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How would you like to write greeting cards and get paid to do so?

Are you a pro at delivering just the right sentiment at the right time in written form?

Do you take photos or create images that are so gorgeous your friends often claim them as their own?

If yes, then you may have the necessary skills to make money as a greeting card writer, photographer, and/or designer.

Most freelancers don’t consider greeting card companies as a place where they can find online work. However, opportunities are definitely available.

Also, because there are many companies out there, you have a good likelihood of finding a fit between your talents and sentimental outlook, as well as the mission of the company.

While you’ll be hard-pressed to find out how much money you can get for accepted submissions, know that most greeting card companies offer compensation ranging from $25 to $300 per accepted submission.

How to Work for Hallmark

There isn’t a bigger name in the greeting card industry than Hallmark.

Unfortunately, they do not accept outside or freelance greeting card submissions. They hire in-office at their corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.

If you happen to live locally, check Hallmark’s careers page often as creative jobs do pop up from time to time.

25 Greeting Card Companies Currently Accepting Submissions

Without further ado, here are 25 companies looking for your heartfelt verses, photos, and artwork:

1. Amber Lotus Publishing

Amber Lotus Publishing is a carbon-negative independent publisher guided by the principles of Right Livelihood; that is, doing the greatest good with the least possible harm.

They only accept photo and art submissions from April to July only.

As for greeting cards, they are accepted all year round, but they’re currently not accepting new writing submissions, including greeting card verses.

2. American Greetings

Founded in 1906, American Greetings has been publishing and selling paper cards, gift wrap, and more for

They normally don’t accept unsolicited submissions, but try to send your ideas to the following address:

Idea Submission Team, American Greetings Corporation
One American Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44145-8151

Other freelance opportunities are listed on the company’s Job Opportunities website.

3. Avanti Press

This company accepts both written content and photos.

You will need to submit copies of your works via mail as they do not accept electronic submissions at this time.

4. Blue Mountain Arts

Blue Mountain Arts may be one of the highest-paying companies on this list. It’s no surprise that it’s also the most competitive.

They’re looking for contemporary prose and poetry from 50 to 300 words in length, written from personal experience.

This established greeting card publisher works with freelancers and pays fairly well for poem-form content; accepted pieces are paid $300.

Submit the text of your work in the submission form (link above) or through email to editorial [at] sps [dot] com and include your name and address.

5. Calypso Cards

This greeting card company publishes several lines of greeting cards, ranging from contemporary to sophisticated.

They invite submissions of artwork and illustrations for occasions and holidays. See their submission page for more detailed instructions.

6. Caspari

Caspari is currently seeking illustrations (not photographic artwork) for its greeting cards.

Submissions are reviewed individually based on artistic merit.

Send your submissions to artworksubmissions [at] hgcaspari [dot] com through an attachment or a link to download or preview the artwork from another location.

7. CardGnome

This site offers a unique compensation model where you sell your greeting card designs through their website.

If anyone purchases cards from your shop, you earn a royalty.

Best of all, you get to keep the copyright to your work.

8. ComstockMarketPlace

Comstock MarketPlace is an adult humor greeting card company, and they expect submissions to fall in that category.

You can submit artwork or photos via post or through email. The fee for each artist or photographer is negotiated separately.

For gag lines and ideas, they are best submitted on a 3 x 5 index card with a SASE to return your submission via post. They also accept email submissions as long as there are no attachments. The fee for gag lines is $50 per idea.

Allow for 8 to 10 weeks for a response.

9. Crown Point Graphics

This site welcomes greeting card art submissions.

While not much detail is provided on the website, you can contact them at their contact page for more information.

10. Fotofolio

You can submit your color and black and white photography for consideration and publication in postcard, notecard, poster, and t-shirt formats.

They do not accept digital files, though you can email them a link to view your work to submissions [at] fotofolio [dot] com.

11. Great Arrow

Great Arrow is a greeting card company that prides itself on its handmade cards, produced through a hand silkscreening process that dates back centuries.

They collaborate with more than 100 designers and receive thousands of submissions a year.

You can download detailed submission guidelines and deadlines from the website.

12. It Takes Two

While most of this company’s work is completed in-house, it does occasionally accept outside submissions by designers and writers.

13. Leanin’ Tree

Leanin’ Tree accepts art submissions year-round for upcoming holidays.

This greeting card company offers in-depth information on submitting artwork for various holidays and other festive occasions, as well as the full schedule of upcoming deadlines on their art submission page.

14. NobleWorks Cards

NobleWorks is continually on the lookout for “funny, unique, risqué, and carefully-crafted cards” for their online store.

Fill out their online contact form so they can send you their guidelines for artists, writers, and cartoonists.

15. Oatmeal Studios

This greeting card company has been around for 40 years. Chances are you’ve seen their card in a department store and chuckled to yourself.

Both written content and artistic illustrations from freelancers are welcome for submission.

16. Palm Press

Palm Press covers basically every major holiday and life event.

Best of all, submissions are accepted year-round here.

You can expect a reply to your submissions within 2 to 3 weeks, making Palm Press one of the fastest companies on this list.

17. Planet Zoo

If you’re into nature photography, then this might be a good fit for you.

Planet Zoo is an environmentally responsible publisher of various gift and stationery products, including greeting cards, featuring wildlife in their natural habitats as well as gorgeous scenery.

They accept up to 10 low-resolution images of animals in their natural habitat.

They do not accept submissions of animals in zoos or interacting with manmade objects.

18. Pomegranate

Pomegranate is an Oregon-based independent publisher creating various stationery products, including holiday cards.

They accept fine art, illustrations, and photography, and offer a simple online form to fill out. You’ll be contacted back within eight weeks.

19. R.S.V.P. Sellers

Sellers Publishing, which is under the RSVP umbrella, seeks both written content and artwork for its lines of notecards and greeting cards.

You can send up to 20 images per single submission.

While they accept submissions all year round, your best chance is to submit materials between March and October.

20. Shade Tree Greetings

This New York-based greeting card company has a line of greeting cards called Actual Pictures, featuring, you guessed it, actual photos sent in by customers.

If you have any old (think 1940s to 1980s) photos depicting something unusual or funny, send them a copy and see them immortalized on greeting cards.

21. Snafu Designs

SNAFU Designs started in a basement and has since expanded to a 1,500-square-foot warehouse creating and sending cards out to all 50 states and Canada.

Their target audience is those who get smart adult humor.

They’re currently not accepting card ideas, but check back on their Writer’s Guidelines page for future openings.

22. The Greeting Card Shop

The Greeting Card Shop allows you to find just the right card for an occasion or milestone, and it allows you to personalize these cards.

23. Up With Paper

This company is currently soliciting new freelance talent; you can either reach out to them through email or submit your portfolio.

24. Viabella

Viabella has been around since 1941, publishing greeting cards and other stationery products.

They welcome submissions from artists and writers. You can expect to get $150 to $250 per artwork or photograph, while it’s $50 to $100 per verse.

All submissions need to go through their respective Submissions Pages for Art and Verse.

25. Warner Press

Warner Press is a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana that publishes various non-denominational Christian products, including greeting cards.

There are pretty specific guidelines before your submission can be considered, so make sure to adhere to their submission guidelines.

26. Design House Greetings

Design House Greetings is open to outside submissions, but they will only respond to artists if they want to work with them. Don’t expect any rejection letters.

If you’ve ever seen the card section at Trader Joe’s, you’ll be familiar with the designs these guys are after.

Where Else to find Greeting Card Companies To Work With

The Greeting Card Association is a trade association serving the greeting card industry and promoting the tradition of sending and receiving greeting cards.

They have an extensive member directory where the websites and addresses are included.

How to Successfully Get Paid for Your Art and Writing

The first skill you need to have is the research skills to look at the existing stock of greeting cards that each company offers. Look at the visual elements, design, writing, even the font they normally use.

Next, you’ll have to be able to decide whether your art or writing is a good fit for the companies you’re looking at.

Perhaps the most important skill that you need to learn when dealing with greeting card companies is reading and following instructions.

With few exceptions, companies who do work with submissions have specific guidelines: from the format to the content to where it is to be sent.

You may be a great artist and your work may look like a good fit, but if you don’t follow instructions, you might find it hard to find companies willing to work with you.

Lastly, you’ll need patience. Larger companies process hundreds to thousands of submissions, and even smaller, independent ones process dozens. It may take weeks before anyone gets back to you, if at all.

The Bottom Line

You’re not going to get rich writing or designing greeting cards, but it can be a fun hobby to earn some extra cash in your spare time.

If writing for greeting card companies doesn’t feel like a good fit, there are plenty of other ways to get paid to write.

