Size isn't everything....

Well only a quick posting this time folks. Busy with my core business designing so not had a lot of time to devote to the photography. But something that is becoming apparent and has been mentioned before in many other blogs is the 'quality v quantity' decision. 

Having been contributing 4 months properly, it seems my initial thoughts of chucking everything I can into the mix may not necessarily be the order of the day. I notice, particularly as a buyer of stock, that the quality is getting a lot better - you get a lot more bang for your buck. With this in mind I have tried to be a little stricter of late on what I upload, and more significantly results may back this up. At SS I have only around 85 images, yet my earnings this month have been $70 and my total in 4 months of contributing $160. This makes the time/revenue more acceptable. If I had chucked loads more average stuff online, I would have spent a hell of a lot more time on preparation/upload etc and would that have given me any better return? Initially I thought 'yes' but now I'm not so sure...

Add to this the interesting article from Lee Torrens at Microstock Diaries about the 'Long Tail' and how only a few good shots make the most money. Food for thought!

Interested in anyone else thoughts/experiences on this.

Earnings this month

SS - $70

DT - $3.35

others - nothing

Total earnings in 4 months $200 (almost!)

More pin money...

Well, results have picked up for the month of October and I keeping faith with the microstock game. I would appear that microstock has a strong foothold and the game is changing. Stronger and better quality images appear to be the name of the game as many areas appear to be fully saturated. This will probably push image costs up in the long run and with fewer downloads as agencies become more choosy again as they are paying a bit more. Then again quality will always shine through....

Also this month I had an extended licence download at SS, which really boosted my earnings for the month. This months takings are as follows:

Shutterstock 61.67

dreamstime  15.93

Fotolia         1.50

iStock           big fat zero!

Quite please with the SS earnings as I now have approx 75 images and am very close to the first $100 milestone in 3 months of contributing. So I guess for those of you reading this, it is true you can earn a bit of extra cash in not a lot of time.

So how are you getting on....?

Stop the whining!

There seems to be a lot of whining at the moment in the 'blogesphere' about how crap microstock is and how it's killing the industry, notably from stock professionals. As a pro graphic designer, I can feel their pain to a point as with the advances in computing and software everyone now thinks they are a designer and logos are obtained on the cheap. But as any professional knows, there is a massive difference between quality and quantity and a simple logo doesn't make a brand.

Anyway moving back to the point....Photographers (the good ones) have been milking the stock cow for many years and now technology has caught them up. The industry has changed - get over it and deal with it. Some are, by embracing microstock and expanding their market. Others just seem to slag it off.

Well from the other side of the fence i.e. a buyer, microstock is a good thing. I've bought bespoke and stock photography for 20 years and the necessity to pay hundreds for a shot just isn't required anymore. Yea, sure you need a photoshoot when it's specific and the client has the budget, but these days they are less willing when they can get close to the same for a lot less.

The other interesting theme seems to be how much cash people 'make' from microstock. The holy grail seems to be a good strong portfolio in a few libraries which generate a good income to live off. This seems totally unrealistic. The microstock industry model is clearly weighted towards the libraries and if you are pinning your earnings on microstock then that's a tough living! 

So at this point there will be a select few who are shouting "I live of my microstock!"....but for every one of these, there are 1000 who don't. It should be treated for what it is - a supplement to your core business, just look at the microstock business model - you do the work, give to us for free, and we'll give you a minute return of the profit. Can you really live off a model like that? Didn't think so.

And so, the moral of the story is, Microstock is good, it has it's place and is very useful, but it is no substitute for bespoke quality. As for earnings, it should be seen as additional income and not core.

Oh, and if you do live off microstock........well done you!

100 up at Shutterstock!

Well progress continues.... It's 100 downloads in 56 days of contribution at Shutterstock.

To date after starting the process in mid August my figures are roughly:

Shutterstock - $27

Dreamstime  - $8.50

Fotolia           - $5.80

iStockphoto  - $0.00

Giving me the grand total of just over $40 in two months. I guess this is probably well below average, but my portfolio is only small - roughly between 40 - 60 shots in each apart from iStock which is much lower due to stricter reviewing.

I'd be interested on any comments about this and your own experiences. 

Would this be good/reasonable/poor/or hardly worth it!

Let me know

Ant. 

Thanks!

Hey, thanks for the comments!

At least I know this thing is working. I'll look into this comment thing a bit harder and see why there is a problem and I agree that people will only look at this if it's useful - so will try to start to make a useful contribution!

One thing I would say as primarily a designer and stock buyer for many years that bland stock images are not really something a designer is really bothered for - singular items can be useful but are better if shot in a creative way.

So has anybody read this????

I would be interested to know if anyone has looked at this blog page.

Just post a yes comment. I think nobody has, so in effect am talking to myself.

Hint of the day

Tired of entering the same keywords on different microsites?

Open your image in Photoshop, go to File info, enter the info in there.

Once done, the info will automatically be entered into any site you upload to!

$15 in a month!.........yesssssss........hang on-that's crap!

As if it wasn't obvious to those of you reading this, it's loads of effort for tiny return.

The 'microsites' have certainly turned over the industry, but looks like if I can make enough to keep me in cheese I'll be doing well (don't eat much cheese, by the way).

I'll keep going, as I've some shots that are okay and I quite like the process, but dreams of getting some decent cash seem remote. The shot that will sell 10,000 times......the holy grail........now what could it be............

Ant.