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Running a photography website is one of the best ways to get your photography in front of a large worldwide audience. It’s exciting, fun and rewarding to get feedback and to put your work in online galleries that can lead to unexpected job offers and opportunities in the future.
However, it’s also hard work and can take up a lot of time and so if you’ve been wondering how you can start to monetize your photography website then the good news is that there are several easy and effective ways to do so.
Ways in Which You Can Monetize Your Photography Website.
There are many ways in which you can monetize a photography website however not all approaches will be appropriate for the style, purpose and feel of it. You can monetize your website to create a passive income or an active income.
A passive income is a source of income which once set up, continues to deliver income indefinitely without you needing to do anything else! An active income requires that you work for the money in each case.
Selling Photographs.
This is one of the most obvious and easiest methods of monetizing your website. You can set up a gallery of your work and offer to sell prints of the images to your site’s visitors. There are several different ways that you can set up the sales process for the photography on your site.
The best way to go about this to set up an account with a print on demand platform on which you post your photos. You then create a link from the photos on your site’s gallery to the print on demand page and the customer can then purchase the photo which will automatically be printed and posted to them.
The print on demand platform will charge a small fee for the printing and postage however given that they handle the entire delivery process for you it’s a very efficient way to sell your photos. If you want to you can also add a note to your gallery that explains you’ve partnered with the print on demand site so that a potential customer doesn’t get confused by the process – although in the modern world most people understand this already!
Alternatively, if you want to print and post the photos yourself you can set up a simple order form on your website. When a customer wants to buy a photo they will put in an order to you which you then arrange the delivery. This is a more labor intensive process for you however it does mean that you don’t pay any extra fees to another platform.
Selling Digital Courses.
One of the most popular ways of creating an income on your photography website is to sell digital courses. You can sign up to an affiliate program with websites like CreativeLive that offer courses in all aspects of photography. When a visitor to your website signs up for a course with the company then you will automatically receive a commission. These commissions can be very high, often up to 20% or more per sale but you should always check the rates for each individual course.
You can also create your own digital course that you can offer to visitors of your site. The course can be posted on educational platforms and you can direct traffic from the website to your own course. When the customer signs up for the course you will receive payment. You will need to make the course first and be prepared to put the time and effort into it but once it is set up and ready to go you can earn a fantastic passive income if it really stands out.
Selling Photography Related Software.
You can also sell software that helps photographers in the post production process as an affiliate. The commissions on these programs are excellent and can create a significant ongoing passive income for your website. A popular post production software program such as Adobe offers great commissions of up to 85% of the first month of subscriptions and other ongoing benefits.
One on One Consulting.
If you have highly developed skills that are in demand you can offer personalized consulting services to the visitors on your website. You can provide consulting services in any area of photography that you have expertise in. Your consultations can be in person if the client is local to you but otherwise you can conduct them over the internet using video conferencing services like Zoom.
Consultation work can be very profitable if you can deliver real value and help to your clients. This can easily become an ongoing service that you provide to individual clients. Popular genres of photography to offer consultation services in include, but are by no means limited to:
- Wedding Photography.
- Portrait Photography.
- Real Estate Photography.
- Fashion Photography.
- Post Production Techniques and Walkthroughs.
- Setting up a Photography Business.
- Photography Basics.
- And much, much more!
Selling Ads On Your Website.
If you want to include advertising on your website then you can sign up to be an affiliate with a company like Mediavine. When visitors to your website interact with the ads and buy a product then you receive a commission on the sale! This is an excellent way to create a long term passive income on your website and if it’s done right you can offer your visitors good added value while you enjoy an extra passive income stream. Please note that most of these advertising networks will have minimum traffic requirements before they place ads on your website. Google AdSense does not have traffic requirements, but you will not make a lot of money from these ads.
Create Photo Books.
You can use your photography to make coffee table books to sell on your website. This is a powerful way to get your work out into the world and can be a good little earner on your site! It’s quick, easy and free to create photo books on websites such as Lulu and once your book is made it will become part of your passive income strategy. The company that prints and sends out your book will take a fee for their services but you can still expect to see a good return on your investment over time.
Google Adsense.
One of the safest ways to monetize a photography website is to sign up with the Google Adsense program. Google Adsense will tailor the adverts to your website and when your visitors interact with the ads you receive an income. It’s very easy to use the program and once it’s set up you can sit back and let it earn money for you!
Sponsored Posts.
An interesting way that you can make money on your photography website is to allow sponsored posts to the site. A sponsored post is when somebody pays you to post an article on your page about their product to increase their exposure and build up their online reputation.
You may receive a financial payment if you have a large following however in most cases you will receive the product for free so that you can review it having tried it out for yourself. The sponsor will expect you to be honest but at the same time they will be hoping for a positive review!
The article will also include a link to the product’s website so that visitors to your site can purchase it. You might be offered a commission for any sales that come about from your article but you will need to negotiate this on an individual case by case basis with the sponsor.
Physical Products and Merchandise.
When you run a photography website you are bound to have a good deal of photos! You can use these photos to create a whole range of merchandise like T-Shirts, mugs, posters and other physical products. You can create these products on print on demand sites and generate a revenue for each sale. This is not only a good way to make some money but it can also be a handy technique to promote and build your own website’s brand if you include your logo on the merchandise!
Affiliate Marketing.
You can join affiliate networks like CJ Affiliate, Amazon Associates, Shareasale, Ebay Partner Network or Clickbank and promote their products on your website. You will get a commission if an user purchases a product after clicking on the link on your website. This strategy is effective only if your website has a fair amount of traffic.
Monetizing Your Photography Website Is Easy and Rewarding.
Once you’ve decided how you want to monetize your website you can start to put together a strategy to create several streams of income. It’s usually a better idea to run several methods of monetization at the same time rather than relying on only one method.
If you feel that you’ve provided an excellent service to the visitors on your site you can also ask for donations and although this is a rare approach to take on most websites; still it’s worth bearing in mind.
Creating an income from your website is a common part of the modern internet experience and your visitors will be grateful if you can bring them excellent products, software and opportunities that they can benefit from. Monetizing your website will help you to continue your work and carry on developing the site and the services you offer your visitors.
How are you planning to monetize your website?
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