And as for visual artists and illustrators, there are other freelance jobs that pay you for your creativity.

Are you known for being a fast and accurate typist? Do you have some medical knowledge? Does working from home sound appealing to you? If you answered yes to all of these, then medical transcription jobs from home could be the perfect fit for you.

Luckily for you, medical transcriptionist jobs give you the perfect balance of a job from home and a stable career.

Add to this the flexibility being a medical transcriptionist provides, and you’ve got yourself the perfect job.

Becoming a medical transcriptionist doesn’t, however, happen overnight.

The job needs previous experience, or for you to complete a particular certification program.

Don’t worry, though:

It’s definitely not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, it’s quite simple.

Here’s your guide on how to land a medical transcription job from home!

What do medical transcriptionists do?

Before you learn how to become a medical transcriptionist from home, you need to know exactly what the job entails.

To make it simple for you:

Medical transcription is the process of creating reports and written documents from medical professionals’ audio files and recordings.

• Create several reports that go into the patient’s medical records.
• Use dictated recordings to transcribe them.
• Edit these reports for grammatical errors.
• Ensure the usage of the correct medical terminology, procedures, and treatments.

Now that you know what you’ll do as a medical transcriptionist, you need to be aware of the steps it takes to become a medical transcriptionist from home.

How to Start Applying for Medical Transcription Jobs

There are a few steps you need to take in order to land a medical transcription job.

These include:

1. Enhance Your Medical Background

Since medical transcription jobs from home focus specifically on the medical field and the dictation of medical professionals, this means that you need a strong medical background.

To be successful, you will need the following:

• A good grasp of medical terminology
• General knowledge of medical legalities
• A good understanding of anatomy

In this case, you will need to ensure getting certified before applying for jobs.

If you’ve worked in a medical facility before or have prior medical experience, then you won’t need to worry about this.

Medical transcription training gives you a solid foundation of the vocabulary that will be used, a general understanding of the human body, and many subjects that you will find yourself encountering during transcribing.

2. Meet the Requirements

Once you’ve put together the medical requirements (see below), you will need to ensure that you have the right general skills to be a transcriptionist, such as typing speed, accuracy, active listening, and the right equipment, including hardware and software.

3. Apply, Apply, Apply.

Start applying for medical transcription jobs from home!

It’s that simple.

Do you have to have a degree to be a medical transcriptionist?

A lot of you are probably wondering what the requirements are to work as a medical transcriptionist.

You will most definitely need a certificate, diploma, or associate’s degree. When it comes to degree-level certificates, all you need is either a high-school diploma or a GED. A university degree is not mandatory.

Certified Medical Transcription Training Program

This is mandatory for anyone who’s trying to become a medical transcriptionist. These programs usually take anywhere from 6 to 24 months. This is to ensure that you’re familiar with the following:

1. Medical terminology
2. Medical reporting
3. Medical transcription skills
4. English composition
5. Medicolegal issues
6. Syntax (i.e., spelling, grammar, and punctuation)

Not only is this mandatory, but it will also be very hard for you to find a medical transcription job, even an entry-level one, that doesn’t require a medical background.

Career Step’s Medical Transcription Editor training program takes around 4 months of full-time study and provides you with all of the information you could possibly need.

There are two types of certifications available:

• RMT = Registered medical transcriptionist
• CMT = Certified medical transcriptionist (You will have to retest for this every 3 years)

Years ago, you would have needed a special machine to play the cassettes and be able to transcribe.

Luckily, everything can be done digitally now.

You will only need:

• A word processing software (Microsoft Word works great)
• Transcription software (different companies may require different software but Express Scribe is one of the most popular)
• Audio playback software (in case of transcription software glitches)
• Quality headset
• A foot pedal that enables you to control playback with your feet
• A medical dictionary for any medical terms you don’t understand

How much money can you make as a medical transcriptionist?

The starting salary for remote medical transcriptionists is around $24 per hour on average.

According to Salary.com, the average annual salary of a medical transcriptionist is around $49k, with the top earners making over $55k per year.

Note that medical transcription jobs from home differ widely and that you’re more likely to get paid based on production. This means that the more you work, the more chances you have of making more money.

The pay structure may also vary depending on where you’re based. Some states pay more than others, and this is also true for workers from different countries.

How you’re paid can also affect your pay; getting paid per audio hour means working faster and taking on more jobs per day can help increase your earnings.

However, the more common way to get paid in medical transcription is per line. The faster you work, and the more work you accept per day, the more you’re paid.

Is there still a demand for medical transcriptionists?

It is no secret that technology has taken over most industries and is slowly transforming the transcription industry as well.

The number of speech-to-text software has increased in the past few years but that doesn’t mean that medical transcription jobs aren’t in demand anymore.

Despite the fact that the software turns the recorded dictation into text, just like you would do, a human element is still very much needed.

Speech-to-text software is still not perfect, especially for different accents and difficult words. Even if the company uses speech-to-text software to automate transcripts, you will still be needed to edit the resulting transcript, as there will likely be misspellings, wrong words, and wrong grammar.

18 Places to Apply for Medical Transcription Jobs from Home

Hopefully, after all the preparation, you’re now ready to check out medical transcription job listings. Here are some of the best websites to check.

1. FlexJobs

Before digging into the rest of the items on this list, I highly recommend starting with FlexJobs.

They constantly scour the Internet for the most up-to-date job postings and find the latest companies currently hiring.

With all the opportunities listed, your job search may not even go further.

Go ahead and browse all the listings for medical transcription jobs available here.

2. AQuity Solutions

AQuity Solutions provides various clinical documentation services, including medical transcription, coding, virtual scribing, and medico-legal documentation.

Currently, there is an opening for a virtual pathology transcriptionist, but it’s worth bookmarking the page and checking back for more opportunities.

3. Fast Chart

Fast Chart is a medical transcription company that delivers outsourced clinical documentation and editing services to hospitals, clinics, and physicians.

To apply as a medical transcriber, you’ll need to demonstrate a high level of medical knowledge by getting high marks on their medical language and terminology examination.

Fast Chart allows you to set your own schedule and work when you can. Not only that, they offer competitive rates and pay a premium for holiday and weekend work.

Bear in mind, though, that if you end up working with them, you’ll be considered an independent contractor, and so this job does not include any benefits.

4. SoftScript

 

SoftScript provides medical transcription services, speech recognition, and provider documentation to hospitals,

They also hire remote scribe assistants to help in charting and billing so physicians can fit more appointments and patients in their workday.

If you want to apply on their careers page, you’ll need to have at least three years of experience and have undergone training from an accredited institution.

5. ubiqus

Ubiqus is constantly on the lookout for medical transcriptionists, as well as writers, translators, interpreters, and account managers for the medical field, as well as other sectors such as finance, legal, media, luxury, and lifestyle.

The positions are remote, and you’ll have the flexibility to set your own work schedule.

6. Pacific Transcription

Pacific Transcription is another company that is constantly hiring typing contractors, including medical transcriptionists.

You would need to have at least three years of experience in medical transcription.

7. Absolute Transcription

This Oklahoma-based medical transcription company prides itself on providing superior medical transcription services to many different branches of medicine.

They vet their transcriptionists carefully, requiring 3 years of clinical experience and in-depth knowledge and understanding of medical terminology.

8. Acusis

Acusis provides clinical documentation solutions to hospitals, large clinics, and physician practices.

They’re currently offering remote medical coding as well as medical transcription jobs.

You’d need at least three years of experience in medical transcription and the ability to transcribe from low-quality audio as well as from speakers for whom English is a second language.

9. Cornerstone Medical Transcription

Cornerstone Medical Transcription provides professional medical transcription services, as well as medicolegal, law enforcement, and general transcription.

To apply for a medical transcription job, fill out the online form on their Careers page and attach your updated résumé.

10. Med-Scribe Transcription Solutions

Founded in 1992, Med-Scribe aims to produce high-quality medical transcriptions with a quick turnaround time.

They are offering medical transcription jobs for part-time employment. That means if you pass their application process, they’ll pay for your social security, Medicare, unemployment, and worker’s comp.

Shift schedules are assigned, so your work hours and workdays are set.

This one isn’t for beginners; they only consider US-based applicants who have experience in either ChartNet or M*Modal Fluency transcription platforms.

11. TASK Transcription Services

TASK Transcription & Voice Solutions provides high-quality transcription services to professionals in the medical, legal, government, financial, and many other industries.

They’re looking for legal and medical transcriptionists to work at least 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. To apply, fill out the form and attach your résumé.

12. EHR Medical Transcription Services

If you’re looking for a fast, reliable, trusted medical transcription service, EHR is proud to provide that service. With their triple-proofing system, transcripts come back with high accuracy.

