Making Money Taking Photos
Selling photos can be a great way to make extra money. With mobile phone cameras getting better and better all the time, more and more people are cultivating their skills as photographers. With ‘selfies’ becoming a daily routine for almost every human being on this planet, we all get to showcase our sense of photographic art.
There are many ways to make money selling your photos. Some options make you money right away, while others require you to work now whilst you get paid later. Some options can earn you some side hustle money, while others have the potential to bring in a full time income. Stock photo sites and platforms are the easiest place to sell your photos. You don’t have to rely on customers seeking out your art. Instead, you just upload your images to a website where the users are already looking for your images. You simply upload and list photos that people are looking for. The secret being to optimize the information and tag the photo, so it shows up when someone types in their search for a specific image.
Stock images are often licensed. They are made available once the user pays a fee, which then goes to the artist who produced the images. A minor cut of the fee will go to the website that hosts the photo archive. Often, stock images are produced for editorial use. They may appear in online newspapers or magazines. There are tons of websites available for you to upload your photos onto in order to make some money. The way platforms that sell stock photos help you make the most money, is by not selling exclusive rights to your photos. Instead they allow multiple buyers purchase an image, in order to optimise your earnings.
When selling stock photos, it’s important to read the guidelines. Each stock photo platform has a specific set of guidelines.
How To Sell Your Photos
The easiest way to immediately sell your photos online is by selling them as stock photos on platforms such as Shutterstock or iStock. You simply sign up and upload a couple of photos. Start with your best work as your chances of getting accepted depends on it. You should receive your acceptance to their platform within a day or two, and be able to start uploading your photos. Your images will most likely have to pass a quick quality check. But in no time people from all across the globe will be able to enjoy and pay to use your art in their different projects.
As a photographer on a stock photo platform, you are referred to as a contributor or called stock photographer. While the businesses or blog and website owners that are purchasing the right to use your photos are called the users or members of the stock photo platform. Different stock photo platforms, have different profit share methods with their contributors. They have different purchasing methods and licensing. However, you should be aware that most stock photos companies take a big cut of the pie. Which is why the most profitable way to sell your photos is to sell your photos on your own website. If you’re really smart, do both. Just make sure you are compliant with the terms and conditions of the platform you are working with.
- Sign up to one or more stock photo website
- Read the terms and conditions
- Take great photos
- Submit your stock photos
- People buy your images
- You get paid a small commission for each sale
Best Selling Photos
Before you embark on your photographers journey, decide whether you are taking photos to make a living or as a part time hobby. As my blog is made for people who want to make money online, I will cover the business aspect of taking photos. If you want to build a successful business as a freelance photographer, you have to think in terms of supply and demand. What type of images do the people need the most? Which types of images are they buying the most of? Well, stock images are heavily used in business and marketing. Consider the images this type of audience is requesting.
- People
- People working
- Office environments
- Buildings
- Cities
- Tools
- Travel
- Nature
- Food
Know These Legal Terms
You always own the copyright to your photography. When you sell your images online, you donate sell those rights. Instead, you are selling the right to use your photo in the specific terms, which you dictate when you upload the photos. Here are some basic terms you want to learn before you sell photos online:
- Royalty free
- Copyright free
- Commercial use
- Editorial use
- Creative use
- Retail use
- Exclusive rights
- Non-exclusive rights
If you include identifiable people in your photos, make sure you prepare and have a written agreement between you and the models before selling the photos. Otherwise, you can get into big legal problems. Spare yourself the headache, and always have your agreements in place.
Starting a Blog and YouTube Channel
As your following and audience grows, your potential to earn income from it increases, as well. If you’re providing valuable content and marketing yourself well, these two elements can grow to earn you thousands of dollars per month. To start a blog or YouTube channel, you will need a few basic skills:
- Writing skills
- Teaching skills
- Communication skills
- Recording and editing skills
A Photographers Salary
As a professional photographer your annual earnings depend on a variety of factors. What type of photography you offer? How much competition is there is in your niche? A full-time photographer can make anywhere between $30,000 and $75,000 per year. You don’t have to go all in, full-time, to start your photography career. You can get into photography part-time, until things start to kick off, and you can see that it will be financially sustainable as a career.
With stock photos you can earn $0.40 for each download. That’s on average. You can earn anything between $0.10 and $10 for each royalty-free download. For extended license downloads you can make a lot more. For these downloads you can make up to $100 per photo. However all this depends on the platform and the quality and quantity of your photos.
Sell Your Photos as Art
Another way photographers can make money is to sell their photos as downloadable art. Upload your artistic photos for people to download and get printed and framed. Selling your photos as a downloadable product for this type of business model means less work for you. You don’t have to print, frame or ship the item. The buyer frames the photo themselves or takes it to a store to get framed.
Take Pictures for Family and Friends
A really good way to get your freelance photographer business kick started, is by offering your services to family and friends. Start by offering your services at a highly discounted price. You can even take some pictures for free in order to build a website portfolio that leads to paid work. Spread the word about your business on social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Share your work so people can see your great photography skills. If you really want to go all in, set up a small studio in a spare room in your home.
Experiment with different events. Practise makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to take lots of pictures as you go along. Keep working on your skills and make money in the process.
Here are some types of photo shoots you can do to get your carrier as a freelance photographer started:
- Newborn photo shoots
- Pet photo shoots
- Family portraits
- Anniversary photo shoots
- Birthday photo shoots
Market Yourself
As with most online businesses, social media is a great way to connect with people when you’re starting a photography business. As I already mentioned, the best platforms to promote yourself are Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Target your niche and audience. Remember, that you are competing with known photographers, so spend time building up your profile and audience through social media and blogging. Be active each day. Join communities and add value to those communities. Make it a goal to create a daily post or multiple posts per day on each of these platforms.
Social Media platforms are built on showing people images, so use it to your advantage. Interact and engage with other users daily. Users with constant posts will show up in timelines. Use relevant hashtags on your posts. Hashtags make sure that your posts show up to the relevant audience. This is a great way to gain followers and building a brand name for yourself.
When blogging, talk about funny stories from the events you attend or share an interesting moment from your photo shoots. Whenever you travel, share those travel photos. Show your audience why seeing the world through the lens of your camera and perspective is special. Being a professional photographer is not easy. But you don’t want easy. Easy come easy go. You want to build a future, where you do what you love. If that’s taking pictures, then you should absolutely give it a try.
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