Passive Income Streams for Photographers Part 2

Welcome to passive income part two! If you missed part one, you can read it here. 

As I mentioned in that post, true passive income is somewhat of a myth. There isn't really much that is completely passive. All revenue streams require either lots of upfront work or maintenance (or both), but that doesn't mean that they aren't worth it. The more revenue streams that your business has, the more stable your income will be, and the more free you will be to pick and choose the clients that you want (also the dream haha).

As a reminder, not all streams work for all people, what has worked well for us might not work well for you and vice versa - that's ok! It may take some time for you to figure out what works, and it also may take time for a stream to become profitable so just keep that in mind. 

Ok, here's more passive income streams for you to explore!

Stock Images
We don't focus too heavily on stock images, but we have created a lot of work just for fun that we are able to make some money on to this day. Personally we like to use Stocksy because we find the quality to be good and the payouts to be higher than other sites. You do have to be approved, and all your images have to be approved as well, you can read more about their process here. If you're planning on really making an income from stock images, you probably will need to do some shoots specifically for stock content. Diane Villadsen who is a Stocksy pro actually has a course all about this which you can purchase here. 

Amazon Shop
If you get a lot of people asking you questions about items you use it might be a good idea to set up an Amazon storefront and make some money on anything you link. The awesome thing is that if someone clicks the link, even if they don't buy that exact item but buy something else instead you will still make money on that purchase. You do need to have some significant traffic to make money, but we make a few hundred a month off of just linking the things we use and would link anyway. It's not going to pay all our bills, but every little bit helps right? If you do set up a shop, remember that you need to disclose that you make money from purchases. Here is some info on how to get set up. 

Workshops
I mentioned courses in the last post, and a workshop would be another route to go if you have lots of people in your area that you think would want to come and learn from you. There are more logistics to think about, and you can't make recurring income as easily (unless you record it and sell the recording after) but you can charge more per attendee than you would per course sale. You could also team up with another photographer or two which would be a good way to share the planning burden and also open yourself up to a new audience. 

Print Sales
In addition to stock images, you can also sell  prints of your images. We haven't really ventured into this at all but I know lots of photographers who will sell prints either through a platform like Society6 or through their own website. If you do it through your own site you'll have to take into account the time to print and ship so while you may make less per print on a platform, it will be more passive. 

Youtube
Youtube is another popular source of income, but you do need to spend time building your channel and then maintaining it. To become a Youtube partner you need to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the previous year. You can also monetize Youtube in other ways like sponsored videos or affiliate links.   

Patreon
Patreon is a great place to earn extra income - obviously it works well for us haha. This is a platform where it is helpful to have built up an audience who trusts you prior to starting it. The beauty is that you can create a lot of different kinds of content here and it can also be a great place to build a community which many people are searching for these days. It definitely is not the most passive of streams so before you start think about how much time you have to commit and what you can promise. 

Sponsored Posts
I mentioned sponsored videos in the Youtube section, but you can also do sponsored posts on Instagram or your blog. This is something we're starting to do more as we have some brands who have approached us asking about sponsored content. A couple things to note - again always disclose if something is sponsored. Not only is it important to keep the trust of your audience, it's also a legal issue. Second, only take on sponsored posts for products or companies that you actually love and use. Remember to be genuine. Also, lots of companies these days want to do sponsored posts in exchange for product or credit instead of money. Think through if the trade is fair (equal in value to what you bring to the table) and if it's worth it for you and remember that you can always negotiate. 

Presets
Some people will say that presets aren't a good revenue stream anymore, but I know that we still buy them so they can't be fully out haha. I think presets are best if you have a specific style or an action that is unique or that people ask you about. Here's a blog post with more information about creating presets specifically in Lightroom if you are interested in exploring this more. 

There you go! I know there are lots of other streams that I didn't mention, so I would love to hear from you, what have you tried that I missed? 

Is it the weekend yet?
Elle