They’re looking for medical transcriptionists to join their team with at least experience in general transcription. Fill out the form on their Career Opportunities page to submit your application.

13. Perfect Transcription

Perfect Transcription is a physician-owned, physician-managed medical transcription service providing accurate transcripts that can be customized to the clients’ specific requirements.

They require three years prior experience in medical transcription. To apply, either fill out their contact form or email your résumé in MS Word format to recruiting[at]perfecttranscription[dot]com.

14. Transcription For Everyone

Transcription For Everyone provides various transcription services, including legal, Torah, and medical transcription.

To apply for a medical transcription job from home, fill out their contact form with your contact information, your CV, and cover letter.

15. World Wide Dictation

World Wide Dictation is a family-owned business that was one of the first companies to offer digital dictation and medical transcription services over the internet.

You can apply to work for this company as an independent contractor by filling out the form. Under “Opportunity Interested In” select “Medical Transcriptionist.”

16. Transcription HUB

Transcription HUB is another all-around transcription company that provides many different kinds of transcription services for various industries.

Register on their site as a remote transcriber to be evaluated and rated. Then, you can access their listings and you can start doing medical transcription jobs from home.

17. Athreon

Athreon provides speech-to-text solutions to various industries using a combination of AI transcription technology and expert human transcriptionists to produce transcripts that are industry-standard levels.

To be qualified to work medical transcription jobs with them, you’ll have to show proof of completion of a formal training program or 2 years of professional experience as an equivalent.

18. Precision Transcription

Precision Transcription delivers affordable, high-quality dictation and transcription solutions, specifically for the legal and medical industries.

They’re currently looking for medical transcriptionists with at least two years of acute care experience and at least one year of recent on-the-job experience in Medical Transcription.

To apply, fill out their online form and wait to be contacted.

The Future of Medical Transcription Jobs

Medical transcription jobs from home are on the rise, and they provide a stable yet flexible career option.

If you have a strong medical background and want to work from home but working as a medical transcriptionist doesn’t sound too appealing to you, check out our list of medical billing jobs and remote jobs for doctors.

You can also check our lists of work-at-home nursing jobs or other general work-from-home jobs.

If you have a love for fitness, whether as a professional or just someone who loves keeping healthy, I’ll let you in on a little secret: you can make money from it!

With the rise of health movements such as vegan, keto, and paleo diets, coupled with exercise trends such as HIIT and circuit training, it’s safe to say that the fitness industry is booming and will only continue to grow.

Now is the perfect time to jump in!

In this article, we run down how to make money in fitness so you can start working toward both your fitness goals and your financial goals.

14 Ways to Make Money in the Fitness Niche

I’ve broken down the top ways people are making money in the fitness niche.

Your best bet is to become a trainer of some sort, but you can also help people figure out nutrition, or even become a brand ambassador and make money as an influencer.

Find an area that interests you and run with it.

Make money on the side as an influencer:

Brands are always looking for feedback from influencers and ambassadors to develop their product lines and the fitness industry is a perfect match.

The following companies pay CASH.

1. Become a personal trainer

Whenever an average Joe thinks of the fitness industry this is probably one role that stands out, and with good reason.

Most people, really really hate the gym, but this just means opportunity. Personal training is highly profitable if done correctly.

Starting off you will need to get certified. Certification helps you to build trust with both gyms you may want to work in, and clients you want to work with.

These bodies all supply legitimate certifications:

• American Council on Exercise (ACE)
• National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
• International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)
• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
• National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)

After getting certified, it’s often best to then look to specialize in an area. Ideally, this should be something that you yourself would be interested in, but it pays to take a look at what’s popular as well.

From that point, you can then start applying to local gyms and fitness centers to start working for them or hiring out facilities with them.

Another approach is to look at teaching at multiple gyms in different areas, which helps expand your network of clients and make sure that you have less risk of clients drying up.

2. Teach group sessions

Group fitness training is quite different from the one-on-one approach of personal training.

In group training, a trainer leads an exercise class while coaching all of the participants, making sure that everyone is using the correct form.

Group training might seem like the obvious choice: more people equals more money, right? Well, that’s not always the case; the fees for group fitness are often much lower than personal training.

However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make money from it. Plus, running this sort of training has many benefits.

First, it gets you in front of a lot of different people, helping you expand and refine your personal brand.

Second, it allows you to promote additional services, such as one-on-one training sessions, dietary and nutrition plans, your own products, and other services that help you earn more (as we’ll see below).

Lastly, it allows you to broaden your skill set by offering a variety of classes to a variety of people. For instance, you could teach classes for kids or older people, CrossFit and other short classes for busy professionals, and so on.

Keep in mind that you’ll still need certification to be able to go into group training.

3. Expand to online coaching

Once you’re working as a personal trainer or a group trainer, a natural offshoot is to become an online fitness coach.

Not everyone has the luxury of having a quality gym nearby or being able to afford a personal trainer. However, with the rise of high-speed internet, they don’t need to!

You might already have existing clients as a personal trainer, but going online gets you an unlimited client base. You can always find a new audience to market your services.

Online coaching can be done via video chat apps and ideally via two-way video feeds so you can check your client’s form and correct it if you need to.

While you’re online with them, you can also pitch your other products, such as your nutrition and training guides.

It’s not ideal from a fitness training perspective but think of it as a middle ground between a fitness DVD and actual personal training.

What’s more, people are willing to pay to be able to get fitness training from the comfort of their homes.

4. Develop training and nutrition plans

Not everyone wants or needs to head into a gym or hire a personal trainer.

What they are looking for instead is expert guidance on their diet or pointers for their own training regimens at home or at the gym so they can tailor their fitness routines into their specific lifestyle.

Meal plans are a popular product in the fitness niche, especially if you create ones that are based on diets that are all the rage, such as vegan, keto, paleo, Atkins, HCG, or any other diets that are touted to promote health.

Workout plans are equally popular, especially for beginners to a certain kind of workout routine, such as strength training, HIIT, CrossFit, calisthenics, etc. Workout plans that target specific areas of the body also have a wide audience.

Meal plans and workout plans are ideally created in a digital format, such as an ebook or PDF. Creating digital products minimizes your overhead and makes them easier to sell, as there are plenty of free or at least inexpensive digital marketplaces where you can sell these plans.

You can also offer custom training and nutrition plans at a higher price to specific clients with specific needs. These plans can be based on a standard template and tweaked with little to no work to fit the needs of a specific client.

You can also sell your nutrition and training plans together as bundles.

If you’re already working as an online or offline personal trainer, you can offer these as extras to your existing clients.

5. Start a meal delivery service

If you have culinary training aside from nutrition certifications, you can take meal planning a step further and actually create the meals yourself for delivery to your clients.

You can start small and deliver to nearby addresses at first. As your business grows, you can start getting all the necessary permits (your health license is the most important one) and hire a few people to help you prepare and deliver the meals.

The good thing about creating and selling your own meals is that you can bundle this service with your workout plans and increase your income.

Of course, turning your house into a custom kitchen isn’t going to be simple, especially considering the various dietary requirements you’ll have to cater to.

But if you have the knowledge and the capital, a meal delivery business is a lucrative way to make money in the fitness industry.

6. Sell your digital products

If you’ve already gone into creating nutrition and workout plans as digital products, it’s not that far a leap to create a fitness video course.

Of course, producing a video course requires more requirements: a high-quality webcam, editing software, activewear and equipment that look good on camera, and snappy background visuals and music to come up with a polished video with high production value.

If you’re not an expert in video production, you’re going to have to hire professionals to take care of that for you.

All these increase your overhead costs significantly, so if you don’t have a steady, strong client base yet, you’ll struggle to recoup your losses.

Now, you have a suite of digital products that you can sell in various online stores. For instance, you can sell your ebooks on the Amazon Kindle store.

You can also build your own website and sell your digital products there.

7. Make a fitness app

A mobile app is yet another digital product that you can create or have a developer create for you.

Even fitness enthusiasts aren’t without their phones in their hands all the time. So why not make it easier and more accessible for them to track their fitness goals through their phones?

You can run advertisements on your app so you can earn some passive income from that. Or, you can have users download the app for free and then offer paid features and upgrades so you can earn more directly from those.

The good thing here is you can incorporate your existing digital products into this fitness app.

You can make it into a nutrition app, where users can choose a meal plan template or create their own. You can make it into a workout app, where users can choose a specific workout to do or create their own with individual exercises. Or, ideally, you can make combine them into one app.

8. Establish a tangible fitness product line

As I’ve mentioned, not everyone can afford to go to the gym, and even some of those who can afford it actually prefer to work out from home.

