How to Make Money With Photography

Say cheese.

“Say cheese” has been your favorite phrase forever, as you’ve loved taking photos since you were a kid. If all those years of practice have gotten you any good at it, you can turn your hobby into income and make money with photography. Dozens of venues exist for you to make money with photography, and a few simple steps will help you find several of them.

Things You'll Need

• Camera
• Business card
• Way to develop or print photos
• Portfolios

Instructions

1. Create a portfolio. You’ll want to have some of your best work at your fingertips when you are searching for work, so create both a hard copy portfolio in a stylish leather binder and an online portfolio. For the hard copy portfolio, print out or have duplicates made of some of your best work and simply place them in the binder to bring to perspective clients. For an online portfolio, you can set up your own website or use one of the free sites to display your work, such as MySpace, Facebook and other online sites. Some may charge you, but the exposure may be worth it.

2. Print up some business cards. Having a photographer business card is an easy way to circulate your information while showing you really mean business. Include the address for your online portfolio as well as an email and phone number where people can reach you. Also include any specialties if you wish. You can go all out and have custom business cards made with one of your photos on them in the background behind the text.

3. Get published. Contact magazines, journals, your local newspaper and other publications to inquire about their freelance photography guidelines. You can look up many sources online, where you can often find the guidelines for submitting photos, obtaining assignments or if they even use photographers other than those on staff. If you don’t find the information, give the art director a call. Even if you don’t get paid for your early published photos, it increases your exposure and adds more stock to your portfolio.

4. Book some gigs. Weddings, birthday parties, retreats, anniversaries—you name it, you can photograph it for a fee. Use the best photos from these gigs to add more to your portfolio. Leave some business cards with caterers, florists and other businesses that also make money off such celebrations. Show the business owners your work so they know you can do a good job and feel OK about recommending you should the chance arise. Offer to photo some events for friends at no cost to build up some good stock photos.

5. Sell photos at local art shows and street fairs. Make the photos into postcards, prints or framed and matted masterpieces, and line a booth with your work. You can have postcards printed at a local printer for a more professional quality.

6. Put your pictures on merchandise. Create an online store at a set-up such as Cafepress.com where they print up merchandise on demand. You can use whatever image you want uploaded onto a variety of merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to bumper stickers, memory boxes to calendars.

7. Run ads. Use free listing services online, such as Craigslist.com, or pay for a small ad in local publications advertising your photography business.

Tips & Warnings

• You can query tons of publications online, ranging from travel to fashion to pet magazines. Construct a short cover letter listing some of your top credits, and include a link to your online portfolio.

• Be professional. Whenever you’re traveling about looking for work, make sure your clothes are clean, free of holes and look good. Regardless of how laid back a photography profession may seem, you still need to make a good impression with more than just your photos.