Sell your Photos!
Hey there photogs, did you know that you can make money with your photography? Well yes you can, and I am going to outline a two great ways for you to do just that.
Stock Photography
Stock photos are photos which could be used for lots of different purposes, typically found in adverts, magazines, websites etc.  Popular sites like Getty Images and istock photo, give users a place to go and search for images that they might need for certain projects, and then buy the rights to use them however they want. How does this make you money? Well you need to sign up with one of these companies as a photographer, and then start submitting your photos. when people buy them, you get paid!  Most of the stock sites require that you pass a short exam, just so they know that you are not going to litter the site with crappy shots.  Also they might decline your submission for a number of reasons. Most of the time they decline submissions because there are simply to many like photos already on the site.   Other reasons might be due to poor composition, focus or too much noise/photo shop processing etc.
If you really want to make a go at stock photography, you need to do some research. Check out the sites and see where the holes in content are, then fill them!  Here are a few sites to check out. Good Luck!
Framed Art
The internet has made it so much easier for folks like you and me to sell our artwork.  Sites like ImageKind and Cafe Press are great places to start. Its a simple concept really, just sign up, upload your artwork, get paid for every sale! Okay so it takes a bit more effort than that. If you really want to be successful, you need to promote yourself. Using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, or even Flickr can really boost traffic to your gallery. Using your own website can work well too. For example I have a very simple website that I can direct people to see my work, and then link them to my Imagekind profile to purchase! It works alot better than telling people to go to Imagekind directly, because they get overwhelmed with all the other artwork out there.
The great thing about these sites is they do all the work for you. There is a slick interface that helps the customer choose framing and paper types, and then they run the credit cards and take care of the shipping! It is perfect for the beginner because you don’t have to pay for prints up front and then carry the inventory until you sell it.  The downside to this approach is that you are amongst millions of other photos, half of which are really pretty good competition. If you are looking to move above the crowd, take matters into your own hands!
By selling directly from your own website, you really eliminate the direct competition and hold a very captive audience. Not to mention it really sets you apart as a professional. More on this technique in another post……
MV
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