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So you have been trying to sell your digital photos on a stock site but you have not got any good results. There may be a number of things you are doing wrong. Small subtleties that prevent you from making a good amount of profits from your photos. That doesn't mean you need to totally start over, but it could mean quite a few hours of work. It is better to learn these mistakes in the beginning so you don't having the same problems and suffering from the same bad income.



So you got a lot of pictures? Double it!

small paychecksHow many pictures is a lot of pictures? As a freelance photographer taking 100 digital pictures may take you a day or two weeks. But what is a lot of digital pictures to have on your stock sites? 300? or perhaps 3000? You shouldn't be complaining about bad profits if you have only 100 photos, and you really need to start worrying if you have over a 1000 and still getting little payouts. A rule to always use is that if your unsure about how many photos you are suppose to have, don't spend time researching, spend time doubling your stock portfolio. You have to think that means double the profits right there. To increase the number of pictures you have in your online portfolio use multiple shots at different angles. You can submit two pictures of the same thing at two different angles and double your photography just like that.

Do your Research

I will keep this short. A lot of people dive head first when they should be researching more about the business. A lot of people have yet to sign up with the Camera Dollars Program. And finally a lot of people have not discussed their problems with other professionals. Just remember that the worst mistake is to come into the world of selling stock photos unprepared.

Pick a Niche

A problem could be that your photos are too vague. They don't direct buyers straight to your photography subject. You need to think of ideas that aren't used that often but that are still in fairly high demand. Remember to use a good number of words to label your photography, because a photo labeled "ball" will easily be lost among the other sheep. You don't need to necessarily retake your photos just label them in more decorative ways. Try choosing a niche or a theme. If you saturate a topic of little competition you will be sure to make sales due to a monopoly of the subject.

Purchase Photoshop as a Long Term Commitment

If you are sending your freelance pictures straight from your digital camera to a stock photography site, then you are making a big mistake. Not every single photo needs the help of Photoshop, but a majority of them might. You don't need to dramatically alter the look of each photograph just send them through Photoshop to ascertain their sharpness, color, contrast and levels.

Stock Photo Companies and Prices

One thing that a lot of people do wrong is submit their photos to the first stock photo site they see without finding out which companies are best. Some companies do not get nearly as much traffic as others. Also, a lot of stock photo companies are overly used and it can be hard to compete with other pros. Start shopping around and ask around to other professionals which sites would be best for you. And remember that you can submit to many different sites.

A big factor in selling your stock photos is at what price and property it is being sold. Different websites offer different properties and different prices. Some stock sites offer photo subscriptions so you will get a set rate if any of your photos will be sold. Other sites will give you a certain percentage of each sale you make. There are different types of photos sold like rights managed, royalty free, micro, for more information check out stock photography. Different types of photography will bring you different amounts of money. Some pictures will be sold at high prices when it can only be sold once or the picture being sold will be used multiple times or for mass production.