Can you REALLY make money from selling your photos?
Lots of people talk about wanting to start a photography business and get paid for doing something they love.
But can anyone do it?
The answer is yes you can! But you need the right tools to figure out where to sell your pictures, and you need to be committed to investing the time needed to make you successful. The picture shown here is from the Meijii Shrine in Tokyo - and yes, I took this photo.
And yes, this photo makes me money!
I know, I know - anyone can say that. But just to show you I'm serious about this, here is the link to this photo at one of the stock photography sites I sell it on...
Meijii Shrine Buddha Statue
Many different types of photos can make you money. I've seen books and articles that say you have to make yourself shoot only certain kinds of photos. Maybe if you are trying to limit yourself to only one type of buyer this is true - but there are so many resources out there to market your photos. Here's one of my top-selling photos on a number of stock photo sites.
So Where Can I Sell My Photos?
There are a number of different ways to sell your photos. Probably the number one way that everyone thinks of is Stock Photos. There are huge number of stock photo houses - from the microstock houses like Dreamstime and Fotolia to big agencies like Getty Images.But this is not your only source for selling photos. You can sell to magazines, book publishers, greeting card publishers and more.They are many places that will publish new photographers as long as you follow all their submission rules - and some even encourage new talent!
How Do You Find All These Sources?
What if I told you there was a Gold Mine of information for knowing where and how to sell your photos. Not only can you find a gazillion sources to market your photos to, but also learn the differences between types of publishers, types of licensing agreements, and so much more!
The One Ultimate Source - 2009 Photographer's Market
If you are serious about making money as a photographer - you MUST get this book!
Test Your Photo Selling Know-How
Deciding to sell your photos is easy - knowing what to do next is the hard part! There are a number of ways to sell your photos and you can't focus on everything at once...
Come On... I Want to Sell Photos Now!
For those of you that can't wait to read the book and want to get started right this minute, I'll give you a list of my favorite micro-stock photography houses."Micro-stock" is a relatively new term for stock photography sources that specialize in selling in a different way. Most of them have special pricing for their users, sometimes by selling a monthly fee for unlimited downloads. These are the easiest places for the unpublished photographer to start making money.
It's important to read all the instructions for submitting your photos. Most sites have a minimum resolution requirement and list the subject matter they are looking for. And most require model releases and possibly even property releases. If you're looking to start making some $$$ for your photos, here are a number of sites to try.
- Shutterstock - this is a subscription based stock site. It is free to submit photos, however users pay a monthly membership fee. The payout is $.0.25 for each photo download. Because this is a monthly fee, users will typically download multiple photos per month. Shutterstock is also now accepting Video Footage, with a payout of 30% of the purchase price which typically ranges from $69 to $199.
- Dreamstime - this site has a generous compensation model. Purchases by users are done on a credit model, with a small photo (800x600) selling for 1 credit - up to a very large 8MP+ file selling for 4 credits. Photographers earn 50% of the sale - 60% if the image is exclusive to Dreamstime. There is also a sliding increasing scale based on the number of total downloads you have as a photographer. So as a beginner selling the smallest size photo, the payout starts at $0.50 and can range all the way to $4.80 per image for an exclusive 8MP+ photo. Definitely check these guys out if you are serious about selling your photos!
- Fotolia - this is another credit based site, with the photographer payout starting at 33% for a non-exclusive photo. Currently 1 credit = $1.00, and Fotolia also has a increasing scale for number of files sold. The photographer has some control on setting the price for the image based on the file size and their overall ranking. At the top range for a 15MP+ photo the maximum selling price can be 100 credits for an exclusive photo - with a payout of 64%. This is a strong contender in the microstock industry and well worth a look.
Sell Your Art and Set Your Own Price!
ImageKind - photographers and artists can setup free online galleries and earn money from your digital photos and art.
They give you a base price for your artwork, and then YOU get to set the markup - keeping 100% of the markup. They allow consumers to buy prints, framed versions, canvas prints - even greeting cards. They even pay you a commission on the custom framing.
More Great Books on Selling Your Photos
Shooting & Selling Your Photos: The Complete Guide to Making Money with Your Photography
Amazon Price: $19.13 (as of 01/05/2010) 
Photographer’s Market Guide to Building Your Photography Business
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 01/05/2010)
Pricing Photography: The Complete Guide to Assignment & Stock Prices
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 01/05/2010)
Photos That Sell: The Art of Successful Freelance Photography
Amazon Price: $18.45 (as of 01/05/2010)
Business and Legal Forms for Photographers (with CD-ROM) (Business & Legal Forms for Photographers)
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010)
Sites for Hosting Your Portfolio
There are a number of sites out there for photo hosting. All have advantages and disadvantages, so it's really a matter of preference.
