Snaps, selfies, insta, filters… These are all words that became very popular since not so long ago thanks to the smartphones available to everyone around the world. Even those who generally aren’t very good at photography or never took any training are capturing their favourite and memorable moments day in day out.
But what most people don’t know is that by choosing the best photos from your collection and uploading them to the right site you could be making a few extra bucks here and there for literally no work at all! I like the sound of that, how about you?
This is simply because businesses need fresh photos every day for their websites, magazines, brochures, promotional materials etc. and are willing to pay for the right to use the perfect photo they were looking for! And as it turns out, you can be the photographer, even without any training. Even you are the worst at taking pictures, everyone has at least several that they can be proud of.
Stock photography websites are massive databases of photos in all categories that are used by thousands to millions of visitors a day who search for that money shot. You register for free and submit the photos you’d like to share with anyone who is willing to pay. The photos usually go through an approval process and are then added to the database. Once an interested person stumbles upon your work and buy it (or more often, buy a licence to use it) you get a cut from the sale!
The are tons of sites that provide this service and we recommend you sign up to as many as possible to increase your chances of finding buyers frequently, but good ones to start with are:
- Shutterstock
- Fotolia
- iStockPhoto
- Dreamstime
- Photography Jobs Online
All of the sites have slightly different compensation rules so make sure you are familiar with them before you start. The same goes for any terms & conditions that relate to the type of picures they like to sell. Note that having other people easily recognizable on your pictures may require some additional paperwork, the same goes for certain commercial buildings, company logos etc.
How much can you earn doing this? As with everything, it depends… Depends on the amount of photos you submit, how popular they are, what is the commission structure of your chosen website, whether or not you are exclusive with one website or not… You have to do your research here. Of course, this won’t let you retire in Bahamas within 3 months, but it’s a good way to accumulate some extra funds for a weekend trip once or twice a year!
And all on the strength of leveraging what you’re already doing – taking photos with your camera and your phone!
Good luck!