One of the biggest challenges travelers face is keeping the money flowing. Once you know what you are doing, generating a proper income from your travels is possible. But, you need to learn to sweat every asset to be able to do so successfully. That includes the photos you take. There are lots of ways you can use them to earn yourself some cash. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Sell them as prints
People love to decorate their homes with beautiful photo prints or give them as gifts. So, it is always worth uploading a selection of your best shots to your website and offering them for sale. You can take the order and use an online print firm like hello canvas to print them off for you. They will deliver them to your client’s home address.
Just make sure that you provide them with a secure way to pay and only place the order once the cash has cleared into your account. It is also important to be honest about delivery times. Most printing firms will take about a week to create and send the print. So, add a day or two to that lead time to ensure that you leave yourself enough time to log in and place the order yourself. You do not want to let your client down and risk them asking for a refund.
Try selling locally too
If you are taking a break in your travels, consider selling some of your prints locally. You just need to find a local printer pay them to create some samples and try to sell them. In some places, local cafes, bars and restaurants will display your work and take a cut of any sales. But, before you pay to print off any samples, do a little research to make sure there are ways you can offer them for sale.
Upload them to stock photo sites
An even easier option is to sell them via stock photo sites. The percentages are low and it can be a bit hit and miss. But, good images do sell via these websites, sometimes in quite high volumes. So, it is always worth trying this option.
Use them to build up your Instagram following
It really is worth using your photos to grow your social media following. Once you get around 10,000 followers you can start to approach influencer agencies. They will then find you clients who will pay you to post. Sometimes you will earn only a few hundred dollars. But, potentially, even a micro-influencer can secure fees that run into thousands.
This article explains the best way to grow your Instagram following. Interestingly, it is aimed at people who want to use this social platform to grow a photography business.
Offer your services as a photographer
That brings us nicely to our last photo related money-making idea, which is to set yourself up as a photographer. If you have been traveling for any length of time your ability to take good photographs will have reached a semi-pro
standard. In which case, there really is no reason not to offer your services to magazines and website owners on a freelance basis. Often, this will lead to a long-term working relationship.
