Today, making money online is no strange thing. People can make money from various things, including stock photos.
Many thanks to content creators for coming up with various content that keeps the buzz going.
Also, app and web app developers creating opportunities that seem to be limitless.
It’s much more exciting to know that with digital opportunities, one can earn money with his skills and interests.
With the vast number of people online you might be surprised to know that there is an increasing market for almost all products and services.
You can earn money from doing what you love and know how to do well.
This is such that taking beautiful photos and selling them online is very much possible.
Yes, you read that right!
The Photography industry is becoming more fun and profitable.
Millions of photographers are now making money selling photos on various stock photography websites.
If you are interested in making money online by selling your photos on stock photography sites, then stay through to this article.
I will expound on how you can make money from selling photos on stock photography sites.
WHAT IS STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY?
Stock photography is existing photos already made available for license by paying a fee to the artist who produced them and the agencies managing them.
The purchaser— by paying— acquires the license to use them, while the artists hold the copyright of their work.
Stock photography is simply the supply of photographs, which are often licensed for specific purposes.
WHY DO PEOPLE USE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY?
To step back a bit, in the mid-1800s, newspapers, and magazines were used to reproduce photographs rather than line art.
And, the halftone was used for printing on a printing press.
Stock photos have been paramount since the 1900s in the stock photo industry.
They had different models like traditional macro stock photography, mid stock photography, and micro stock photography.
Then, they had professional stock photographers usually posting their images with one or more stock agencies.
This was while the high-quality images of amateur photographers were accepted through online submissions.
In order to save the cost of hiring photographers for commission-based photo shoots, publishers and advertisers started considering stock photos as a less risky alternative.
Today, stock images are simply used by businesses and creatives for various commercial purposes and promotional works.
Stock images include stock photography, vectors, and illustrations.
These have many benefits for businesses and creatives, mainly because it saves time and money.
The cost of hiring a photographer or graphics designer or artist to create a custom image for you is high.
However, it is not just the high cost.
The space between the time of hiring, and the time of delivery of the final images takes time— like say weeks or even months.
To get the tools or equipment to create these images yourself presents the same or even more problems.
This is where stock images come in handy.
Even as you just learned that stock photos or images are already created and ready for use once you purchase the license, you have access to download the images and use them accordingly to the accepted terms.
Furthermore, photographers and graphic artists craft their stock images, having in mind the fact that their end-users are businesses, marketers among others.
Therefore, they have their works to be high-concerting visuals.
What do I mean by this?
Artists and photographers who create these stock photos, ensure that their works are of high resolution.
This is in order to be used for commercial and promotional purposes.
Stock photos can be used for commercial, editorial, and even personal purposes.
However, stock images are used variably, according to the stock agency’s license.
The royalty-free license allows a wide range of uses.
This is similar to a rights-managed license, which allows you to use stock images, but with limits to one use per license.
The use of stock images all depends on the license of the stock agencies.
Speaking of stock agencies, I’ll explain further in this article.
Stock images are used for a greater design.
Meaning, you cannot use these stock images the way it was downloaded.
You will have to edit it and customize it to your project in order to use it.
That said, here are the various allowed uses of stock images;
USES OF STOCK PHOTOS
1. Business Marketing or Advertising
• Social media — by posting photos on social media sites like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and others.
• Branding materials
• Presentations
• Stationary designs
• Commercials —TV or web ads, also on billboards.
• Printed materials — Brochures and magazines
• Film and video
• Catalogs
• Product packagings
2. Promotional Uses (not for sale)
• Flyers
• Greeting cards
• Posters
• Postcards
3. Entertainment and Editorial
• Newsletters
• Book covers and E-books
• Magazines and newspapers
• Blogs and online publications
• Broadcasts
• Theatrical presentations
• Videos
4. Design
• Web design themes and elements
• Graphic designs
• Digital wallpapers
• Decor —home, offices, schools, or any public space.
5. Personal Uses
• Art
• Reproductions
• Prints
• Posters
Stock images are used categorically for the above purposes.
Like I had said, stock images are used depending on the terms and conditions of the license.
These licenses vary by the stock agencies.
HOW TO GET STARTED
So, now you have learned what stock photography is, and what stock images are used for.
Now, how can you earn money selling your photos online?
Are you interested in being a published photographer selling stock images on stock photography sites?
With stock photography, you can get paid for selling photographs.
Millions of photographers are making money with stock photography sites.
You can also do the same.
However, you need some level of photography skills, and also you need to be in the know of the stock photo industry.
All this is in order to kick start your career as a published photographer with stock photography sites.
First, you need to know the stock photography services out there.
There are many stock photography sites, ranging from the popular Getty images to Shutter stock among others.
I will make reference to these stock photography sites later.
But, you need to know that getting started with stock photography starts with you uploading images to a service provider.
The stock photography world is relatively competitive.
Well, it’s a good way to get your name out there. The trick is by uploading as many images as possible.
Most successful stock photographers shoot and upload images every day.
So, if you are a photographer looking to get your foot into the world of stock photography, your prior photography skills, experience, and your DSLR camera is enough to start off.
Use your camera and photography skills; shoot, shoot and shoot images.
Even in the downtimes of your day, shoot!!
That’s a good way to start, by taking good images.
Never miss the opportunity to take good photos, even if it’s an image of your lunch.
Food makes most of the best images on stock photography sites.
Just make sure the images are properly composed.
After that, you upload them; and that leads to stock photography sites to upload your images.
STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY SITES WHERE YOU CAN SELL YOUR PHOTOS
Stock photography sites provide a great opportunity for photographers to get their works known and also horn their photography skills.
There is no stock photography agency that will just accept any image you upload.
There are some technical aspects that these stock photography agencies analyze, such as; exposure, focus, and noise.
Composition and technical aspects are reviewed before your images are approved by the service.
Having your images rejected by these stock photography sites will make you get your focus and other technical aspects right.
This is that which consequently makes your images approved, and also makes you a better photographer.
As regards intellectual property (IP), it’s important that you check that brand logos or symbols don’t feature in your stock images.
Because you can’t expect to profit from a brand’s image.
Say, if the Unilevers logo is featured on your stock image, Unilever holds the right to claim your image or swoosh logo.
Your stock image can be claimed because their logo is on it.
And, no stock photography site will want to sell an image that contains another brand’s intellectual property (IP) on it.
So, if you have brand logos on your images, ensure that you photoshop them out of your images before you upload them.
Also, if people appear in your stock images, it’s no problem, provided these people are in a public space.
However, it becomes a problem if the people appearing in your stock image sue a customer for buying that stock image that has their appearance visible in it without having their model releases.
They hold royalties of that image.
So, if you have people visible in your stock images get a model release signed by the person(s) in your stock image.
The release gives you permission to have their appearances visible in your stock images and not owe them any royalties.
That said, you need to check composition, intellectual property and ensure you have model releases signed by those whose appearances are visible in your stock photo before you can upload them on stock photography sites.
There are various stock photography sites you can publish your stock images;
• Getty images
• Foap
• Shutter stock
• Adobe stock
• Fine art America etc.
These are a few of the stock photography sites.
You can start out by registering on these stock photography services, and you can start by exporting the best photos in your repository.
The stock photography market is really competitive, so don’t forget you will need some time and effort to familiarize yourself with the market before you can start selling.
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU EARN FROM SELLING STOCK IMAGES
How much money you can make from selling stock images all depends on you.
I mean, it depends on your stock images and the stock agency you are publishing your images with.
There are millions of stock photographers earning good money from selling their photos.
How much you will make from selling stock images is determined by some, and not limited to the following factors;
– The type of license:
The type of license your buyers will have to acquire before using your stock images and the stock agency you are selling your images on both affect the prices of your stock images.
This consequently determines the amount of money you can earn from selling your stock images.
For instance, if your image has a royalty-free license, this means your image has a non-exclusive license.
Thus, it can be licensed many times which reduces the price considerably.
Royalty-free licensed images are affordable and sell fast.
However, some stock agencies set their prices based on their resolution.
The price of royalty-free licensed images is generally between $1 and $15 per image.
Also, this happens if the stock agency you are using offers a stock-photo subscription.
This is a periodic plan that buyers of the stock images will have to subscribe to in order to get a larger image per period, in exchange for a recurrent fee.
With this plan, the cost of a single stock image is reduced, and thereby, the price can be $0.30 per image.
Rights-managed license:
With rights-managed licensed images, your stock images will be priced according to the intended need.
Added to that are the limitations and extensions of the rights the user included before acquiring them.
Rights-managed licensed images are made in accordance with the user’s need.
They are specifically designed to meet the user’s need(s).
The prices of rights-managed licensed images vary by the size and the resolution of the image.
Their prices are from $50 and as high as thousands of dollars.
The licenses of your stock images and the stock agency are the major factors that determine how much money you can earn from selling stock images.
STRATEGIES TO GET YOUR PHOTOS SOLD QUICKLY
Five strategies you can implement to start selling your images fast as a stock photographer are,
Get your editorial aspect right:
Most photographers fall short in this aspect.
They often hamper the chances of their beautiful photos being noticed.
I often see photos that I consider as unprofessional used in magazines, while the ones I deem to be professional got rejected.
The point here is to upload more photos, even the ones you think are bad.
Upload the good and the bad photos.
You never know which photo will be perfect for the editor or creative director
Supply for the demand:
Being the supply for the demand has been a proven strategy in the stock photo industry, to sell your images to buyers quickly.
Where there is the absence of supply for the high demand, there is a lost opportunity.
And, you can utilize this by researching images that are in demand in stock photography.
Images like dazzling landscapes, imagery, texture, and patterns are demanded.
So, you can tailor your works to what clients are looking for.
Be conscious of brands and their logos:
This oblivion is mostly found in early or inexperienced stock photographers.
Their images often get rejected not because they lack technical requirements or composition, but because their images have other brand logos or intellectual property in them.
Always be aware of the manufacturer’s logo or trademarks and symbols in your images so it wouldn’t hamper your chances of selling your stock images.
Master your craft:
Excellence should be the guiding principle.
By practicing and learning from your mistakes will, before long, perfect your photography skills.
Also, have a domain and master it.
This doesn’t imply that you limit or stick to shooting one aspect of photography.
It means you should create your own style and art because directors are in need of fresh, and authentic imagery.
Go out, shoot and keep shooting:
Finally, to have fast sales as a stock photographer, you need to go out and keep taking photos.
It will also help you in becoming a better photographer.
The more photos you take the better you become at taking photos.
So, go out and network with fellow photographers, learn new techniques to help improve your photography skills.
Additionally, stock photography is an interesting and profitable industry for photographers looking for avenues to bullish their skills and increase their earnings.
Thousands, if not millions of stock photographers are making this industry work for them on daily basis.
You can also do the same by properly working on your photo shooting and understanding licensing.
Also, go for learning what other stock photographers are doing.
You can have a successful stock photography career if only you try.