If you can find a supplier of high-quality home fitness equipment that you can trust and can sell you those products for an inexpensive price, you may be able to make money in fitness products.

Here are some examples of fitness products that you can sell:

• Yoga mats/exercise mats
• High-impact floor tiles
• Dumbbells
• Lifting racks
• Kettlebells
• Exercise balls
• Medicine balls
• Sandbags
• Boxing bags
• Yoga blocks
• Jump ropes
• Battle ropes
• Resistance bands
• Foam rollers
• Plyo boxes
• Steppers
• Water bottles
• Sports socks/yoga socks
• Sports shoes
• Sports bras
• Leggings
• Sports bags
• Massage guns

Selling your own product line is not for the fainthearted but this can be a real money-spinner.

9. Write about fitness

As the fitness niche is exploding, written content about fitness is also highly in demand.

Blogs, magazines, journals, and other publications are on the lookout for fitness writers who can create compelling, expert content that appeals to fitness enthusiasts, both beginner and advanced.

You may even get a higher rate than usual, especially if you have certifications, years of experience, and an existing fanbase who read and share your articles.

Another way you can earn money through writing about fitness is if you start a blog and write articles for it. You aren’t going to get paid directly for your articles, but your blog will help you in your money-making endeavor by building your online reputation and providing you a platform to promote your products and services to your audience.

10. Be a motivational fitness speaker

Fitness is not only physical; you can only meet your fitness goals when you’re mentally focused and motivated to do so.

Another way to help spread your brand, expand your customer network, and make money while doing it is to be a fitness resource speaker.

You could contact local businesses, schools, and communities to offer your services for free or at a cost.

Talk about fitness and how your specific audience can benefit from incorporating fitness into their lives.

For example, you can talk to businessmen about how having even the simplest fitness routine keeps their minds sharp.

You could discuss ways older people can stay healthy and active at a local retirement home. You could talk to kids about how an unhealthy lifestyle will affect them later in life.

The more you get known, the more benefits it can bring to your business.

11. Set up and attend unique events

Gyms often have everything a person needs to get fit and stay healthy, but they can be boring and sometimes scary places to visit.

By offering more unique options, especially outdoor events, you can help create a name for yourself while making money.

What sort of events could you run? How about:

• Bootcamps
• Assault courses
• Zombie runs
• Hiking and walking trips
• Mini Olympics
• Dancing
• Parkour
• Outdoor Calisthenics

These events are perfect to promote your brand and your fitness products and services to new audiences.

Also, these types of events can help bring communities together and offer opportunities for other local businesses as well to promote their own products and services.

Thanks to technology, it’s even possible to bring these events online through livestreaming, expanding your audience and increasing your potential earnings through ads or sponsorships.

12. Become a social media brand ambassador

Don’t write off social media yet as a way to make money from fitness.

Social media is an incredible tool for fitness trainers who want to get themselves out there. By showing people how to get fit via YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, it’s easy to get a large following.

With a large audience and engagement, you can then apply to become a brand ambassador, or even be approached by companies looking for people to promote their brand.

A brand ambassador is essentially modern jargon for having a sponsor. You do shout-outs, reviews and generally promote a brand in return for cold hard cash, affiliate commissions, and free swag.

I’ve covered what it takes to become a brand ambassador in more detail here.

13. Start your own blog

Writing a fitness blog is certainly not the quickest way to make money from fitness, but it has the most potential to make money from fitness, in terms of the different directions and activities you can do from your blog.

Firstly, you will need your own website, and to have a love for writing about fitness (at least until you can get some other writers to write for you).

Writing about the trials and tribulations of attaining a healthy body and keeping it can attract not only people wanting to get started but even those already on their journey wanting more ideas, tips, and tricks.

A fitness blog can make money in a variety of ways.

You can make money directly by placing ads on the site, using affiliate marketing to promote fitness products you trust and recommend, selling your own products and services, and even through flipping the website if it becomes popular enough to be worth six digits.

Indirectly, the site can garner more real-life customers for you as a personal trainer. It can also help you to find sponsors and brands interested in having you promote their products.

The cost of setting up a blog is minimal, and you don’t even need to be certified to offer advice and help; you could simply be a fitness fan documenting and showcasing your own journey in the world of fitness.

The easiest way to get started with your own blog is through a platform like Wealthy Affiliate. It’s completely free to get started and they’ll give you all the tools and training you need to get up and running.

14. Lend your expertise as a consultant

When you hear “consultant,” you might automatically think of financial consultants or management consultants.

But companies, schools, and other organizations may feel the need the services of a fitness consultant to develop programs that cater to the physical fitness needs of members of these organizations.

Requirements may vary depending on the client; some may hire you with a high school diploma, while others may require you to have master’s degrees in nutrition and sports science or other related courses.

Having degrees and certifications would certainly be an advantage when it comes to the hourly pay you can charge, but don’t underestimate the value of experience.

If you’ve worked as a personal trainer for years, you’d certainly have a leg up over those who are certified but don’t have enough hands-on experience.

The Bottom Line

Whether you’re already a professional fitness instructor or you just simply love keeping in shape, there are many ways to make money with fitness.

Hopefully, one or more of these 14 ideas will help you make more money in the fitness niche!

Here’s one more thing to keep in mind:

Start working on building your following and brand today.

The earlier you start getting your name out there, the better. Don’t wait until the new year to try and capitalize on all the resolutions or the summer to make money off those who want “summer bods.” You’ll be too late by then.

Which one of these ways to make money in fitness are you most interested in? Or have you tried before? How was it? Tell us your stories in the comments below!

Live streaming is wildly popular nowadays. You might have even watched a live stream or two today!

New technology and faster internet connections are allowing people to easily stream their lives, their thoughts, and even the video games they’re playing right from their computers and mobile devices.

But did you know that you can earn some side cash by simply broadcasting your daily life and your opinions?

In today’s blog post, you’ll learn how to make money live streaming: how live streaming works, where to live stream, and how to earn from it.

What is Live Streaming?

First, what exactly is live streaming?

Live streaming is the broadcasting of live video over the internet to an individual or to an audience.

In a nutshell, it’s just you, on camera, talking to the world. Think PBS on the go, with limited start-up costs!

Unlike pre-recorded videos that can be edited, from which scenes can be added or cut, or filters can be applied, live streaming is real-time, uncensored, and often unscripted.

You can stream from your phone, tablet, or laptop from a broadcasting platform. You can be as raw or as polished as you want.

What Can You Live Stream?

You can stream your everyday life, your random thoughts, and your virtual and actual interactions with people in your life.

You can show the world your singing, dancing, and even your jokes.

Show your audience the sports game you’re watching, along with your running commentary.

If you have opinions on politics, religion, or any other controversial subject, you can stream that too.

Love cooking? Stream it!

Love playing video games? There’s a huge audience who just love watching other people play!

Bottom line: Pretty much anything you want!

The possibilities are almost endless, and it leaves a lot of room for anyone to take advantage of the boom and make money from live streaming.

Live Stream Platforms

There are numerous sites and apps available that can help you to live stream instantly.

When choosing one, always keep in mind how simple it is for you to use, how easy it is for your audience to engage with you, and how straightforward it would be to monetize your live streams.

Here are some of the live stream platforms you can choose from.

1. YouTube Live

The granddaddy of online video, YouTube now offers its own live streaming platform, YouTube Live, to secure its video dominance.

Being on YouTube Live allows you to broadcast your live streams, record these live streams, and allow audiences these recorded live streams as searchable, on-demand videos, all on the same platform.

YouTube’s incredibly large audience is also a considerable advantage. Your viewers are already familiar with YouTube, and placing your videos in an already-popular platform increases the chances of attracting new fans of your live stream.

2. Facebook Live

If you already have a following on Facebook, simply going on Facebook Live is a good way to broadcast your live stream right on your followers’ News Feed.

Simply go to your Facebook app on your mobile, tap the Live button on your post composer, and you’re good to go.

3. Instagram Live

Another social media platform that provides users the ability to live stream is Instagram.

You can share a live video on Instagram and connect with your Instagram followers for an hour.

Once that hour is over, you can share a replay of your live video on your Instagram stories.

The usual people on Instagram Live are celebrities and high-profile influencers.

4. Twitter Live

Yet another social media platform that has moved into the live streaming space is Twitter.

Twitter Live is usually for breaking news, but if you have enough interested Twitter followers, live streaming on Twitter can be lucrative for you.

5. YouNow

YouNow is also a mobile app for both iOS and Android that’s mostly used by a younger crowd.

A few years ago, YouNow was one of the most popular live streaming platforms, but recently, a part of its audience share has been taken by Twitch.

