After spending numerous decades chasing sunsets, nudist colony members and Rainbow Gatherings, photographers may decide to hang their hats and move onto more lucrative ventures. Problem is, not many industries have use for master level picture takers.
After mulling over numerous industries related to pictures, photos and business, it’s the four below industries that take first prize in the photographers’ quests for something relatively inexpensive to start, yet highly lucrative in return.
Digital Offset Printing
Our ever-growing society of convenience and prevalence makes having everything now a necessity more than ever. Digital prints have become the presentation item of choice, especially when trying to schmooze the head honcho into buying your philosophy or direction for the company. Retired photographers with digital printing finesse could offer elegant options which may include:
- All types of digital offset printing, including large formats
- Reproductions of current designs
- Creation of workflow systems
- Digital forms
Photos are, of course, the epitome of photographers’ existences. This doesn’t mean that adding photos to offset pages couldn’t be lucrative; consider this before investing.
Commercialized Printing
Keeping the utmost standards in everyday business means maintaining high levels of quality in every aspect of your business model – this definitely includes your print works. Finding that perfect partner to lead you from idea to ink shouldn’t be like taming the wild beast from the East. This is where you, the photo genius, step in. Commercial printing could include your photographic finesse; shooting photos, truncating them into small icons or bullet points and slapping the images onto mass paper goods would earn you considerable profits. With your commercial-grade print press investment, the sky’s the limit for ex-photographers.
Stationery Creation
Ever looked at business sales letters flying through your office and noticed some funky designs imprinted upon them? (Ok, you were supposed to look before you made it into a paper airplane.) You could take that drab Times New Roman, 16 point centered appeal other businesses have lived with and add pictorial panache to it. Savvy photographers could print photographs onto marshmallow colored paper, watermark them, and mass produce. In other words, another great photographic ingenuity involves taking any business image and turning it into a Broadway Musical on paper – the very appeal many businesses look upon as a tell-tale sign of success within your company, and an instant respect-gaining tool which can leverage new clientele away from your neighbors.
Forms and Labels
Job applications, TPS reports and everything that has boxes to fill out: these all have printing needs attached to them. Sticky labels needed to repetitiously stick on outgoing letters shouldn’t look boring, either. We all need these forms, labels and whatnots, yet finding the competitive pricing and quality within the same company is like asking Carl Lewis to jump the Eiffel Tower. Photographers who turn into print geniuses could instill the quality printing goods their customer offices’ stock demands frequently. Seamlessly integrating your unique approach to labels and forms creation, one could make massive moolah beyond their wildest dreams creating the following types of biz stock often requested by fast-paced businesses:
- Standard or custom labels, decals, and anything that sticks
- High-profile security document printing
- Barcoded documents
- Laser cut or continuous forms
Conclusion
Bored, retired photographers have many opportunities to still earn well into retirement age. With small initial investments, attractive potential for great returns, and some elbow grease, your once strong affinity for snapping photos could potentially grow stronger by choosing one of these four in-demand business needs for your business venture. And, without much effort, one can always qualify for cash or products by entering online photography contests, which often result in fresh exposure for older images.
Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons License
