Ever knew you could sell photos online and earn big bucks?
If you didn’t, now you do.
The demand for stock photos is rising.
Businesses are diving deeper into effective social media marketing and content marketing.
Photo-saturated platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are gaining even more traction.
In short, brands (and even individuals) will always need good images.
This high demand could mean big money for photographers who are interested in selling photos online.
Interestingly, you don’t have to turn this into a full-time job.
It could serve as a passive income stream, leaving you with sufficient time to focus on other businesses.
Want to jump on this?
Perfect!
I assume that you’ve got top-notch cameras.
Now, it’s time for you to discover how to make money selling photos online.
Let’s begin.
Want to Sell Photos Online to High-Paying Buyers? Start here.
Let’s break down the process of selling photos online into three stages.
To build a successful business around stock photography, you’ll have to:
1. Choose Your Photography Niche
Photographers earn good money selling photos online when they niche down to one type of photography.
So if you haven’t picked a niche yet, then you need to do so.
There are lots of popular photo categories you could explore.
Unsure of the available options? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Nature: We never grow tired of viewing pictures of the oceans, flowers, trees, etc. So this is one niche with numerous opportunities.
- Food: Bakeries, restaurants, and other food-centered businesses won’t seize to promote their brand using catchy photographs. Take advantage of this.
- People: Photos of aged people, couples, and even kids are often key elements in social media ads and other marketing campaigns. Portraits are also popular types of photos you could sell online.
- Places: Not everyone has the opportunity to travel around the globe and see the world’s incredible views. You could help capture these fantastic places and sell your shots at reasonable prices.
- Occasions: Pictures from celebrations like Christmas and Halloween are usually in high demand, especially among brands looking to run seasonal promotions. Photos from weddings, birthdays and other occasions are big shots also.
- Health: Fitness brands, clinics, gym equipment stores, and other similar businesses regularly use images to drive attention to their products/services on social media, blogs, and other marketing channels. So you could niche down to this type of photography.
Click here to discover 100 filters you could use to enhance photos of various types.
2. Choose Your Sales Platform
There are tons of ways to sell products (including stock images) online.
To begin, you could upload your photo to top stock photography sites and marketplaces specifically for photographers.
These marketplaces operate on a commission-based model. Photographers earn a certain amount when someone purchases their photos.
Commissions differ across platforms. Ensure you properly read the terms of a website before signing up.
Another good place to sell your photos online is your website or online store (learn how to build a website for free). You’ll end up keeping the bulk of income from sales this way.
3. Promote Your Business to Drive Sales
Only a few people will discover your business organically. So you have to promote the heck out of it!
There are hundreds of ways to attract more eyes to your business. Here are three common ones:
a) SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a marketing tactic you should pay attention to, especially if you intend to sell via your website.
Guys like Adam Enfroy and Pat Flynn are masters in SEO, and their blogs are fantastic sources for learning everything there is to know about marketing and scaling your online business.
Implementing SEO techniques will help make your website (or online store) rank high on Google (and other search engines) for multiple search queries.
b) Social Media
Social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter are perfect places to showcase your work and attract potential buyers.
There are strategies for succeeding on these different platforms (like using hashtags, scheduling posts, and using specific tools). Do your research.
c) Paid Ads
Yes! If you have a few bucks to pay for advertising or to spend on social media ads, then go ahead and create a marketing campaign.
Paid ads can help send targeted buyers to your website or online store. So this is one smart way to promote the photos you’re selling online.
PRO TIP: Consider using a to-do list app to keep your workflow organized and efficient.
Want to Earn $125+ per Photo Online? Sell Gold.
No one spends money on crappy images.
Want to earn good money selling pictures online?
Keep improving your skills, and bring only your best pieces to the table every time!
And this goes beyond taking clear, high-quality images.
Alongside capturing beautiful views, you need to edit your photos beautifully also.
Your photos should capture the attention of passersby (aka potential buyers) at first glance.
So how do you go about editing your photos and making them catchier?
There are two ways:
- Hire an experienced freelancer
- Edit like a pro using a specialized tool
1. Hire an Experienced Freelancer
There are several online booths where you could hire freelancers to help edit your photos before marketing them.
There’s Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, PeoplePerHour, and a host of others. And they all have a similar hiring process, which looks more like:
- Sign up as a buyer
- Post a job ad
- Send invites to freelancers
- Sort through dozens of proposals and then make a choice
So you can jump on one of these platforms and hire a designer to help edit your photos.
But note that the services of experienced freelancers don’t come cheap. And the hiring process for remote jobs on freelance sites may not be as simple as you might imagine.
Thankfully, there’s another way to edit your photo before selling them. And this second method is way cheaper and quicker than hiring an experienced freelancer.
2. Edit Like a Pro with a Specialized Tool
Don’t have a huge budget? Or, you don’t want to go through the stress of hiring someone every time you capture new sets of photographs?
Use an intuitive online photo editing tool.
There are dozens of photo editors you could try. But, if you need an affordable and beginner-friendly option, then check out Colorcinch.
Colorcinch gives photographers like you instant access to a massive library of graphics (icons, shapes, etc.) and dozens of super-duper effects and filters that can turn any photo into a masterpiece.
You can start editing your images for free using Colorcinch and later upgrade to a premium plan starting as low as $5.99/month (which is far cheaper than hiring a freelancer).
