Three Easy Steps for Marketing Your Stock Photography Online

As a serious amateur or aspiring professional photographer, you’re probably aware of the many ways you can make money with your photos. You can sell your photos to magazines, newspapers, and other publications. You can market your fine art photography through a gallery, or even through coffee shops, libraries, and other spaces. You might explore fairs and markets — this is particularly effective at tourist spots if your photos capture the beauty and feel of the local scene. You can offer your photography services for hire, covering weddings, bar mitzvahs, company parties, and other events. And that’s just the beginning.

You also know that the biggest key to success with any of these ventures is creating publicity, name recognition, and demand for your work.

The web is a great place to do that. Here’s your basic guide for creating publicity and marketing your photographic work online.

1. Set up a website.

You need a well-organized, visually attractive website where you can host your best photos, share your story, and establish a presence. Your website should be easy to navigate and easy on the eyes, with a professional approach. It should contain pieces from your portfolio, a short biography that highlights your experience and past work, and easily-found contact information.

Of course, now that you have a website, you’ll want to send traffic there! The next two steps will help you achieve this goal.

2. Write articles on the subject of Stock Photography.

Position yourself as an expert on the subject by writing interesting, informative, and engaging articles for others to learn from and enjoy. There are a number of sites on the web where you can publish your articles, both more general sites and photography-specific sites. Most will be happy to publish your article with a short byline and link leading back to your site.

3. Share & publicize your work through stock photography sites.

As a photographer, the most effective way for you to communicate with your audience is through the language of images. With photos, you can directly demonstrate your interests, talents, and abilities as a photographer. Be creative.

There are many sites online which allow you to share and publicize your work. Some royalty-free sites allow you to sell copies of your photos directly to designers and publishers, making a small commission each time your photo is downloaded. Other sites provide the means for you to market your work to the public, using your Stock Photography as an advertisement. If you use your photography as an advertisement, you’ll want to make sure there is a way for viewers to contact you; a hyperlinked byline or credit is ideal. To find out more, explore sites such as Shutterstock.com, Fotolia.com, iStockPhoto.com, PhotoBox.co.uk, and Plinkme.com.