This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Well, hello there. Thank you for tuning in today. Welcome, my name's Chris Guillebeau. This podcast is called Side Hustle School. It comes out every single day, seven days a week, a relentless march toward helping you create income, extra income, let's say, that's good, without quitting your day job.
Now, specifically, today's episode is part of a feature we call your first $1,000, basically a collection of origin stories. How did somebody make their first $1,000? It's often quite interesting to hear how somebody goes from idea to income, especially when they haven't necessarily owned a business before. If they've just had a day job and they decide to kind of branch out and do something on their own, maybe with the goal of creating some really substantial income, eventually quitting their job, or just trying to have this creative process or outlet or pay off debt, all kinds of good reasons to have a side hustle, right? So with that in mind, and without further ado, today's feature comes from Scott in Alberta, Canada.
Scott has found a way to make ongoing passive income, that's even better than extra income, ongoing extra passive income, let's say, through stock photography. So that's his niche, and specifically, Scott licenses his images and earns a royalty whenever they're used. Pretty cool business, it's been around a long time, but it's evolved in lots of different ways, like everything else, and his goal is to build his earnings up to $5,000 a month, which would be awesome. But of course, we're here to hear that origin story of the first $1,000. So let's hear it from Scott.
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Hi, this is Scott from Alberta, Canada. As a creative person, I've always enjoyed taking photographs. I work full time as a graphic designer, but naturally, I wanted to find a way to make extra money doing something I love. A few months ago, I stumbled upon the idea of selling my photographs as stock images online. I did some research and found a few different stock photo websites where I could upload my photos and potentially earn some passive income.
I wasn't sure what kind of images would sell the best, so I started by uploading a variety that I thought might be popular, landscapes, cityscapes, and candid shots of people going about their daily lives. During my first few months of uploading photos, I learned a few things about what sells and what doesn't. I quickly realized that it was important to have a clear, focused subject in my photos and to avoid cluttered backgrounds. I also learned that images with people in them tend to sell better than those without, as they can be used in a lot of different marketing materials. I started to pay more attention to what was popular on the stock photo websites, and I began to tailor my photography to match those trends.
I took more portraits as well as photos of people engaged in activities such as cooking, working out and traveling. I also started experimenting with different compositions and lighting techniques to give my photos a more professional look. One of the funniest things that happened during my first few months as a stock photographer was when I was visiting Vancouver Island taking photos of a local beach. I had just snapped a shot of a group of kids building a sandcastle when a seagull swooped down and stole one of their shovels. I couldn't believe it, and I immediately started snapping photos of the seagull as it flew off with the shovel clutched in its beak.
I ended up selling several of the seagull photos to a company that was using them in a marketing campaign for a beach resort. It was a hilarious and unexpected turn of events, and it just goes to show that you never know what kind of opportunities might present themselves when you're out taking pictures. After four weeks of uploading images, I made more than $1,000. Now, a few months later, I'm happy to say that my part-time photography business is bringing me more than $2,500 a month. It's a great way for me to supplement my income and do something that I love at the same time.
I'm constantly learning and improving, and I'm excited to see where this journey takes me next. [Music]
Scott, thanks so much. Really appreciate you telling us about your first $1,000. And indeed, beyond the lookout for AI art. AI art, we've talked about that a couple of times.
There's some pretty crazy stuff coming out from AI artists, or maybe I should just say artists who are using AI. Of course, it's also very controversial, so a whole world there. But hopefully, Scott's passive income can continue as he adapts and evolves, as I encourage everyone to do. And listeners, I hope you found it encouraging. If you've got a question or an update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
Today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2221. 2,221. Thanks for joining today. Hope you'll subscribe, follow, come back tomorrow. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
You're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
