Carreer changing thoughts - want to break in into Travel photography-need suggestions

Well, i been working on internet - I'm pretty good with Search engine optimization and search and social engine marketing. Traveling is my passion and yes i love travel photography. lately i am thinking of leaving everything else and break in to travel photography.
i know its hardest to break in to this niche. Travel photography is very competitive. and you need to be really good . I'm a fast learner and i have the passion for the art, so i am confident that i can do it.
here is my little plan.
i think i should start traveling more and more, maybe some domestic travels first. A few hikes and explorations this summer. I should create some travel stories. I'll create a travel blog and my portfolio pages , I already have plenty of content in my HDD to publish in my blog.
I'll promote my FB page using FB adverts. I'll probably promote my Instagram too. I'll contact all of the travel magazines around the world.
I'll build and grow my blog and will probably use Adsense etc on my blog while I'll drive traffic from FB and Instagram to my blog. that will earn a little money for me IMo.
I'll keep shooting stock photos too and upload them to the popular stock agencies. this way i make a little more money as well.
I'll probably try to reach maximum audience through social media and maybe get some clients or maybe sell some of my work to the fans.
I actually need some tips/tricks from the professionals, Some ideas would be appreciated.

If you're looking to be like Alex Strohl, Morgan Phillips, Dylan Furst, etc. 99% of it is how many followers do you have on Instagram and social media. Obviously they all take fantastic pictures at this point in their career, but follower count plays a huge role in the outdoor lifestyle/travel photography world.

Not to put down this site, but a lot of the members are older here and don't have a true grasp on the social media world and the amount of money that is paid in sponsored posts. I know the guys I listed above, and many other outdoor adventure/lifestyle photographers and there is good money in sponsored posts. But you need a mass following. Image quality can only get you so far in today's world.

Just keep going out and shooting, keep a consistent editing style and grow a following.

Obey wrote in post #17911290
If you're looking to be like Alex Strohl, Morgan Phillips, Dylan Furst, etc. 99% of it is how many followers do you have on Instagram and social media. Obviously they all take fantastic pictures at this point in their career, but follower count plays a huge role in the outdoor lifestyle/travel photography world.

Not to put down this site, but a lot of the members are older here and don't have a true grasp on the social media world and the amount of money that is paid in sponsored posts. I know the guys I listed above, and many other outdoor adventure/lifestyle photographers and there is good money in sponsored posts. But you need a mass following. Image quality can only get you so far in today's world.

Just keep going out and shooting, keep a consistent editing style and grow a following.

well, i was thinking to upgrade my equipment with my savings, but yes i believe the reach is very important so i should invest more in buying social media adverts and gaining more followers. it may help the business to grow and i can purchase better equipment later.

ekfaysal wrote in post #17911311
well, i was thinking to upgrade my equipment with my savings, but yes i believe the reach is very important so i should invest more in buying social media adverts and gaining more followers. it may help the business to grow and i can purchase better equipment later.

Video is also becoming very big. Being able to create high quality 15 second Instagram clips will set you apart. It is quickly gaining popularity, so the sooner you could get in, the better chance you have of exposure. You really need to be able to do it all. Photo, video, be the creative director, etc.. Brands like Amazon, Samsung, LG, etc. are expecting you to decide how to best showcase their product based on what they have seen in your Instagram feed. They aren't sending directors out to help you.

"Here's $5,000 and an Amazon Kindle, make 5 sponsored posts"

I am not claiming to know anything about travel photography but who is paying you for your photos taken during your travels??? Is it something like you start this using your out of pocket expense first until you have enough exposures. And some companies would decide to use your works and etc???

TooManyShots wrote in post #17911446
I am not claiming to know anything about travel photography but who is paying you for your photos taken during your travels??? Is it something like you start this using your out of pocket expense first until you have enough exposures. And some companies would decide to use your works and etc???

That way of doing things is often criticized here on POTN, yet it is exactly what I did with wildlife photography, and after just a few years I had built up enough of a body of work that I am now able to make most of my living from it.


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ekfaysal wrote in post #17911276
Lately i am thinking of leaving everything else and break in to travel photography.
Here is my little plan:

i think i should start traveling more and more, maybe some domestic travels first. A few hikes and explorations this summer. I should create some travel stories.
I'll contact all of the travel magazines around the world.
I'll build and grow my blog and will probably use Adsense etc on my blog while I'll drive traffic from FB and Instagram to my blog. that will earn a little money for me IMo.
I'll keep shooting stock photos too and upload them to the popular stock agencies. this way i make a little more money as well.
I'll probably try to reach maximum audience through social media and maybe get some clients or maybe sell some of my work to the fans.
I actually need some tips/tricks from the professionals, Some ideas would be appreciated.

I think that it would behoove you to be realistic about who your clients will be - where the money will be coming from - and you then need to shoot specifically for them.

Just getting a lot of people on internet sites to "like" your work doesn't just somehow magically put money in your bank account.
Just getting people to visit you blogs and your website doesn't somehow magically put money in the bank, either.