11 Best Places to Sell Photos Online and Make Money in 2021
Got your perfect photo? Great!
Now it’s time to start making money selling your photos online.
Here are 11 places to sell photos online and make money:
1. Shutterstock
Creatives on Shutterstock have collectively earned over $1 billion and gotten over 500 million image downloads. So this is one place to be if you want to sell photos online and make big bucks. Contributors who stick around much longer on the website end up earning up to $100+ per image.
Shutterstock pays contributors a commission of up to 40% for every photo sold and offers commissions when an existing contributor invites a paying client or other photographers.
2. Alamy
Alamy might not be so popular, but it’s undoubtedly one place where you can sell photos online for reasonable amounts. The company offers 40% to 50% commission per sale, and photographers have collectively earned over $180 million selling on the website.
It’s not so easy securing a spot in this marketplace. But as long as you have quality pieces to showcase, you shouldn’t face rejections after sending in your application.
3. Adobe Stock
Formerly Fotolia, Adobe Stock is one popular stock photo where you could earn lots of money. Adobe Stock offers contributors royalties of up to 35% (depending on the type of picture you upload). But you won’t get access to your earnings until you cross the $25 threshold.
Like Alamy, Adobe Stock features only quality content. So to sell on this website, send in only your best photos. Adobe Stock’s non-exclusive policy allows photographers to sell their pictures in other marketplaces also.
4. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is another popular name in the stock photography business. They offer a commission that falls between 20% to 50%, and they decide on these rates based on the contributor’s photo license and level. Earnings on Dreamstime become available to contributors once they reach the $100 threshold.
One downside of the website is that it limits the number of photos users can publish weekly. Usually, contributors with high approval ratings get more weekly slots than those with lower ratings.
5. Getty Images
Getty Images is one popular stock photo site used by top brands and publishers.
You’ll have to download the Getty Images app and submit a few photos for review to join the website. Once your request to join is approved, your images will go live on Getty Images or iStock (an extension of the company). Getty Images contributors receive a commission of 20%, while those on iStock receive 15%.
6. 500px
Beyond being a stock photo directory, 500px is a platform where photographers can network with each other, share ideas, and learn new things. On 500px, contributors are free to sell photos of all kinds—including ones shot on a mobile phone and those captured using a DSLR camera.
500px boasts of over 14 million members and offers a generous 30% royalty fee for non-exclusive pieces and a whopping 60% for exclusive ones. The only catch here is that you might have to upgrade your membership from free to pro (at $5.99/month) for unlimited photo uploads and broader exposure.
7. Etsy
You probably know Etsy as a place to buy unique homemade products and beautiful arts and crafts. But what you may not know is that it’s also a place where photographers can sell their photos and make money.
Etsy makes selling easy and affordable. Whether you plan to sell digital images or prints, Etsy allows you to set your products’ prices and post to the marketplace (for a listing fee of just $0.20). Photographers selling on Etsy bag up to 90% of the money they generate from every photo someone buys.
8. Can Stock Photo
Can Stock Photo is one place where anyone can quickly get into and start selling their photos. To apply, all you need to do is create an account, submit a few pictures, and then wait for your profile’s approval.
After getting in, you can upload your photos to the website via FTP or a web form on the site. Depending on the license, you could earn commissions anywhere between 20% to 50% for every picture sold.
9. PhotoDune
PhotoDune (by Envato Market) is where buyers congregate to purchase premium photos at reasonable prices. And for photographers, it’s a place where you can sell your photos and make money.
PhotoDune’s application process requires contributors to have up to 5 photos for their profile to be reviewed. Once you’ve crossed the $50 threshold on the website, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal, Skrill, and Payoneer. You can also withdraw via SWIFT once you earn up to $500.
10. Twenty 20
Once a meeting place for Instagram photographers looking to connect with influencers, Twenty 20 has now turned into a popular stock photo site where you can sell your photos and make money. There are more than 50 million stock photos on Twenty 20 shared by over 300k photographers.
Twenty 20 follows a unique commission model, which allows contributors to share from the net subscription revenue of their photos’ buyers. And unlike similar websites, there’s no fixed threshold on Twenty 20. You’ll receive your money on a specified date, no matter how little it is.
11. Your Website
Your website is one of the best places to sell your photos. Owning a website puts you in complete control. You can decide on the costs of your photos, customize your store as you wish, and keep all the income you generate from the sale of your photos.
You can set up your website on WordPress since the platform allows you to unlock amazing functionalities using free and paid plugins (and a handful of hacks). Plugins like Modula and WooCommerce come in handy for adding a shopping cart and photo gallery to any WordPress website.
Other platforms you could build your website on are Wix and Squarespace.
Want more places to sell your images?
Check out these directories:
Sell Images Online and Earn Big Bucks
Profiting from stock photography isn’t mission impossible.
Just remember that the process of selling photos online starts with taking quality pictures. And editing comes after this.
Whether you decide to hire a photo editing expert or do it yourself (with an intuitive tool like Colorcinch), make sure the final piece is super attractive (but not overly edited).
Once you’ve got your photos ready, go ahead and upload them to your preferred stock photo site or your website.
You’ve always wanted to make money selling pictures online, haven’t you?
I’ve shown you the ropes.
Go make yourself some cool cash!
