We all have a penchant to take snaps, don’t we? While some of them are professional, others are amateur. But don’t worry both can make you some real cash if you know that instead of uploading those photos to social media quickly you can turn your hobby into a source of income. One way to make money selling photos online is by selling them as “stock photos”. There are many stock photography websites available which are willing to pay you for unique and natural photos related to a particular object, concept or a phenomenon or just a local photo (no selfies, though!).
Almost everyone can make money selling photos online, you can also do it while you are doing your full-time job. Its easy, all you need is a bit of spare time, a decent camera (can also be of your smartphone’s camera) and ability to take picture without shaking your hands.
To get started to make money selling photos online, first make sure that you have a number of unique pictures captured by you in your bucket in order to create a large portfolio of pictures to display.
Sign up at stock photo website’s (choose some from listed below), for beginners i would recommend shutterstock.com and dreamstime.com. Now say you have 100 pictures in your camera, then upload any 10 of your favorite photos from it, they can be simplest kind of but make sure that your photos make the people say Wow!
Which are the best website’s to sell stock photos?
Since there are ton of websites dedicated to buying and selling of photographs on the internet, there are many people who want to know which among these are best which also pays best in order to make money selling photos online. So i myself tried few of them and put together this list of websites which can turn your creativity into cash.
- Shutterstock: This website is recognized as king of microstock market considering the fact that it has a staggering amount of 35 million stock images. Shutterstock pays around $0.25 to $28 each time an photo of yours sell and the minimum payout threshold is $100. If you’re new to selling photos online, don’t forget to check out their Contributor Success Guide for few handy tips which is free.
- Dreamstime: Another great site where you can sell stock images, its free to join but on this site your images will need approval before they can be stacked for sale. Its minimum requirement is 3 megapixel in terms of size. Your images will be valued according to their sliding ranking scale, in which the more of your images are downloaded the more value you get. Your commission on each photo can reach to maximum of 50-60 per cent. In certain situations they also give bonus.
- iStock: Now apart from the free registration, getting registered on this site is bit of a challenge as you have to take a quiz plus share sample photos to get accepted. Sales of photos here can earn you a royalty rate of 30-40% on every photo as an exclusive contributor.
- Fotolia
- Foap
What kind of photos sell best?
On that i must say that Portrait photos/Peoples pictures sell best overall but they must be doing something such as convey an emotion like fear, joy, frustration or concept like success, addiction or wealth.
Other than that i would suggest you to sell landscape photographs, your travel photographs that describe’s being in that location well and tabletop photographs.
I also found out that mostly buyers are looking for photos that can be easily republished elsewhere which involves very simple images on white backgrounds, like pictures of cats, dogs, or any basic thing maybe in your household which they can Photoshop onto a different background.
The simpler the photograph, the more chances of getting it sold out on stock photography sites.
Not all the photos that you submit to photo stock sites will get approved. But don’t panic as it may not be because your photos are not up to scratch. Don’t give up, keep trying.
How much i can make selling photos online?
What is it if you are trying to make money selling photos online but in the end the amount you receive is not meaningful. I mean anything less than $50 a month, may not be worth it right? Basically it all depends on how much time and effort you put in (i will recommend at least 4 days a week) and always remember that doing it as your hobby and being creative will help you more than anything else. When you will start out, you might not make $50 income right away but yes something around $5 to $10 and then make your way up. Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE! You’ll never know until you try it yourself.
What if i’m just not that good at photography?
Now what if photography is just not your thing but you still want to make money selling photos online? Don’t worry, you can still do it. Don’t believe me? Keep reading…
You might be having some offline photographers in your friend circle or family, i’m talking about those shutterbugs who keep taking pictures of almost anything and everything but they’re actually not doing it for money but just their interest. You can have a look in their camera roll (obviously after they allow you to :P ) and ask them for few pictures from it that you think you could sell. I’m damn sure that you’ll find some as i did the same too.
If you do just as i have explained in the above article, you’ll start to make money selling photos online in few weeks. Just upload unique and genuine pictures, give it your best and be patient.
Leave me your thoughts or queries in the comment section below and please don’t forget to share this on social media using social buttons below. Sharing doesn’t hurts!! :)
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