Selling Photography Through Instagram

If you believe photography is a costly hobby, you are right, it can be. But that does not mean you need pro-quality equipment to make money from your photos! Selling Photography Through Instagram

In actuality, if you have got a good phone cam and a steady hand, you are already in with a shot.

But you get your clicks, you will find a growing number of opportunities to monetise photos you’ve already taken. And if photography’s already your bag, you will find heaps more ways to develop your skills, and income; from selling your Insta stock to pulling a Brooklyn Beckham (famous parents optional).

You know the drill: read, learn, and give it a celebration for yourself!

If you’ve got a digital camera (or fancy picking up one for a steal), you’ll have more options for selling pics to stock libraries, to sites for prints, or for print-on-demand products. This is because cameras will generally produce larger file photos (although some camera phones are trumping digi cams these days so this isn’t always the case).

Got a camera phone? A growing amount of stock libraries are catering for mobile snaps, plus you still have a shot at the other biz ideas below. Continue reading!

It helps to have…

Some kind of editing software can help buff your pics for best results, so it’s worth sniffing out a decent bundle (and learning how to use it!) So you can earn more money with your own photos.

Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are industry standards for photo editing. But they cost bucks! Don’t crack open your wallet until you’ve checked out the freebies:

FastStone Image Viewer can open RAW files directly out of your digital camera and save them as JPG, TIFF or PNGs. OK for basic edits such as colour correction, straightening, cropping and contrast.
Raw Therapee is a Lightroom-like editor with loads of tools for tweaking colours, curves and much more.
PIXLR is a convincing alternative to Photoshop, and even recognises the very same shortcuts right out the bag. You can run it directly from a browser through the program for free.
GIMP can do a lot of what Photoshop excels at, though some users reckon it’s a tougher learning curve.
There are tons of phone editing programs to be obtained for free or a few pence, but Snapseed (iPhone, Android, free) consistently makes the best-of lists.
Do not overlook the bloatware image software bundled into your’puter, phone or laptop. Many can make light work of the basics.

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Selling Through Stock Libraries

Stock libraries purchase’n’ sell digital photographs to use on websites, in books, on products as well as in advertisements, with the photographer getting a cut of the sale each time.

Selling photos through a stock site is a top way to browse passive income streams: you can upload a photograph once and sell it over and over again, pretty much forever!

You might need to submit a choice of pics (and be accepted) before you can become a stock library contributor. After that, some sites will keep on reviewing all your submissions, and will gladly bounce any they don’t think meet criteria.

What that means is you will always have to be on the ball about choosing your best shots. Don’t get too hung up about rejections, however; combine a number of websites and post pics to all of them to get the best possible policy.

Which Websites Pay Most?

Swing by Alamy first. Their pupil contributor scheme gives you 100% of the sales price of your pictures for 2 years. Total win! Your uni will have to be part of the scheme, but lots of UK and US institutions are already on the books. Selling Photography Through Instagram

Alamy reckons images typically sell for $90 (USD) each, but you might get anywhere from $20 to $500 depending what it’s used for. If you are not a student, or your uni is not enrolled, the pay-out’s still a fairly decent 50%. Selling phone pics through their Stockimo program (iStore only) earns you a 20% cut.

Other Websites to Check Out:

Picfair has a twist: you decide to what extent your pictures sell for. Picfair then add 20% on top for their cut, but the sales price you set is what you get if your image sells.
EyeEm: if Instagram and Alamy had a love child, this is what it would look like. EyeEm is a photo sharing website butif you want to earn more than’likes’, you can also pimp your pictures through the market. EyeEm divide every sale with you 50/50, with photos selling from $20-$250. EyeEm Bonus: regular how-to content, themed missions run by large brands, plus you’ll be able to upload pics via the web or phone.
Foap is constructed around telephone photographers, with everything handled through the app (Android, iTunes, free). Foap sells photos for $10 each and divides it 50/50, so you’ll make $5 per pic. They also run monthly Missions, where you are able to submit photographs on a theme to be in with a chance of winning extra cash and perks.

