Earn More Money With Stock Photographs:Tips & Tricks

Step Into A Billion Dollar Industry & Earn Online

I promised to come back with the tips and tricks on how to make more money with your stock photos. If you've missed my previous post by any chance then you can get it here.

Today we're going to learn the very basic tips and tricks of selling stock photographs. Now, I must warn you that these tips are pretty basic and mostly suitable for the newbs only. This blog is for newbies like me and I tend to keep it the way. If you're an advanced user and looking for advanced tips and tricks then I should warn you that this post might not help you.

So, let's begin with the stock photo business online. Well, I'm quite sure that you're well aware of online blogs and sites that need new and relevant images almost every day. The demand for the huge number of photos and images lead today's stock photography or micro stock photography industry where it is today. It's a huge hungry industry and it's growing bigger fast and steady.

Just imagine websites or blogs without images! How would they look like? There is a billion of websites and blogs and counting, one image a day means a multi billion dollar market . I hope you got the picture of the market and trust me it's just a fraction of the actual market.

So, if you're just starting out in the stock photography industry then you're actually stepping in to a trillion dollar industry. As the market is huge, so is the competition but all hope is not lost and you're still in a position to establish yourself as a successful stock photo seller. For doing so, first you'll need to learn the basics of selling stock photos.

Basics of Selling Stock Photographs

At the very beginning you'll need to learn the basic photography (only if you're serious about taking it as a profession). But the amateurs can carry on with their DSLR or with the camera on your portable devices.

Join A Stock Photography Agency Online

The very first step is to join any stock photography agency online. Don't worry most of them are free to join. Consider joining the most popular ones with a huge audience. You can get the list of top 5 stock photo agencies online from my previous post.

Follow the Quality Guidelines

All the popular online stock photography agencies have their own quality guidelines. Make sure you follow them before you upload any photo. Like one of the largest stock photo agency online istockphoto states their own quality guidelines. See in the screen shot below.

Acceptance is Tough

It's easy to join in but it's tough to pass their evaluation tests. Consistency and determination is the key here. Keep trying until you get accepted. As the filament inventor Edison said,

“I did not fail a 1000 times, I've just discovered a 1000 different ways of not making a filament.”

Rejections will lead you to work harder and will make you a better photographer. So, take rejections positively and try inventing new ways of shooting photos.

Perfection will Trigger the Sales

No one likes to buy a faulty product. So, if you're really into photography then eliminate the faulty clicks and make it perfect. It'll not only trigger the sales but also make you a better photographer. Keep in mind that at 100%, most of the pictures will not look as you want them to look like. Fix those issues for better conversions and you'll make more money from your photos.

Keywords Or Tags

Keywords or tags are really very important. Once you've passed their moderation and got accepted in their programs, you should focus more on visibility of your work. As people will search with keywords, the chances of sales will drop remarkably if you're not using the right keywords for your work.

Photo Description

A proper description of your photo is also very crucial when it comes to search visibility. A description that explains your work better will surely increase your sales. Means, more money in your pocket.

Sell What's Selling

Find the top selling photos, follow the trend and shoot photos like the top selling one. Every work is unique but the demand for all the products are never the same. Photos that are already selling like hot cakes, indicates demand and insufficient supplies. Fill the gap and you'll be selling hot cakes too.

Pick a Niche

Pick a niche that is not already over saturated. A good niche with less competition will increase the sales for sure. And there are evergreen niches like the technology niche, weight loss niche, fashion niche that will always will be in demand but the trend will be changing. So selecting the niche is more important than you're thinking it is.

Numbers Game

At the end of the day, stock photography is just like everything else in life. The more you sell the more you'll make. So, if you have more photos to sell then the sales will definitely go up. It's as simple as it could be.

Now that you know the very basics of making more money with stock photography, I hope that you'll be able to make more money online with your photos. Let me know if you've any questions or anything confusions, I will try to answer as much as I can. Until next time, take care.