Do you want to get paid for selling photos? Here are a few simple ideas for how to do so.
Choose a Photo Sharing Service
You have two options when it comes to choosing a photo sharing service. You could choose a free service, such as Google, Yahoo, Flickr, or Photobucket. Or you could use a paid online photo sharing service, such as Printroom.com, Shutterstock.com, or SmugMug.com.
Using a photo sharing service allows you to have the photos that you take processed professionally. This is key!
Either type of service, free or paid, will allow you to be successful. But the ones you pay for, obviously, have many advantages. (If you’re just looking to test out the effectiveness of a photography business without incurring any expenses, I recommend you start with a free online sharing service.)
Note that the free services won’t let you you set prices on your photos. Viewers can purchase your photos, but you won’t get any money for those purchases.
You should practice setting prices on the paid services, which give you the option to do so. Most of the services suggest a basic price per size of photo.
You decide the amount of profit and include it in the price that viewers will see. With paid services, make sure to set prices for the specialty items that most of these services offer. These items include mugs, key chains, t-shirts, and puzzles.
While specialty items are useful and offer options to your customers, properly pricing your photos is one of the main reasons to use paid services. There can be exceptions, however, such as in the case of sports photography.
Cultivate a Web Presence
All photographers, experienced and amateur, who want to be taken seriously must have a “web presence.”
A web presence will help you build your portfolio, link you with potential clients, expose you to more viewers, and get people talking about and linking to your work. What’s even better, however, is that you’ll also get some form of income from your online presence.
Be aware that although it’s important to establish your web presence, you shouldn’t make the mistake of assuming that everyone is on the internet. Some people aren’t!
Even photography customers who are willing and able to view their photos online don’t typically have much confidence in e-commerce. They prefer to do business traditionally: face-to-face and person-to-person.
So a web presence is very important to have, but don’t rely on it so much that you forget about your offline customers.
Always Get Email Addresses
You should get into the habit of getting the email addresses of your potential customers. Sure, give them yours if that’s a part of your marketing strategy. But make sure that you ask them for theirs.
Why? Because, in my opinion, when people give their email addresses after I request them, they have given me permission to send them emails.
I make sure I don’t spam people, but I do send them notices when I update a photo gallery or do anything else that would be relevant to them.
As a rule, I don’t attempt to sell through email. I only use email addresses to keep in touch with my followers, to build a relationship with them, and to keep my photography brand in front of them.
Leveraging email is a tightrope that business owners must attempt to walk if they want to add another avenue of growth to their companies.
Dealing with photography businesses is something fashion manufacturer Wiseman Clothing has a lot of experience in. Niall Rice, the co-founder, agrees that spam emailing should be avoided.
If you’re going to do email marketing, or whatever term you want to affix to emailing your clients/potential clients, you should always do it sparingly. There’s nothing I hate more than having to unsubscribe constantly. But if you email me once a month, and it’s personally done, maybe I won’t unsubscribe. Yet!
Know Your Niche
Everyone likes to be original and stand out from the crowd. But when it comes to making money, your clients are looking for a particular product, so you need to meet their expectations.
The truth hurts, but believe me, that’s how it is. Here are some strategies for delivering well on different types of photography.
Model Headshots
Establish an online album/portfolio for each model and consider password protecting the photos. I personally enjoy using this service for model headshots. In my experience, models seem to have a need to look at photos of themselves for a very long time.
Having private portfolios allows them unlimited time to do so and gives them the ability to share their private portfolios with others.
Sports Photography
Establish a gallery for each team. Prior to shooting the event, print business cards (or utilize other marketing tools) that have the online gallery’s URL on them.
In the category of sports photography, customers often purchase specialty items such as mugs, buttons, puzzles, t-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, key chains, and so on.
Photojournalism
In this category, you must establish a portfolio. Your portfolio might include local community events or “slice-of-life” photos, which are photos that fall broadly within the stock photography niche.
I live in California, which offers me a wide selection of events, activities, “celebrity sightings,” and other public photography opportunities.
Having business cards (and/or other marketing tools) with my URL on them allows people who are interested in my work to follow up with me. Creating business cards with your URL is an essential first step for this category.
Portraits
When creating portraits, you should establish albums for each portrait job. In this category, setting prices is important. Of course, pricing is important in all niches, but portrait pricing has a certain quality value in my experience.
