a finalized avatar of Xiaoyue first and copy its image link. Add --cref [image link] to the end of every page prompt, and the AI will maintain her facial features throughout all scenes.
If your free tool lacks this function, use the backup workaround: repeatedly describe the child’s features in every prompt, e.g. “Xiaoyue, 3 years old, straight bangs, round face, big eyes”. Minor inconsistencies won’t stand out much in picture book illustration styles.
Step 4: Layout and printing
Use Canva (free) to combine text and illustrations into A4-sized spreads, with one image and one sentence per page. Export as a PDF file. You can either send the PDF directly to clients for self-printing, or find print shops on Taobao that produce physical books for roughly 20–30 RMB each.
V. How to launch and grow your business
Recommended pricing (avoid underpricing or overpricing)
- Single avatar: 29–59 RMB (price varies by complexity)
- Full 5–7 page picture book set: 199–299 RMB (includes story writing, illustrations and layout; printing not included)
- Avatar + picture book bundle package: 299–399 RMB
Xiaomin originally charged only 19 RMB for avatars and 99 RMB for picture books. Later she realized rock-bottom prices attracted overly demanding, picky clients. After raising prices to 39 RMB for avatars and 199 RMB for picture books, clients treated her work with more respect and referrals increased drastically.
Build your order channels
Channel 1: Xiaohongshu (portfolio & lead generation)
Create an account with a name like “XX AI Illustration Studio”. Post 2–3 notes daily featuring:
- Finished client avatars (e.g. “Disney-style avatar made for little Xiaoyue”)
- Picture book interior page samples (e.g. “A one-of-a-kind star adventure story custom-made for a 3-year-old”)
- Before-and-after comparison shots (client reference photo vs AI-generated avatar)
Write eye-catching titles such as “Stay-at-home mom takes orders from home, earn a milk tea’s worth of cash per avatar” or “I custom-made an exclusive picture book for my kid—it’s priceless”.
Add relevant hashtags at the end of every post: #AIAvatar #CustomPictureBook #SideHustleForMoms #ChildIllustration
Channel 2: Xianyu (search-driven sales platform)
List two separate product listings:
- Listing title: “Custom AI hand-drawn avatars, Disney/Ghibli styles starting at 39 RMB”
- Description: Attach sample artwork, state clearly “Send me your photo or description and I’ll create your avatar; free revisions if unsatisfied”.
- Listing title: “Custom children’s picture books, your child as the main character, unique storybooks starting at 199 RMB”
- Description: Upload 3–5 sample interior pages, specify packages include original story writing, full illustrations and layout (physical printing not included).
The biggest advantage of Xianyu is organic search traffic—users actively search keywords like “custom avatar”, so your listings attract free passive leads.
Deliver beyond client expectations (the secret to endless referrals)
Xiaomin’s core trick is simple: for every single avatar order, deliver three distinct style variations instead of just one.
If a client orders a Disney-style avatar, she also generates an extra chibi version and watercolor version for free, and tells them: “I tried two extra styles I thought you’d love—they’re complimentary for you to swap as profile pictures.”
Clients feel like they’ve gotten an amazing deal and can’t help posting the artwork on their WeChat Moments to show off. Every social media post generates new inquiries from their friends, which drives a steady stream of referrals.
VI. Real case breakdown: How Xiaomin hit over 10,000 RMB monthly revenue
Here are her third-month earnings figures to illustrate the profit potential:
- Avatar orders: 65 orders, average order value 45 RMB, total 2,925 RMB
- Picture book orders: 18 orders, average order value 230 RMB, total 4,140 RMB
- Avatar + picture book bundle packages: 12 orders, average order value 350 RMB, total 4,200 RMB
- Total monthly revenue: 11,265 RMB
More than half of these orders came from old client referrals. Every happy customer shares their custom artwork in mom groups and social media, prompting others to ask for the artist’s contact information.
VII. Three common pitfalls to avoid
Pitfall 1: Ignoring minor image retouching, resulting in malformed limbs
AI portrait generation frequently has glitches such as six fingers, lopsided eyes or unnatural teeth. Master Meitu Xiuxiu’s object eraser and reshaping tools—they only take 10 minutes to learn. Neglecting edits will lead to full refunds from dissatisfied clients.
Pitfall 2: Inconsistent character appearance across picture book pages
If your protagonist Xiaoyue has straight bangs on page one and center-parted hair on page two, parents will find the illustration jarring. Fix this by using the --cref character reference tool, or repeating the full character description in every page prompt.
Pitfall 3: Failing to reject unreasonable client requests
Some clients send blurry, unrecognizable photos and demand a lifelike avatar. Set clear expectations upfront: “Blurry reference photos impact the final likeness; please reshoot a clear front-facing photo for best results.” Otherwise, clients will blame your skills for inaccurate portraits.
VIII. Immediate action checklist to start your business
- Today: Register Midjourney or Jimeng, generate your first test avatar using the template prompts provided above.
- Tomorrow: Create Xiaohongshu and Xianyu accounts, publish 3 portfolio notes and list your two service products.
- This week: Make free avatars for three friends in exchange for positive review screenshots and social media testimonials.
- Next week: Officially start accepting orders. Offer a discounted introductory rate to your first client, and remember to send two extra complimentary style variations.
- Next month: Once order volume picks up, organize all reusable prompts and standardized workflows into a document to limit each project to under 20 minutes of working time.
One honest truth: This business has no high technical barriers. The only competitive edge is taking action earlier than everyone else. In half a year’s time, countless people will be offering AI drawing services, and it will be far harder to break into the market.
Open your computer and test generating your first avatar right now.
Wishing you your first client arrives very soon.
Final piece of advice: Reading through a guide once is nowhere near as valuable as putting the methods into practice.