Do you use styled stock photography in your business?
As a small business owner and blog-preneur, you understand how important it is to use stylish and professional photos on your website and social media feeds.
You know that in the online world, you have just a few seconds to grab the attention of your audience and convince them to hang around longer.
Photos play a huge role in this, as well as being a major player in your overall branding.
Why You Need Stock Photos for Your Business
But what if you’re not a photographer or you’d rather spend time working on your business than trying to figure out the science of photography?
If you’re not a photographer, then taking your own photos for your website and social media channels is out of the question.
Your business deserves beautiful visual material that attracts attention and creates consistency for your brand online. If you can’t take high-quality photos then you won’t be able to achieve this.
If, on the other hand, you do have the skills and knowledge to take and edit stunning photos, you simply might not have the time.
The entire process of arranging a photoshoot, taking the photos, and then editing them after is really time-consuming and we all know that every entrepreneur already has a million things on their to-do list without adding photography to the list!
With a minimum investment, from as little as $10, you can get professionally styled stock photography and wow your customers on your blog, website, and social media accounts.
Easily insert text to advertise your latest promotions, showcase the release of your new products, update your website banner, and more.
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Free vs Paid Stock Photos
If you are familiar with stock photos you will know that there are lots of free options out there. Sites like Unsplash and Pixaby offer free stock photos that you can download and use on your website.
A lot of styled stock photography websites also offer free images so you might be wondering why anyone would pay for stock photos.
There are a few reasons why investing in a stock photography membership is a great idea.
Firstly, the terms of use surrounding free images aren’t always straightforward. They vary from site to site and image to image. When you join a membership, the terms of use are set out very clearly and are often everything you need for your business.
Secondly, free stock photos are overused. Do you ever click onto a website and feel like you’ve been there before? Or scroll through Instagram and see the exact same image 3 or 4 times?
That’s because everyone uses the same free stock photos! Not only does this not help you stand out from the crowd, but it also makes you look less professional too.
Finally, free stock photos usually aren’t very high-quality meaning that if you want to crop them or zoom in on certain features they will become blurry and distorted.
When you pay for stock images they will be much higher quality so you will be able to achieve more with them.
So, now you know why paid photos are better than free photos for your blog, you might be wondering where you should get your photos from.
Related post: 8 Unique Ways To Use Styled Stock Photography To Help You Grow Your Brand
Where to Buy Your Stock Photos
You can get premium, or paid, stock photos from a number of places – in online market places like Creative Market and Etsy, or you can purchase a membership from a dedicated stock photography website.
You can pick up single images and small bundles of images from those online marketplaces (and sometimes from the shop section of a stock photography website) for as low as $10.
However, $10 a time can quickly add up to hundreds or more if you need stock images on a regular basis, which isn’t ideal when running a business on a budget.
That’s where a styled stock library comes in handy and offers great value for money (sometimes for less than $1 per image!) With monthly subscription plans and access to hundreds of images at your fingertips.
In this post, we’ve compiled a list of 12 stock photography membership sites where you can stock up on affordable and beautiful styled stock photography to build up your own stock library for your business.
12 Places To ‘Stock’ Up On Styled Stock Photography For Your Site
1 | Styled Stock Society
The Styled Stock Society is a stock photo subscription that is affordable, unique, and obviously gorgeous.
We love that the images are square cropped already (ready for Instagram), but there is also a variety of landscape and portrait images. Best of all, the styled stock photos fit in our feminine brand style.
But they aren’t all pink, feminine flat lays! Styled Stock Society also includes a huge range of colors, lifestyle and images, travel and food images too.
2 | Haute Stock
Haute Stock has styled stock photos for women entrepreneurs, bloggers, and creative professionals.
Haute Stock is another incredible stock photo membership that includes a huge range of colors and themes. Just some of the types of images you can expect to find in the membership include lifestyle, desktop, mockups, pre-made social media graphics, and seasonal images.
Everything you need to create a beautiful brand on your website and social media.
