The first time I saw the advert on the internet that said make cash from your camera in a few easy steps, I was immediately excited and ready to go. I purchased the eBook and was quite disappointed. Not that easy. I subsequently discovered, as with most things in life, it does require some hard work and can be very successful.
Don’t be fooled by schemes that tell you how you can make lots of money from very little work. They don’t work. But, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. There is money to be made and if you get it right, a lot of money.
So, what are stock sites? They are basically website agencies that accept images from anyone who meets their criteria and then sells them giving you a small commission each time the image sells. They really are called microstock sites as the amounts you receive are small per image. The key is to sell lots of images thereby making a good living.
The key to any new venture is to approach it carefully and cautiously while evaluating whether it’s right for you. Let’s take a look at some keys to making it in the stock photo business.
1. Where do I sell my images?
There are many, many sites all trying to sell images, digital camera best price but, sadly only a handful are very successful. What you need to do is find out which ones are and submit to them. What you may find is that what works for some won’t work for you, so it’s by trial and error that you’ll ascertain what works specifically for you. Here are some of the major sites that are very successful (add .com to all of then):
Stockphoto
Dreamstime
Fotalia
Alamy
Shutterstock
Bigstockphoto
2. Check the rules
Each stock website has it’s own rules or submission guidelines. What they are looking for and what they have enough of and what they don’t want. Follow these rules precisely. If you don’t you will be rejected immediately. If you’re not sure check out their forums and ask questions. Once you know what they want you’ll be able to submit from your archives or go out and shoot what they are looking for.
3. Find out what sells
Each of the sites will give you a comprehensive listing of their best sellers and guidelines of what the best sellers are. Most of them will clearly show what they don’t want. Categories such as lifestyle, health and fitness, business and technology are all great sellers especially people shots. When you look at a magazine, check out how many of the ads have people in them .