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Do you
enjoy capturing memories on film? Is photography one your favorite
hobbies? If you answered yes, then you may be interested in starting
a stock photography business. As new crops of entrepreneurs look to
start an online business each month, they’ll also be looking for
royalty-free, professional photos to use on their blog or website.
The Concept
Running a stock
photography business means that you’ll be granting permission for people to use
your photography on their website and blog; and of course they’ll pay a fee to
use your images.
The beauty of
starting this type of business is that you can make this business basically run
on auto-pilot. You can hire a programmer to design and program your Web store so
that you can easily upload your photos, price each photo, and then virtually
watch the sales come right in! Basically, set it and forget it.
Another route you
can take is joining stock photography sites and setting up an account there to
sell your photography. Going this route actually saves you money and marketing
costs because most of those sites already receive mass exposure. The drawback
to joining a stock photography site to sell your photos is that you’ll be
competing with other photographers.
Startup Costs
Startup costs
for this type of business requires you to purchase a high-quality camera or
digital camera. A really good digital camera, like an SLR camera, can cost you
$1,000 and up. If you already own a good digital camera then you are already
paid for 65% of the start up costs! The rest you can expect to pay for hiring a
Web programmer, logo design, and advertising costs.
How to Market It
If you plan on
creating your own stock photography business website, then you’ll need to spend
most of your advertising dollars online. Locate sites in which your target
customers might be. If you do advertise on a particular website (not on a search
engine, like Google) don’t forget to use banner advertising. An even better way
to promote your business is by starting your own affiliate program. By starting
your own affiliate program other online business owners can promote your
business and earn a commission for each sale referred. Another way to attract
more customers is by purchasing pay-per-click advertising on the major search
engines like Google. Using the Google AdWords program will also allow you to
advertise on other people’s websites, but you’ll be paying per click.
If you plan on marketing your products by joining a stock photography membership
website, then you already have all the hard work completed. Your job would be to
stand out of the crowd of photographers. Although you should try to stand out
over the rest, you should not worry about other photographers because people
have all sorts of tastes and desires when it comes to photos needed. In this
case, it’s best to take lots of photos of different subjects. By taking more
photos on different subjects, you'll be increasing your chances for making more
sales. Good luck and have fun with your new business!
The Concept
Startup Costs
How to Market It
