Since the US inflation rate has risen to 7.7%, it has become essential to have a photography side hustle to increase your income. You can turn a hobby or talent into a money-making tactic and increase your overall income. This way, you can work your own hours and earn good money while doing the things you love.
Keep reading this guide, as it covers everything you need to know about pursuing photography as a side business.
Is Photography a Good Side Hustle?
Yes, photography is an excellent way to generate additional income each month. This job allows you to work alone without overexerting yourself.
But first, you should create a portfolio of high-quality pictures to show your competency to future clients. You can also take creative photos with intent to sell.
How to Pursue Photography as a Side Hustle?
01. Take Photos of Clients
Once you have the right equipment to take aesthetic pictures, you need to find clients. You can do this by creating a business website. The website will display your best work and provide details about booking your services.
With a website, potential customers can assess your skills and hire you to cover their special events, such as birthday parties, engagement parties, or wedding ceremonies.
Moreover, you can promote your website on various social media. TikTok, in particular, is an excellent platform for photographers, as you can film your process and its results through creative videos.
TikTok also has over 1000 million users, providing you with a great reach. Similarly, you can also use Instagram to showcase your talents and Facebook to build a brand persona. These two platforms are ideal for running ads to expand your reach.
When you start attracting customers and gigs, make sure to ask your clients to leave reviews on your site and social media. This will optimize your online reputation by showing you are an authentic and high-quality photographer. As a result, you will gain premium sales leads that are essential to growing your side hustle.
02. Take Photos of Landscapes
Landscape photography improves your understanding of light exposure. It teaches you ways to manipulate light to capture unique shots. With landscape photography, you can immortalize nature’s beauty and convey intense emotions that grip the viewer, immersing them in the scenery.
One great advantage of landscape photography is that you don’t need people, props, or models to complete your shot. Just find an inspiring setting and click away.
You can sell these pictures as stock photos or approach local galleries. If your work qualifies on the gallery’s criteria, you can earn good money by featuring your images.
It will also provide better opportunities to sell your work at reasonable rates. Apart from those two options, you can create a shop section on your website and directly sell the landscape pictures.
03. Take Fine Art Photos
Fine art photography is focused on artistic qualities and the ability to photograph a conceptual idea. These images are created purely to show the photographer’s unique point of view. In short, fine arts photos capture more than what is right in front of the camera.
To take high-quality fine art pictures, you need to plan out your ideas and practice the shots. Once your props are positioned, take shots with variable shutter speeds to create an aesthetic modification of reality. Then, edit your pictures on color grading and processing styles to create a unique image.
You can take fine art photos for clients or capture random images built around your creative vision and sell them to customers afterward. You can sell these photographs as fictional book covers or to personal buyers.
Art galleries also buy fine art pictures for exhibition, giving you a perfect opportunity to become a recognizable local artist.
How To Earn from Photography Side Hustle?
After setting up your photography business, you must wonder how to earn through this hobby. These are some of the best ways to make money from a side hustle:
01. Sell Prints of Your Work
Selling prints of your work is one of the most popular ways for photographers to monetize their skills. You can feature framed photographs on your website and promote this service on social platforms.
For instance, you can run online ads to attract potential buyers. You can also add the option to purchase the printed image. If a user makes a purchase, ship it to their address. You can also sell digital prints to art galleries, coffee shops, or nearby stores.
02. Create Personalized Items
Use your portfolio to create more personalized items like mugs, t-shirts, phone cases, bags, and cushions that feature your work.
03. Sell as Stock Photos
Nowadays, hundreds of websites and agencies provide stock photos to businesses and bloggers. You can join these platforms to sell your photography and easily earn money. Make sure to shoot generic pictures and upload them with the correct tags, making them easy to find and suitable for multiple topics. Here are some websites where you can sell your photos to:
- Alamy
- Shutterstock
- Etsy
- Zenfolio
- Can Stock Photo
- 123 RF
04. Partner Up with Brands
Ever since social media marketing has risen in popularity, most brands and companies have worked with photographers to create aesthetic marketing product images. You can partner with one or more companies to get better gigs.
05. Teach A Photography Course
As an expert photographer, you can share your skills with emerging enthusiasts, teaching them how to click and edit a photograph correctly. You either apply to an academy to hire you as the photography course teacher or start your own course on an online website.
06. Create A Blog
A photography blog allows you to expand your business, express your vision, form a connection with clients, and earn extra money. Moreover, it will promote and market your work for free. A photography blog will also improve your SEO and search engine ranking.
How Much Can You Earn as a Part-Time Photographer?
Part-time photographers can earn $46,315 per year or $22 per hour. You can maximize this income by taking on multiple photography gigs and selling your work online to various platforms.
Wrapping Up
Photography is a great way to express your vision, skill, and imagination. If you know how to take professional-level photographs, you can use this expertise as a side hustle. So, schedule shoots of clients and landscapes and promote your work by establishing a strong digital presence.
Instead of just focusing on gigs, optimize your income by selling your pictures to galleries, coffee shops, and stock photo websites to obtain more profits.