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Last Updated on October 23, 2022 by Chris Panteli
Ways To Make Money Selling Photos Of Yourself
Thanks to the internet, there is an incredible number of ways you can make money online. You can even make money by selling photos of yourself.
By 2023 the stock photo industry is expected to be worth a staggering $4 billion! I’m sure you agree that’s a mind-boggling amount of money. And stock photography isn’t the only way to monetize images of your beautiful self!
I can’t help you take better photos (although smartphones do a lot of the hard work for you!), but I can tell you how to make money selling photos of yourself (getting paid is easier than you think). As a bonus, I will share some tips on taking stock photos that sell. Make sure to read to the end for that!
Make Money Selling Photos Of Yourself
Not that many years ago, the only people earning money from taking pictures were professional photographers. Kitted out with cumbersome equipment and a variety of lenses, professional photographers, would travel the world to get the perfect pictures.
However, in the last 20 years, we have seen an explosion in technology which means we can all take photos to a professional standard. Smartphones and the internet mean photos can be taken, edited, and shared from anywhere in the world. Plus, this can be done in minutes. No more waiting to develop the film!
The great news for anyone with a smartphone is that you can get paid to take selfies!
If you are looking for extra ways to build a side income, this can be an easy one. Especially if you take lots of photos anyway. Chances are, some of them could be worth a few dollars. In the next section, you can learn about 9 ways to get paid for pictures of yourself.
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9 Ways To Make Money Selling Photos Of Yourself
All the following platforms are legitimate ways to get paid for pictures of yourself. To maximize your earnings, you can sell your photos on multiple sites. Just remember to check the rules of each platform as some may require photos uploaded to their site to remain exclusive.
Exclusivity agreements often mean higher earnings, this isn’t always true though – so make sure to check before agreeing to anything!
1. Model Scouts
With more than 30 years of experience in the modeling industry, ModelScouts can be a great way to use your selfies and maybe land a modeling gig! Top brands including Gucci, Chanel, and Vogue have all worked with ModelScouts.
Not many make it as far as the catwalk, but you could be featured in marketing campaigns, fashion shoots, magazine covers, and more. Simply send in your selfie as part of the online application to start your journey in the modeling world!
When submitting a photo for a modeling job keep it simple by not overdoing make-up or hairstyles. Include a headshot and a full-body shot for the scout to get a good idea of your look. Once you’ve submitted your application you could be on the way to modeling stardom! Or at the very least your pictures may be needed for a catalog campaign.
2. Selfie Apps and Websites
There are plenty of apps and websites that allow you to sell your selfies and photos online. There are differences in prices and terms on each one, so make sure to read the agreement thoroughly before proceeding. Not every photo will sell which is why the better the pictures are, the more chance you have of making money!
To get you started here are 3 sites that pay for selfies:
- Pay Your Selfie. Available on the Play Store and the App Store, Pay Your Selfie is a legit app that pays for your photos. This app works by setting tasks for the selfie and provided you meet the requirements; you can earn up to $1 per photo. You may not get rich selling photos on this app, but when combined with other platforms the earnings can be decent!
- Scoopshot. Established in 2010, Scoopshot connects photographers with buyers. The way this works is that you post your photos, and an interested buyer can purchase them. The downside is that there is no guarantee of earning anything. However, if you are taking great photos, then a sale will surely follow! Download the app on the Play Store or the App Store.
- Stylinity. If you love shopping and taking photos, Stylinity is the site for you! To start with you need to buy clothes from the Stylinity site. Once you have the clothes you must take pictures of yourself wearing the clothes and upload them. When someone clicks your photo and buys the product, you get paid!
3. Start A Website
A great way to sell photos of yourself is via your own website. Using your own site to sell your selfies means eliminating the third-party seller which could result in higher earnings for you.
First, create a ‘homepage’ showcasing your portfolio. This could be individual photos or bundles featuring specific topics. For example, fashion or food. All you need to do next is add a ‘contact’ page for potential buyers. They can then contact you to discuss purchasing your photos. Easy! Or better yet, sell your digital products from your website directly to your audience with an eCommerce platform like SendOwl – they make it easy as well!
In addition to earning from selling the photos, having your own site opens the door for more ways to earn a passive income. Affiliate marketing, ads, and selling other products are all some examples of extra ways to monetize your site.
Start Your Own Blog
It’s a great way to make money online and to win back your financial freedom. It’s not easy, but then again, nothing good in life is! If you put in the work it can be extremely rewarding. So make sure you start your blog the right way, self-hosted, and on Siteground!
Creating a website or blog has never been easier. There are plenty of options online to help get you started. I recommend a self-hosted website using SiteGround – this is perfect for beginners and means you can monetize without limits or restrictions.