Big Name Websites

Dreamstime provide up to 60% for exclusives. How much your photo sells for also goes up the more it is downloaded: newbie images start at between $0.34 and $2.38 (USD). If you’re shooting on a phone, start with the free Dreamstime program (Android, iPhone).

IStock hands over 15% of an image’s sales price, but guarantee a bigger cut if you make the pic exclusive to the website. Photos typically sell for #7 or #20 a go, but the sort of license or subscription plan the customer purchases determines how your slice is calculated.

Shutterstock coughs up $0.25 (USD) per sale on the most frequent subscription plans, but say you’ll find a larger cut as your lifetime earnings pass different levels. To put that into context, once you’ve earned $10,000, you will be bumped up to the heady heights of 38 cents a picture…

Playing the Stock (photo) Market

Earning money with stock photographs can involve a substantial cash-in, but there are a couple of things worth bearing in mind…

Stock photography is a numbers game: if you want sales, you will need to upload lots of quality pics to a number of sites.
Photos of people are constantly in demand, but anyone you pap might need to signal a model release form to say they are OK with you using it (your stock library will have template forms you can print, sign and submit).
Assess the account terms! When are you going to get paid, and in what currency? What happens to your photos if you want to cancel your account in the future?
You often won’t get a say in how customers use your photographs, so in case you don’t want your selfies turning up in advertisements for STDs or hemorrhoid ointment, don’t upload’em!
Sign-up for contributor newsletters, as they can clue you in on what sells, what to snap next, and even how to improve your camera or editing skills.
Add loads of keywords when you upload your pictures. It helps people find (and hopefully purchase!) your pics.

Selling Your Prints

There is loads of freedom in selling prints (i.e., printed copies of your photos). You decide what to shoot, who to sell to, and for how much and, like selling through stock libraries, it can be a wonderful little passive income earner.

Now, before you leg it down to Boots to batch publish your holiday snaps, there’s a little more to it. While you can run off photos on your home printer or at a high-street laboratory, better quality means greater profits! Selling Photography Through Instagram

That means using a proper printing lab (one that specialises in art or framed prints), opting for expert paper, or even selling limited or signed editions. Seems like a drag? Not necessarily; there is inspiration below to get you started.

Use a Photo Host

Photographer-friendly site hosts give you a safe place to store your digital pics, a portfolio (so you can show’em off) and shopping tools (so you can sell prints, downloads and wall art).

They even take care of the printing and any stamp every time you make a purchase. Hashtag hallelujah, right?

But the big catch is, not only do they charge for hosting your site, they also take a cheeky cut from each sale — and that’s not everyone’s cup of cocoa! If you wish to give it a whirl, look out for free 14-day trials before you pony up the money: try Zenfolio or Smugmug.

Get Your Own Photo Shop

As an alternative, you can always get your own website or Etsy store and hang onto more of your gain!

Getting prints or gifts to sell is also super straightforward; go for print-on-demand and you won’t have to store some stock (or be out of pocket if you can not shift it!) .

Sell on Social Media Platforms

Eventually the social media giants will wise-up and begin letting us sell photos and other content right from our profiles.

But until then, have a hint from street photographer Daniel Arnold: he provided Instagram followers the opportunity to purchase prints from his feed — and made $15k in a single day. Obviously it helps if you’ve already got a solid fanbase, but if you have talent (and the ideal hashtags) it’s worth a shot!

The best thing about selling on social media is that you don’t even need a website: your feed is the portfolio, and you’ve got a massive potential audience!

>>LEARN HOW TO SELL YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ONLINE HERE<<

Go print-on-demand

Print-on-demand is a brilliantly simple way to make moolah from mouse mats, keyrings, t-shirts, bags, books and much more — often with zero setup costs.

The real beauty of print-on-demand is that while you can advertise a great deal of products, none of them actually exist until somebody buys’em — so there is no stock to store, lose, or fall over. Even better, there are sites out there that do all the producing, printing and submitting for you, so all you have to do is take the photos!

Photo books

First stop: Blurb, the self-publishing publishing platform (learn how that all works here!) .