6. Twitch

Known particularly for streaming video games and e-sports being played by popular gamers, Twitch has a huge user base and is, therefore, one of the most popular platforms around.

If you’re a gamer, it’s unlikely you’ll need any other live streaming platform.

7. TikTok Live

TikTok was the breakout star of social media in 2020, and with more than 800 million active users, it remains a force to be reckoned with in 2021.

LIVE on TikTok is a feature that allows creators to engage with their audience in real-time.

It also allows creators above 18, with more than 1,000 followers, and with more than 100,000 video views within the last 30 days the chance to be sent virtual gifts (that can be exchanged for actual cash) from their biggest TikTok fans.

8. LinkedIn Live

You may not think that you’ll have any use for your LinkedIn account aside from applying to jobs and maybe networking with colleagues in your industry.

But if your target audience comprises millennial working professionals and older users (read: more spending power), or you want to be noticed by brands, LinkedIn Live Video might just be the key to your success.

To get started, you’ll need to apply to have the feature added to your profile. Both personal and business pages can apply. Once approved, you can get started.

However, one inconvenience in using LinkedIn Live is that they currently don’t offer native streaming; you’ll have to sign up for a third-party streaming tool, like StreamYard or Restream, which is an added expense.

Also, you might not even get approved; LinkedIn has a certain set of criteria.

9. Amazon Live

If you (or, fine, your parents) have ever shopped through QVC, you’d know that there’s nothing like product demos done live, sometimes with audience participation, and time-bound offers (“call now and get a free gift” or “call now and get 80% off”) to compel a captive audience to open their wallets and buy that thing now.

And this experience is just what Amazon is trying to offer their customers through Amazon Live.

You’ll need to be an Amazon Influencer to be able to live stream. When you feature products on your live stream, you earn commissions from qualified purchases made through the product carousel that will appear below your live stream.

You can demonstrate the products to your audience and show them in real time why you love that product and why you’re recommending it to them.

Plus, you can also do a live promotion, such as discounts that will only apply if your viewers Checkout the products you’re featuring from their Carts while the live stream is active.

Making Money from Live Streaming

Now that we know what live stream platforms are out there, the next thing is to learn how to monetize your live streams.

There are several ways to earn money from live streaming, but bear in mind that not all of these revenue streams will work with all platforms.

Also, to truly make decent money, you will need to make use of several revenue streams (ain’t that always the way!).

Here are some of the ways that you can make money from live streaming.

1. Ads

Joining the right live streaming platform with the right advertising network allows you to earn a commission for each view or click, depending on how the advertising network sets its metrics.

Like with any advertising network, the earnings per view/click are usually pennies, but with a large enough audience you can easily pull in $1,000 or more a month purely from ads.

YouTube Live and Facebook Live are capable of showing ads during live streams.

The problem is that ads can be annoying, and so viewers can install ad-blocking software, which reduces your commissions.

So if this is your sole source of revenue from live streaming, you’ll want to rethink your strategy and get another source.

2. Donations/Tips

That first tip you’ll ever receive from your fans is something special.

It’s validation for your live streaming endeavor that someone appreciated your material enough to send you something, even if it’s just a couple of bucks.

Most people think that donations and tips aren’t going to earn you much money, and they’re right.

However, having it as a side revenue stream can help you at least earn some change for coffee.

In addition, most major live streaming platforms allow you to receive donations and tips, either from their own integrated services or currencies or by allowing you to advertise your accounts with third-party services, such as PayPal or Venmo.

For instance, YouTube’s main tip tools are Super Chat and Super Stickers, which YouTube viewers can buy to highlight their messages to you during your live stream. Twitch, on the other hand, allows viewers to buy Bits and use them to Cheer for you. You get a cent for each Cheer you get from your viewers.

3. Subscriptions

How can getting tips from your fans get better?

Why, by getting them regularly, of course.

If your fans can pay a set amount every month, no matter how small, this gets you closer to earning a sure, steady income, while being able to give them more of what they want and some exclusive content in return.

Most of the above live streaming platforms support subscription plans and allow viewers to subscribe to a live stream right on the platform.

For instance, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch have channel or page membership programs allowing viewers to have a weekly or monthly payment to creators on these platforms in exchange for exclusive content and perks for subscribers.

However, to be eligible to incorporate this feature on your live stream, your account needs to meet certain requirements.

If your account isn’t eligible for a subscription program, or the platform you’re using doesn’t have one, consider using third-party providers to allow viewers to make regular weekly or monthly payments to you in exchange for your content.

Patreon allows people to sponsor you on a weekly or monthly basis and in return for providing them with something: such as regular live streaming and exclusive access and perks.

4. Brand Partnerships and Sponsorships

When you’ve made a name for yourself, you can start reaching out to brands and propose partnerships with them. They can sponsor one or more of your live streams in exchange for featuring their products or services, either by displaying them as a banner or on your background, mentioning them to your viewers, or actually using and reviewing them on your live stream.

To build a successful partnership, you’ll need to be intimately familiar with your audience. You need to know their ages, genders, interests, and problems they need solutions for.

At the same time, you need to be a genuine fan of the brand you want to partner with and feel comfortable enough to promote their products and services to your audience. Remember, your viewers trust you, and if you break that trust, they won’t be back to watch any of your content.

5. Affiliate Programs

Memberships to affiliate programs enable you to share affiliate links, promo codes, or coupon codes to your viewers so that when they purchase something from your affiliate.

The way this usually works is that you post the affiliate link or code somewhere on the stream description.

An important thing to remember is that not all live stream platforms allow affiliate marketing on live stream videos that they host, so be very careful to read up on their terms and conditions.

Also, make sure to recommend products and services that are relevant to your content, and not create content solely to promote. The quality of your videos should always go before making money from live streaming.

6. Live Selling

Live selling is a practice where sellers show viewers, fans, and potential customers their products, demonstrate how these work and how much they cost, and other details.

During a live selling session, viewers can place an order through links shown during the live stream session.

And yes, as I’ve said, QVC and HSN are the forerunners of this type of selling. Though they often weren’t really broadcasting live; their shows were often taped. But viewers can still call in to order the products they want with the promotions that are advertised during the time of airing the episode.

What makes today’s live selling a step up from the live selling of old is that today’s live selling sessions are much more interactive, with sellers being able to answer viewers’ questions about the products in real time and being able to see which products are selling out.

Plus, the engagement isn’t just limited to seller-viewer. Everyone watching can see and interact with each other as well, which fosters a sense of community and competition at the same time, because they’re up against each other for the products being sold.

With the 2020 pandemic descending on the world and everyone staying at home, potential customers are more comfortable than ever with doing everything online, even buying online with a few taps.

As I’ve mentioned above, Amazon Live is currently giving Amazon Influencers the ability to sell products through live streaming.

Facebook and Instagram have also launched Live Shopping on their respective platforms.

Live selling is already popular in China, but still relatively rare in the US and other western countries. Getting in on the action now means you can get ahead of the pack.

7. Your Own Products or Services

Instead of, or in addition to promoting other companies’ products, why not try your hand at selling your own products?

Selling your “merch,” as it’s often called, is common enough that live stream platforms offer plenty of advice and tools to help live streamers boost their sales.

The most important aspects of selling your merch are still up to you: concept, design, production, and shipping for physical goods, or hosting and delivery for digital products.

Make sure that the products you’re selling are related to your live stream content, especially if you have a particular theme.

For instance, if you have been doing workout-themed live streams, and your viewers are really digging the different exercises you’re doing, you can sell merch like activewear and exercise equipment, or digital goods like an ebook on fitness or an entire workout program with instructional videos, cookbooks, and food and exercise charts.

8. Mentoring

Maybe doing an entire video course is too overwhelming for you, or you might think you’re not “academic” enough or knowledgeable enough to be an online instructor or lecturer.

But if you are able to give valuable advice, tips, and guidelines about a certain topic, you might want to be somebody’s mentor.

The idea is to offer your viewers one-on-one time with you (for a fee) so you can help them achieve specific goals.

Your success here is largely dependent on the quality of your mentorship and how dedicated you are to helping your viewers solve their problems.

9. Pay-per-view content

Media companies and influencers making content available through pay-per-view is another trend that became popular during the 2020 global pandemic.

And pay-per-view live streaming is the next level.

Gaming-related live streams remains the most popular type of content, but nowadays, people with different hobbies and interests look for content that appeals to them.

But to truly be successful in making money through offering pay-per-view live streams, you need to be able to offer something premium that makes it stand out from thousands of other free content such that viewers are willing to pay for your content.

