The Creative Way to Make Money Off Stock Footage

As a videographer, you have a lot of opportunities to make money alongside your mainstream income sources. One of these opportunities is to make money off stock footage. You may be familiar with the concept and may have even thought about giving it a go.

Whatever stopped you back then shouldn’t stand in your way now. Selling stock footage is a great way to help you make some extra bucks! So, it’s time to pull out the best of all those clips sitting in your hard drive and make some money off them. That’s why we’re here to help. We’ll tell you some creative ways to make money off your stock footage. So, let’s get started.

Pick an Out of the Box Niche

Sunrises, waves crashing on the shore, or airplane videos are some of the most commonly found stock videos – unless, of course, you can capture these elements differently. Picking a unique niche and filming it with a fresh, never-like-before perspective is what you need. With it, you’ll set your footage apart from thousands of others out there.

Try to come up with innovative and saleable video concepts. It could be something as simple as filming yourself cooking your breakfast, but with a creative twist of your own. Almost anything and everything that we do in our everyday lives is worth selling as stock footage.

So go out there and shoot videos of anything you feel is worth capturing. The best part about video content is that you don’t even need to step outside – you can capture amazing videos right from the comfort of your home!

Nail the Keyword Game

Your footage may be the best, but it won’t get the visibility it deserves if you don’t have the required keywording skills. With an on-point keywording game, the probability of your footage getting noticed on a stock footage platform is high.

Regardless of the kind of footage you have, you need to use the right set of keywords. A little effort to hone your keywording skills will help you increase your sales. Along with keywords, focus on the perfect title and clear category descriptions to accompany your video.

Leverage Social Media

Apart from stock footage platforms, you can also look for potential buyers on social media platforms. LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to find people who would be interested in purchasing your footage. You can browse LinkedIn and find marketing departments of organizations, producers, or content managers. You’re sure to find a lot of people actively looking to purchase stock footage.

Creating that buzz around your work is something you’d have to do yourself – at least until you are famous enough. For this, you can use Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and other social media platforms to publicize your work. Put out short videos, clips, or snippets of your behind-the-scenes to garner more attention from the audience.

Consistency is the key, so make sure you regularly keep your social media pages updated with fresh content. Social media will not only help you build your network but also your brand. Lastly, honest feedback on these channels would also help you improve your work.

Focus on the Content

In the end, what’s going to help you the most is the quality of your content. So, this is one aspect you shouldn’t compromise on. Perfect footage is what most people out there are looking for – so steer clear of poorly lit scenes, jerky movements, and out-of-focus shots.

Experiment all you can to ensure you have unique content. Capture subjects from different, interesting angles to give potential clients a point of view they’ve never seen before.

Keep in mind the length requirements of stock footage, too. Every platform has slightly varying criteria but keep your video between 5 seconds to 1 minute long. Editing is another important aspect that you cannot compromise on. Use proper editing software to enhance your videos and add to their visual appeal and saleability.

Summing Up

Consistency is essential when it comes to selling stock footage. You may not see results immediately, but over time, with ample time and effort, you will reap the rewards of your hard work. Until then, keep putting out all your creative work out there!