Blurb lets you create photo books by simply importing your Facebook or Insta pictures — and you’ll be able to sell your final novel on Blurb or Amazon.co.uk. You could even advertise books on your own website (if you have one), but have Blurb/Amazon manage the payment. Easy! Selling Photography Through Instagram

Gifts and Goodies

Turns out you can slap a photo on pretty much anything, from shower curtains to pet clothing and PJs; and you do not even need a glue gun to get started!

Most print-on-demand outfits allow you to upload your photographs (or illustrations), choose which products you wish to sell them on, and then give you a cut of the profits if they market.

CafePress pays you 10% if your products sell in their marketplace, but you may choose to have your very own online store and add a mark-up into the price (which you get as your royalty) rather than It is free to set-up and run a shop, but CafePress take 10% of your royalties each month, up to a $10 max.
Zazzle enables you to set your own royalty rate between 5 percent and 99% but, while it’s tempting to dial it up to full whack, keep in mind that your cut is added to the sales price: go OTT and you might find it harder to make sales.
With Spreadshirt you may add a mark-up of $1 to $20 on items sold through the market, or you can open your own shop and grab 20% commission.
Redbubble starts with a product base price and allows you to add on a mark-up — the default is 20%, but you can tweak it as much as you’d like.

Running a print-on-demand store is low-fuss and cheap — if you’re contented with the occasional sale, it can be a nice way to make money on the side for relatively little work.

The word from successful vendors is that, to make proper bucks, you’ll want to put in the hours (so just like a project, sadly). We’re talking uploading lots of photos or designs, getting the word out, and generally making an effort!

Go Freelance

Selling photographs anonymously online is simple enough. But if you want to build a rep, get more glory or just have clients of your own, here are some tips to get started as a freelance photographer:

Know your market . Whether it’s individuals, pets, food or something completely left-field, it is a lot easier to market yourself if your portfolio showcases what you do best.
Take the time to learn your craft. You can get lucky selling stock in case you don’t know your aperture from your elbow, but you can’t afford to chance it when someone’s paying you for wedding pics!
Work out your rate and make sure it covers your time, your costs and leaves you a little on top for profit. And get insurance for your equipment!
Offer to photograph events, parties or portraits for friends and family to build up a portfolio, and ask them to spread the word for you. Or search out your favorite bloggers and pitch them your pic ideas!
Batter your social networking account with your best pics, let folk know you’re available, and tell’em how to get in touch. Get cheeky and choose alternative promo shots for brands, then tag them to get noticed.
Get in touch with picture editors at magazines, newspapers or sites and ask if you can submit photos or pay local events.
You may have more chance of getting adopted by Madonna than getting a press pass, but it’s like a golden ticket which could get you into sports, fashion and other exclusive events. You will want to apply each time (or become a member of the National Union of Journalists) but, once you’re in, you’re going to get loads of saleable photo opps!

While everybody with an Insta account appears to reckon they’re a pro photographer, the reality is that being a freelancer is probably the toughest route you can take.

You’ll need tons of patience, perseverance, good shoes and adequate pics — and you may well have to give away pictures for free when you first begin to get noticed. If you are in it for the career, do not give up. If you are in it for the money, get your game on with the other thoughts on this page in the meantime!

Bonus Tips for Aspiring Photographers

Carry your camera anyplace — and not just when you’re doing something or going somewhere special. Loads of businesses and brands are after photos of daily life and often it’s the simple things that make the best pics — believe roads, food (street food?) , facial expressions, family, pets, sports… anything!
Back-up your best pics (or some you’d hate to lose): keep copies on an external drive or in cloud storage (Dropbox gives you 2GB of space for free).
Once you start getting sales, get to grips with tax and the freelancing fundamentals. It will save you stress in the long term, and could save you money on your tax bill.
You may not be able to sell photos if they include trademarked products, brands or perhaps specific buildings. Check out the terms with your stock library, or get the company involved and ask if you require permission to hawk your own snaps.
Don’t just do the same-old or what everyone else is doing. Quirky, cute or weird is always in vogue. Amen to that! Selling Photography Through Instagram

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