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How to start a Stock Photography Business in Nigeria
As a photographer, you have to learn what is stock photography
and what it means to “sell” your pictures. Who keeps the
copyright, royalties, licenses, and more.
Starting in stock photography can be challenging at the
beginning but once you start and you grow your online galleries,
you will make a lot of money! Of course, it will depend on the
number of pictures you have and the quality. But so many
photographers make a living out of this!
Are you just starting your career as a photographer, or have you
been doing it for a while? No matter what stage you’re at in
your career, it’s always good to have an additional source of
income, especially if it’s from doing something you love. Some
photographers go into the stock photography business to do just
that.
You may have heard that stock photographers make passive income,
but how do you get started? You just need to register with a
platform; submit examples of your work for a quick test; and, if
accepted, start uploading images for sale.
Stock photography platforms are marketplaces that sell visuals
created by photographers, designers, and other creatives. These
marketplaces usually feature a variety of files (photos, vector
images, videos, illustrations, and even music) that clients can
purchase licenses for and then use for commercial and editorial
purposes.
Images on stock photography platforms can be bought an unlimited
number of times by many different clients. This means that
clients pay to use the copyrighted image, but you remain the
owner of the image and reap the profits every time someone
purchases your photo.
How to make money with stock photography Image-1
Photo courtesy Depositphotos
Designers, social media and content managers, and publishing
specialists are among the main clients for stock photography.
They purchase images to illustrate ads, marketing campaigns,
merchandise, packaging materials, music albums and book covers,
or for a number of other projects.
What determines your success as a stock photographer and
influences your earnings is your understanding of the topics in
demand, the quality of your tags and descriptions, and a few
other things we’ll cover later in this post.
How to become a contributor to a stock photography platform
Whether you’re an amateur or a professional photographer, you
can become a contributor to stock photography platforms. It just
takes a little time.
Usually, the first thing photographers do is fill in their
details on the website to register with a stock photography
platform. But a better strategy is to prepare a series of images
that you’d like to sell in advance. Here’s why.
As part of the registration process, most websites ask potential
contributors to upload several images for a quick test. The aim
of this examination is to evaluate the work and ensure it meets
the platform’s quality requirements and doesn’t violate human
rights, copyrights, or patents. Once you pass the test and
officially become a contributor, you can log into your profile
on the website and make the images you uploaded for the test
part of your stock portfolio.
However, it might not be enough to simply upload images to the
library to start making money. The Depositphotos library alone
has more than 194 million images. You need to know some tips and
tricks to make your images appear higher in the search results.
5 useful tips to start making money with stock photography
1. Specialize in a niche
Your photography profile on a stock platform looks very similar
to a creative portfolio. It showcases all the images you’ve
uploaded and allows you to make a good first impression when a
potential client comes upon your portfolio while looking for
visuals.
Longtime clients of stock photography platforms have a list of
favorite photographers who specialize in particular themes and
satisfy their requests for certain types of images. Long story
short, if you want to have loyal clients and make money with
stock photos on a regular basis, specialize in one or more
themes.
You can go with safe topics like backgrounds, website hero
images, nature pictures, or lifestyle photos. You can also try
to tap into less explored themes like medicine, the modern
routine, the future of technology, the art of aging, and more.
2. Learn the peculiarities of editing stock photography
In addition to choosing a theme for your stock photography
portfolio, pay attention to the peculiarities of stock photo
editing. Post-processing images for stock is different from
editing for editorial, wedding, or other commercial photos.
You can adjust the contrast and brightness, and do other basic
editing. However, avoid getting carried away with retouching,
filtering, and drastically altering your images. The content you
upload to stock platforms should be edited only to the extent
that will allow your potential clients (designers, content
managers, or publishers) to tweak them in a way that’s
convenient for them.
3. Master keywords
If you want your images to come up on the first few pages of the
search results, mastering keywords is a must. In the contributor
profile, the majority of stock photo platforms have two fields
in the keyword section that must be filled in:
Keywords
Description
Keywords are a set of individual words or word combinations that
describe what your image is about. The description is a literal
explanation of what’s depicted in the visual as well as how and
at what time of day it was taken. You’ll make it easier and
quicker for clients to find your visuals by devoting time to
both.
When clients are looking for a photo in the library, they will
enter a word or a phrase in the search field, and the search
engine will filter the images to offer the most relevant
results.
The results clients see consist of images with keywords and
descriptions that most closely match their query. For instance,
if a client types in “big green chair” in the search field, and
your keywords include this phrase, your photo will likely appear
in the first pages of the results.
How to make money with stock photography Image-4
It takes time and research to master the art of writing
keywords, but you can speed up the process if you try to think
like a client and study the top images for some searches.
4. Think like a client
Successful stock photographers try to put themselves in the
client’s shoes at every stage of the process. When coming up
with a photoshoot concept, ask yourself what images you would
look for if you were a retail business owner.
Are there any holidays or events coming up soon? Authentic
holiday-related visuals are always in demand. Keep track of
occasions and topics that might be interesting to potential
clients.
The same rule applies during the keyword stage. If you had to
find specific visuals, what words would you type into the search
field? After answering this question, you’ll be able to
formulate better keywords and descriptions for your images, and
make it easier for others to discover your work.
5. Follow trends
Coming up with proper keywords to make your visuals appear
higher in search results is only half the battle. Your images
must also have commercial appeal. Among the key things you
should pay attention to are trendy concepts, angles, topics, and
post-processing. A visual that looks outdated because of intense
saturation or a dark vignette is unlikely to be downloaded in
2021.
How profitable is stock photography?
The profitability margin for stock photography varies widely.
Although the initial payout from some stock photo agencies
average less than $1 per image, many photographers find this
opportunity to be an attractive one because they can make money
on photos they've already shot, without doing any marketing or
selling themselves. A large portfolio with quality photographs
of popular subject matters, combined with relevant titles,
descriptions, keywords, and appropriate metadata, will greatly
increase your chances of success. Stock photo agencies regularly
publish guidelines that describe the types of images their
clients are seeking. It's a good idea to study this information
prior to submitting your work to stock photo agencies for
evaluation.
Using stock photography to make a side income is a great idea
for photographers. All you have to do is to devote some time to
register with a platform, upload a series of images, and build
up your portfolio with our tips. With time, some professionals
even turn their stock photography gig into a full-fledged
business and earn a living this way.
Get our Practical Training guide on How to set up a Stock
Photography Business in
Nigeria. The Stock Photography business plan provides a detailed
roadmap for entrepreneurs seeking to dive into the Stock
Photography industry in Nigeria. The plan offers an in-depth
analysis of essential commercial elements, equipping you with
actionable insights to build a robust foundation for your
venture. It meticulously explores the nuances of your business
idea and considers the local market dynamics, competitive
landscape, and the driving forces behind market growth.
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