There are virtual ticketing services that allow you to sell admission to your live stream, such as Ticketleap or TicketSpice. They handle the ticket sales and sending the URL for the live stream to those with confirmed payment, and they get either a flat fee or percentage of the ticket sales in return.

Do You Need Your Own Website?

Using any one of these live streaming services is great, but it’s very likely that you’ll eventually need to have your own website to make the most out of your live streams.

Having your own website is like having your own home base where you can direct your audience to know more about you and what you’re all about.

You can host replays of your live streams here, as well as additional resources that are useful for your viewers, such as blog posts, images, videos, or any other media that complement your live stream content.

You can also promote your own products there, too, without fear of treading on any terms and conditions or having to sound like an annoying salesman in your streams.

Another thing you can implement on your own website is a membership system. Users pay to gain access to exclusive member-only content, one-on-one sessions, badges and trophies, a community discussion area, and so on.

Bottom line? I highly recommend building your own website.

Downsides of Live Streaming for Money

The main hurdle in making money from live streaming is building a fan base. Several live stream platforms require you to have a substantial number of followers and content views to even be considered for their live streaming service, let alone allow you to earn from ads and other monetization avenues.

Of course, if you’re a lady you will likely get a larger following sooner, but with the added disadvantage of having to handle more, ahem, “difficult” followers.

Aside from these, you’ll need to make sure you stream consistently, as people prefer knowing when to expect your live stream. Depending on your niche, you may stream for an hour a day, or end up streaming for 10 hours every day (very common with gamers who stream).

Another downside to consider is that nothing dies on the Internet. This may sound good; that is, until you make your first mistake.

Because live streams tend to be spontaneous, it’s only a matter of time before you make a blunder live. It can range from simply mispronouncing words to Freudian slips, from wardrobe mishaps to highly offensive remarks.

Worse, there’s nothing to stop viewers from taking screenshots or recording snippets or even entire sessions of your live stream, which can then become viral.

Mistakes are inevitable, but just remember to sincerely apologize and learn from them.

Final Thoughts on Live Streaming

There’s no quick and easy way to make money with live streaming, as you need to build up a user base. That being said, there’s a great potential for making thousands a month via live streaming, especially if you make sure you have more than one revenue stream.

While the initial costs of this marketing angle are low (a smartphone and an internet connection), the time cost can mount up quite quickly.

Other ways to make money from videos

If making or watching videos is your jam, and you’re wondering if you can ever turn that into a paying gig, the following articles from our site may help:

Get Paid to Do ASMR Videos: How to Turn Sounds into Cash
Get Paid to Watch Movies
Get Paid to Watch TV

Have you ever broadcast live from any of the above platforms? Did you manage to make any money from live streaming? Let me know in the comments!

If you have a passion for photography, the right equipment, and an entrepreneurial vision, then you’ve already probably wondered how to make money with photography.

Well, let’s be clear about one thing right off the bat:

If you’re looking for a way to turn your passion for photography into a profitable business, then you need to have a system and approach it as a business.

Yes, you can’t transform into a paid photographer overnight–but you can start on the process now. Being creative and imaginative is not enough; after all, plenty of photographers make a decent living with very mediocre skills.

While professional photography might feel like quite a competitive industry to try and break into, there are still plenty of ways to make money with photography.

In this article, I’ve rounded up all the different ways that will actually help you start getting paid for your photography skills.

Set Yourself Up To Be A Successful Photographer

Before we dive into all the ways to make money with photography, let’s get into the steps you can take so you can be prepared when you eventually make money.

1. Work for other photographers.

When you’re first starting out, it’s always a good idea to work with other photographers. This is perfect for when you want to make money with photography but aren’t ready to venture out on your own and want to learn and practice more.

Help out with post-production

Post-production editing is a very time-consuming task, and you’d be surprised at the number of photographers who are looking for some editing assistance.

You can work with more experienced photographers and edit their photos. If they’re happy with your work, you may get an assistant photographer gig later on.

Work as an Assistant Photographer

Being an assistant photographer is one of the best ways to get experience, build your portfolio, and learn from and network with more senior photographers.

It’s going to be a struggle to find photographers who will pay you what your skills are worth. However, the networking opportunities and the things you will learn will be absolutely valuable. Plus, it gives you a much higher chance of getting clients later on.

How to find assistant photographer jobs:

• Join all types of photography groups on social media platforms.
• Look for “assistant photographer” jobs in job sites.
• Go to photography events and conventions.
• Network with local photographers.
• Get involved in a photographer organization.

The bottom line is:

It’s much better to learn photography by doing instead of learning solely from books, blogs, and online tutorials.

2. Pick a niche

At this point, I’m assuming you’ve already taken a photography course or two and have already experimented with different genres of photography.

You might enjoy all kinds of photography, but if you want to start making money with photography, picking a niche is highly recommended.

Here’s why:

When you specialize in a niche, you get to identify which techniques you need to study, as well as invest in continued education and training.

Also, when researching which niche you want, you get to know which ones have the most money-making potential.

In particular, wedding photography and travel photography seem to be more lucrative than, say, nature photography.

It’s not all about the money, though; it’s just another factor to consider aside from your skills and passion.

Another advantage of concentrating on a niche is that you’ll have a much more cohesive portfolio. It’s always much better to show a client a portfolio with a specific set of images that fall under a theme, instead of random pictures from random photoshoots.

Here are some niches you can specialize in:

• Fashion photography
• Maternity shoots
• Nature photography
• Wildlife photography
• Wedding photography
• Portrait photography
• Club photography
• Sports photography
• Food photography
• Product photography
• Travel photography
• Real estate photography

3. Set up a website.

Your next logical step should be creating a website (if you don’t already have one). Even better if your profile has a theme that matches your niche.

Contrary to popular belief among photographers, Facebook or Instagram can’t replace your own website.

This is not to say they are useless. Both social media platforms act as great places to generate interest, engage with followers, and network with other photographers as well as potential clients.

With your own website, though, you’re not jostling for other photographers for views from your audience. You can create a whole experience that revolves around your own unique photography style and your brand.

Having your own website gives you the ability to provide potential clients with a multi-sensory experience, easy navigation, and seamless viewing of your pictures.

Your website visitors are thus more likely to purchase prints, contact you for shoots, or offer brand partnerships.

4. Start a photography blog on your website.

If you like writing, being a photography blogger is a good content marketing tool and an additional source of income aside from your photography skills.

Blogging requires both patience and time, but the rewards are absolutely worth it. You can create a blog that attracts readers and adds value to their lives.

You can then earn cash through advertising, brand partnerships, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and much more.

By having a blog, you’ll actually have an artistic platform that will give you credibility and allow you to share your work with the world.

And of course, the more followers you have, the more you’ll be contacted for work, and the higher you can charge for projects and bookings.

Here’s how you can make money with a photography blog:

• Use display ads by Google AdSense.
• Collaborate with other bloggers from different industries (such as in the fashion or travel industries).
• Publish engaging and informative content to get more pageviews and gain popularity.
• Post content regularly.
• Learn to use SEO to get on top of the search results page.
• Use affiliate marketing.

5. Set up a store on your website.

Aside from your blog, you can set up an ecommerce store right on your website.

You can sell physical items, such as prints of your photos, photobooks, merchandise with your photos on them, and photography tools and gadgets.

You can also offer up digital items, such as ebooks, equipment checklists, wallpapers, and printables.

If you can set up a booking system for calls and appointments, as well as an advance payment system, this will help you with your photography business as well.

I recommend using WordPress to build your website, as plenty of ecommerce solutions specific for photographers have already been built to work with WordPress.

6. Start a vlog.

If you already have a blog on your website, the natural transition is to start a vlog.

But what can you vlog about if you don’t have any assignments or bookings yet?

Start by posting honest reviews of the equipment that you’re using. When you get more assignments and clients, you can start sharing stories, advice, and tips and tricks.

Eventually, you can expand to mini-courses and how-to videos.

As your viewership grows, you can earn more money through ads, affiliate marketing, and sponsored videos.

Starting a YouTube channel is the traditional way to start a vlog, but more and more photographers are finding their way to Twitch.

I’ve written about how to make money with both platforms so check out our article on YouTube and Twitch and decide for yourself which one is right for you.

7. Build Your Social Media Presence

Since photography is a visual art, the best social media platform for you to establish your brand is Instagram.

But don’t ignore all the other social media platforms. Every one of them is a chance for you to put your work out there, expand your reach, find potential clients, and engage with them.

Link back to your website (see how having your own website works here?), to your useful blog articles, and to your video reviews on Facebook and Twitter.

Post your best work on Instagram and make sure to link back to your website or your ecommerce store.

Grow your followers by consistently posting useful, engaging content, and you’ll see results.

