Some Marketers Offer Cash For Your Smart-Phone Pictures

(CBS) – Smart phones have made amateur photographers out of just about everyone.

Now there's an easy way to turn your everyday snapshots into quick cash, CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.

Two of Carly Smith's New York City vacation photos were good enough for her to get paid. She posted her photos on Scoopshot, one of several new apps that allow smart phone users to offer their photos for sale.

"It was like oh, someone actually wants my picture," she says.

A Times Square photo sold for $10. And a photo of Broadway actor James Norton earned her another $10.

So, who's buying these photos? Experts say it's all about marketing on social media. The possibilities are endless.

"Brands want shareable photos. We've seen this with the Oscars. We've seen this with David Ortiz and his selfie with the president," marketing and social media expert Dave Gerzof Richard says.

Richard says both of those photos generated huge buzz for Samsung.

And, that's why companies are willing to pay $10, $100 or even thousands for an amateur photo instead of a professional picture.

"It's very expensive to do a shoot and have it last on Facebook for a matter of minutes," Richard explains.

Foap is another photo-selling app that sends smartphone users on missions. Lavazza recently asked people to send in pictures of their coffee and paid $100 for a photo.

Puma, the sporting goods company, asked: What is football for you?  The company paid $2,000 for an image.

"Model shots, really? That doesn't reflect real life. What does reflect real life are the photos that we are taking with our own smart phones," Richard says.

Photos can be sold more than once.  But keep in mind, once someone buys it they can do whatever they want with it.

If there are other people in your photos: Unless they are well known public figures,  you must get their permission before you can sell the pictures.