How to Make Money as a Photographer on Instagram (a Full Guide)

In this article, I will be giving a full guide on how to make money as a photographer on Instagram. Frankly speaking, ten or fifteen years ago, getting into photography was difficult.

Photography was not easily available to the common individual, from the expenses of cameras and equipment to the expenditures of print publishing.

Photographic work may now reach a considerably broader audience because of the rise of smartphones and social media, particularly the photo-sharing social network Instagram.

Instagram is a major forum for professional photographers to expose their work to the world, with a user base of 1 billion active users (as of January 2020).

Amateurs and photography aficionados alike are taking advantage of what is effectively a free picture exhibition. With this in mind, a large number of Instagram users (also known as Instagrammers) utilize the site to earn money.

How Much Money Can an Instagram Photographer Make?

Before we go any further, let’s talk about how much money a photographer may make using Instagram.

According to Business Insider, a single sponsored Instagram post may earn between $500 and $1500 for an account with a little over 100,000 followers, depending on the number of followers and their interaction.

Accounts with more than one million followers may earn six figures and up to $9000 for each post.

So, whether you’re a seasoned professional photographer or a hobbyist who wants to earn a livelihood from the images and selfies you take with your phone, I’ll show you how to make money as a photographer on Instagram and how to get more followers.

How to Make Money as a Photographer on Instagram

1. Earn Money By Selling Your Photographs

Yes, this will work on Instagram because the social media network limits your pictures to 1080px by 1080px. People would seek the high-resolution versions of your photographs if they are genuinely fascinating and motivating.

Daniel Arnold, a Brooklyn-based photographer, gained $15,000 in one day by selling a collection of photos he captured with his iPhone while roaming the streets. And this was in 2014 when he could only submit his stock photos via email.

You may now share your images on Instagram and use platforms like Twenty20, 500px, and Foap to publish and sell your stock photos. Each photo may be sold for $5 to $10 depending on the platform and size of the shot.

You may sell the same photo over and over again since the individuals buying your images aren’t buying the rights to your photos.

You can also sell your pictures as prints on various products, such as phone covers, posters, pillows, and more, utilizing sites like Printful and Teelaunch.

Another option is to tease your fans by posting some of your photographs on Instagram and linking to your Patreon account, where they may pay a fee to become a “patron” and access your complete collection. The cost of becoming a patron starts at $5 and varies based on membership levels and the quantity of gated material you supply.

2. Provide a paid service

Are you a professional photographer that specializes in special events such as weddings and anniversaries?

If you want to grow your photography company, Instagram is the way to go. Finding new clients might be difficult, but you can use Instagram to advertise your business and get the word out in your neighborhood.

Post your finest event photos, and make sure to include the proper hashtags and geotags (more on that later) so that customers in your local region or in the area where you conduct your photo coverage will see you and consider booking with you.

It’s time to go on to the next phase if you’ve amassed a decent number of followers.

3. Be an Influencer

This is the next and most crucial stage in generating a six-figure income via the social media platform. It’s no surprise that businesses regard Instagram as a strong advertising tool, given the astonishing number of people that use the platform every day.

When compared to traditional advertising on TV or in print, investing in Instagram marketing really ensures more sales. That’s when you enter the picture.

In a nutshell, an influencer is someone who has amassed a huge following and an online reputation by generating excellent content and distributing it on various social media platforms such as Youtube and Instagram, therefore gaining reach and influence.

Because brands are finding it difficult to do so, they turn to influencers to help them spread the word about their products. The truth is that you don’t need a large number of followers to get a brand’s sponsorship and become an influencer.

Remember that having hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers doesn’t always imply that you’ll make more money as an influencer (since 100,000 phony followers won’t make any difference).

It’s the loyalty and engagement of your followers (the number of likes, comments, and shares) with your content that matters.

The golden spot for influencing is between 3000 and 5000 followers, so work your way up to that number before you start influencing.”

The influencer market, according to Business Insider, is on the verge of exploding. It was valued at $1 billion in 2017, but by 2020, it may be worth $10 billion. Also, 80 percent of influencers choose Instagram for brand cooperation, so it’s no surprise that the social media site has 8 million company profiles.

As you can see, influencer marketing is a multibillion-dollar industry. Small startup companies will enlist you to market their products for between $5 and $20 for each post if you have a tiny following of a few thousand (dubbed a micro-influencer).

However, once you have a big number of active followers, the money you may make adds up quickly. Top influencers may charge businesses anything from $500 to $30,000 for each post.

Once you’ve established a solid reputation as a photographer on Instagram, larger and more well-known companies will most likely seek you out. However, you may directly contact them by signing up for influencer markets such as Shoutcast, Tribe, Fohr Card, or Grapevine.

As a photographer, though, you must strike a balance between sharing your own images and sponsored postings. People are interested in you and want to see more of your high-quality work, so they follow you. If you solely upload sponsored content, you’ll most certainly lose potential fans.

4. Instagram Affiliate Marketing

This is similar to being an influencer, however, the Instagrammer is more concerned about creating sales for businesses in exchange for a fee rather than simply increasing brand awareness.

This may be accomplished by including a tracked link in your profile’s bio area or in the caption of each post. If you’re interested in learning more about affiliate programs, check out Amazon and ClickBank.

All of these Instagram money-making tactics are great, but they’ll be for naught if you don’t have a competent photo-shooting gadget and a large number of followers.