Photagious.com - Photagious is an online photo sharing site that allows you to create slideshows with music, titles, graphics, thought bubbles and more. You can order prints online, archive your photos and manage your photos all in one place.
Smugmug - this is one of my personal favorites, and where I keep a large portion of my photos. They have very professional themes with the ability to customize extensively, and the ability to price and sell individual photos. I still haven't begun to tap all the features of Smugmug. They are add free, and designed with features for the everyone from amateur to professional. Definitely check them out!
Clikpic - this site has been reviewed a lot recently by all the photography magazines - and comes in with extremely high recommendations for hosting your photos. Designed to be used as websites for artists and photographers to showcase their portfolio, Clickpic is definitely worth a look. The even have a 7 day free trial to see if you like their service.
Posts & Articles on the Web for Selling & Promoting Your Photography
- Self Promotion - Web 2.0 and Social Linking for Photographers
- So you've created a photoblog, or a gallery of your photos - and now it's time to start getting the word out. There are a lot of folks that think making money as a photographer can't possibly involve Web 2.0 strategies and social networking, but that's taking a very limited view of self promoting your work.
- An Introduction to Making Money Selling Digital Photos
- Who doesn't want to make a little extra cash these days? The price of digital cameras is dropping on what seems to be a daily basis. Why not put yours to some use? For the past five years I have been selling royalty-free stock photographs and will share my thoughts, ideas and concepts with you, along with some suggestions for getting started.
- PhotoSecrets How To Sell Your Photos -- A FREE Online Book
- Taking photos is fun. What's more fun, is getting paid for taking photos. Then you can spend more time doing what you enjoy. In this free, "online book," I'm going to reveal how you can make money from photography.
- 80 Photographers + 36 Networks = 257 Connections
- 80 photographers provided links to their favorite social network profiles (36 different ones, at that!) to give us a HUGE list of 257 connections! Check it out...
- Sell Your Travel Photography
- Travel photography is not about taking nice snaps that you show to your family and friends. It's about capturing the character and charm of a location. The following are tips that will help improve your travel photography. If your travel images are good there is no reason why you won't be able to ...
Post a Tip on Selling Photos!
Post a tip for the community about how to sell your photos. Great sites, tips on preparing photos - whatever you think the community should know.
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Reply
- CameraDollarsInfo CameraDollarsInfo Apr 15, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
- Thanks for the awesome information! You put a lot of effort into this lens, it shows!!! I found the information extremely helpful in my journey! I became a fan of yours too, please join my fanclub too! Keep up the great work!
William ;)
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Reply
- mcNeil mcNeil Apr 4, 2009 @ 10:01 am
- hello;
i humbly request for your guideance. i dont know a good site where to sell my model photos, can you refere me to a very good one that accepts small size photos?
my e-mail ID is (d1101sunset@yahoo.co.uk).
thank yu very much.
McNeil.
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Reply
- Feb 27, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
- Hi,nice lens...
I agree that gain money from pictures, cause it can say thousand word just one pic, even make credibility.
Thanks
Pics Money
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Reply
- IncomeTeam IncomeTeam Jan 12, 2009 @ 10:15 am
- I will have to send this lens to my son.
He takes the most interesting pictures.
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- picture-perfect picture-perfect Oct 19, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
- Make money online with your everyday snapshots!
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Reply
- ardel ardel Oct 15, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
- Very nice bghouse - I may have to start putting my pics out there too. Good info and resources - I'm getting the big picture a little now. Thanks.
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- Lisa Lisa Sep 5, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
- Great site very useful. Cheers
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Reply
- a_willow a_willow Aug 22, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
- Nice selection and good explanations.
5* and favored.
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Reply
- San1 San1 Aug 16, 2008 @ 7:41 am
- Good work! I knew about a few of the sites that buys photos but this lens offer more.
Do visit my blog on Earn Money Online
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Aug 15, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
- I am slowly building up a collection of bird, flower, and butterfly pictures. I've considered posting them on a site but I'm not sure they're good enough. I'm still at the thinking stage.
Great lens.
Lizzy
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- mulberry mulberry Aug 14, 2008 @ 1:59 pm
- Unfortunately I have no tips to add, but these are great!
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Reply
- anilg anilg Jun 17, 2008 @ 10:25 am
- Great lens.. Check out my lens on making money online
- Load More
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Here are some additional websites with information on selling your photos. If you know of more sites, please add them to the list below and vote for your favorites!
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Digital Photography Tips and Hints
Looking for more digital photography tips and techniques? Here are some great articles and resources for you!
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