By Rachel Summer Small, Dailymail.Com
Updated June 22, 2024 at 15:13 and June 22, 2024 at 15:15
A young woman from California has revealed how she made a nearly six-figure income in just six months by traveling the world and taking photos.
Alexandra Holman, 25, has spent much of the last few years traveling the world after discovering the ultimate strategy for making money while on holiday.
She takes photos of her surroundings and sells the photos to companies to use on various marketing platforms, including social media, websites, and other advertising mediums.
While speaking with DailyMail.com about the method, she revealed that not only does she make thousands of dollars a week this way, but she also often receives perks like free hotel stays and merchandise.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Alex said he studied film production at Seattle University before starting out creating content for local coffee shops, restaurants and even companies including big brands like Virgin Galactic and L'Oreal.
She initially dreamed of working in the film industry, but struggled to find full-time work and became discouraged.
“I was working three exhausting jobs to pay rent and buy groceries,” she recalls.
So she started thinking bigger.
“I've always loved creating content,” she says, “I never had to model, and I think that's what confuses people on TikTok.”
“People always think, 'Oh, that's something only beautiful people do,' but I've never been in the photos. It's always photos of food from restaurants, and they've used them on the menu.”
“That got me really good at photography,” she continued of her early professional experiences.
Alex, who admits he was never keen on a strict nine-to-five job, found himself kitesurfing in Zanzibar a few years ago.
“I love taking photos, and I love taking photos of all the things and products I have on this beautiful bright blue ocean, even surfboards, sunglasses, coconuts, bananas.“Everything looked amazing with the view behind us,” she said.
“I thought, 'Wow, this looks like a magazine cover. Brands should use this.' Brands need photos to sell something. Hotels, in particular, want to know where they're staying.”
From there, she started posting her landscape photos for free on Instagram, tagging businesses that she thought might be interested.
“Then these brands started picking up my photos and sharing them from different countries,” she elaborated.
“My work started going international, and some of my favorite companies wanted to share my photos on their social media platforms.”
This evolved into sending emails with relevant photos attached to businesses, such as the Hilton in Cabo.
Before long, she was being approached by the likes of L'Oreal for specific types of content.
“Creators get 100 percent of the profits,” she said, emphasizing that she works without an agent or management team, “and we're not working nine to five for someone else.”
“And you can choose wherever you want to go,” she added, noting her excitement over her recent trip to Sweden to see Taylor Swift in concert.
She visited Rome and stayed in a luxury penthouse for a week.
After a few years, her efforts have paid off, as she tells DailyMail.com that she's made nearly six figures from her photography in the past six months alone.
Alexandra frequently documents her travels on TikTok, where she has amassed more than 93,000 followers.
But when people on social media began questioning what she'd done to achieve that idyllic, carefree life, she became infuriated at the fact that her hard work was not being recognised.
That feeling eventually drove her to write a book detailing how she made that income, “The Sleepy Millionaire: How To Get Paid To Travel,” and then published a second book, “No Clocking In: Profit 24/7 From What You Love.”
“The book has sold better than I ever imagined it would,” she told DailyMail.com.
And she's received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with people from all over the world writing to thank her for her insight.
“I wake up crying every morning. I get so many messages from young girls, moms and college-aged boys,” she said.
“I'm inundated with messages from people saying I've changed their lives.”
In a recent video, Alexandra, known as “The Sleepy Millionaire” on TikTok and Instagram, revealed that she made $12,000 alone during her trip to Aubra.
“I'm 25 years old and I'm in Aruba making $12,000 a year,” Alexandra claimed.
“you [the photography industry]For example, if I were to sit here and take a picture of myself with the ocean behind me and a Corona in my hand, [I can] “Sell the picture,” she continued.
“That's a lot of money. Every business needs photos.”
She reiterated on TikTok that she outlined step-by-step in her book how she built her portfolio and clientele as a freelancer.
Speaking to the video streaming app, she explained that her book details everything from pricing, licensing rights, how to handle contracts to how to write emails.
“Copy and paste my email and send it to as many companies as you like,” she continued.
“People are overthinking this. It's like, you can send it to as many companies as you want. There's no limit.”
“And it doesn't matter how much money you make, what I do is the same, because there are a billion companies in the world, there are a lot of hotels, there are a lot of vacations, there are a lot of countries, a lot of cities.”
“Photography doesn't have to be just for traveling,” she adds, asserting that you can also make money from photos taken from your couch at home.
The Los Angeles Times previously outlined ways individuals can make passive income from stock images.
“While a single sale typically doesn't bring in much profit, the same photo can be sold multiple times and in different ways,” the paper reported.
Some of the most trusted platforms we recommend include Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, iStock, Alamy, and Foap.
Prices vary widely but are generally based on usage.
The LA Times also warned against uploading photos to sites that require exclusivity to sell images.
Alternatively, photographers can sell their work to “print-on-demand” shops such as Etsy, FineArtAmerica, RedBubble and Society6. Through these platforms, images can be licensed for printing onto a variety of consumer goods, from puzzles to t-shirts.
