What if I told you that there is an easier way to make more money from photography?
That your bank account could still be steadily increasing while you take time off, while you play, while you relax… that you could be making money while you sleep?
We photographers work hard, right. Really hard. There is always something to be done, whether you’re out shooting or spending countless hours doing your editing, admin, packaging, website design, blogging… not to mention social media updates.
Who has time to update all of the social media sites, all of the time, with everything you are ‘supposed’ to be sharing? There just never seems to be enough minutes in the day!
That’s without even taking time for one minute to actually refuel our creative tanks – you know, reading things you love, visiting galleries + exhibitions, travelling, sketchbooking, or even just relaxing and -gasp- turning off our phones to spend time with our loved ones.
We love it though, this life of photographer. It’s a beautiful life. It’s the one we want + the one we chose.
But sometimes… we get tired – don’t we? Suddenly we don’t want to look at Pinterest boards or overly styled desktop snaps or update our blogs or wonder what the competition / our friends are doing.
We don’t want to be doing all-night editing marathons, or be glued to our phone screens. Suddenly working with tiny babies who won’t co-operate / demanding brides / model divas / ‘the industry’ feels like a lot of hard work.
Do you ever feel like this? Like you would rather just bury yourself back into your bed rather than get up and work? Even though you know that you’re lucky and you love your business and it’s all that really you ever want to do.
So… what if I told you that there is another way?
What if I told you that there is an easier way to make more money from photography? From your photography business?
That your bank account could still be steadily increasing while you take time off, while you play, while you relax… that you could be making money while your sleep?
It works like this.
There is only one of you. Your photography business can only make a finite amount of money, because there are only a certain amount of shoots you can do – unless you clone yourself.
You can of course work every single minute that God sends, but what is the point in that? No matter how much we love photography + our work, it is still work! And even then, there are only a certain amount of minutes in a day.
So if you think about it this way… there is only a certain amount of money you can earn, right?
Unless you stop trading time for money.
And you create something that you can sell every minute of the day.
A digital product.
Creating a digital product is perfect for you if you want an easy way to make more money from your photography business. It’s for you if you would like to free up a little more time – for whatever purpose you wish.
There is minimal cost and often, low competition. It can provide your business with a huge financial boost – and even completely change the direction of your business entirely, if you want it to.
You just need to believe that you can create something that people will want. And if you’re passionate enough, people will most likely want it, because your passion will help to sell whatever you’ve created.
Thinking about using social media to grow your business? Facebook Ads Academy for Photographers gives you all of the fundamentals you need to leverage the most powerful social network in the world to make much, much more money than you’re making now. We’ll teach you the tricks & secrets to create a successful Facebook campaign on your very first try.
How I Made More Money From My Photography Business
Do you think that all sounds great, but a bit impossible + unrealistic? Like a floaty day-dream somewhere in the distance?
So did I. Earlier this year I wrote a book. Well, it’s actually a guide. A downloadable guide. It’s about film photography – I love film and shoot film for the majority of my paid and commercial assignments.
If someone had said to me a year earlier that I was going to write a book about film photography, I would have laughed. I am definitely not the world’s best film photographer, and I don’t know every single thing there is to know about film photography.
But I am passionate about it. I knew enough. I researched the rest. And I added in my own personal experience to my the subject that I love.
Think about it! What areas and aspects of photography do you absolutely love?
Are you brilliant with newborns, at keeping them calm, at posing them?
Perhaps you are amazing at creating your own presets.
Perhaps you have a specialist niche like equine or pet photography, or ballet photography.
Perhaps you have worked out how to SEO your site to make it on to page one, every single day of the year despite any Google zoo updates.
Maybe you are brilliant at styling product shoots, or creating your own fashion sets, or making your own newborn props with your awesome knitting skills.
Whatever it is that got you into photography in the first place, whatever aspect of photography that keeps your heart burning and alive every time you do it – you can use it to transform your photography business.
My book has sold – over and over and over again. It paid for the deposit on our home. + lots more. It got reviewed on some amazing websites. It completely revolutionised my business.
And all I had to do was sit and write it. A process which was completely enjoyable + engrossing + satisfying.
How long do you think it would take you to write a book?
It took me just under 3 weeks.
I do love to write, but more than that, I was passionate about what I was writing about.
ANYONE can do this. I’m not anybody special. I don’t have an English degree. I don’t have super-powers. I just decided that one day, I was tired and there must be an easier way.
You can do it too.
