There are many different ways to make money with your camera. The key is to start with one particular kind of photography that works best for you and stick with it. I will be highlighting some of the best known ways to make a lot of money with digital photography.
In this article I will be giving 5 tips on how to bring in the money with your camera. Before reading this article, just relax because it is a slightly long post.
Now, lets come to the point.
Tip #1: Get As Many People as Possible to See Your Pictures.
Get those millions to see your pictures instead of just thousands or just your circle of friends.
Exposure is crucial. Not only will having more people see your pictures help you make more money, but it's also good for branding.
If people begin to see your pictures in more than one place they will begin to see that you are a big name photographer. Suddenly, the demand for your pictures will go up and people will be willing to spend more to have your images.
Years ago it would be tough to get a huge amount of people to see your pictures if you were just starting out, but with the internet it's not only possible, but it should be one of your main priorities to make your pictures viewable online.
No matter what kind of photography you want to get into, if you don't have some samples of your work online, you will be shutting out what could be a huge portion of your income.
So how do I get those pictures online?
If you can afford to spend some money to put your pictures online, then you should buy a domain with a web hosting. There are many benifits of having your own website.
If you cannot afford to spend some money online, then still there are many other godd options. You can set up your own blog for free at Blogger.com. After registering your blog start posting your best pictures to your blog for sample with good titles. You can also put adsense ads or any other ads on your blog for extra income.
If you are not ready to setup your own blog, still there are other options.
Here are some free websites you can use to show off your pictures and your portfolio:
Tip # 2: Use Micro Stock As Major Income Source
Setting up your portfolio will make you famous on the internet but it might not make a good amount of money for you.
The major part of your income will be generated by Micro Stock Sites.
Every month there are MILLIONS of people who visit micro stock photography sites with money in hand, ready to buy photos.
You just have to upload your pictures to these micro stock photography sites and sit back. People will come, buy your photos again and again and you'll make money doing nothing.
Here are some good micro stock sites below:-
Its not that you just upload 2-3 pictures and then you think to make money. You should try to make a huge portfolio at micro stock sites with about 100-200 pictures or more. Slowly grow your portfolio and make it bigger everyday.
The more photos you upload the more money you'll make.
Tip #3: Find those businesses that NEED a photographer like you.
Every business needs photos, but some are willing to pay big bucks for you to take them.
Not all businesses want to simply buy their pictures off of a micro stock photography website because they want a picture that no one else has.
When you walk into a business you can use all of the above points to show the company how they would benefit from hiring you to take photos for them.
Show them how having better quality pictures of their products would lead to better sales. Show them how more professional looking photos can make a huge difference from a clients point of view.
You can also opt for press release photography. When a business has a press release they want to make sure they have good pictures to represent them. Most of the people that see these pictures will only get that one shot to get the first impression of the business so you can advertise doing some press release photography to make some extra money. You can shoot some grand openings as well and then offer to deliver it to the newspaper company for submission.
Tip #4 : Take Newsworthy Pictures and Chase that Story
With more people having cameras today, the big name news companies are
often the last ones to get pictures and live coverage of a scene. Even when the terrorists hit Mumbai, it was Twitter users that brought us live updates of what was going on before the news even had a chance to get there.
This really makes the news agencies jealous, but rather than fight us, they are now willing to pay really good money for newsworthy photos, and they are not the only ones.
In fact, there is a website out there that will absolutely revolutionize the way editorial pictures are sold, and it's a site called Demotix.com.
What they do is accept all kinds of news photos and videos taken from
anywhere in the world, and then they pump them out to news organizations who in turn buy them. Demotix is currently paying out 50% of their profits to you and the pictures that sell will often bring in a nice chunk of change.
It's an amazing concept. This gives average, every day people the opportunity to be freelance photo journalists and make the same kind of money that the big names make.
This kind of business can pay very well, especially if you live in a bustling city where lots of news is happening all the time.
Tip #5 : Photograph Events that Pay Tons of Cash
Event photography is huge, and I am going to show you the markets that will pay you the most for your time.
But first some advice: When you are taking pictures at any event you really need to stay on your toes. It is not a very relaxing form of photography but it sure is exciting.
You have to keep your eyes roaming about constantly to make sure you are not just capturing what every one else is looking at but also their reactions to what they are seeing as well. Reaction shots sell the most in any event photography situation.
How to Get the Prints to Your Clients:
There are services online that you can use to upload the pictures from the event and then charge whatever you want for them. The customer gets on that site and orders different sizes of different pictures and the company will accept the credit card payment and print and ship the pictures for you! So all you have to do is upload the pictures and you are done.
The service I use is called Printroom.com, but there are others like Smugmug.com and Photoreflect.com as well.
I highly recommend using a service like this because then you can just concentrate on taking great pictures.
Here are some ways you can tap into the huge market of event photography:
Wedding Photography - Many photographers make their full time income from shooting weddings.
Amateur Sporting Events - This is another huge market right now.This
includes everything from tee ball, to little league, high school basketball, football, and any other sport that children play at their school, church or for a league. You can either be paid by the parents of the kid you are to take pictures of or sometimes coaches will want to hire you.
Birthday Parties – There are parents willing to spend big bucks on thei
child's birthday party, so this is another great opportunity. Be sure to capture all kinds of expressions as well, especially if it is a young child.
Business Special Days - Big days are great for businesses as they can have some of those pictures in the paper or just use them in their newsletters. So to take good pictures, they require good photographers and where you can come in.
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