How to Make Money Selling Photos of Yourself.

You are already doing it for free anyway, so why not step up your photography game and start making money from selling photos of yourself online? 

Not everyone will be comfortable selling photos of themselves online but if this is something you can do, then follow through as we highlight some ways in which you can be able to make money selling photos of yourself. Ensure that you read through the terms and agreements of each site before you start uploading your pictures. 

Make Money Selling Photos of Yourself

Personal website/blog

The greatest advantage of selling your photos through your website or blog is that you get to retain all the proceeds from your sales. Besides, a personal website will enable you to make passive income through other avenues such as affiliate marketing or sponsored ads. 

Setting up a website is easy and inexpensive; if you can’t do it by yourself you can always hire a freelance website designer to help you set it up. Ensure you make your website look unique and professional. See to it that it has an about page, contact page as well as a homepage that will enable clients to quickly go through to have an idea of what your website is about.  

This is a professional and legit way of making money as a freelance photographer (how to make money as a freelance photographer).  

Online  Sites 

Having your website will require a lot from you. You will be responsible for creating content, marketing to generate traffic to your website and handling payments. 

If you are not keen on doing all this work, then you should consider selling photos of yourself on sites that will pay for them. There are a bunch of legit sites that will enable you to make money from your photos. If this is the route you would prefer, then read below to find out our top 5 sites that will buy your photos. 

500px Prime

This is one site that is popular among photographers. With 500px, the standard license for a photo is about $250. You will be paid 70% of the fee earned through the sale of your photos with the possibility of earning more if your photo is chosen for commercial licensing. This is among the best prices in the market. 

To start selling your pictures, you first need to set up a free account on the site. Once your account is all set, you can now start submitting photos. You could also sign up for an exclusive license; this means that once you sell your photo to them, you cannot sell them anywhere else. The advantage of selling exclusive rights is that it earns you more money. 

 istock photo

This site has been around for over 10 years, as such, it has an extensive network of contributors and buyers alike. 

To get you started in istock photo, you are required to create an account on the site then select the category you are interested in and fill out an application form. The team will then review your application; if selected, you are going to be submitted to a short test. 

Once you have successfully gone through all the processes, you will then be allowed to start uploading your photos. For non-exclusive photos, istock will pay you a minimum of 15% from the sale while exclusive photos can earn you up to 45% of the sale. 

SmugMug

Unlike the other sites mentioned, SmugMug is not a free site; to sign up you have to pay $12.50 per month. However, with this site, you will be able to keep up to 85% of the sales from each of your photos. Also, to help you copyright your work, SmugMug allows you to watermark your photos preventing anyone from claiming them as their own.

BigStock

BigStock is a free to sign up photo library that allows you to make money selling photos of yourself. The photos you upload will be thoroughly looked into to verify the quality. If they like and can use your photo, they add it to their collection.

Alamy 

This is another photo library that allows you to upload your photos and earn up to 70% from each sale. You are eligible to request payment after you have reached the minimum threshold of $50.

Photo Contests

Several photography websites host photo contests and offer cash rewards. Companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonalds also occasionally have photo contests for their marketing campaigns. 

Therefore, look out for such and submit your photos, you never know, you might just have the perfect shot that they are looking for and win yourself amazing cash rewards. 

Tips on how to get the perfect shot

• Equipment: If you are a professional photographer, make sure you have the right equipment (what do I need to start a photography business). If not, maybe you are just looking to make some extra money, make sure your phone’s camera is capable of taking high-quality pictures. 
• Lighting: Get the best lighting natural lighting is always the best
• Find appropriate and interesting backdrops/ backgrounds
• Pose: work on perfecting your poses. A pose can make or break your photo. Ensure your pose looks relaxed and natural. 
• Software: find a suitable and easy to use editing software online to help you fine-tune your photos before uploading them. Editing helps to improve the overall quality of the photo. 
• Get on social media: Social media platforms have become the best avenues for promoting products and services. Your social media accounts will be to share your work, more like an online portfolio. This will help you gather followers who will likely turn to be your clients.

In Conclusion

When it comes to earning extra income, most people do not consider selling photos of themselves. However, you can make good extra cash selling photos of yourself. There are several other sites available that will allow you to cash out on your photos. Therefore, do your research and determine which will best suit your needs. 

Do note that photography is all about creativity. Therefore, for you to be able to stand out in this field and cash in good money, you need to perfect your photography art and be consistent with your uploads.