How to Sell Photographs Online: For Both Amateur and Professional Photographers?
The Internet has brought the world to one common platform. We can communicate with people from anywhere through multiple apps and software. Better communication has opened the innumerable scope of business for everyone, including photographers, both pro and amateurs. Photographers can explore markets beyond the local area and sell their art to a global audience.
Photographers can make an impressive website, preferably on WordPress. It is a dominant open-source platform, and around 41 per cent of the websites are made on WordPress. It is easy and does not need coding experience to build one.
A professional photographer who wants to sell their art online needs to make a strategy and plan before making a profitable sale of their photos. To sell photos online, you need to follow certain tips and methods to better brand positioning, brand identity, and people connect.
Tips and places for selling photos online
There are multiple tips and places to sell photos online. We will explain all the major points in the following paragraphs for your reference. Read through the passage and use the information for selling the photographs to the right audience through the right platform.
1. Identify the niche
Though anybody with a smartphone thinks of themselves as a photographer and can share photos online for sale, you need to give some professional touch to it if you want to develop this as a business.
There are hundreds of genres in which you can develop your photography skills. To give consistency and expertise, focus on one specific category in the beginning. As an amateur, focus on several genres can be diverting, and quality will hamper.
Some of the most popular genres are fashion, cityscapes, rural India, nature, food, and travel.
How to find the niche?
To know how to sell photos, you must do proper research before selecting one niche which resonates with your passion and customer's interest. There are a couple of ways to decide on a niche according to market trends.
1) Social media channels
2) Keyword-based research
- Social media channels for niche finding and selling photos online
Social media is the medium with multi-purpose utility for searching the target audience, targeting them with specific content, and getting clients. For selling photos and understanding niche, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc., are the best mediums.
Make a business page on individual social media channels. There are specific rules for making a business page on each medium. Give your business a name and post details about selling with contact details.
Maintain a fair number of posts, preferably two posts weekly on each platform. Consistency is the key in any business; if you post seven images in a week, then none for a couple of weeks, people will think of you as non-serious and would not communicate with you. You can also link various social media channels for the optimum outcome.
The major purpose of social channels is to initiate a dialogue, involve people in communication, and understand popular niches among audiences on social platforms. Ask for review, suggestions, etc. and keep it interactive, do not make it a sales platform.
- Keyword search
You should focus on photo genres in demand for selling photos online. There are several apps and software available to check popular keywords. It is advisable to use Google trends for reliable and extensive results.
Type in keywords related to the photography genre and see popularity within a certain period of time. Depending upon popularity and demand, a special niche for photography. For example: if any keyword is getting more than a thousand searches in a month, it is considerable.
2. Building a portfolio and adding an e-commerce option
Open-source platforms such as WordPress give an option to create a customised website for photography. You can make your portfolio here with the best of the images and videos. To monetise it and make it simpler for clients, integrate e-commerce into the site.
You can also use bahi khata apps such as OkCredit for managing transactions. These advanced apps keep all the data organised and secured. You can place reminders for payments also. Using these apps, you can only focus on business growth, leaving scheduling and data management on the software.
On the website, you can offer courses on photography, physical goodies, and services for special occasions, etc.
3. Blogs for improving sales
Blogs play a vital role in improving sales, and for selling photography, you should use this tool also. Write about photos, experience around it, and post on the website. There should be links attached for the photographs with price details.
Blogs are a proven and successful tool for sales in online business. You should use it for selling photos online and establish your business smartly.
Apart from your website, several online platforms are easy ways to sell photos online and make a handsome profit.
Major Platforms to sell photos online
1. Adobe stock
Adobe stock is around for more than ten years. They are pioneers in photo selling online. Their other platforms are Photoshop and Lightroom.
Sellers get higher royalty on Adobe stock than other platforms. You can get anything in between twenty to sixty per cent share on image sales. There are no restrictions on selling with multiple sites along with Adobe stock.
2. Shutterstock
Shutterstock also does not have any restrictions on selling with other platforms at the same time. It has an extensive library of over two hundred million photos, music tracks, and videos. Such a huge collection indicates their global clients who buy images at the platform.
Sellers can get great profit by selling photos through Shutterstock. Your name and brand get a mention in the image; it helps in making your identity and brand building.
3. 500PX
500PX is an innovative platform for selling photos and earning handsome profits. The platform uses the 'Pulse algorithm' to improve image visibility and increase sales on the 'Discovery page.'
The Pulse algorithm is a method to measure the popularity of the new image uploaded and helps in fixing the price accordingly. It promotes daily exposure of images from amateur photographers and professional photographers. If your image has a pulse of over eighty, the image will be placed on the Popular page. Evaluation happens every week, and the image with the highest pulse gets a place on the Popular page.
The platform is free to register and upload. It also offers analytical and tracking services for the sellers.
These are major platforms in the market for selling online photos. There are hundreds of others, including dedicated platforms for specific genres, for example- TourPhotos for travel-related images, PhotoShelter for photo prints, etc.
Conclusion
Photography can be a thriving business in a contemporary global environment. You can pursue it as a hobby, pastime, or full-time business, depending upon your interest. There are more ways to sell photos online today than ever. Given all the opportunities, success relies on skills, dedication, communication skills, and client servicing. The best reward is your satisfaction and happy soul in pursuing your passion.
Also read:
1) Online Business Ideas You Can Start Quickly
2) What online business can I do to make money? Here are the top-6 ideas for you.
3) Where Do the Best Business Ideas Come From?
4) Best Home Business Ideas in 2020
5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.
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FAQs
Q. Is selling photos online profitable?
Ans. Yes, selling photos online can be profitable. It depends upon the popularity of the genre, photo quality, and your portfolio. Income potentials are in terms of commission on each photo sold, direct sale to clients, photography classes online, etc.
Q. How to manage accounts and staff, if any?
Ans. If you are an amateur and started selling photos online, basic knowledge of accounts is enough for managing payables and receivables. If you are a pro and have years of experience in selling, you might need to hire a person to handle accounts.
Fortunately, several user-friendly khata bahi apps such as OkCredit have evolved in the market in recent times. These apps manage the ledger with their advanced features and keep it organised for tracking all dues and payments.
You can also check their employee management features through Okstaff and manage their attendance and salary.
Q. Is it illegal to sell someone's image without their approval?
Ans. You can sell it as long as it is not for commercial use. Commercial use means advertisement and promotional purposes. If the photo has been clicked in public, you can sell it without any legal repercussions.