How to make money from stock photos

Selling digital photos on photo stocks is a new business idea for generating income in the field of residual (passive) income. The main advantage of this type of business is earnings to be profitable regardless of your work activity. One digital photo can be sold continuously, even for little money. 

Thus, 90% of the work of an amateur photographer dedicated to making money on a photo stock is invested in the growth of permanent income. This fact makes this business highly efficient and attractive. But what is particularly striking about making money online from photos is that with such business benefits, the entry threshold for investment is minimal. You need to spend only $ 700 to buy a good SLR digital camera and start making stable money right now. How to organize your business on a photo stock is described below. We live in a progressive time and should be able to make money in the same progressive way. 

Is it realistic to make money on photo stocks?

Now, let's talk about the subscription system that exists on photo stocks and how it will prevent you from earning. One way or another, all photo stocks offer a subscription, within which you can purchase a limited or unlimited number of photos for a certain amount per month or year. All you need to do is divide the subscription price by the number of photos in this subscription, and then calculate your 30-50%. You will receive the amount you can earn from selling one photo by subscription. You will receive less money from these sales. Of course, all customers who buy photos in bulk will use a subscription because it costs them less. Photo stocks are a business, and the business is primarily interested in money, not your photos. Do not expect any action from photo banks aimed at directly increasing the income of photographers. There are many photographers, but the photo stock has less and less money. In addition, you should not forget that there are already photographers on photo stocks who have made a name for themselves and you will have to compete with them. What conclusions can be drawn?

• Photo stocks policy is not aimed at generating income for photographers;

• High competition from well-known photographers;

• Competitors already have more opportunities, both monetary and technical.

How much can you earn on photo stocks?

It is unlikely that the number of your earnings will be large. Most likely, it will be several tens of dollars a year. And this phenomenon has its explanation. What makes up your income from photo stocks? Of course, by the number of photos sold. Relatively speaking, each photo costs a few cents (0.20-0.33 cents), but now imagine how many photos you need to sell to earn a conventional one hundred dollars online. These are about 500 photographs. It would seem not so much, but these are 500 photographs in the face of tough competition and endlessly falling demand for them. Take a look at the following photo: 

The photograph shown has absolute commercial value. It will sell well as it can be used to illustrate almost any business. Ask yourself a simple question: Will I be able to take photos of this quality and content?! By the way, about the content, the inspectors of the photo stock may have questions about your photos. Some topics, such as the above photo of the call center, are already so packed with the same type of photos that inspectors simply do not let such photos for sale.

So. The first thing that you should evaluate if you want to make money on a photo stock is the commercial component of your photos and the quality of their execution, in relation to what is already sold on the photo stock. Believe me, the more honest you are with yourself, the more time and effort you will save yourself.

What sells best on photo stock?

Ideal for stock photographers are backgrounds. They are in demand because they give freedom in working with the image, allow you to add text and change it for different formats. Clients often buy backgrounds for websites, blogs, and print.

• Commercial companies are the main clients of stocks, so the business topic is popular. Take pictures of colleagues working together, offices, open spaces, meetings. But do not forget about trends in this direction to make the photos look authentic.

• Family photography is always relevant. The range of ideas is huge: dating, weddings, childbirth, family celebrations. Companies love to use the concept of a happy family, which is why these pictures are always valuable.

• Food photography is a good idea for working with stocks, ranging from fast food to vegetarianism, sports photography, including healthy lifestyles, pictures of professional athletes, rare sports. Win-win nature and travel themes, seasonal and holiday photography. 

These tips will help you prepare your photos for online sale.

Once you start putting your digital photos up for sale, you have your first hurdle. The fact is that most of the pictures will not be accepted due to the poor quality of the images. Do not think that you can immediately upload your entire personal photo album, which has 50% of the photos taken with a mobile phone since back in 2006. This initially hurts the self-esteem of especially creative people, but do not despair. Here are some tips to help you keep quality for sale:

1. Adhere to the commercial value of the photo posing. Remember, you are producing the raw materials for the design. Look at your photos through the eyes of a buyer, for example from an advertising agency. After all, most photographs are taken by amateur photographers, and clients need pictures for their effective work. They will be sold much more efficiently, although you will also have to invest your soul in them.

2. The quality of the image should be excellent. Preview all your photos before posting at 100% scale. Sometimes it happens that at first glance the picture looks great: harmonious colors, correctly exposed light and shadows, clear details, interesting composition, but noise is visible at 100% scale. All photo stocks are very demanding on noise. After all, most buyers use images for printing. And it's not a secret for anyone that even the best printer will not be able to reproduce colors as we see them on the screen.

3. Save photos without compression, in maximum quality.

4. Fill in the description for the photo as much as possible. Most buyers will find your photos through a search engine. Therefore, correctly write the description that matches the image so as not to violate the rules of the system. Don't forget about keywords. Many users are facing the same error. In the description of the photo, there is only a title of 10-15 characters. This is not attractive at all and diminishes your professional reputation as an author.