How Do I Start??

shorty6049

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ok, i'm sorry if someone else posted this before or anything, this is my first post on here. I've been taking photos for a long time now and i'm lookign to start trying to sell some of my photos. Right now i'm on istockphoto and dreamstime.com but in the year or so that i've been involved with those sites, i've only made about 5 dollars total off of the 7 or so photos i've sold. Is there any better way to sell photos online (or offline). I have read articles and such claiming that you should be able to sell stock photos for ten dollars and up, but all the sites i've seen end up giving me about 40 cents per photo. whats the best way for me to actually start making money doing this?
 
i don't have an answer for you as i'm not good enough to be selling mine but i have a friend who is on two different stock photo sites and she's made a laughable amount too. i've read many conflicting viewpoints on this topic so i'll be interestd to hear what others have to say. :)
 
The topic you posted is popular, but do not be sorry. Everyone just loves to chat. Slightly vague on the specifics though.

So let us say you have landscapes that you think could sell. Get them mounted and framed and hit the street. Get businesses to hang your work. Ask coffee houses and bars first. Explain that you will have an opening reception where tons of people will come to eat and drink. Good for their business and good for your sales. Usually you can hang for a month and those places get a lot of traffic. In this environment you could sell your work for upwards of 150 dollars per shot.

Another thought is to get into art fairs. The competition is tough. Once your in it has the possibility of being a gold mine because people are basically there to buy art. Here your price per photo can go a lot higher.

I have 4 shots on Bigstock. That is as far as my web sales and experience have gone. Kind of doubt any one has even seen them. I would imagine that there is money to be made in "stock" photography. Personally I think the web market is too saturated. Which may explain why you only get 40 cents per download or whatever. Now if you want to get signed by Magnum or Corbis that is a whole other story.

Love and Bass
 
thanks for the nice replies so far, i'll fill in some details here. First off, i'm not really at the point where i'd consider myself a pro or anything, and i wouldnt think bars or coffee shops would want to hang any of my work and have a big opening for it... i'm in college right now, and photography is just a hobby for me, but i know you can make money selling your photos, and i have some that are good shots, i'm not really trying to "make it big" or anything, just trying to see if i can get anything for some of my photos...
 
I am confused. If the work is not good enough for a local market how is it good enough for a global market? At this point I would say focus on the photography not the sales.

Love and Bass
 
I am confused. If the work is not good enough for a local market how is it good enough for a global market? At this point I would say focus on the photography not the sales.

:thumbup: Better than I could have said it.
 
Also not sure which market you're aiming for if you've sold a few images for a few cents but they're not good enough for the local coffee shop.
:confused:
 
The problem with stock photography, is that there are millions of people just like you, trying to make an easy buck. Even if you have a great shot, it also needs to fill a need for the buyer.
I've heard that some stock photos houses are much harder to get into, but they pay better and they put more effort into sales and promotion.

There are books with titles like 'How to make money with photography' etc. Check out Amazon.
 
well, i mean, i have some good stuff, but i'm just not really looking to actually go into the photography business. I'm a mechanical engineering major, and that takes up enough of my time as it is, thats why i'm trying to sell stock photos. Is there anyone one here who has sold stock and made an ok amount of money doing it??
 
Ummmm...

wow




*resumes snapping gum and trying to look sweet*
 
well, i mean, i have some good stuff, but i'm just not really looking to actually go into the photography business. I'm a mechanical engineering major, and that takes up enough of my time as it is, thats why i'm trying to sell stock photos. Is there anyone one here who has sold stock and made an ok amount of money doing it??

I think as a hobbyist, you may not make much. Those who have made a decent living off their work devote more of their time and efforts to it. You're not going to be able to make an half-assed attempt and make "ok" money off it. The stock market online is rather heavily saturated and the same scene or close to it will have several versions of it. Those who have made any decent amount of money off of it have hundreds, if not thousands of images and have work in the higher-paying and harder to get into stock companies.
 
Is there anyone one here who has sold stock and made an ok amount of money doing it??

I've sold quite a few prints and a digital file to a calendar company in Germany that was/is a stock image.
In the 3 years or so of selling my images i've made a profit of over £400. That's net profit after deducting printing costs and any other costs.

The way i look at it - about 99% i take images i like not what will sell. And my logic is that since i'm super critical of my own work, if i like it then others will too. The more images i take the more i have that can be used as stock and the greater the chance of one of mine meeting the requirements of a customer.

Don't bank on a constant stream of money - you'd need thousands of stock images for that. And don't think that because you've got some good stuff people will automatically want to buy it. I've got tons of good stuff but only a few sell.
 
Go with what you know. You're an ME, shoot some stuff other ME's might like. Complicated gearing, old/odd test equipment etc. Do a bunch of macro stuff, geeks like me dig that stuff. Maybe you can put enough material together for a website that is just that kind of stuff. Just make sure that other ME types (coworkers, classmates, Profs) know about your website. Just be realistic in how much money you are going to make. You might not make much more than beer money but it's better than nothing.
 
i mean, beer money is fine, i just feel like i should be able to get more than 40 cents a photo.... one thing is that istock takes a pretty big percentage of the sale
 

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