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Last Updated on May 27, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
As little as 3 decades ago we used to document our travels with diary inscriptions and photographs meticulously taken on a 35mm film camera. Upon returning home you had to wait up to a week to get your photos back from the lab, just to have to discard most of them anyway. The world has become photo crazy with more than 1.2 trillion digital photos being taken on average every year according to a report published by Business Insider. Today, photos make their way onto social media within seconds of being taken, complete with professional filters and snazzy captions. If you love traveling and tend to find yourself escaping to last-minute breakaways, chances are you are finding it difficult to juggle your passion with a full-time regular job. Luckily you can quite easily turn out passion for travel into a successful business by selling your photos across various platforms.
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Start a photo blog
If you sport some good writing skills you can set up a photo blog that will enable you to showcase your photographs while earning an income. If you are able to direct enough traffic to your blog you can start selling advertising space on it, write sponsored articles and even engage in an affiliate marketing program that will see you being paid commission by a brand in exchange for referring potential clients to their brand. Google AdSense offers a variety of advertising options including video ads, text ads, display ads and link units. If you are not too particular about aesthetics you can also make use of in-image advertising through companies such as Space Media, Embed Anything and Gum Gum.
If you want to establish yourself as a travel photographer you don’t necessarily have to be the best in your field. What you do need to be, however, is a whiz at marketing yourself. Building a large and loyal social media following will undoubtedly take time, but once you reach a certain stage you can effortlessly use your reach to market your photographs. At present, Facebook has more than 2.23 billion active monthly users – a huge potential client base if utilized correctly. You can make use of your own personal Facebook profile to promote your photos or create a dedicated page that can be linked to both your Instagram and Twitter accounts as well as your webpage. Make sure you only post high-quality images across all social media platforms and make use of a watermark to prevent your photos from being used unlawfully.
Sell digital or printed copies of your work
If you have amassed quite a substantial collection of high-quality images you can start to submit them to stock photography sites which can result in a very useful passive income. You can choose to submit your photos to sites such as ShutterStock, iStock, and BigStock or, alternatively, upload them to your own personal Flickr account and have them licensed through Getty Images. Make sure you read and acquaint yourself very well with all the submission guidelines as well as payment terms and conditions to avoid any disappointment later on. You can also choose to sell copies of your photos directly from your website, both in digital and physical form. You can even use some of your photos and make t-shirts, printed mugs, puzzles and postcards that you can sell both on your website as well as at a craft market or curio outlet.
Whether you are a seasoned travel photographer or merely someone who loves taking photos of the beautiful destinations you travel to, chances are a great number of your photos will be good enough to sell. It may take a while to establish your business during which time you will definitely doubt your own capabilities. Don’t give up though. Continue pursuing your dreams and relish in the immense feeling of accomplishment when you start earning a good income from your photos.
Image Source: Travel Blog Photo By Yulia Mayorova / Shutterstock