Not a writer? There are so many other digital products that you could create, that will help you to earn money while you sleep, free up your time, and transform your photography business.
It just needs to be something that you can create and then distribute online.
What about actions/ presets? websites? courses? what about a series of podcasts? What about a video course? Downloadable guides and courses? Even meditations + visualisations for photographers would sell to the right audience, the right group of photographers!
A lot of photographers think that the next logical step after mastering their craft that the next logical step is to run a workshop. But although workshops are fun and beautiful and help to raise your profile – again, you are still trading time for money. There are only so many workshops you can run, only so many hours you can squeeze into one workshop, only so many tickets you can sell.
This model of making more money is SO much easier.
A little bit more about how easy it is to create a digital guide –
I didn’t even need to find a publisher. You won’t need any special equipment – I wrote mine on google docs because I don’t have Word on my laptop. I used a free trial version of Acrobat to edit it when it was finished. I pay $5 a month to host my book online, used a wordpress template that I already had to set up a website for it.
How does this sound to you so far? Does it get you feeling excited about the potential and possibilities? It should do – because if you do it right it can be such a great way to make more money from your business.
Why My Book Is A Success
These are the reasons my book has sold – and continues to sell – so successfully. You can use these tips to help create your own digital products.
– I was truly passionate about my subject
– I wrote conversationally- the way that I talk- meaning the book is easy to read and digest
– I explained almost everything on the sales page – why I wrote the book, and more importantly what you can expect to gain from reading it (check it out here to view it as an example)
– I could demonstrate that I knew what I was talking about through my past experience. So if you can provide evidence to your readers or buyers that you truly know what you are talking about, they will be more likely to trust you – and buy from you.
My (film) photography has been published in leading online + print publications – (Style Me Pretty + Magnolia Rouge amongst many others) so my readers trust that I know what I am talking about.
My other credentials include that I am a writer for the film photography blog 35to220.com, I was selected as a Beta tester for the wonderful UK Film Lab when it opened its doors, and the four years I spent studying fine art photography at University.
But you don’t have to have all of this – don’t be put off if you feel your credentials don’t look similar. Testimonials are equally as powerful – I gave away a few copies when the book was first launched in the hope that I would gain some positive feedback if they enjoyed the read, which I could then use on the page.
– I give away a free sample. On my sales page I have a link where anyone can download a free sample of the book – and it’s quite a big section, not one piddly page or anything like that. If people like what they read, they buy the book. Sometimes buying online can be a bit scary for customers if they don’t know what they are going to get, so I take this fear away by showing them via the free sample.
Want to know more? Don’t miss these recent posts:
- 12 Ways to Make More Money From Your Photography Business in 2017
- The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Photography Business With Instagram
- My Best Advice for New Photographers
If this post has been useful, please leave us a comment! We would love to know if you’re planning a digital book, course, guide or other product!
OH MY GOSH…this is soooooooooo good! I could eat up every word of this blog post with a 14k gold spoon. 🙂
Thank you so very much for sharing your experience with everyone and encouraging others to make their businesses more successful while making it easier.
That’s AMAZING that you put the deposit on your house from sales of your book. So inspiring! I really appreciate that you joined the blog tour.
Oh April.. THANK YOU for taking the time to leave a comment – it’s been wonderful already to be a part of your tour. I cant wait until November.
Yes the money from the book really made a difference to our lives, and I have the second one being released soon because I received so much positive feedback from the first one. I really do believe that anyone can do it with a little know-how and a lot of passion – I hope that everyone who reads this post will join you next month. Thank you for making this post happen!
Charlie x
This is such an Inspiring post !! I am so glad that i found you Thanks to April!
Thank you Deepa! I love how many people April brings together. I’m off to have a peek through your site now, thank you for taking the time to comment!
Charlie
This is a REAL eye-opener! Thank you so much for these tips! I am glad I found you through April’s blog tour 🙂
Thank you so much Indre! I’m glad they have helped you 🙂
Fabulous post! You do a beautiful job of explaining that passion is a key ingredient and that it is not an insurmountable task for anyone! I’m super-charged inspired now! Thank you so much! Looking forward to April’s class in November also!
Thank you so much Michael! Passion definitely is the key ingredient and if I can juggle two toddlers + my business + being a wife + writing an ebook at the same time then I believe almost anyone can do it 🙂 Thank you so much for leaving a comment, hopefully we will get to talk again soon.
Charlie
ps I love your site by the way
You are so sweet! And a great role model! Thank you!
Your post has really got me thinking about my website and business. Very inspirational and great that it is going so well for you.
