You have probably heard of people earning extra money by selling photos online, or even making a living from this. Whether you tried doing this yourself or not, you might be wondering what the best sites to sell photos are, so you can maximize your profit.
But first, let's spend some time discussing why anyone would pay for photos taken by regular people with their digital camera.
Considering the constant expansion of the Internet, just like the Universe itself, it can be clear to anyone that new content is always in demand. And "new content" does not only refer to written content, like most people would assume, but photos, too. Thousands of new websites appear each day and a good part of them need original content. This is why website designers, bloggers, business owners and even online magazines need fresh photos. And you would be surprised to find out how many of them are actually willing to pay good dollars for suitable photos, instead of taking them themselves.
Now back to the main point: what are the best sites to sell photos?
In order to give an answer to this question, we must make it clear that there are different types of websites that can earn you money this way. There are blogs, forums and specialized stock photos sites.
In order to sell your photos to blogs, you will usually have to contact the owner of the blog yourself. I like to find blogs that are updated frequently and post a lot of pictures. Most of these have a contact form or an email address, so all you have to do is send a polite email to the owner asking about any potential needs they may have regarding photos. I like to include a link to a website of mine, where most of the photos are available.
Some bloggers will not respond at all, some will politely refuse and some will be interested. If 3 out of 10 emails bring you costumers, you are already earning some good money!
Another way to go is to advertise your work in forums. There are not a lot of buying/selling photos online forums out there (and the existing ones will usually bring you little to no money at all, since everyone there is looking for a bargain), buy you can go another way. Who might be in desperate need of photos? People who need to design a website and are working on a schedule, with a deadline approaching, right? And where can you find these people? On forums about web designing, of course!
A quick Google search will find dozens of such forums, all filled with people willing to pay for a nice looking photo. Be polite, do not spam, and buyers will come.
The last type of websites you can use to sell your photos is stock photos websites. These are actually responsible for the biggest part of my monthly income and are a delight to work with. Shutterstock.com, istockphoto.com and fotolia.com are just a few of the websites I use to sell my photography.
Every photo earns me, on average, $2.5. Knowing that you could make this king of money, how many photos would you be willing to take during a month? One hundred? Five hundred? Do the math yourself and figure out how much money could that bring you! And you don't need to be a professional photographer or anything! I make a good living selling photos online and I didn't take any photography lessons ever and I was a complete beginner when I started.
When it comes to complete beginners trying to make money selling photos online, I can mention my friend Jessica and her quest to making $3000 per month. She started a few months ago and already managed to make a little more than $2000 a month, so her journey is coming to an end. At How to How to Sell Your Photos, you can find a report of her progress and learn a lot from her experience. Make sure you check it out!
Gilbert Robinson is a professional photographer making a living out of his passion.
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