If you are wondering about selling photography online the first thing you need to do, is decide exactly what you are trying to attain. You do have a lot of options and there's good money to be made selling photo images, but if you select the wrong system to do it, you won't make any money and you may probably suck all the joy out of your photography also.
Deciding what you want to do with your photography isn't simple. Obviously everyone wants to sell a whole lot of pictures and make a pile of cash, but you have to be realistic. You have to temper what you would like from all this with what you're actually prepared to do about it.
If you want real money from selling your photography you want to approach it as serious business. If you simply desire a little bit of loose change from your pastime, then there is a few easy ways you can go about it, but if you're chasing career changing earnings, you're in for lots of work.
You'll have to invest time and effort and cash, and you shouldn't be expecting to quite the real job any time soon!
That said , a job in photography is as much about the lifestyle as the cash for most pros, so do not let that put you off if it's your passion. I only mention it to keep things pragmatic.
As appealing as a photography career might seem, it's a business like every other. It's going to take long term effort and time, and like any other business, success isn't always guaranteed.
The good news is, it is one business that's particularly well suited to being developed part time, so a proficient and persistent photographer probably stands a better chance than somebody relying on their new business to put food on the table.
So what's the right option for you? Well obviously that is something you'll need to decide, but here are the 3 main ways folks are earning from photography right now.
Selling Stock Photography:
For the most part, this is best left to the more proficient photographers. It's a super- competitive industry which has been absolutely flooded by mediocre photographs in recent years. Unless you are bringing something new to the table, there is no point just adding more of the same.
Having said that , if you're talented and creative, and prepared to work at it, there is a bonafide opportunity developing to stand proud of the crowd and build a lucrative & sustainable business. To try this well you want to consistently look for new markets, identify potential buyers, examine their photo wishes and supply new and unique material.
Stock photography is no longer a matter of submitting thousands of random photographs to a library and waiting for sales. Those days are well past.
In the new market, you need to service specific clients needs better than anybody else with an ongoing supply of high quality original pictures. And if you are making that kind of investment, the smart photographers are walking away from the Microstocks and demanding fair and reasonable payment for their work.
Photo Prints & Products
If you are not so determined to make life-changing income from your photography, photo prints and products can be a much better option. There are some wonderful photo-product and fulfilment services on the web now that make this a breeze.
Essentially you upload pictures, select product types and create a 'shop'. A few of these websites offer a variety of print sizes, posters, canvas prints and all sorts of paper products such as gift vouchers and calendars. Most also include present items, office supplies and even clothing items, anything at all that your photos can be written on.
When the customers buy your produce the website accepts payment, prints your image on the required item, and then handles delivery.
For the amateur photographer aiming to make money from photography, this is the perfect platform. When you upload photographs and set up your store, you can sit back and wait, or you can get pro-active and promote your shop to drive even more targeted visitors to view your offerings. If you're trying to find where to sell photography, check for our fulfilment service recommendations at the end of this post.
Photography as Content
A last option that most folks overlook is by using your photography as website content, and this is a nice option for the web-savvy photographer looking to make some money online from their photography.
The unlucky fact is, most photo web sites don't make a cent, because most photography internet site owners never stop to think about who their visitors are. The reality is, most visitors to photographer internet site are photographers themselves and they are never going to buy prints or other photograph products. Sadly though, photo prints and photography products are the sole monetisation most site owners implement.
So when I talk of photography-as-content, I'm recommending you use your photography to attract visitors to your Internet site, and then use other strategies to generate income from your site, particularly relevant affiliate programs and advertising options.
So how do you decide where to sell photography?
If you are a gifted and creative paparazzo, and you are prepared to work long-term to build a serious business, you can't go past stock photography. It's no longer a hands-free submit and wait business, but the rewards are much better than ever for those photographers prepared to do the hard yards.
If you are just hunting for some additional cashflow from a hobby you like, I'd have to counsel selling photos and photograph products through an achievement service. You can grow your revenue by adding more pictures and more products. And you can send it into over-drive by sending focused net traffic to your shop.
And if you're a budding webmaster and a cameraman, I would have to suggest the Instant Photo Web Sites approach using photography as content.
However you choose to start selling photo images, always remember why you're doing it. You got into this because you love making great photographs, so take care you never let the commercial aspects over power your enthusiasm for great photography.
In other words, whichever approach you take, don't forget to switch the computer off frequently and get out to make some hot new photographs!
