16 Ways to Make Money With Photography in 2021
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photo by MixMedia via iStock
If you are just learning how to make money with photography, then this article is for you. It’s Jonny Keeley, a wildly popular YouTube photographer, blessed the internet with the video below, filled with wonderful photography business tips for 2021.
I’m going to summarize a few of his key points about learning how to make money with photography online. But, I encourage you to watch the entire video for all 16 ways to make money with photography this year.
Let’s get started.
Sell Product Photos
photo by shyrokova via iStock
One of the best ways to make money with photography is to work with other small, local businesses. If you live in a large city, chances are you run into small business owners all the time. The next time you do, make sure to grab their contact information and take a quick look at their website to see the photos of their products.
If those product photos are lacking, then you can reach out and offer to take a few product photos for them. Then, if they like those photos, you could draw up a contract and take photos of all their inventory.
This not only helps you to make money with photography, but it helps other local business owners to make money as well. Essentially, it’s a win-win.
This is also a great way to make money with photography in a socially distanced way. Depending upon what sorts of products you’re photographing, chances are that those products can be mailed to you so that way you don’t increase your risk of getting infected.
Start a YouTube Channel
photo by izusek via iStock
Another way to make money with photography is to start your own YouTube channel, just like It’s Jonny Keeley did.
As he mentions, you should be bringing people to your website through a blog. However, not every photographer has a way with words. So you can bring people to your website through a YouTube channel where you provide the same types of informative content.
Once you gain a following on your YouTube channel, you will start to bring in ad revenue and you can start to work with companies to get affiliate link revenue.
Keep in mind that it will definitely take you time to make money with photography on YouTube, since you’ll be posting videos for a long while with just a few followers. However, if you have a lot of free time because of the pandemic, you may as well be setting yourself up for making money in the future.
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Sell Presets
photo by grinvalds via iStock
I understand that you likely came here to learn how to sell photos, but you can make money with photography by selling presets as well. Think about it. You likely already spend hours working on Lightroom. There’s no reason why you can’t sell the presets that have taken you so much time to develop.
Just make sure that all of your clients know about your presets by marketing them on your website, but also on your social media accounts. It can also help to give your presets to popular accounts in your area so they can try them out and do some free marketing for you.
Begin Shooting Events/Weddings
photo by kkshepel via iStock
If you weren’t shooting events or weddings before the pandemic began, then this is the perfect time to start doing so because events and weddings are all coming back at the same time and there simply aren’t enough photographers to cover all of the available jobs in most major cities. I know that I’m experiencing some burnout because I have been working non-stop on these events.
A good way to begin your journey in event photography is to simply send out messages to local bands asking if they’d like you to come take some photos for them. You can show them the photos after the show and if they’d like to buy them they can do so for a set price.
A good way to begin your journey in wedding photography is to shoot for free for friends or family and then take those photos and post them on wedding sites like The Knot.
Participate in Competitions
photo by Alena Butor via iStock
While participating in competitions won’t necessarily allow you to make money with photography, it will bring you exposure and practice, which will always bring you money in the long run.
When I first started shooting photography, I participated in a lot of competitions because they allowed me to try different types of photography to figure out what I liked the most. Plus, there always is a chance that you win actual money, especially if the competitions that you’re applying to are smaller and local to your area.
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