You will probably need to focus on selling usage licenses in order to make a living.
So, try to think about just who it is that will be most likely to license your images.
For travel, the first thing that comes to my mind are, well, the destinations themselves:
Cities.
Towns.
States.
Chambers of commerce.
Tourism councils.

Here are a few examples:
http://www.ci.missoula​.mt.us
http://www.newmexico.g​ov
http://www.okanogancou​ntry.com

Start to contact the entities and the various agencies that represent these entities. Find out what publishers the entities use to produce their promotional material. Then contact those publishers and find out if they pay for usage (many do not these days, as crowd sourcing via creative commons licensing can provide their needs). When you know what entities pay for licensing, and are willing to work with you, then ask them what types of images they are most in need of.

One city may really want to promote their skiing industry, and tell you, "we need photos of people skiing on our local slopes. Families with young children, as well as teenagers."
Another municipality may tell you that most of their budget comes from the restaurant industry, and tell you, "we need photos of people enjoying food in our town."
A state (or other large geographic region) may tell you, "the southwest corner of our region is really under-represented, and we need photos from that area. Images showing the landscape and overall natural beauty of that part of our region are what we are looking for."

Whenever possible, make sure that you put the responsibility for getting releases on your clients, so that you don't have to do that yourself.
Also, make sure that your clients understand that the license you sell is for unexclusive usage. That means you can license the same image to multiple entities, and also sell it thru a stock agency.

You see, it is not really about just going out and shooting whatever you want or whatever you are most passionate about. You need to have specific clients in mind, and then go shoot the types of photos that those clients need most.

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Yeah, that's how most of us got started...but is like fishing in the open sea. Sure, you need a large body of works to show your stuff. Also, you need to show them to the right people. Travel photography using this route? If you have saved enough money to travel all over the world...sure, not a bad idea. If you are trying to earn some money to pay bills??

I agree many people here don't understand how powerful the amount of followers one has on their social media is. It is a sad realization, but the marketing/creative side of photos/video clips is much more important to advertisers looking to use Instagram for social media marketing than quality work is.

A person with average work but 250,000+ followers on IG will get lots of opportunities for advertising income, while someone with the best photos in the world but terrible marketing abilities won't get any.

*This post is specifically about IG marketing and advertising, t has nothing to do with other possible revenue streams from travel photography.

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Myboostedgst wrote in post #17912585
A person with average work but 250,000+ followers on IG will get lots of opportunities for advertising income, while someone with the best photos in the world but terrible marketing abilities won't get any.

This is something I would like to understand better.

How does just having 250,000 followers put money in your pocket? Does somebody automatically pay you for each follower you get? Or is it that you have to somehow know the ins and outs of how to turn that mass following into hard cash?

You mention advertising income. Does this just automatically happen when you have a huge following, or do you have to contact companies and ask them if they would like to advertise on your instagram page? And if that is the case, then how in the world would an average Joe with a big following go about contacting big corporate advertisers?

I mean, if I were to go on instagram and build a huge following, then how would I go about asking big corporations if they want to advertise on my page? Do I just send an email to, say, General Motors or J.C. Penny or Carnival Cruise Lines? How do I know which person at the company to send my email to? How do I get the email address? And what do I say, something like, "Hey, I am a photographer with an instagram account, and 250,000 people follow me. Would you like to purchase advertising space on my instagram page?"

Now, suppose I do that and a company responds and says, "Yes, we would like to purchase advertising space on your Instagram page." Well, now what?!

I mean, then I would have to contact Instagram and say, well.......what? Do I tell Instagram that a big company wants to pay for space on my page? But then how does that work, because it really isn't my web page, it belongs to Instagram, right? So wouldn't they be the ones to actually put the ad on the page? And then wouldn't they be the ones to collect the payment from the big company that wants to advertise? So how exactly does that put money in MY pocket? Would I have to hire a lawyer or an agent to negotiate with Instagram and try to get them to give me a portion of the advertising revenue that they collect?

Is that how this whole thing works with getting money from Twitter and Facebook and Instagram? If not, then how does it work?

If I put a photo on my Facebook page and a half million people "liked" it, how exactly does that, in and of itself, put money in my pocket?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #17912720
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This is something I would like to understand better.

How does just having 250,000 followers put money in your pocket? Does somebody automatically pay you for each follower you get? Or is it that you have to somehow know the ins and outs of how to turn that mass following into hard cash?

You mention advertising income. Does this just automatically happen when you have a huge following, or do you have to contact companies and ask them if they would like to advertise on your instagram page? And if that is the case, then how in the world would an average Joe with a big following go about contacting big corporate advertisers?

I mean, if I were to go on instagram and build a huge following, then how would I go about asking big corporations if they want to advertise on my page? Do I just send an email to, say, General Motors or J.C. Penny or Carnival Cruise Lines? How do I know which person at the company to send my email to? How do I get the email address? And what do I say, something like, "Hey, I am a photographer with an instagram account, and 250,000 people follow me. Would you like to purchase advertising space on my instagram page?"