4. YouTube
YouTube can be a great source of revenue with top YouTubers earning millions per year. Let’s be realistic for a minute though, those high earners have spent years building their brand to reap those rewards. When you are starting out you probably won’t be earning anywhere near that amount, but it’s entirely possible to earn a decent amount of extra money from YouTube.
Thanks to your photography skills, you have a subject knowledge you can profit from. Other people will be interested in learning how to take photos, edit them, and market them. You can create content showing people how to do all these things and share your secrets!
When you get enough views, then you can start making money from sponsored content and ads. Your channel can also promote other links such as your own personal site to promote more direct sales.
5. Photography Blog
Blogging is a hugely popular way to build a passive income. Creating a dedicated photography blog can be an excellent way to make money from your photos and from monetizing the blog.
Selling your photos is the main goal of the blog. Showcase your incredible pictures by creating blog posts focusing on specific topics like food. Generate extra interest by creating how-to guides relating to photography. Posts like ‘how to take the perfect selfie’ will help generate extra traffic and more traffic means extra revenue!
Through the blog, you can sell photos directly to buyers. This means you can keep more of your money as there is no third party deducting any fees.
Having a successful blog can also generate a passive income for years. A few of the main ways to make more money from blogging are through ads, affiliate marketing, and sponsored content. If you are patient and build your blog for at least 6-months or more, then you can start seeing that passive income roll in. Some bloggers go on to earn millions!
6. Instagram
If you are an Instagram user did you know you could be making money selling your photos?
Many big brands want genuine photos for their advertising campaigns. This is where you can make decent money by offering your photos for sale. Either by selling individual photos or bundles. You could bundle up photos for sale covering topics like food, travel, or fashion.
If you build up a decent following, then you could get paid for your selfies with certain products. Brands will pay people with a large enough following to post photos of themselves with their product. Earning money this way may be difficult for most unless you have at least several thousand followers.
A final way of selling photos on Instagram is to sell a physical copy of a photo. You could provide a link to your website in your bio or create a post for your followers informing them that they can buy a physical copy of any photo they like. One photographer made $15,000 in one day by selling physical photos via one post on Instagram.
7. Stock Photography Websites
Stock websites can be a great way of making money from your photos. Photos are needed for all sorts of uses including ad campaigns, books, magazines, and websites. This means there is always a demand for high-quality stock photos from stock photographers and amateurs alike.
There are many stock photography sites to choose from, but you don’t have to stick with one. Share photos on multiple sites to maximize your earnings.
Examples of established stock photo sites include Shutterstock, iStock, and AdobeStock. Make sure to check them all to get the most out of your photo collection.
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8. Photo Contests
There are sites offering cash rewards for winning their photo contests. Photocrowd and ExpertPhotography are 2 places that often run photo contests with cash prizes.
Entering contests isn’t just about winning money (although extra money is always nice!). Other benefits from entering include boosting your confidence, exposing your work to a wider market of people, and getting more experience. You might not win the contest, but you could still win if a buyer sees your work and buys from you independently.
Other ways to find photo contests include TV, magazines, and newspapers. Look out for these as there may be advertisers looking for specific photos or magazines running a photo contest with a prize.
9. Sell Feet Pics
Yes, you read that right. Selling feet pics is a legit way to make money from your own photos. Feet pictures can be sold through dedicated feet image websites, stock photo sites, or via one of the many social media channels.
Don’t worry, it’s not just people with a foot fetish that buy photos of feet. Other buyers might include movie directors needing feet for a specific scene or bloggers and online marketers. Bloggers and online marketers may be trying to sell a foot-based product or writing an article about feet. This means they will buy photos that are relevant to their post.
Selling photos of your feet for more than one hundred dollars is perfectly doable. However, if the thought of a foot fetishist having a picture of your feet makes you feel uneasy, then you should probably keep your feet pics to yourself!
Now that you know you can sell feet pics, where can you sell them? Feetify is a dedicated website for feet enthusiasts – and unlike OnlyFans, you get to keep 100% of buyer’s payments.
Social media can also be a great way of selling feet pictures. Every social media app including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook will have potential customers looking for feet pics. If you want to go a more adult route, then OnlyFans allows you to create content that can be subscribed to for a fee. Plenty of potential customers for feet pics.
You could also sell photos of your feet on various marketplaces including eBay, Fiverr, and Etsy. All these sites allow you to sell just about anything including pics of your feet.
Finally, stock photo sites and apps will have plenty of buyers for feet pics. Upload them and enjoy earning recurring revenue from your gorgeous feet!
7 Tips For Taking Stock Photos That Sell
Now that you know how to make money selling photos of yourself, here are 7 tips to help sell more photos. After all, more sales, more money for you!
