In the last video, we gave you our recommended stock photo sites. Great if 2 2
you don't want to deal with promoting transactions and any customer service, 3 3
but because the stock photo industry is super competitive, at this point 4 4
selling photos on your own might be a better option. 5 5
In this video we'll go 6 6
over our recommended options for how to sell photos using many modern tools. 7 7
First you'll need a website to be able to sell photos online and there are a 8 8
few options for doing this, you can use a tool like SmugMug.com or visualsociety.com 9 9
to create a photography website and sell directly from there. 10 10
These platforms are built for photographers and include all of 11 11
the tools you would need to share your work. 12 12
Shopify is another ecommerce platform not specific to photographers 13 13
though, they do have specific themes and options that make selling photos online, 14 14
super easy or you could use a custom website built with a popular web 15 15
building tool like WordPress or Squarespace and then add plugins or 16 16
themes or tools to sell photos through that site. 17 17
For WordPress you can use a 18 18
plug-in like sell media or WooCommerce to sell from your own website. 19 19
Lastly you 20 20
don't necessarily need your own website to 21 21
sell photos, use a tool like Gumroad.com 22 22
to upload and sell any type of digital products such as photos, you 23 23
can start for free and Gumroad takes a percentage of every sale. Gumroad also 24 24
has a plugin that you can use on a wordpress 25 25
website to sell directly from your own website. 26 26
I've used Gumroad in the past to sell photos and other 27 27
digital products and find it a cost-effective way to get started some 28 28
of these other tools, you'll have to pay for it to get started hosting and having 29 29
a tool to sell photos is just part of the equation and even bigger and perhaps 30 30
more important thing to do is drive traffic to your website. 31 31
Using the tips from previous lectures about 32 32
sharing your photos online and starting a 33 33
photography business can help, you get that initial traffic one of the biggest 34 34
complaints, we've received from previous students of the Photography Masterclass 35 35
is them saying I'm not making money from my photos, they have a website and 36 36
they're trying to sell photos but the biggest issue is 37 37
driving the traffic to your site in yourself and just like starting your own 38 38
business this could take years to really get 39 39
up to speed, so be patient and consistent. 40 40
If you have a passion for photography, just try doing this for fun 41 41
before really focusing on making money from it. 42 42
So these are all the tools we 43 43
recommend for easily selling photos on your own website let us know if you have 44 44
any questions otherwise we'll move on to more information about licensing.