Online Photo Selling

Obviously, you will only get paid for your photos if they are accepted yet not all kinds of photographs will be accepted by these sites. You will first need to have quality stock photographs. But you will alos need to have photos that are in demand by graphic designers, artists, advertising agencies, art directors, marketing professionals, websites, magazine ads and all the other buyers at these stock photos sites.

The photos need to be conceptual and keyword-oriented so that each of your pictures can be used by above mentioned people and purposes. Each of your photos has to be crisp, clear, well lit, nicely composed and free of digital noise. To understand better take a look at these websites and browse through the various categories of photos and their titles, you will know the exact kind of pictures to be taken.

To start selling photos online, you have to open an account with the website or sign up as a contributor. This means that you are entering into a contract with the company. Understand their guidelines and also know about the rights of ownership of photographs; whether you can submit your work to other similar websites etc.

When you have chosen a particular website, view the type of images in the various categories mentioned there. Check if your photos are on par with these. Also check how many times each image has been downloaded etc. You will have a fair understanding about how much your photos can earn.

You may have to submit a few samples of your work before being accepted. When you are accepted you can add images to appropriate categories for maximum visibility. Provide keywords that will be most commonly used by visitors. The words should be straight and simple. Instead of just describing the pictures literally, also use conceptualized keywords for commercial purposes and to appear on searches. Such photographs are in great demand especially by the advertising agencies and art directors.

You will be paid on a commission basis for the number of times your images have been downloaded. Some of them even pay you a percentage of the actual price of the photos sold. Remember that each image can be downloaded multiple times

If you have a large collection of photos, selling them online is certainly a unique way to pocket some extra income. But be realistic. It will take time to learn what type of photos sell best and to learn how best to help market those photos. You may not make money right away, but if photography is a hobby you enjoy anyway the wait is certainly worth it.

- Bigstockphoto
- 123rf
- Stockexpert
- Fotolia
- Shutterstock
- iStockphoto
- Dreamstime.