- Learn about photography. Anyone can take and edit a photo on their smartphone. Some of those photos will look amazing! However, if you want to get better and sell more photos, then learning about things like lighting and angles is going to help. Look for courses online or from local professional photographers if you want to boost your skills.
- Equipment. Old-school photographers had lots of equipment. The camera, a choice of lens, a tripod, and more. Heavy stuff right! These days we only need a light smartphone. If you want to take great pictures that sell every time, consider a higher-end smartphone with a better camera. You may also want to think about getting a selfie stick.
- Editing. Most phones allow you to edit the photos you have taken. You can crop, add stickers, or change backgrounds. This is great but to stand out from the crowd consider getting professional editing software. Another aspect of editing is to check the picture in detail. It may look great on your phone, but a bigger size may show imperfections. If possible, check the pictures on your computer in a bigger format to correct any imperfections.
- Declutter. Make sure to remove anything from the background that could detract from the picture. Also, keep in mind possible buyers of your photos. It is possible advertisers and big brands may be interested if your photo is suitable for a campaign. However, if rival brands are visible in the photo, this may put them off purchasing. Remove any products from view if you think the product could cause an issue.
- Take multiple shots. Make sure to take the same photo from multiple angles and with some variations. Doing this makes one photo more saleable as different shots will be appealing to different buyers. For example, you take a picture of yourself reading a book whilst drinking a glass of wine. A book company wants a photo focusing on the book reading, but a drinks company wants the focus on the glass of wine! Taking multiple shots of the same photo means you have the stock to sell one to each.
- Size matters. Most companies want the largest photos possible; this is so they can edit them for their own needs. Taking photos at the largest resolution possible can help boost sales.
- Popular categories. You can take photos covering any topic you like, but some will sell better than others. Popular photo categories include food, nature, and fashion. Concentrate more on these topics if you want to sell more photos.
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What Kind Of Photos Sells Best?
If you want to get serious about making money from your selfies, then it’s good to know which type of picture is most popular. Although all pictures could have a buyer one day, some are in more demand than others.
Shots of people are always needed including kids and people from all backgrounds. Get lots of photos with other people when you can. A popular photo for businesses is that of people working. Photos of people on their laptops, writing, doing a presentation, etc. Make sure to make them specific as lots of businesses need this kind of shot for their promotional material.
Food is probably one of the most sought-after types of photos. After all, everybody eats! All kinds of photos can be taken including cooking the food, eating, and even the unwashed but empty plates.
Photos of tools are a popular category. Lots of DIY enthusiasts out there! Takes pictures with hammers, screws, drills, and any other kind of tool or accessory you can think of.
There is a lot of demand for photos that are City specific. Photos could include cityscapes, buildings, and shots of people commuting. Taking photos at different times of the day and different seasons can also help create a fantastic range of photos.
Nature photos are hugely popular. Take lots of outdoor photos with as many animals, birds, and flowers as you can find. If you have pets, then make sure to take plenty of pics as you never know when that one unique photo will become a best seller.
Finally, travel is another huge photo category. Whenever you go anywhere make sure to take lots of pictures. Get shots of the hotel, the beach, and the locals. Take photos anytime you leave the room to maximize your earning potential!
Next Steps
Taking selfies is something we all do every day. If you happen to take good pictures, then it makes sense to make some money for them.
All the methods of how to make money selling photos of yourself in this guide are legit. What makes it even better is that you can earn a passive income from your photos. Once they are uploaded, they can be bought more than once which means more money for you!
As well as earning from selling the photos, by diversifying you can earn even more. Build your own site, blog, or YouTube channel and earn from ad revenue or other means on top of earning money from selling your selfies. What are you waiting for, start snapping!
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FAQs
Which site is best?
Each platform offers different benefits depending on what you are selling and your own needs. The best approach is to use a variety of websites to sell your photos. Doing this will maximize your earning potential.
Can I just use my phone to take photos?
Definitely, yes! Provided you meet the image requirements of the site, then photos taken on a smartphone are acceptable. High-end smartphones often include cameras that rival the quality of professional photographers. Plus, they have in-built editing options that allow you to customize and perfect your picture.
Can I get rich from selling photos?
These platforms offer anyone the opportunity to earn money from selling photos of themselves. It is possible to earn a decent amount of supplemental income with some people earning 6-figures.
How do stock photos make money?
Stock photography sites work by licensing your uploaded photo for use by their user. The user pays a fee, and you get paid a royalty. Potentially, your photo can earn you a recurring income for years!
How quickly could I start earning money?
The time it takes to start earning depends on the platform. You could start earning straight away on stock photo sites as you just need to register and upload your photos. If you create a blog or YouTube channel this will take longer to see a return as you need to build a following.
