How to Make Money with your Photos
Are you a budding photographer? If so and your skills are refined enough, you could be making extra cash from your photos! If you love taking photos, starting your own photography business may be something that you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t for one reason or another. Don’t wait any longer because making money from your photos might not be as hard as you think! To start, you’ll obviously need an amazing camera. I recommend the Canon EOS Rebel T5 Bundle if you’re looking for a good Camera because comes with several lenses, a tripod and multiple accessories! Once you’ve got your camera, memory cards and any other accessories you need, it’s time to get to work!
A good photographer usually has a well put together portfolio so to build yours, offer to take photos of your friends and family for free. Most people will jump quickly if you offer them family pics for free. If taking family photos isn’t your thing, take lots of other pics with the subjects that you think are fun to photograph. Once you’ve got 10 or so that you love, use them to build your portfolio.
Next you’ll need to come up with your rates. Be sure that you aren’t trying to overcharge customers, but that your rates are high enough that you aren’t short changing yourself. You’ll probably want to come up with multiple purchase options for a potential client to choose from.
Now, start advertising! Make sure to list on any online sites that you come across (Facebook groups, Craigslist and any other local sales sites), but be sure that you aren’t spammy about your ads. You may also want to consider advertising on your local newspapers website and in the actual paper itself.
Once you start getting a few clients, word of mouth will take over and they’ll start rolling in faster than you can handle! Word of mouth advertising is the best you can have. When this happens, don’t stop your own ads though. Keep running them and soon you’ll have a successful photography business!
If you want to add on to your income, you can also take and sell stock photos for sites like iStock. These sites will pay you for your photos (rates and payment structures vary). You can sell your photos with limited rights or exclusive rights. These types of sites can create a steady stream of income so that if your main business drops, you have a backup. These type of sites are also looking for things like Nature Scenes, Photos of Theme Parks, etc. Just about anything, so it doesn’t require finding models or people to be in your photos.
If you have been successful selling your photos online I would love for you to share your tips and tricks in the comments!
Also, don’t forget to check out our post on 12 Legitimate Ways to Make Money from Home