How to Get More Instagram Followers by Promoting Your Photography Profile

On Instagram, over 95 million images are shared every day, yet only 70% of them get seen. And if your postings aren’t viewed, you’re not going to get any new followers, and companies aren’t going to find you.

So you want to pursue photography seriously, push it to new heights, and make money as an Instagram photographer?

The first stage is to gather a group of dedicated and enthusiastic supporters. Sure, you may employ hacks and techniques to increase your following count to a level that companies find appealing.

That doesn’t matter much if your material receives few likes, comments, or shares. So, here are some pointers on how to increase your following:

1. Set up an appropriate profile

Put up a professional-looking profile picture. Alternatively, a good image of your core topic that identifies your photographic specialization. Use a simple “logo” that is easy to remember.

Put up a description that will pique the interest of potential followers. Include a link to your other social media accounts, as well as your website or blog.

2. Concentrate on a certain niche

Your photographic style will be defined by your specialization. When you upload photographs, your followers will expect you to stick to a consistent theme.

It’s OK to branch out into other areas, but try to focus on one specialization at a time, such as travel, landscapes, food, fashion, or a certain kind of photography.

3. Showcase your best photos

Select the photos you’ll submit with care. Choose the most beautiful and compelling photos from your collection. It makes no difference what kind of gimmick you employ to get people to visit your Instagram page.

If your photos aren’t great, you’re not going to do well.

Choose the ones that are related to your topic and those you know your followers will find useful. You don’t want to turn them off by providing them with irrelevant information.

4. Have a certain level of personalization

You can share personal photographs of your day-to-day life, significant life events, or behind-the-scenes experiences, but keep them to a bare minimum.

Follow the 80/20 rule: use 80 percent of your postings to promote your brand of photography and the other 20% for personal and behind-the-scenes content.

5. Post Frequently but Not Excessively

One or two high-quality postings each day are more preferable to five “meh” posts. Maintain interest in your audience by writing on a frequent basis, but not excessively so as to annoy them.

Make a posting schedule for yourself and stick to it. In general, about 10 a.m. in the morning and after supper at night are the best times to post on Instagram.

6. Make use of #Hashtags and #Geotags.

You may search in several categories such as Top posts, People, Tags, and Places after tapping the search box on the Instagram app. Hashtags, which usually begin with the letter #, are a fantastic method for others to locate photographs on Instagram that have a certain subject or substance.

If you know how to utilize hashtags effectively, you’ll be able to gain a lot of new followers this way. The basic rule is to limit yourself to 5 to 10 hashtags for each post. You can include more, but it will appear spammy and unprofessional.

A geotag is a connection to your post’s exact location. It will be added automatically if you activate “Add Location” in your Instagram settings, or you may manually add it.

When another Instagrammer searches for a certain area in the Places category, your posts will show. So, what’s a creative method to use hashtags to get your content to the top of searches more frequently?

For instance, you captured a stunning image of cherry blossom trees in Kyoto, Japan. Make a little hashtag research on Instagram before you upload your shot.

Searching for #cherryblossom yields 5.3 million results, indicating that utilizing this hashtag alone will not increase the number of people who see your photo.

The hashtag #cherryblossomtree has 70.1K postings, which is a lesser number but still a significant number. If you narrow your search to #kyotocherryblossoms or #kyotosakura, you’ll find anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand results.

To ensure that your posts are seen by a wide range of individuals, you should utilize a combination of widely used hashtags and lesser-known hashtags.

Finally, use a hashtag that is specific to your photographic style, such as #yournameoryourbrandname>photography.

Also, to honor your fans’ confidence, consider using the #sponsored hashtag when posting sponsored material.

7. Make use of filters

This is especially true if you use a smartphone. Instead of using Instagram filters, apply app-specific treatments to your images before sharing.

There are numerous filter applications available, but VSCO is one of the most popular. You can utilize Adobe CC tools like Lightroom to make your images seem even better if you’re familiar with them.

8. Use your creativity while writing captions.

Captions provide you with the opportunity to provoke an emotional response from your audience. This will keep your audience interested, and if you have engaging captions, people will be more inclined to follow you.

Make an effort to tell a tale in your postings. If you’re photographing a wedding, for example, you could create a brief tale about how the groom proposed to the bride. Use open-ended questions to elicit feedback from your audience in the form of comments.

9. Involve your followers.

Engage in conversation with them. Respond to their suggestions. Running a giveaway is a wonderful tactic that some Instagrammers employ.

Make a contest with a signed print of one of your greatest stock photos as the reward, or a product with a print of your shots as the prize. This is a fantastic technique to gain more followers.

10. Develop Relationship with Other Photographers

Look for and follow other Instagrammers in your field. Congratulate them on their efforts. They will very certainly reply and follow you back, therefore increasing your exposure.

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll almost certainly gain a sizable Instagram following. And because you’ll be more visible to other businesses, they’ll be more willing to work with you to generate sponsored posts, allowing you to make money as an Instagram photographer.

Unless you go viral, which is incredibly tough to achieve, success, like other money-making businesses, does not happen overnight. It demands a significant amount of effort and dedication.

Patience is essential. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get a lot of support from others. Stick to your strengths and gradually grow your following over time, and you’ll ultimately – and ideally – make money.

The most crucial factor is that you must enjoy what you do. The majority of individuals succeed because of their passion.

Conclusion

Instagram is a social networking tool that is both entertaining and addictive. You can, however, already produce visual content on a regular basis as a photographer. Why not turn that material into a new source of income?

An Instagram account can utilize Instagram as a marketing tool for extra money through prints, digital items, and collaborations.