How to Sell Photos Online

This is a simple guide on how to sell photos online. One of the most profitable ways to sell your photos is to sell them on stock photo websites. Here's how to do it, the best websites to submit your photos to, and how much money you can make.

Things You'll Need

• photo camera
• internet

Instructions

1. Why didn't I Think of that Earlier?
   I'm kind of scratching my head, wondering why it
   took me this long to realize that I can make money
   from taking photographs and doing illustrations,
   video, flash, or audio. I have seen many stock photo
   websites, and I have used these sites several times.
   But, I was always looking at them as a buyer. Now,
   with my newly found knowledge of making passive
   income from these sites, I am now starting to pursue
   this opportunity.

2. Due Diligence
   So far, I've done research on all of the stock photog-
   raphy websites I could find and I've discovered that
   most people that are generating income from stock
   photography websites always seem to name at least
   one or two of these four websites as their top earn-
   ing site (starting with the most popular):
   • #1 Shutterstock
   • #2 iStockPhoto
   • #3 Dreamstime
   • #4 Fotolia
   Also worth mentioning are the 4th and 5th ranked
   stock photo websites in terms of average earnings
   potential:
   • #5 StockXpert
   • #6 123RF

3. 

   How Much Can I Earn?
   Below, I have chosen three contributors of stock
   photography websites and compared their average
   earnings per photo per month. For this experiment,
   I chose contributors with a large amount of pho-
   tos submitted to provide more accurate numbers.
   This chart compares the average monthly earnings
   for contributors using ShutterStock, iStockPhoto,
   Dreamstime, and Fotolia. From my observations,
   these 4 stock photography websites provide the
   best passive income earnings each month from all
   of the existing stock photo websites to date.

4. As you can see from the chart above,
   ShutterStock seems to provide the best earning
   potential at 19 cents per photo, followed by iStock-
   Photo, Dreamstime and Fotolia.

5. Estimated Earnings
   Using the above info as a general guide, you can
   estimate the following earnings per month as long
   as your photos are accepted according to the site's
   submission guidelines:
   ShutterStock: $1 per 5 photos you submit.
   iStockPhoto: $1 per 8 photos you submit.
   Dreamstime: $1 per 20 photos you submit.
   Fotolia: earn $1 per 20 photos you submit.

6. The Experiment.
   According to the above estimates, we will see how
   much can be earned each month if I submit 7 photos
   a week (this shouldn't be difficult for most people
   who enjoy taking photos.) I will submit each photo
   to the top four stock photography websites listed
   above. By doing so, I will begin earning money every
   month. At the end of the year, this is how much I can
   estimate to be making:
   Monthly Earnings per Website
   Total photos submitted: 7 photos a week (365 pho-
   tos a year).
   Shutterstock: $73.00
   IStockPhoto: $45.62
   Dreamstime: $18.25
   Fotolia: $18.25
   Total Earnings per month: $155.12
   Total Earnings per year: $1,861.44

7. How do I get started?
   If you like photography or doing illustrations, video,
   flash, or audio, this is one of the most rewarding
   ways to share your creativity and get paid for your
   photos and creative works. To get started, simply
   sign-up on the following pages as a contributor and
   start submitting your photos:

8. 1. ShutterStock: Current Payout $0.25 (US) per
   download. That means that at 2000 downloads/
   month, you can earn $500 (US) per month.
   Sign up here:
   http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=312808

9. 2. iStockPhoto: iStock pays a base royalty rate of
   20% for each file download and up to 40% for Exclu-
   sive contributors.
   Sign up here:
   http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php?refnum=lottidotti

10. 3 Dreamstime: For each transaction, the photographer receives a 50 percent fee.
    Sign up here:
    http://www.dreamstime.com/res1138572-free-images

11. 4. Fotolia: Most commissions earned from Fotolia are between 33% and 64%.
    Sign up here:
    http://www.fotolia.com/partner/200933900

Tips & Warnings

• • Most of the stock photography websites have ba- sic guidelines about submitting photos. As a general rule of thumb, most of the sites require the follow- ing from their contributors to submit photos to their stock photography websites: • Must be 18 or older • Must be the original owner of the work • Photos usually need to be 4 Million Pixels or larger • Photos should usually be saved as RGB and JPG format • Photos should be high quality using good photography technique • Submit a few of your best photos first. The website will review your photos and tell you if they were accepted. If they were not accepted, most sites will tell you what needs improved. Use this feedback as constructive criticism. • Do not give up or become frustrated. Once you understand what quality of photos the compa- ny is looking for, you will soon be able to shoot and submit many new photos to the website to begin increasing your earnings. • Make multiple submissions. To receive the most earnings per photo, submit the same photo to several stock photography websites. • Make sure to add appropriate key- words to your submissions so that customers can easily find your photo. If you need help choosing appropriate keywords for your pics, simply look up similar photos on the same stock photo website and use the same popular keywords that match your submission.

Resources

• More real ways to make extra money from home
• Sell you photos on ShutterStock
• Sell you photos on iStockPhoto
• Sell you photos on Dreamstime
• Sell you photos on Fotolia