Stock photography is photography to be kept in ‘stock’ for business and business owners to purchase for use in promoting their business. They’re everywhere and are looking for images to use on their web sites, brochures, advertisements and more. Here are the top 10 ways to sell them YOUR photos.

1. Sell them on your own web site.

Seems almost too obvious to even point out it’s the most obvious place to start, especially if you have a unique line or niche that you work in. Not only will you be able to use the web site to sell your photos, you can also use the site to sell your services and build an ezine and a fan base.

2. Sell them on a Micro Stock Photo web site.

Micro Stock Photo web sites sell images at high volumes with affordable pricing. Several examples would be IStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Fotolia, and Shutterstock. Using Micros Stock Photo web sites is somewhat controversial because it drives the prices down for some incredibly talented artists struggling to make a living from their art, but if you’re just getting started it may be the best marketplace for you.

3. Sell them on a Macro Stock Photo web site.

You’ll sell significantly fewer pictures on a Macro Stock Photo web site but could make $250.00 or more for each photo that sells. Some example of a Macro Stock Photo web site would be Alamy, Corbis and Getty. Deciding which kind of stock photo web site to use will depend on your skill level, your niche and the policies of the sites that you use.

4. Follow the market trends and strive to be on the cutting edge.

Styles, trends and demands change so in order to make the best money you’ll need to understand where trends are going in the stock photo market. If you’ve positioned yourself well you’ll already be in place for trends as they develop.

5. Enter photo competitions.

Photo competitions are a great way to get traffic and free publicity for your photos. You can find them both online and off, and are also a great way to network with fellow photographers and photo enthusiasts.

6. Develop a product line.

If you produce captivating pictures then use them to develop your own product line, a la Cafe Press. From t-shirts to mouse pads you make available an entirely new way to profit from your photos that’s only limited by the depth and breadth of your imagination.

7. Develop strategic partnerships.

Get creative about how to sell your photos and develop mutually beneficial partnerships. Whether it’s teaming up with a developer and helping them decorate model homes with your photos or helping the local coffee shop decorate their walls you have tons of local opportunities to get attention and make sales.

8. Use them for barter.

Most small business owners are struggling to make ends meet. One way for you to profit from your collection of photos would be to use them to barter services or products that you would be paying out of pocket for otherwise.

9. Use photo sharing to promote your images.

It’s only whispered about at the water cooler but photographers are using photo sharing web sites like Flickr to promote and sell their photos.

Key to being successful at this is understanding what people are looking for and what key words they’re using.

10. Start your own stock photo service.

If you’ve been a photography buff for a while you probably have a fairly wide circle of friends who are, too. Team up with them and pool your resources and sell their photos on your stock photography web site, too!

May not be the easiest thing in the world to build, establish and manage but for online marketing purposes more can be better.

Your partner in saying ‘YES!’ passionately to life,
Tracy Phaup

Author Bio: About: Tracy Phaup is the founder and President of the Tracy Phaup Group, a consulting group specializing in custom consulting services for Internet marketers, Professional Bloggers, and Infopreneurs. Affectionately known as the Social Media Marketing Maven, her specialty is relationship marketing. Her many years of experience in Coaching, Consulting and Team Building allow her to bring to bear expertise across mediums and to share her expertise in developing relationships that rock! http://www.tracyphaup.com http://www.tracyphaup.com/facebook

Category: Business
Keywords: Photography,Stock Photography,Photos,Stock Photos,Sell Photos,stock,photographer,photographers