14 Ways to Make Money with Photography

Once you’ve set up your website and your digital marketing and income tools, you can now start to recoup your investment in these as well as your equipment and get that income.

Here are some actionable ideas to start turning your photography skills into money.

1. Join photo contests.

As a beginner in a field where no one knows your work or who you are, joining photo contests is one way to expose your work to photography experts as well as enthusiasts, while getting the chance to win some money or prizes.

The money is uncertain here, of course, but it’s a good stepping stone to bigger opportunities even if you don’t win anything, as the contest can get your photos in front of big brands, experts in the field, and plenty of potential clients.

Some competitions offer thousands of dollars in cash, equipment, or the chance to snag the project of a lifetime.

For instance, a wedding photography contest may have the grand prize of shooting a celebrity wedding. What it doesn’t pay in cash, it makes up for with exposure and publicity.

You can look for local photo contests as well as on Google to find online or even international photo contests.

2. Reach out to small local businesses.

There’s probably a small business near you right now that is trying to gain more followers to promote their business.

And they’re looking for photographers to take photos of their stores, their products, and sometimes even their personnel to display in their websites and social media platforms.

Reach out to these local businesses and offer your services. Offer a discount in exchange for their permission to include some of the photos you took in your portfolio.

You get to take high-quality photos to help both their business and yours, so everybody wins!

3. Conduct photography tours.

If you live in a city or town with a lot of tourists, and you know it like the back of your hand, you might want to become a tour guide.

But not just a tour guide, but a photography tour guide.

Offer to lead tourists on a photo walk and help them take pictures of local “hidden gems” while exchanging photography tips and tricks.

Your social media platforms and website can help you offer this service; your social media for promotion and finding interested tourists, and your website for tourists to select and book a schedule.

4. Offer portrait sessions.

It’s not only local businesses that may need your services.

Individuals who need portrait photographs for their portfolios, resumes, websites, social media profile photos, or for school photos will be looking for someone local who’s available at a day’s or even a few hours’ notice.

Accepting these types of projects allows you to network with local clients, who spread the word to other potential clients. Plus, these portrait photos will be great additions to your portfolio.

5. Offer your services on freelancer platforms.

If you’re ready to make the transition to making money as a freelancer, you can start creating your freelancer profiles on platforms such as Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer.

Companies also post openings for freelance photographers on these sites, especially if the assignments are one-off. Look for the specific niche of photography that you want to specialize in and try to get gigs in your niche.

If allowed by the platform you’re posting in, link back to your website and your social media platforms so potential clients can look at your portfolio and know that you’re taking your photography career seriously and you’re not just a weekend hobbyist.

One disadvantage of using freelancer sites is that they take a cut of your payment. But getting your profile in front of a database of potential clients may be worth the cut these sites take.

6. Become a photojournalist.

News and media outlets, whether traditional or digital, are veering toward freelance news photographers and photojournalists.

Also, whatever your niche, you’ll benefit from the experience you get from capturing news and current events in real time and evoking the emotions of those particular moments.

Start by covering local news on your own and then emailing your photos to editors-in-chief of various publications; local or national, traditional or digital, magazine or newspapers. If you can find their email addresses, include them in your outreach.

If your one or a few of your photos are accepted, you can get published and paid.

The faster you submit, the more likely your photos will be picked up. Learn how to pick out your best photos quickly so you can send them as soon as you can.

7. Open a Flickr account and license your photos through Getty Images.

Flickr has become a home to thousands of photographers wanting to make money with their photography.

Open a Flickr account, post your best photos, and enable the Request to License badge on your photos, as well as Allow Getty Images editors to invite my photos.

This way, if potential customers see your photos and likes one or a few, they can click on Request to License on your photo page and they can license the photo via Getty Images.

Also, if you allow Getty Images editors to review your photos, they can include the photos they like on their Flickr collection.

Every time someone licenses your photos from Getty Images, you get a fee.

Admittedly, this is an uncertain source of income, but it’s a possible source of side cash that you can just set and forget; that is, upload your best work and wait for clients to license your photos.

8. Sell your photos on mobile apps.

Your DSLR isn’t the only high-quality camera you can use to take photos.

Nowadays, even midrange smartphones have high-quality built-in cameras that can take excellent pictures.

If your photography skills extend to your smartphone, there are mobile apps willing to actually buy your best photos.

Some of the best mobile apps to sell your photos include:

• Foap
• agora
• Dreamstime
• EyeEm
• Snapwire

Learn more about Foap here.

9. Sell your photos to stock photography websites.

Similar to mobile apps, there are stock photography websites where you can sell your photos.

Just make sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into with stock photography and don’t end up like the guy who made $1.88 while Walmart made millions off of his image.

There are a variety of stock photography websites you can choose from, including:

• Shutterstock – Pay rates that start from 20% (one of the highest paying.)
• iStock – More viewers, and 15% rate.
• Alamy – If you’re a student, you get 100% of your sales price for two years. If you’re not a student, then you’ll get 50%.
• Picfair – You set up the amount you want to get. Competitive.

A few things to bear in mind:

• The more quality pictures you upload, the more money you get.
• There are plenty of websites that accept pictures from both amateurs and professionals.
• Stay on top of trends when shooting for stock websites.
• Capture the most high-quality images you possibly can.
• Photos of people are always in demand, no matter what.
• Always check the account terms – learn how you’re going to be paid and when, and most importantly, how much.
• Add as many relevant keywords to your images as you can.

10. Sell prints of your photos online.

Selling prints of your photos on your website is another way to make money with your photography skills.

You can use a print-on-demand service to fulfill orders so you don’t have to invest in a high-quality printer and ink.

Another good thing about using print-on-demand services is that they may be able to print your photos on various items, such as t-shirts, keychains, mugs, buttons, mouse pads, hats, tote bags, and many other merchandise and souvenirs.

Plus, aside from the printing, they take care of the packaging, branding, and shipping of the items to your customers.

Some of the best print-on-demand websites you can use include:

• Threadless
• Zazzle
• Bonfire
• Printify
• Printful

11. Sell your photos in galleries.

Another great place to sell your photos is in local art galleries.

Go down in person, take your portfolio with you, and ask them for wall space.

Photographs of nice local views or landmarks are popular with local art galleries, and they’re more likely to be snapped up.

However, they won’t sell if your photos have people in them.

12. Publish a photobook.

This may be an ambitious undertaking for you if you’re not yet that well known, but creating and publishing a photobook is a great project, especially if you’re into travel photography.

Did you go on an insane trip recently and took hard-to-compete-with pictures?

Did you dive with a shark and take pictures?

Did you take unique pictures of a tribe abroad?

Do you have a story to go with it?

Good!

Pair a really good experience with fantastic photos, compile them in a photobook and sell it on your website!

13. Write an ebook about your photography skills.

Once you’re doing well with your bookings and additional income, it might be time to share your blessings with beginners.

You can write an ebook sharing your photography knowledge, tips and tricks, and best practices. You can even include recommendations of the best equipment for aspiring photographers.

Ebooks don’t cost too much in terms of overhead, plus you can sell them straight from your website.

You can also use them as a marketing tactic. Sell your ebook on Amazon so you can direct readers to your website, which has your portfolio, your booking system, and your online store.

14. Create and sell a photography course.

If your ebook did well, and you feel you have a lot more to share, why not try your hand at teaching photography online?

Think back to the photography courses you’ve taken, both in-person and online. You can also check out photography courses currently being offered; not to plagiarize but for inspiration.

Create an outline, flesh out each chapter, and come up with your own approach based on your niche and your strengths.

Upload your course to Udemy or Skillshare, promote it on your social media and on your blog, and wait for students to enroll.

You can even expand this to an on-demand consultancy service through a video call, or an in-person workshop.

For you to pull this off, you would need to have a genuine love for teaching and for watching your students evolve.

Start making money with photography today!

As a hobby, photography can be quite expensive.

But it’s a hobby that can make you money, if you have an entrepreneurial spirit.

Have you ever made money with photography? Share your experience with us in the comments!

We don’t often think about notaries public until we need them. But some of our lives’ most important transactions and agreements will require their help and supervision.

In connection with this, few people consider becoming a notary public when they’re looking for work-from-home job opportunities, but being able to notarize documents is an in-demand capability that can easily be a side hustle.

If you’re interested in becoming a notary public, whether as a side hustle or as a necessity in your full-time job, look no further.

Today, you’ll learn all the basics on how to become a notary: the qualifications, detailed steps, how much everything will cost and how much you can potentially earn.

What Does a Notary Public Do?

A notary public is an official appointed by the state government to serve as an impartial witness to the signing of important legal documents.

