How to Replace your Income with Stock Photography
Let me guess. You love the idea of passive income, but you want to know if the time you invest is going to pay off. You’ve heard success stories from other photographers making five figures of passive income selling stock photography, but you don’t know if it’s a pipe dream or if it could really happen for you.
Your time is valuable, so it’s scary to jump into the unknown. Teaching yourself how to do something new on top of the zillion other things you do can be too daunting to consider. Well, in this post I will give you some tangible tips for replacing your income with stock photography this year!
SIX TIPS FOR REPLACING YOUR INCOME WITH STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
1. Choose the right agency
An important tip for making consistent sales is to choose the right agency for you. Not every agency is going to be the best platform for your specific style of photography. Each agency attracts a specific type of customer. If you shoot a lot of experimental studio photography you may be a great fit for Stocksy, while a lifestyle family photographer may want to sell their work on Offset. You can spend some time researching various agencies and learning which one fits your needs or you can grab my little black book of stock photo agencies for a done-for-you list of what each agency has to offer.
2. 1,000 Images
I see far too many photographers get discouraged and give up on stock photography after making only one or two low-priced sales from a portfolio of 100 images. My advice to them? Set a goal to build up your portfolio to 1,000 images. 1k seems to be the magic number when photographers begin to make consistent income from sales. As an added benefit, once you do hit that benchmark and start making more stock photography sales, it’s highly motivating. You may find yourself uploading work even more often! Need a little extra support? Join my course to access our private Facebook group where you can join in on live trainings and discussions with me and other students, as well as join an accountability group!
3. Upload Consistently
One of the best pieces of advice for increasing your stock photo sales is to upload new content consistently. At the very least you should be uploading once a month, but once a week would be ideal. This helps your photos show up more often in search results which, in turn, gets your content into the hands of more consumers. I know it’s hard to find the time to do it all, but schedule this task into your weekly calendar to make sure it doesn’t get pushed to the bottom of the “to-do” list!
4. Add Keywords and Descriptions to Your Photos
It’s vital to write strategic keywords for your photos, so your content has a better chance of getting discovered by potential consumers. If you have no clue where to start with keywording your photos, take a look at similar photos on stock photo sites and see what other people are using. Don’t forget to take advantage of free keywording tools like mykeyworder.com. I know it sounds like a lot, but you’ll want to write somewhere between 30-50 keywords for each photo. I promise it’s not as intense as it seems.
5. Keep an eye on seasonal trends
One of the most powerful ways to make more stock photography sales year-round is by staying up to date with trends. This includes seasonal trends that stay consistent each year (like “Back to school”) as well as more “of the moment” trends that are usually underrepresented on agency sites. This is why I’ve created the quarterly trend report. It’s a resource I put out each season based on research I collect from over 10 agencies. You can download this guide to learn what to shoot this season in order to make more sales.
6. Create a Diverse Portfolio
Upload everything you can. You never know what seemingly ordinary photo a customer might want to purchase. Mundane moments from your everyday life could be some of your top sellers. Companies purchasing stock photos are looking for authentic photos their customers can relate to, so don’t be nervous to post something that doesn’t seem extraordinary. Post it all!
There you have it! Those are my top tips for starting a successful stock photography income stream and making more stock photography sales. I’ve tested them all myself so I can say with confidence that they work! You can ditch the overwhelm and start earning passive income ASAP by researching stock photo agencies, keywording your photos, and developing a killer strategy for your content. Let’s get started!
Wanting more tangible advice and guidance for selling stock photography? Download PHOTO TO PROFIT, The Ultimate Stock Photo Starter guide or sign up for my course to learn more about stock photography