Photography is a great way to capture memorable moments and
express your creativity, but did you know that some people will
pay you for your pictures? The emergence of digital photography
has made transferring pictures from one source to another very
simple. Not only can you email and save pictures with your
computer, but the quality of the images remains constant with
each source. These factors have opened a new market for selling
pictures.
Businesses, especially smaller ones, are always looking for
ways to save money. One of the ways they can do this is by
purchasing digital images from amateur photographers. The
pictures are often used for marketing pieces other print forms
of communication. If an amateur photographer can provide quality
images at reasonable prices, then they can earn a nice income
from this opportunity. Best of all, performing well with smaller
jobs will often to lead to larger and more consistent work with
the same company.
Another significant market for digital images is the webmaster
segment. Everyday thousands of websites create new pages where
they need pictures to add to their presentation. Because
webmasters don't have the time to wait for a photographer to
produce pictures on an individual basis, they turn to the
different online marketplaces to find photos. Amateur
photographers can capitalize on this need by posting samples of
their work on these sites for exposure. Typically a webmaster
pays for a fee for usage of the photo directly to the artist.
This can create a passive stream of income for photographers who
know how to market their pictures effectively.
Selling directly to individual customers is another method of
making money with your pictures. This can be done through
auction sites and online classified ads. EBay is the most
popular internet auction option, but make sure you do some test
auctions with your less valuable images before jumping in head
first. Classified ad sites like Craigslist are less risky, but
you will have to write a catchy ad in order to draw attention to
your services. As with any online service, it is best to start
slowly and diversify. You want to get comfortable with the
nuances of each service and you need to spread your efforts
across multiple sites to avoid getting stuck if one of them were
to go down.
Some of the other avenues for selling your photographs online
can include clip art, screensavers, greeting cards, and other
online publishing tools. Basically, anyone who needs immediate
access to pictures in order to complete their project. There are
literally thousands of search engine queries every minute from
people who are looking for convenient access to quality
photography.
These are just some of the ways that you can sell your
photographs online for extra money. The best way to get started
is to simply research the markets that are in need of digital
images and find ways to expose them to your products. As with
any business, the hardest part is to build a consistent client
base. But after you have built your foundation, the profits will
become larger and more consistent until you suddenly have an
automatic income flow at your disposal.