They have to make sure that the documents are indeed legal, verify that those signing the documents are who they say they are (usually through ID), and make sure that they know what they’re signing and aren’t doing so under duress.

Notary publics have the freedom to choose who they work with and how; either by opting to work with signing services or getting direct business on their own.

Some notaries simply get the certification to add to their résumé, as many companies, such as banks, schools, and law firms require this type of service often.

It takes around a couple of weeks to become a notary, depending on the process of the state you live in.

After that, you’re free to offer your services to any individual or business that needs official documents signed; and there will be plenty. Notarial services are needed across almost all sectors, from banking and real estate to medical services and tech companies.

What is the Difference between a Notary Public and a Notary Signing Agent?

The main difference is the focus of their responsibilities. Notaries public handle a wide variety of documents, while notary signing agents (NSAs) specifically handle home loan documents.

Both are required to obtain their notary commission (more on this later), but NSAs are required to pass a yearly background check and a yearly exam in addition to their commission.

What Are the Qualifications Needed to Become a Notary Public?

The exact qualifications for who can become a notary differs among states.

However, in general, those wanting to be appointed as a notary public must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a legal resident of the United States
• Complete a course of study approved by the Secretary of State
• Pass a written examination prescribed by the Secretary of State
• Clear a background check

If you have a past criminal record or conviction, it’s still possible to become a notary in plenty of states. Most of them disregard petty crimes as long as they don’t involve fraud or dishonesty.

It’s better to declare any arrest or criminal record at the time of your application, as non-disclosure can hurt your application more that it can help.

How to Become a Notary in 6 Simple Steps

1. Apply to become a notary within your state.

The very first step is to apply to become a notary with your state. This can be done through mail or online through their respective websites; search for “apply to be a notary [your home state]” to find those websites.

You’ll be asked to pay an application fee, and this varies by state as well. Expect to pay anywhere from $20 to $120.

You can apply to become a Notary Signing Agent (NSA) in addition to your regular Notary Public responsibilities. This generally requires an extra certification and a training course to handle the extra complicated documents. But again, the requirements vary between states, so you’ll have to check up on that for your specific state.

Many states will do a background check on you. There are a few states that don’t, but it’s better to be prepared for it than not. Those applying to become an NSA will also have to go through a separate background screening.

2. Undergo training.

After applying, you’ll need to complete a training course. In most cases, this can be done online and takes anywhere from 3 to 6 hours.

Some states have only a number of approved notary training courses or providers that you can enroll in, so you’ll need to enroll in the right ones for your training to be valid.

3. Take the notary public exam.

The notary public exam isn’t the same everywhere, but some states allow an open-book exam. There is also a fee, which also varies per state.

To pass the exam, you’ll need to learn the finer details of being a notary. You’ll likely be asked about notary law, how to handle specific notarial situations, and the best way to accurately identify signers.

The full texts of notary laws are usually available on state legislature websites, and the state agencies licensing notaries normally provide notary public handbooks for your reference.

You can also ask the state agency issuing the notary public exam if they have practice tests available.

Practice tests are also available, usually with the state agency issuing the notary public exam, through the agency you trained with, or online through notary associations, such as the National Notary Association.

The results will be sent by email or by mail and usually take a minimum of 7 business days. Retake policies differ per state as well, so consult the specific state agency website.

4. Take your oath of office.

Once you’ve passed the notary public exam, you’ll get your commission certificate in the mail, usually after around 6 weeks.

Information on how and when to take your oath of office will be included in the information packet that will be sent with your commission certificate.

Oath-taking is usually done before the Secretary of State or another government official. Then, you’ll have to register your signature at your state’s notary regulating office.

Most states require you to post a surety bond, which is intended to compensate aggrieved parties in case you make a mistake that injures or costs someone. Most states require bonds of between $5,000 and $10,000, though it could be more or less than these amounts.

In addition, most notaries need to take out an Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance to protect you as well if you do make a mistake.

5. Gather the necessary materials.

Then, buy any necessary supplies before you can start your new business. Your commission certificate should also include a list of supplies that you’ll need, as well as the authorized vendors from whom you can buy these supplies.

At the barest minimum, you’ll need a notary public seal and a notary journal.

Your notary seal will include your name, the words “Notary Public,” your commission’s expiry date, and the county where you live.

Your notary journal can be any ledger or notebook, but it is recommended that you choose a hardbound one with page numbers, rather than loose-leaf, perforated, or spiral notebooks whose pages can easily be removed.

I break down all the supplies needed and the costs associated below.

6. Start networking to gain clients.

As with any other business, you’ll have to network a bit to get clients.

Check your state’s notary law to learn the allowable, legal ways to advertise your services.

Many people opt for signing up with a signing service that get the loan signing appointments for them.

But you can also print out business cards or contact businesses/realtors to offer your service as a notary.

How to Become a Remote Online Notary

If you live in a state that allows remote notarization, you can take your notary services online and work as a remote online notary.

Remote online notarization works pretty much the same way as the usual notarization but using two-way audio-video technology, digital signatures, and an electronic seal.

In some states, you’ll have to already hold a commission as a traditional Notary Public before you can apply as a remote online notary, while in other states, you can apply to be both at the same time.

If you were already commissioned as a notary public, bear in mind that applying to be a remote online notary is a separate application and thus has different fees, training, and needed supplies; you’ll need to have an electronic seal and digital certificate, again, only from approved vendors.

Your surety bond and insurance should also be amended to cover remote online notarizations.

You can work through websites such as Notarize.com connect individuals and businesses with online notaries public so documents can be signed remotely by all parties as needed.

The Cost of Becoming a Notary

There are a few costs associated with getting started as a notary, but, these fees put together still come down to a relatively low start-up cost.

Here’s what you’re likely to spend:

First off, there’s the application fee when you submit an application, which is different from one state to another but ranges between $20 to $120 as I mentioned above.

Then, there’s the cost for the training course and the exam.

You will have to supply a passport photo (and live scan fingerprints in the state of California) before you’re certified.

Most states require you to pay for the oath of office, which is in the range of $40.

The surety bond costs around $50 for a four-year bond, after which you’ll have to renew it. E&O insurance premiums cost around $50 annually.

Finally, there are the supplies.

The National Notary Association recommends the following supplies for anyone starting out:

• Official notary public seal stamp
• Basic journal with a notary privacy guard cling (Required in some states)
• A 5-year hotline subscription to the NNA (not necessary, but being an NNA member is not a benefit)

Most notaries agree that it’s good practice to keep a journal even if the state doesn’t specifically require it. It’s safer for you to keep records of your notary public obligations to avoid any possible confusion or future questions about the legitimacy of your business activities.

In total, becoming a notary can cost you around $300 to $500 for the whole process.

Other expenses:

As a notary, you will likely need a computer, cellphone, car or other transportation, and a printer.

The latter is very important because you might have to print out various certificates or loan packages when you prepare for a meeting with clients. At times, there can be over 100 pages of both legal-size and letter-size pages so you’re going to be relying heavily on your printer.

Unlike most of the other work from home jobs I’ve talked about, becoming a notary requires a bit of capital to get started and a lot of paperwork to get through before you can start working.

However, it can be a very fulfilling part-time or full-time career so don’t feel disheartened at these costs.

How Much Do Notaries Earn?

This depends somewhat on the state you’re practicing in. The fees you’re allowed to charge differ between states, but this usually doesn’t include travel fees.

So most notaries can charge whatever they want for travel expenses, within reason of course.

Most notaries charge between $2 to $15 per signature, depending on the state. How much you earn depends on the need for notaries in your area and subsequently how many documents/signatures you can notarize every hour or day.

When documents are signed, there’s often a need for more than one signature and from more than one person, meaning a notary can make upwards of $50 an hour depending on the state they’re in.

Sometimes, businesses even have multiple documents that need to be signed, driving up the price even further.

From what I could gather, however, most notaries public make more money through their additional traveling fees.

There are plenty of industries that require notaries public, but some also seem to be more lucrative than others. Those that opt to specialize even further, into becoming an NSA, seem to be earning the most out of the group.

This is because signing agents in the mortgage industry usually negotiate premium rates with the title companies or signing services that hire them and they make a considerable amount of income from this one part of the industry alone.

Apply to Become a Notary Soon!

Being a notary public can be a fulfilling job as you get to meet interesting people from all over and exercise your duty as a ministerial official.

It’s a flexible option and a great choice for both those who want to make side cash and anyone who’s looking for a solid full-time job.

If the startup costs of becoming a notary feel a little steep to you, then you could always opt for these work-from-home jobs that require no financial investment on your part.

Planning to become a notary? Let us know in the comments!