3 | ColorJoy Stock
Meet ColorJoy Stock, the stock photo library subscription for women of color. ✋🏿✋🏾✋🏽✋🏼✋🏻 Tell your brand story, connect with your audience, increase engagement. Spend less time creating content and more time creating a brand that attracts your ideal clients!
These lifestyle stock images promote diversity, work/lifestyle, collaboration, and celebration. Each image is created with an editorial edit, to inspire you to share your brand story with ease.
Make your website and social media channels look incredible with their wide range of stock images created for entrepreneurs.
4 | Her Creative Studio
Her Creative Studio gives you the creative tools you need to get noticed online. The vision is to grow into a valuable resource that will help women achieve all of their business goals.
Each collection includes images with negative white space (perfect for overlaying text) and images that are portrait, landscape, and square so you can select the orientation that suits your needs without having to trim and resize if you don’t want to.
Plus every image is high-quality (300dpi) so even if you do crop and zoom in, you won’t lose any of that quality.
5 | Sourced Co.
Sourced Co. provides styled stock images for creatives and those in the wedding industry. These stock photographs are minimalist, feminine, modern, and affordable.
Their wedding photos are just perfect for creating a classic elegant website for anyone working in the wedding industry, from wedding invite designers to hair and make-up artists.
6 | Styled Stock House
Styled Stock House offers beautiful, yet affordable stock images that can help small business owners achieve a cohesive look online.
Whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or anything else you can think of…your posts can now have a professional polished look, without breaking the bank.
You can purchase images from the online shop or, for the best value for money, you can join the membership.
7 | Social Squares
Social Squares was created by Shay Cochrane to provide all business owners, entrepreneurs, and creatives with the perfect Instagram feed.
With the Social Squares membership, you get unlimited downloads, with new images being added each month. You’ll not only never be short of something to post on your social media feeds but they will look incredible too!
8 | Pixistock
You only get one opportunity to leave the first impression, so make it one that lasts! With Pixistock’s styled stock photos and graphics templates, the membership gives you everything you need to give your brand an instant facelift!
The membership library has everything you need from stylish desktops to modern tech mockups, lifestyle images and beautiful flat lays. The images are available in a variety of color palettes to fit any brand.
Purchase the annual membership and you’ll also get access to design slides for your online course or webinar, lead magnets templates for Canva, and Adobe Lightroom presets!
9 | Editorial Stock Images
With Editorial Stock Images you get access to 1000’s stock photos, videos, and mockups that will elevate your brand, content, and designs.
Don’t waste your time, navigating across countless sites trying to find the perfect shot to fit your vibe. Take back your valuable time and energy and join the next level of on-demand stock photography.
10 | Ivory Mix
Oh, how pretty! Ivory Mix creates stock images to suit every brand and every occasion! Their categories include business, parenting, and wellness, to name just a few!
The stock library includes images cropped perfectly for your social media channels, including Pinterest, leaving plenty of space for you to write your pin-worthy headings.
You can purchase bundles of images in the shop or join the membership for immediate access to over 5,000 stock images with 100+ new photos being added each month.
11 | Girl Boss Stock
Girl Boss Stock does exactly what it says of the tin – provides gorgeous stock photos for girl bosses. The styled stock photos are made to make you stand out and achieve a professional and cohesive look through your online presence.
The Girl Boss Stock membership also includes scene creators, elements, backgrounds, and more to enable you to create your own stock images and graphics.
12 | Atelier21 Co
Atelier21 Co is a stock photo library for bosses, creatives, and bloggers and who want to have consistency in their visual branding on their website and social media channels.
They have an incredible collection of neutral and darker-toned images, perfect for those who don’t love pink!
Atelier21 Co also offers two levels of membership. One for individual business use and another for designers which allows them to use the stock images in their client projects. How cool is that?
Final Thoughts
Investing in a stock photography membership is a must-have for any online business owner. You will have a whole library of images just perfect for your brand at your fingertips whenever you need them. Not only will you have chic, professional-looking visuals but you’ll also have more time to focus on your business!
Need a new website to accompany your new stock photography? Check out our shop for feminine and chic WordPress themes!
