How to Turn Rejections into Stock Photo Sales

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb
How do you eliminate fear?
I could tell you in one sentence — but you’ll probably forget — so let me tell you a story.
Stock photographer Shelly Perry likes espresso.
I know, because when we met I was wearing a green apron, schlepping coffee. She was a regular at my drive-thru window. But all I knew about her was that she was a photographer and she liked to drink espressos.
Fast-forward a year and I’m dipping fruit into melted chocolate at the cocktail reception on the first day of the Ultimate Money-Making Photo Workshop in San Francisco. It was 2007, and I was an attendee. Across the room stood Shelly, the coffee-drinking photographer I knew from back home, there to teach class.
Was it a coincidence? Or was my life destined to change forever?
During the workshop, two things struck me about Shelly:
** 1. Her photos were beautiful — the product of someone who loves what she’s doing.
** 2. She made her living doing something creative and fun… and I wanted that, too.
But instead of trying to get started selling my photos as stock, I did what most people do: I put it off.
Not because I loved that green apron. Because I was a chicken.
After all, what if I sent my photos in and they got… rejected??
Another year went by. I traveled. Filled up a computer full of photos. Dabbled in travel writing… and I kept thinking about trying to sell my photos as stock. But that fear kept getting in the way.
I got the job working here in the Great Escape Publishing. Things were looking up. The green apron was nothing but a memory. So I decided to finally give stock photography a try.
I pulled together what I thought were my three best shots… submitted them to an agency… and got rejected.
Did I try again? No! I was too scared that it would happen again.
But then, another year and four months later, I was doing a workshop with Shelly and she told the class: Nearly everyone gets rejected on their first try. Even she did. It’s just part of the process!
So I tried again and finally got accepted. Now I sell photos in five different stock sites and I make sales every week.
Shutterstock.com just sent me a check.
It’s a thrill to try out new photo ideas… upload photos… get them accepted… and see them sell.
And I can’t help thinking that if I had only gotten started when I first wanted to… I’d have a lot more sales by now!
Of course, the best time to start is when you first want to. But the second-best time is right now.
If you want to sell your photos as stock but you haven’t submitted them to a stock site for fear of rejection, let’s just get something out of the way: You’re probably going to get rejected.
There.
It’s nothing to be afraid of, because after you get it out of the way, you’ll try again and you’ll get accepted. It only takes a couple of days to get up and running.
Don’t wait years to start. Do it today. This time next year, you’ll be happy you did.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]