Of course you love to take pictures, but does that necessarily mean you want to pursue a career in photography? Maybe you simply want to make money with your photography will still maintaining your life as usual. So how do you make money from your photos without abandoning your day job? Here are five simple ways to get started
Make Money From Photography: 01 Stock photo sites
Probably the most obvious method is to sell your photography to stock photo sites. There are loads of them out there, with Shutterstock and Getty Images being a couple of the most popular, and each one has its own system for purchasing images.
Be prepared to offer up some of your best work to get your foot in the door as a contributor. Nearly every stock photography site will ask this of you.
If your photos pass muster, be prepared to wait a bit for your first paycheck. You probably won’t be raking in the big bucks by selling your photos on stock sites, but it’s a start.
Make Money From Photography: 02 Selling prints via 500px
500px is a prevalent image sharing site geared toward professionals and dedicated enthusiasts. Most of its essential features are free to use.
All you need is an email account to get started, and some images of course. This will allow you to share your images and view other’s work, but if you want to put your photos up for sale, you’ll have to invest $25 in a Pro Account.
500px has a Market section that functions as on online storefront for people to browse and purchase prints. Any image that’s for sale in your Store will be displayed in this marketplace.
The price of your images will be determine by 500px, and payment is issued through PayPal.
500px is especially convenient in that it manages all of the finances and logistics of each transaction for you, meaning you can make money with very little bother.
Make Money From Photography: 03 Selling prints via Etsy
Etsy is another online venue that provides a a marketplace for selling your prints.
As with 500px, anyone can sign up to Etsy with an email account and a password. It does cost 20 cent per item that you list, with listings lasting 4 months (or until they sell). Payments are processed via PayPal and major credit cards.
Etsy’s fees are relatively low – especially compared to eBay – at just 3.5% of the sale price. This plus your 20 cent listing fee makes selling on Etsy a fairly economical option.
Make Money From Photography: 04 Sell your images to publications
Most amateur photographers are simply looking for exposure. They’re typically quite content, then, with allowing online and offline publications to use their images for free in order to reap the free publicity.
While the publicity certainly is nice, you should expect most publications to pay you something to use your work. Having your shots published can still be a profitable activity.
Make Money From Photography: 05 Photo competitions
It seems like there’s always some kind of photo competition going on. They shouldn’t be hard to find.
Those that offer cash prizes will typically charge a nominal entry fee, but the payout if you win can be quite rewarding. Oftentimes these competitions give away photography equipment, too.
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