I came across your post through Blacksburg Belle and April’s blog tour. I’ll make sure to drop by your website again soon. Thanks!
Katie
Thank you so much Katie! As you’ve probably seen by now I visited your site, pretty work 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to drop by and leave a comment – I hope to see you again soon, in fact you might love my next post – for all mama-photographers!
Charlie x
Fantastic post! I really miss shooting film from my days in college. Maybe I’ll snag your eBook and get inspired to dust off the old film cameras again. 🙂
Oh you so should Sarah! So many photographers are moving back to film because it just has a beauty that cannot be matched…
Check out the work of Elizabeth Messina, Jen Huang, Caroline Tran… some of my favourite film photographers 🙂
I appreciate you stopping by to leave a comment, thank you 🙂
Awesome post! I am very excited to put together my own digital product. Much success to you (:
Thank you SO much Richelle – I can’t wait to see what you create! Much success right back to you 🙂
Charlie, this is such a wonderful post. I am not even a photographer and you still got me inspired to write a book!
Thank you so much Ann-Marie, I’m so happy you liked it, and even more glad that you’re inspired to write a book! You should DEFINITELY do it, and when you do, send me a message to let me know about it, I’d love to check it out. Thanks for stopping by! Charlie
Warmest congratulations on being a winner in April’s blog tour competition!
Do you know, I didn’t even know I was until I saw your comment! Thank you so much for the congratulations Ann-Marie, and for taking the time to leave a comment.
Charlie x
Oh my goodness, I loved this soooooo much! I’m just a hobbyist photographer, but I’m smack in the middle of reworking a product so I can launch it to sell….the fact that you paid for the deposit on your house? As someone who desperately wants to buy a house, considered me mind = blown! And inspired. 🙂
Hey Amanda! It was actually a deposit on a rented home – but it is is a huge home with a pool and views of the sea and mountains, and it was thousands of miles away from our last home so we had to also pay for flights for all of us etc – we would never have been able to do it without the book 🙂 And had we stayed at home it would have definitely been able to be a deposit for a home that we owned 🙂 so I’m convinced that you can do it too! Do let me know what you’re creating I’d love to hear more!
Charlie
Hahaha still!!! Some of those rental deposits get crazy…we had one place we rented that charged 2 months rent as the deposit…so you had to pay that PLUS the 1st months rent to get in….bloody nightmare.
Sea AND mountains, AND pool? Girl I think you just made me swoon…that sounds like my dream house…and goodness what a dream for a photographer! Lots of windows? 😀
It’s a course called 30 Days of Creative Abandon…it’s full of ideas to amp your creativity….I think even as creatives it’s easy to get into something of a rut, so this is to help combat that.
Future projects include a version for kiddos, and a book about creativity (not sure what to call it yet, but it’s involving my person frustration with the idea that only “certain” people are creative…I think EVERYONE is creative, and I want to challenge people to revel in their own creativity).
Funny – I heard that course title mentioned on the creative live session! Go for it and may it do very well. 🙂
Thank you so much Paul – yes, this post was a part of the blog tour from Creative Live and April Bowles-Olin / Blacksburg Belle.
Thanks so much for sharing such an inspiring post! I am glad I found you thru the blog tour. I feel EXACTLY the same way. As a hair/makeup stylist, I am also doing the trading time for money thing. I feel that I have so much more to offer the industry, given my 10+ years of experience and I want to share it with as many people as possible.
You are so right, working with so many photographers who have become close friends over the years, I am convinced that as hard as I work on projects, they are the ones putting in more brain AND physical hours with their craft. Personally, I can barely take an iPhone pic, but respect your industry a great deal and get excited for people who turn their passion for photography into a business. Thanks for sharing your message and inspiring artists to make money making art!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write Emily! That was such a lovely message to read.
I think if you work in the wedding industry at all you work SO hard for that recognition, and it’s easy to become burnt out without even realising it.
Which is why creating a digital product can definitely help to relieve some of the workload, and then you get the best of both worlds – you still get to do the job you love, you just don’t have to do so much of it that your life is all work-work-work!
Thanks so much Emily, I hope you create something amazing – I’m sure after ten years + experience you definitely will!
Charlie x
WOW! This is great information!! I love your approach to the digital products. And I love that you still use film! I was a fine art photo major too, but now I just do photo for fun and not even film. You got my nostalgia for a medium I loved for so long really kicking!! If only I had a darkroom to develop!
