Creating a Shop Window for Your Photographic Business

If you’re thinking of, or you are already are earning some money with your camera then you really do need to create an online presence. Not necessarily a multi-paged website but maybe places where you can post some images or even sell them to the visitors. I’m not talking Microstock Libraries here; I’m talking about a shop window or online portfolio where you as the author of the image can have full control over the sales and prices etc.

There are many options available to you depending on exactly what you require and how much time and money you wish to dedicate to your enterprise. There is no need to spend a fortune in getting everything set up if you don’t want to. You can start with a few pounds or dollars and have you images for sale within a couple of hours. Let’s have a look at the easier option which is simply to register with a website that will display your images, take the buyers money and process the sales on your behalf.

When you first go to the site you need to create an account and fill in a simple form. This is the usual required information such as name, address, email etc. Once your account is set up simply login and you will be taken to your homepage. It is on this page that you can add a short bio about yourself. It’s certainly worth doing because the search engines will pick this up and help to create the online presence that we are trying to achieve.

To upload your images you first of all need to purchase some storage space on the site. Shutterpoint currently charges $12 for 50mb of storage which lasts for 6 months. This is the cheapest initial package, you can pay for a year or add more storage space as and when you need it. The more space you buy the cheaper per mb it gets.

Uploading to the site is fairly straightforward using their control panel. You can create your own albums and add keywords and titles etc. The most important thing is that you can set your own prices. They advise you on pricing but I suggest that you look at the files that are already online to see how much other photographers are charging.

The sales are all handled automatically and payments are process and sent to. The money you can make from this might not be life changing but it is possible to create an income from your hobby. On a personal basis I have sold images from this site, the highest price was $50 which adds up to a lot of downloads in Microstock.

My own personal opinion regarding this market is that you can create an online portfolio with the possibility of making some sales. I also think that by creating multiple sales opportunities for your images, the proceeds from all the opportunities will grow into a sizeable income. I am also certain that the initial cost of creating an online shop window of the benefits far outweigh the risk involved. How many other businesses can you start for $12. Click here for further details.