March 7, 2011 • tony
If you love photography, you can actually make a living by selling your photos to stock agencies. All you have to do is upload your photos on the stock agencies and add in some relevant keywords. You will be paid a royalty fee based on the image sold. It is a great passive income as you can sell the photos for a lifetime. And the money just keeps rolling in every month. If you are a serious photographer, you can be a fulltime photographer in this booming industry.
What photos to sell?
You might be tempted to start shooting and uploading every object you see. That should not be the way. Instead you should think like a buyer and shoot for the buyer. You have to see what type of photos buyers are looking to sell. Things like business photos, lifestyle concepts, inspirations, creative photos are usually in high demand.
Here are 5 best stock agencies to sell your photos:
Shutterstock
Shutterstock has been considered as the top earner by most photographers. Pay starts from $0.25 to $2.85 per download. The earning margin depends on your lifetime total sales and the subscription package bought by buyers. Although the earnings for each photo is small but you will expect lots of downloads as the agency is subscription based. Shutterstock also accept vector graphics. You can also make extra money by inviting other photographers to join or by referring a buyer.
Istockphoto
Istockphoto is a very popular stock agency owned by Getty Image. The requirements to get your photos approved are much higher and stricter. Royalties are based on canister levels from Bronze to Diamond. The royalties start from 20% to 40% for Exclusive Diamond contributors. Earnings usually starts small because of your canister level but picks up fast once you have reached a certain canister level. Video footages, vector graphics, audio effects are also accepted at Istockphoto. Great sales but low royalties.
Dreamstime
With a high payout, Dreamstime is a popular stock agencies among photographers. Photographer receives 30-60% fee depending on the amount of downloads. The earnings percentage is broken down to 5 levels according to the downloads. Exclusive photos will get an additional 15% bonus and exclusive photographers can earn up to 60%.
Fotolia
Fotolia is a popular site in Europe. Fotolia has been steadily bringing more sales for photographers. Royalties are based on 8 different rankings. Pay starts from 25% to 46% from normal contributors. Exclusive photographers can earn 42%-63%.
Bigstock
Bigstock is a new comer but definitely worth uploading. Earn $0.50 for every 1 credit the buyer pays on your image. Up to $3 per download. To earn more, you can sign up for the special licensing program to enjoy a higher payout.
You don’t need to be a professional photographer to start selling stock photos. This ebook will teach you how to take killer photos with a normal camera. It comes with step by step tutorial to teach you how to take the perfect photos and maximize your earnings. Click here to learn how to sell photos at DigiCamCash.
