Cha Ching – Big Photography Money
I like to write about photography and the many things that go with it. A friend of mine has been telling me for some time, I should sell picture on sites like Shutterstock and half a dozen other sights.
Well I finally broke down and did it. I registered with two sight and uploaded one photo. I guess that is how you get approved. After an anxious day of waiting the emails arrived. Yes you are approved and can start uploading more photos. That’s what I started.
Uploading the photos was not a difficult thing to do. It’s the same as uploading to Facebook or any social media site. There are a couple differences and oh they are big. For one thing you have to name each photograph. After you name each photograph you have to in some services pick categories in which your photo could be placed. Art, nature, industry and a couple dozen other choices.
After the name and the category for each photograph you upload it’s time for keywords. I believe most services want at least five, but to sell more you want more people to see the photos so you have more of a chance of selling them. Because of this you add any colors you see in the photo as a keyword if there is a can in the photo, that could be a keyword. Anything and everything. Some of the services help and some don’t. Some of the services like 20 or more keywords. That is a task!
After you add the title for each photo, pick the categories and add as many keywords as you can think of you hit the, not submit button, but the submit for review button. That’s right, the services have to make sure you meet the requirements. Size, photo and resolution and there’s more. You can’t have faces of people unless you get a release signed from that person. Then upload the release with the picture. You can NOT have any commercial items in the photo like logos or anything trademarked.
After a couple of days you will get an email from the companies telling you if you have been approved or not approved. Some of the services just flat out say no. Some of the services tell you the keywords need changed or you’ve submitted photos that look too much alike and you have a chance to fix them.
I almost forgot. There is registering too. You have to submit a photo ID. You know, Uncle Sam will want a cut of anything you make.
After all that you are done and you sit back and wait for the big bucks to roll in. I really didn’t think I would sell anything. I believe I have 7 imaged uploaded. Well what do you know! In less than a week I received and email saying someone bought and image.
I was very excited to open the email! and when I did I saw what you can see below.
My first sale through Adobe Stock Photos
That’s right I made 56 cents. 56 cents for the two or three hours I spent looking for photos. For making sure everything was right, uploading, naming, key wording and all the other stuff that went along with it.
So after making 56 will I do more? That is a tough question. I have read articles where people are making 4 figures monthly, but the time they have to invest in that must be crazy. Either that or they’ve found a streamlined way to submit that I don’t know about.
I guess I will do more research and go from there.
I just realized I could have uploaded 2 more photos in the time I spent writing this article………