You cannot imagine your life without photography? Your friends are constantly telling you that your images are adorable and deserve more than simply posting them on social media from time to time? Well, it’s high time you started selling your works online and receiving not only spiritual but also financial reward from what you’re doing.

Things to Chew On

With high-tech photography equipment and numerous photo editing tools available to the public, it’s easier than ever to be a professional photographer. The competition is growing by the day in this field, and more and more artists realize that their hobby is getting more expensive. Should you have similar thoughts, take care to figure out the ways to monetize your hobby! Of course, you need to possess a unique talent to spot the best frame and turn it into a fantastic picture. But what you also need to do as passionately as photographing things is market yourself as a photographer. You could have the most stunning photos, but if you don’t know how to run the business side, the chances are your sales will never go up. This means you might need to invest enough time and, possibly, some spare money in your marketing campaign. You’ll also want to come up with an effective mission statement that will help set your work apart from competitors. Just go to https://create.vista.com/blog/inspiring-mission-statement/ for more useful information. And after that, you’ll all set to continue your quest toward becoming a more successful photographer.

Use Direct Stock

Direct stock is the term that refers to selling your photography on your own website. On you site, consider selling licenses to your pictures. So, if you specialize in travel landscape photography, you could sell your photos to travel magazines and vacation companies. Make sure to familiarize yourself with different license types available and how to negotiate them. What’s more, you can sell physical goods on your site. This may include selling prints and putting your photos onto merch. Thus, you’ll be able to sell your photos on virtually everything from mugs to books to T-shirts.  

Harness the Power of Social Media

To sell your photos directly to buyers, you might need to spend some time marketing your business. You would be well-advised to showcase the images you aim to sell on famous social media platforms and direct potential customers to your website from there. You can use hashtags to get accounts with larger audiences to repost your pictures, or you can have your friends or relatives share your works on their Instagram, which will help you expand your reach.

If you’re at the phase where you’re ready to start putting your hard-earned dollars behind you business, consider running Facebook ads. Facebook ads are a powerful tool that can help fuel your business exponentially. So, make sure not to miss out on its potential.

Sell as Prints

In addition to having your own website, you can be a merchant on some popular print-on-demand websites. They take care of all the details so you don’t have to worry about production, shipping, or selling. All you should do to start your selling journey is upload your work and get paid. That being said, you should keep in mind that print-on-demand websites can be a double-sword, though, because they normally have not only tons of traffic but also high competition among merchants. Still, using such platforms is a good way to introduce yourself and your skills to potential customers that would have never heard of your business otherwise. And it’s a great way to get creative with your merch.

Use Microstocks

Microstocks will likely be the routes that get you the most money. Microstock photography helps companies source their images online. Cooperating with such companies can be the best bet for you, especially if you’re only starting out in this business. As you know, most traditional agencies prefer to work with select artists, whereas microstocks have a willingness to accept images created by amateurs and hobbyists.

Another thing to note about microstock sites is that they are selling their images at a low cost. This can be anywhere from 20 cents to 10 dollars for royalty-free pictures. There are lots of microstocks out there. So, choose the one that can cater best for your individual needs.

Use Free Stock Sites

You can sell your pictures for free on stock sites. Free stock sites make your photographs available for free to anyone who might be looking for them whether for personal or commercial use. However, such websites normally encourage visitors to make donations. That said, you shouldn’t expect them to be massive money earners. Still, if you have the photos that aren’t selling well on other websites, it would be a good idea to upload them to a free stock site. Though you can also expect to earn an insignificant amount using this method, it’s still better than having those pictures sit on your hard drive and not make any money at all.

Hope these simple recommendations will help you monetize your photography talent and score a whole host of new subscribers willing to reward you for what you are doing. 

If you want to make a bit of extra free cash just from views of your photos, then join us at Clickasnap!