Charlie,
This is a beautiful post. I love how you say, “stop trading time for money.”
You are a natural writer and what you say is so true for all creative people. I’m an artist and relate to everything you talked about in this piece.
The cover of your book is stunning!
I’m planning a digital product as well and this was very inspiring. Thank you.
All the best!
Wow, awesome post! Love reading your story and success! Beautiful photos!
When I was a wedding videographer, I saw other videographers going in the direction of creating instructional videos. They probably made more doing that then in their wedding business.
This was the perfect article! Got me thinking a whole different way. Thanks for taking the time to write such a meaningful blog.
Hi, Charlie! I’m not a photographer (actually, I’m absolutely terrible at photography), but as I was reading your post, I saw a lot of ways these tips can apply to me. Congrats on the success with your guide and thank you for the great information!
Hi Jenny,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, I’m really glad these tips have helped you!
Charlie
You definitely have a knack for writing, no wonder your book got such great ratings. I still struggle with writing in my talking voice rather than my proper punctuation, formal English voice. I think I’ve gone from one extreme to the other. Haha! I think you have it figure out perfectly, great post. See you in the classroom.
Love this post! For a beginner like me, it is fascinating to read your experienced point of view. I truly agree with the importance of passion. Nothing else could explain, for instance, how we manage to keep on blogging and writing (sometimes in strange places and hours : ) ) while also taking care of our kids, jobs, and life.
Thank you for the inspiration!
I just wanted to say WOW! and CONGRATULATIONS! and WELL DESERVED! You clearly have passion and have worked really hard to build your experience and credentials to make this book a massive success. I have always felt that there is a book inside me…. and I’m beginning to feel that this course might just get it out….
Thank you SO much Lucy! I just love photography and everything that goes along with it – and I think anybody can make something that they are passionate about successful 🙂
You should definitely start to write – good luck! And thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
Charlie x
Hi Charlie. I’m part of April’s blog tour; glad to have found your site and connect with fellow bloggers. I started with film photography in school as well, is was so much fun working with the physical materials, I eventually found my passion is food photography and started a recipe food blog. I’m working on an ebook to teach people to learn how to cook. It’s inspiring to see your success that has come from following your passion.
Hi, Charlie! I love your post! I am another “surprised winner” of April’s blog tour contest, so I thought I should read these particular posts before I got back to the regular reading list. So glad I did!
Your passion shows like a spotlight and is hugely inspiring. I’ll be back for more.
Hope to see you in the chat room!
xoxoxo
Nancy
Hi Charlie, I’ve just found you’re inspiring blog as I catch up on April’s blog tour before her Creative Live course starts. I’m just at the beginning of my creative blog-business journey and still finding my way but know for sure that photography and writing are major ingredients. I have no formal training in either but many years of heavy-dabbling and an enduring love for both mediums in all their various forms. Reading your blog has helped me to change the way I’ve been thinking about the traditional ‘time-for-money’ trade that you talk about. So with April’s course as well I’m optimistic about the possibilities for making it all work. Thankyou! 🙂
I shared your post with my husband and we were blown away! Funny that I just watched a course on creative live on creating digital products to market and sell. Then I ccome across your post today! We are now just overflowing with ideas! You were the final catalyst! Thank you for all the inspiration!
Ah Eulanda that’s amazing! I your passion – passion is key to creating and continuing with your goals and I can tell even just from those few lines that you have a ton of it. Thank you so much for your kind words + your awesome comment! Good luck with your 2015 goals!
Charlie
Yet another inspiring blog post.
I lack confidence in my work and my prices reflect that, so I do find I spend most of my time working. It is fantastic to read how photography has changed your life; whilst I’m still working at the financials taking up photography has completely transformed me; given me confidence I never knew I had, a purpose and goals in life which were missing before. I no longer suffer with depression and I’m not scared to leave the house anymore – all thanks to photography.
I have the passion, I just need to find a way to make it benefit me and my family.
Thank you again for the inspiring ideas!
What a fab post and certainly fuel to the fire. I have been thinking about this for some time now – digital photography courses from my new commercial premises that I have named “the academy”. It is fab and I am loving it already, but man I feel overwhelmed as teaching and shooting and editing is a lot on my plate. I thought digital, online courses would be the best way to maximise and make money! But, just don’t know where to start and then to keep the ball rolling. Thank you for the above, it certainly has changed something in my head and want to get on with it now! StephX
A very inspiring post for any sort of photographers trying to raise the income level, thank for the tips.
Thank you so much 🙂 xo