Selling Your Travel Photos – Turning Vacations Into A Business

One of the things I’ve always loved about photography is the freedom it brings to your life. That and lets face it – it’s fun telling people we’ve traveled all over photographing really cool parties. I love the look on their faces and the spark in their eyes.

Which is why travel photography is also captured a huge part of my attention span. Not too many people can go anywhere in the world, experience the best things in life, and get paid for it too.

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7 ways to sell your travel photos:

1. Every photograph you take can be sold on a stock photography site. While online micro stock agencies pay a small amount per image sold, the more images you have, the quicker it adds up. If you make it a goal to add to your microstock portfolio every month, it can add up to a great passive income source.

2. Sell directly to magazines. There are dozens of magazines specifically related to travel. Add in dozens more that look for quality photography related directly to a location, and you have a lot of potential. Check out the book Writer’s Market, published and updated every year (I just received the 2010 version a couple of weeks ago), or use their online service to get access to magazines and their editors.

3. Sell your photography as artwork online. I looked at 10 Places To Turn Your Photography Into Sales awhile back – it’s a good place to start to upload your images and start selling them without having to carry inventory.

4. Sell fine art at local art fairs. Ever attended an “art in the park” or an art festival in your local town? We attend them all the time, including one last weekend in Estes Park, Colorado as we were out looking at the fall colors in the Rocky Mountains. Art festivals can bring in big business, and help you travel even more.

5. After your work becomes known through arts festivals, take the next step and move into a gallery. Many galleries exist that help multiple artists sell their work. Or consider opening up your own gallery in a great location.

6. Why not publish your own book? We created our first coffee table book on weddings back in 2001. Whether you self publish, or work with a publisher, it is easier than you might think.

7. Go corporate. Everything I’ve mentioned up until know is more consumer based. Why not head towards business instead? A restaurant chain may order dozens of one image to place in all of their franchises. Property managers need images to hand in their hallways and atriums. How about medical facilities? You have the potential of reaching out to dozens of prospects at a single time.

What are your ideas? Have you tried something that works/doesn’t work?

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clientexperience@todaysgrowthconsultant.com' About Virtual Photography

We're the co-founders of VirtualPhotographyStudio.com and have been writing on this blog since 2004. We started Virtual as a way to help photographers stretch beyond a part time income, and develop strategies to become a Five Figure Photographer or a Six Figure Photographer. Ultimately its all about lifestyle, and if your goal is to live as a photographer 24/7, we think you should have the knowledge and the tools to do so. Welcome!