Making passive income as a photographer, videographer or creative isn’t something that we always think about. Yet today I’m here to show you how you can accomplish this by learning to turn your creatives productions into additional streams of income.
All of the different income streams are ones that I use myself. Although there are more out there, these are the few that I’ve had success with. So today I’m going to show you 7 different streams of passive income you can create today as a photographer, videographer or creative.
Passive Income Ideas for Photographers
To start I’ll mention that passive income isn’t really passive. You have to do the work up front, by after doing the work, you can continue to collect residual income for years to come.
Stock Photography
The first of my passive income ideas for photographers is to sell stock photography. As a photographer you probably have tons of pictures sitting around on your hard drive. This goes for the hobbyist to the professional. No matter what stage you’re at or what your subject matter is, there’s a market out there for you. An easy place to get started is on shutterstock.com. I use this website to sell my photos and continue to collect residual income on those images. There are also other websites like dreamstime.com and 123rf.com that you can upload your images to.
If you’re into video, you should look into blackbox which a website for stock video footage. The great thing about blackbox is that it’ll distribute your videos across all the stock website platforms making it a great solution as a one stop shop.
Amazon Affiliates
My second stream of income is one that I’m sure you’ve heard of which is Amazon Affiliates. This is great if you like to blog or vlog. An easy way to get started is with product reviews. If you’re like me then you like to review a product before you actually buy it. Most times I end up watching youtube videos to see the product in use before I make my final purchasing decision. Often times you’ll notice in these reviews, the reviewer will leave a link in the description below that’ll take you right to the product. If you click and buy, they will get a small commission on that purchase. Another thing that’s great is, they’ll also receive a commission on any other products that you buy within a 24 hour time period. There’s a ton of traffic on the internet and this is a great way to take advantage of that traffic. It’s free to sign up and get started.
Books and Ebooks
Be it physical books or ebooks, this is another way you can create a stream of income off of the work that you previously did. If you have a following on instagram or maybe you just have people who really like and want to support your work, creating a book for them to buy is a great way to give back and bring in some extra money. I got the idea after creating a book for one of my clients on blurb.com. After seeing the book I created, they ended up ordering 20 copies from me which I did sell to them at a small profit. What’s even better is the distribution options that you have. Getting your book onto platforms like amazon and barnes and noble just might be easier than you think. You can do this through blurb.com or you can upload and publish your book directly through amazon. Also there’s just something special about seeing your work in a print physical form. If you love writing short stories this is right up your ally.
T-Shirts
Ever thought about putting you pictures on a t-shirt? If you have design that work well then this can be another viable option. Some of you might even be good at photoshop which will give you an enhanced ability to make more creative designs. The platform that I use is called Teespring.com which is a print on demand platform. There’s others out there as well but essentially what print on demand allows you to do is load up your designs and they take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry about shipping of filling orders, all you have to do is load up your designs and let them take care of the rest.
Luts and Presets
I don’t know about you, but I love to use luts and presets when I’m editing photos or videos. Presets are awesome when it comes to speeding up your workflow in the editing process. If you’re a lightroom user than you know you can create, save and share your presets. Same thing with luts for your videos, you can do this in lightroom or in photoshop. If people like your work and they want there images to resemble yours, you can sell your preset or lut packs. I have free preset packs you can grab here.
Distrokid
Now this one is a little out of left field. Back in the day, I used to like to make music with my friends but streaming wasn’t really a thing. Now streaming is how most people consume music. But here’s the thing, this isn’t just limited to music, maybe you like to write poetry that would work well in an audio format. Now with services like distrokid you can have your music distributed to every major streaming platform. Whether you’re looking to become the next big star or just want an easy way for you and your friend to jam out to the tunes you made, distrokid is a good option. Although this platform isn’t free to get started, you do collect streaming royalties every time someone listens to your music.
Google Adsense
If you’re a blogger you’re probably already familiar with google adsense. But it’s not just limited to blogs, this also applies to Youtube. Getting your Youtube channel monetized or your blog for that matter is a dream to most who want to make money doing what they love in the digital era. This is possible, yet the earnings might not be what you expect. Although here’s the thing, with enough traffic to your site and views on your videos, you have the potential to make a sweet side income. With a lot of hard work and dedication this can really turn into a full time income. Now that’s living the dream.
I hope you found these tips helpful and if there’s any ideas or suggestions you have for me, please leave me a comment. Thanks!