Selling Photos: Getting Paid for What You Love
Like any new business, growing a photography business requires work, drive, and ambition. Where you take your company depends on you. I simply enjoy taking photos and getting paid for it!
Danielle Herman
Latest posts by Danielle Herman (see all)
- How to Get Paid for Selling Photos - October 31, 2018
Great Blog, It helps me a lot in selling my photos. And now I can have more opportunity to sell my photos on various platforms.
Check out – http://www.cricmama.com/
Thanks for sharing such useful information with us. for people who love photography, this post is a real treat.
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I too have passion for photography but never thought of getting paid for it. You have laid some pretty good tips to make it easier. Thanks for sharing.
I am very happy to know that I can get some money to sell my photos. I think this post be helpful to the people who are occasional photographers.
Hi
Thank you so much for the tips. You nailed it. As a traveler, now I can earn more money for my bucket list.
There is a really big market for stock photos. But most photos will not cut it as high income earning stock images. Instead I often offer many of my images up for free in exchange for credit in the form of a backlink to one of my sites. This is a great way to promote your site, build up your brand and boost your website SEO
very interesting post bro. you have solved my half of the problem. the tips you have mentioned in this post are just amazing
interesting stuff to read…… and it is also important for photographers. thanks for sharing it with us…
Thank you for the amazing tips. Its really helpful for me, awaiting for more new post. keep updating us with an awesome content like this.
Hi, very interesting post. I wanted to know whether I could earn money from my own photo gallery. Now, I know very well. Thanks to the author of this post.
Excellent points shared thanks for the tips. these will sure help the photographers to make money I like your blogs keep it up!!!
keep sharing!!!!!
yeah I totally agree with you bro you need find one niche and work hard to achieve there desired result but most us just want the shortest way to success .thanks for sharing this valuable information Danielle Herman
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Thanks – that was very helpful! I’m hoping to apply some of these tips on my travel blog, I take 1000’s of photos when i travel.
Really useful tips, but, sincerely, sell content in the biggest stock photos like shutterstock still worth the work?
Hi Fernando,
I believe if you did some research on what content creators needed you could upload fewer photos and make more money.
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Hi Danielle/ Thank you for the tips on how to convert photos into profit. I really like your blogs. Thank you again.
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Thanks. I have learned something new about selling photography, I have been thinking about starting to sell images online and this article has give me a head up on how to get started.
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Portrait pricing is different from other categories. They have sentimental value and are more personal so these attributes affect the pricing strategy. Thank you for your tips of selling photos, they are solid ideas.
Hello Danielle,
Great Work here. I appreciate the information that you provided us, fellow bloggers and photographers. I’ve been selling my photos for over a year now. Gotta say it pays my bills and all. Kudos to you and keep up the good work.
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We should not start with free photo sharing service. These are not good and ruin your online photo selling business. However you should start with cheap photo sharing services, a paid service is good howsoever little paid one it may be. One should focus more on unique creativity and should not copy others ideas.
hi Danielle,
It’s an excellent idea for making some bucks by selling photos. Great sharing. Hope this helps new photographers to make money by following their passion.
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Thanks for giving useful tips for selling the photos, In this way, we can make money from photography work.
It’s a great idea for making some bucks by selling photos. Great sharing. Hope this helps new photographers to make money by following their passion.
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Thanks for the tips but what niche do you recommend to get the most out of your photos? What’s in demand right now?
Using the business model of selling through online portals you can target and test all styles of photography and see for yourself how the market is.
Outside of that, this will depend on your drive and what’s around you or available. Make connections and see what is needed where you are.
D
If photographers learn to use keyword tools like Ubersuggest or content tools like BuzzSumo they can upload photos related to the most popular content.
Content creators and site developers are the primary market for photographs. Upload what they need to sell more.
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Smart tips Danielle. I vibe with growing your online presence. This works wonders in any niche. If you network and make buddies you are likely to sell a bunch more photos.
Its important for photographer to decide the niche and then have a good photos of it.
You have guide it properly in your article.
Nice work.
HI
NICE That’s really very helpful post you’ve made about setting photos stuff! Appreciated! The people should focus on one niche and work continuously seeking better results. That would bring good results out of their work. and useful mesing post and same time sage and it is interest same time it was useful too me there is serach awesome message it useful for future and it can be interesting
thank you
That’s really very helpful post you’ve made about setting photos stuff! Appreciated! The people should focus on one niche and work continuously seeking better results. That would bring good results out of their work.