Great Escape Publishing

Posted May 9th, 2012 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Photography.

You’re busy. So how much time does it really take to start making money with stock photography? Bonnie, here, still filling in for Lori while she’s on maternity leave. Earlier this year, we ran an article called “The Math of Stock,” which showed how to make it to six figures in three years by uploading 20 photos per week to four online stock agencies. But 20 new, stock-worthy images per week means you’ve got to be out there shooting pretty consistently (not to mention paying attention to what sells). Depending on how much spare time you have, that may be a lot for you. So, let’s cut that number in half and see what happens. Let’s assume you are starting from scratch with zero images in your portfolio. From there, you upload 10 photos per week to four different stock agencies. Assuming you’ll earn around $1 per image per month (a realistic figure, starting out), you’ll be earning $160 after your first month, $320 after your second month, and $480 after your third month. That’s a total of $960 for your first three months. Keep submitting 10 new photos each week, and by this time next year, you’ll have made $12,480. In your second year, you’ll make $35,520. In your third year, you’ll make $58,560. It just keeps going up from there. Notice how, even though you don’t increase your weekly workload (you’re still only uploading 10 new images a week to four different stock sites), your income keeps growing. It’s not six figures, but it’s pretty darn good for something you already like to do. Of course, this is assuming you can upload 10 new photos per week, that they’re all accepted, and that you can maintain an average income of $1 per image per month. To do that, you’ll need to consistently take good photos that sell. And you need to reserve some time at night or on weekends to learn how to edit your images before you submit them. But even if this is something you only do on the side, you can see how quickly it can start to pay off. Pour yourself into it full-time, and who knows how far you’ll go! [Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]