Deciding what you want to do with your photography isn't simple. Obviously everyone wants to sell a whole lot of pictures and make a pile of cash, but you have to be realistic. You have to temper what you would like from all this with what you're actually prepared to do about it.
If you want real money from selling your photography you want to approach it as serious business. If you simply desire a little bit of loose change from your pastime, then there is a few easy ways you can go about it, but if you're chasing career changing earnings, you're in for lots of work.
You'll have to invest time and effort and cash, and you shouldn't be expecting to quite the real job any time soon!
That said , a job in photography is as much about the lifestyle as the cash for most pros, so do not let that put you off if it's your passion. I only mention it to keep things pragmatic.
As appealing as a photography career might seem, it's a business like every other. It's going to take long term effort and time, and like any other business, success isn't always guaranteed.
The good news is, it is one business that's particularly well suited to being developed part time, so a proficient and persistent photographer probably stands a better chance than somebody relying on their new business to put food on the table.
So what's the right option for you? Well obviously that is something you'll need to decide, but here are the 3 main ways folks are earning from photography right now.
Selling Stock Photography:
For the most part, this is best left to the more proficient photographers. It's a super- competitive industry which has been absolutely flooded by mediocre photographs in recent years. Unless you are bringing something new to the table, there is no point just adding more of the same.
Having said that , if you're talented and creative, and prepared to work at it, there is a bonafide opportunity developing to stand proud of the crowd and build a lucrative & sustainable business. To try this well you want to consistently look for new markets, identify potential buyers, examine their photo wishes and supply new and unique material.
Stock photography is no longer a matter of submitting thousands of random photographs to a library and waiting for sales. Those days are well past.
In the new market, you need to service specific clients needs better than anybody else with an ongoing supply of high quality original pictures. And if you are making that kind of investment, the smart photographers are walking away from the Microstocks and demanding fair and reasonable payment for their work.
Photo Prints & Products
If you are not so determined to make life-changing income from your photography, photo prints and products can be a much better option. There are some wonderful photo-product and fulfilment services on the web now that make this a breeze.
Essentially you upload pictures, select product types and create a 'shop'. A few of these websites offer a variety of print sizes, posters, canvas prints and all sorts of paper products such as gift vouchers and calendars. Most also include present items, office supplies and even clothing items, anything at all that your photos can be written on.
When the customers buy your produce the website accepts payment, prints your image on the required item, and then handles delivery.
For the amateur photographer aiming to make money from photography, this is the perfect platform. When you upload photographs and set up your store, you can sit back and wait, or you can get pro-active and promote your shop to drive even more targeted visitors to view your offerings. If you're trying to find where to sell photography, check for our fulfilment service recommendations at the end of this post.
Photography as Content
A last option that most folks overlook is by using your photography as website content, and this is a nice option for the web-savvy photographer looking to make some money online from their photography.
The unlucky fact is, most photo web sites don't make a cent, because most photography internet site owners never stop to think about who their visitors are. The reality is, most visitors to photographer internet site are photographers themselves and they are never going to buy prints or other photograph products. Sadly though, photo prints and photography products are the sole monetisation most site owners implement.
So when I talk of photography-as-content, I'm recommending you use your photography to attract visitors to your Internet site, and then use other strategies to generate income from your site, particularly relevant affiliate programs and advertising options.
So how do you decide where to sell photography?
If you are a gifted and creative paparazzo, and you are prepared to work long-term to build a serious business, you can't go past stock photography. It's no longer a hands-free submit and wait business, but the rewards are much better than ever for those photographers prepared to do the hard yards.
If you are just hunting for some additional cashflow from a hobby you like, I'd have to counsel selling photos and photograph products through an achievement service. You can grow your revenue by adding more pictures and more products. And you can send it into over-drive by sending focused net traffic to your shop.
And if you're a budding webmaster and a cameraman, I would have to suggest the Instant Photo Web Sites approach using photography as content.
However you choose to start selling photo images, always remember why you're doing it. You got into this because you love making great photographs, so take care you never let the commercial aspects over power your enthusiasm for great photography.
In other words, whichever approach you take, don't forget to switch the computer off frequently and get out to make some hot new photographs!
About the Author:
Brad Stephens uses all of the methods in this article to sell photography online. He contributes to and recommends GlobalEye Photo Stock Agency, he likes to sell prints and photo products through Zazzle and he swears by the Instant Photo Web Sites approach using photography as content.
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