How to Sell Stock Photographs

Stock photography is a quickly growing into a viable market for amateur photographers to make some extra money.  Stock photos are generally images that capture an activity or pose that has broad appeal to a number of customers.  The photographs are staged in such a way to communicate a message or trigger an emotion, but without references to any specific brand or product.  The beauty of stock photos for the photographer is that the images can be resold hundreds of times to different customers.

So how can you get into the profitable stock photography market?

There are very few prerequisites for selling stock photography, but it does help to have a couple things in place before you begin.  Having a camera is the most obvious need, and a computer with photo editing software is also recommended.  From there you need an artistic eye and an identifiable market to target.

A good starting point for inspiration is to scan your favorite magazines or websites and look at the pictures.  Most general articles use stock images to add some life to an otherwise boring text display, and these are the types of pictures most commonly sought. Focus on capturing clear images that have well defined colors and details. Remember that your customers will be using the pictures to represent themselves, so they will only choose the ones that stand out most.

Once you have a built a small portfolio, you can then concentrate on marketing and sales.  Since there are so many outlets for distributing your works, using an authoritative guide like "Make $$$ Taking Photos" is the best way to build your network.  Ultimately, the internet is the easiest way to reach the most people, but it can be a trial and error process when you are new to the industry.  Of course selling directly to the customer is the most profitable, but you will likely need to experience some success online before selling your wares door-to-door.

As you build your stock photography empire you will become more aware of what sells and what doesn’t.  The most successful entrepreneurs find a specific niche that fits their interests and talent level.  This could be as broad as nature pictures, or as specific as images of women holding guns (just do a Google image search if you don’t believe it).  No matter what niche you choose, building a name and a brand around a specific type of picture will secure repeat customers for years to come.

Making money with stock photography can be a great revenue stream for those who have the determination.  Like any business, there is a learning curve at first, but the possibilities are endless if you put in the time.  By starting with a quality guide to selling photographs online, you can reduce the process and jump straight to the profits.