How to make money with this stock photography business plan
A stock photography business is a method to earn more money in the photography business. Stock photography is a collection of photos that are licensed for use for various purposes. These are used by people like book publishers, graphic artists, advertisers, etc. to add creativity to your work. So, due to the increasing demand for these types of photos, the sale of stock photos has become a business in itself.
When you intend to start a stock photography business and sell stock photos to make money, you need to keep certain things in mind. Always choose and filter the photos you want to keep on your list. In a stock photography business, most of the time quality is not as important as conveying the idea. People opt for stock photography either when they don’t have time to go for a photo shoot or can’t acquire the required photo. Therefore, select and keep photographs that are capable of conveying ideas.
If you’re selling your photos to a stock photography agency, you’ll need to abide by their terms and upload the photos in the specified formats and resolutions. Or if you keep your stock photos on your own, always look for a format and resolution that meet customer requirements.
Stock photos must not be copyrighted or watermarked. These photos are intended for sale and reuse. So there is no point in putting a copyright mark on it. And if you’re hosting your photos on a website, make sure you use the right keywords and tags so that search engines find you easily. You can check out major stock photo hosting websites like ShutterStock, Fotolia, etc. for ideas on how to keyword and organize your stock photos.
Whereas, if you intend to sell your stock photos to a stock photo agency or website, that’s good too. By doing so, you comply with the terms of the agency and you will be paid a good amount for the images or every time someone downloads your photograph, you will get a specified percentage. In this way, stock photos are a means of generating income over and over again.
You can also take orders to produce stock photography. Agencies will give you subjects you need to take photos of. This is a more effective way to sell stock photography. In the conventional method, the agency takes only selected photos out of the hundreds or thousands you submit. But when you capture photos based on the subject they provide, the chance of most of the photos being selected is high.
Microstock is the latest form of a stock photography business and photos are licensed for much lower fees. Sales of this type of photography are also increasing. Microstock photos are sold in bulk and therefore the photographer gets a fair amount on the sale. Although the amount per download is lower compared to common stock photos, the sale of Microstock is higher. This ensures that photographers make more money selling Microstock photos.