By Laura Charon

Congratulations!  You’re ready to take the next step with your digital photography, and start earning some money with it!  There are two avenues you can pursue – you can sell the photographs that you take, or you can provide your photography skills as a service to other people.  Either way you go, earning money with your photography is challenging and rewarding in this highly competitive field.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/snerkology/4039972265/in/set-72157622529158163

In this article we’re going to talk about selling your photographs, and in a later article we will discuss earning money with your photography skills.

Selling Your Photographs:

The first important step in selling your photographs is to establish a portfolio.  Create a collection of the work that you are the most proud of.  It helps for the file size of the photographs to be as large as your camera allows, in order to maintain the detail of the image when the photo is printed out in large sizes.

Next, develop a signature that you can add to your photographs – it helps to maintain the copyright of your work, and also adds a little extra advertising for people to see your signature when your work is hanging in a home or business!  I have written a tutorial for how to add a signature to your photograph using Photoshop CS3, it can be found here: http://www.beyondmegapixels.com/2009/08/add-a-signature-to-your-digital-photos/

With your portfolio assembled, it is now time to decide in what way you would like to sell your photographs.  Again, there are a couple of avenues you can take.  One is to provide your photographs to a stock photo agency, such as iStockPhoto, ShutterStock, or BigStock.  Such agencies pay by number of downloads or by image, and how much money you make depends upon how many images you have to share, and how many times your image is downloaded.  Customers of stock photo agencies often use the photos commercially (ads, websites, documents) so be sure you understand the implications to your copyright.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/snerkology/4040721252/in/set-72157622529158163

The second avenue you can pursue is to sell your images in more of the manner of artwork, rather than bulk media.  Sites such as ImageKind, Etsy, SmugMug, and FolioLink allow your customers to choose which print media they desire (usually photo paper or canvas), which size they want (wallets up to poster size, greeting cards, and the like), and whether they want the photo framed.  You set the markup that you want to receive for each image sold, and you can even dictate the size and quality of the media used if you want that much influence over the final product.  Your copyright is 100% maintained for the images that you own.

The final concern is how to get the word out about your photographs.  You can’t sell anything if people don’t know about your work, right?  Consider printing and framing some of your photos – put them in your own home for your friends and family to see, or give them as gifts to friends and family members, so that they will be seen by their own visitors.  Approach local establishments (businesses, restaurants, libraries, etc.), and ask them if they will allow you to hang your work on their walls.  Often, if it’s of no cost to them, a business owner will be happy to showcase quality work and decorate their store or office.  Be sure you leave some method of contact – a business card tucked inside the frame, for instance – and make it clear that the photos on the walls are for sale, and that there’s plenty more where they came from!



http://www.flickr.com/photos/snerkology/4039970381/in/set-72157622529158163

Speaking of business cards, it’s terribly easy and inexpensive to set yourself up with one.  Photo management sites such as Flickr, Photobucket, and Shutterfly offer cost effective and simple ways to design and print your own cards.  Having a ready means to provide contact information to potential clients and customers goes a long way toward establishing your success.

Finally, consider developing a website that showcases your skill as a photographer.  In this Age of Blogs, it’s easy and in many cases even free to set up a website in no time at all.  Blogger, WordPress, BlogSpot, TypePad, and other similar webhosts offer a variety of user-friendly templates to get even the most inexperienced website creator going quickly.  If you store your photos on a photo management site, they make it easy to create the “code” needed to publish your photos on your own website.

I hope you’ve found this information to be helpful in getting you on your way toward making money with your photography!  Good luck!

Photo Credits (all): Laura Charon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snerkology/

This guest post was provided by Laura Charon of BeyondMegapixels.com

Congratulations!  You’re ready to take the next step with your digital photography, and start earning some money with it!  There are two avenues you can pursue – you can sell the photographs that you take, or you can provide your photography skills as a service to other people.  Either way you go, earning money with your photography is challenging and rewarding in this highly competitive field.

In this article we’re going to talk about selling your photographs, and in a later article we will discuss earning money with your photography skills.

The first important step in selling your photographs is to establish a portfolio.  Create a collection of the work that you are the most proud of.  It helps for the file size of the photographs to be as large as your camera allows, in order to maintain the detail of the image when the photo is printed out in large sizes.

Next, develop a signature that you can add to your photographs – it helps to maintain the copyright of your work, and also adds a little extra advertising for people to see your signature when your work is hanging in a home or business!  I have written a tutorial for how to add a signature to your photograph using Photoshop CS3, it can be found here.

With your portfolio assembled, it is now time to decide in what way you would like to sell your photographs.  Again, there are a couple of avenues you can take.  One is to provide your photographs to a stock photo agency, such as iStockPhoto, ShutterStock, or BigStock.  Such agencies pay by number of downloads or by image, and how much money you make depends upon how many images you have to share, and how many times your image is downloaded.  Customers of stock photo agencies often use the photos commercially (ads, websites, documents) so be sure you understand the implications to your copyright.

The second avenue you can pursue is to sell your images in more of the manner of artwork, rather than bulk media.  Sites such as ImageKind, Etsy, SmugMug, and FolioLink allow your customers to choose which print media they desire (usually photo paper or canvas), which size they want (wallets up to poster size, greeting cards, and the like), and whether they want the photo framed.  You set the markup that you want to receive for each image sold, and you can even dictate the size and quality of the media used if you want that much influence over the final product.  Your copyright is 100% maintained for the images that you own.

The final concern is how to get the word out about your photographs.  You can’t sell anything if people don’t know about your work, right?  Consider printing and framing some of your photos – put them in your own home for your friends and family to see, or give them as gifts to friends and family members, so that they will be seen by their own visitors.  Approach local establishments (businesses, restaurants, libraries, etc.), and ask them if they will allow you to hang your work on their walls.  Often, if it’s of no cost to them, a business owner will be happy to showcase quality work and decorate their store or office.  Be sure you leave some method of contact – a business card tucked inside the frame, for instance – and make it clear that the photos on the walls are for sale, and that there’s plenty more where they came from!

Speaking of business cards, it’s terribly easy and inexpensive to set yourself up with one.  Photo management sites such as Flickr, Photobucket, and Shutterfly offer cost effective and simple ways to design and print your own cards.  Having a ready means to provide contact information to potential clients and customers goes a long way toward establishing your success.

Finally, consider developing a website that showcases your skill as a photographer.  In this Age of Blogs, it’s easy and in many cases even free to set up a website in no time at all.  Blogger, WordPress, BlogSpot, TypePad, and other similar webhosts offer a variety of user-friendly templates to get even the most inexperienced website creator going quickly.  If you store your photos on a photo management site, they make it easy to create the “code” needed to publish your photos on your own website.

I hope you’ve found this information to be helpful in getting you on your way toward making money with your photography!  Good luck!

Photo Credits (all): Laura Charon