Now, suppose I do that and a company responds and says, "Yes, we would like to purchase advertising space on your Instagram page." Well, now what?!

I mean, then I would have to contact Instagram and say, well.......what? Do I tell Instagram that a big company wants to pay for space on my page? But then how does that work, because it really isn't my web page, it belongs to Instagram, right? So wouldn't they be the ones to actually put the ad on the page? And then wouldn't they be the ones to collect the payment from the big company that wants to advertise? So how exactly does that put money in MY pocket? Would I have to hire a lawyer or an agent to negotiate with Instagram and try to get them to give me a portion of the advertising revenue that they collect?

Is that how this whole thing works with getting money from Twitter and Facebook and Instagram? If not, then how does it work?

If I put a photo on my Facebook page and a half million people "liked" it, how exactly does that, in and of itself, put money in my pocket?

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Go back and look at post number 4. That's how it works. When you get a number of followers you will be approached by many companies mostly asking to send you a free product if you will mention it.

At a pretty small size the number of these requests are so frequent that you start to respond with "how much is your advertising budget" which is code for I'll accept your free product and mention it if you also pay me money. The money offered is directly proportional to your "reach".

In post #4 I doubt that guy contacted Amazon and asked if they wanted to do something. You can also take your favorite brands and approach them about "collaboration" but it's not a requirement.

It's very simple, nobody ever said that instagram or Twitter pays you directly.

Having a following means that people see your posts. If I have 250,000 followers and get 10,000 "likes" per post, it means that at least 10,000 people see my image. Companies see that. They reach out to me, and say hey "put this shovel in a photo and come up with a catchy caption and we will let you keep it and pay you $500". I take an iPhone photo of my backyard and say "this new brand-X shovel makes my yard work so much easier" and the post gets 12,000 "likes" that means that at the very least, 12,000 people double tapped "liked" my photo. So there is a good chance that many of them read the caption. At least that company now has put their name in front of close to 12,000 people and can only hope that they get some people searching for their product.

*this happens all of the time in the automotive world with aftermarket car parts and detailer/washing soaps/wax/etc.

Now take someone with 124 followers, who takes the most brilliant images ever and averages 12 "likes" per photo. What it comes down to is that your photo, being brilliant as it is, doesn't really matter to someone who is trying to advertise. Nobody is going to come to you and pay you money to get their name in front of your followers (because you don't have any).

This is what people fail to see. Quality, while it does matter in certain aspects, doesn't really matter in social media. Following and popularity plays a much bigger part.

Tom, I think the thing that is confusing you is who is paying you.

Instagram/Twitter/etc do not pay you. Companies do. Companies contacts you and says I will give you $1,000 for 5 posts advertising my product. You agree and send them an invoice, and they pay you directly (check, card, cash, etc). You then make your posts.

Social media is only a platform for your work, they have nothing to do with your income or amount gained. They simply provide a central location for people to view your thoughts/ideas/photos/​videos that people have to take advantage of themselves.

travisvwright wrote in post #17912769
In post #4 I doubt that guy contacted Amazon and asked if they wanted to do something. You can also take your favorite brands and approach them about "collaboration" but it's not a requirement.

Correct. From the friends I've made through Instagram, they say once you're at about 40-50k, brands will start approaching you a lot, but when you're at 100k and above, it just takes off.

I'm just under 7k and having brands starting to DM/email me now. I've been told once you have that magic 'k' after your follower count (10,000+), things really pick up.

And it all ranges. I know guys with 100k followers that will take just a few hundred bucks for a sponsored post just because it is easy money and all they're doing is throwing a hat on a friend. Then I also know guys with 100k followers that won't take less than $1,000 per sponsored post.

But one thing is for sure, there is money to be made in sponsored posts.

Obey wrote in post #17912786
Correct. From the friends I've made through Instagram, they say once you're at about 40-50k, brands will start approaching you a lot, but when you're at 100k and above, it just takes off.

I'm just under 7k and having brands starting to DM/email me now. I've been told once you have that magic 'k' after your follower count (10,000+), things really pick up.

Link to your IG? I'll throw you a follow.

Also, just a word of caution since it hasn't been brought up yet. Be very careful about "buying" followers from fake accounts. They get erased quite often, and nothing is better than seeing someone with 10,000 followers and their posts average 40 "likes". It is obvious what is happening.

Myboostedgst wrote in post #17912801
Link to your IG? I'll throw you a follow.

Also, just a word of caution since it hasn't been brought up yet. Be very careful about "buying" followers from fake accounts. They get erased quite often, and nothing is better than seeing someone with 10,000 followers and their posts average 40 "likes". It is obvious what is happening.

www.instagram.com/brad​mbaldwin , thanks!

Haha yes, buying followers. I called out a friend on it a few months ago. He goes "how did you know?!?!?". Well, you have 10k followers and still only getting 20 likes a photo.