Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic - How I made it to $500: My microstock experience thus far

tsebourn · Joined: 13 Dec 2009 Posts: 26 Location: Southern California

I finally made it to the $500 club :) Since I am always curious how people's sales break down, and to give new contributors an idea on what to expect, here is my SS adventure thus far:

I joined SS in September of 2010. I was accepted on my first application, which I hear is rare. I attribute this to getting totally beat up by the IS application process.

I have 180 active images, though I just removed my most "downloaded" image, so I'm at 179. I removed the image because it is a self portrait and I've entered a profession in which it may not be in my best interest to have a dorky self-portrait being sold, and it had "only" earned $22.xx. And yes, I am aware that I may have the least diverse portfolio on SS, but I live close to photogenic beach scenes.

THE FUN PART
My lifetime SS sales #'s:
25/day = $243.50
On Demand = $88.71
Enhanced= $168.00
Other = $0.00
total = $500.21

On demand downloads always make my day! However, I average ONE every 3 months.

For the most part my sales are steady on SS; I don't think that my new images sell like they used to. I find that its best to submit images for review in small batches.

I also sell stock on...

DT: I have just over $200 in sales and 235 active images. DT's "Exclusivity" program says I would have earned "$449.88 estimated minimum revenue" if I was exclusive with them. Acceptance ratio: 76.9%. I think that DT accepts a lot of photos that other agencies wouldn't touch, so maybe its a good place to start if you're new. Although, recently I've been getting a lot of rejections for "too many submissions of the same subject." Which is probably an extremely valid reason...I feel bad if you're new to this business and live in Manhattan Beach because I've SATURATED the market with Manhattan Beach Pier shots (Sorry, but hey, its a jungle out here.)

IS: I am not a huge fan of theirs because their uploading & keywording process is tedious. It also took my many many tries to get accepted. I have 24 active images, 37 downloads, and $82.79 in revenue. My acceptance rate is 55.81%. Bottom line: your photos will sell IF they get accepted.

I also have about $50 in revenue on 123, BS, VR, and FT. Those portfolios are give or take the same as IS; I'm not sure if spending the time uploading and keywording is worth the work for those sites; though 123 is probably my fav of those four. My FT sales are stone cold pathetic.

My parting advice if you're new: Learn to accept and not dwell rejection! My most downloaded image on DT was rejected thrice on SS.

I hope this information is helpful to those thinking about investing their time building a microstock portfolio.

hansenn · Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 827 Location: netherlands

thx for sharing your experiences.
You have pretty much variations on just one subject. If I were you i would pick another interesting place nearby and do the same. Succes guaranteed if I see your port.

BTW: use this program (if you are still not use it) for uploading and managing keywords on IS: http://www.deepmeta.com/
Since i heard about it a few months ago i started uploading there again.

jhuls · Joined: 02 Jan 2012 Posts: 1058

Thanks for sharing, as a new contributor I find these kind of post helpful and encouraging. I find my story very similar, especially the part about getting accepted first try here and it taking many tries to get accepted to IS. They seem really picky almost ridiculously picky.

I am just starting only been around a month and a half, I hope to see numbers similar to yours in a few months. One difference for me is that I usually get an On Demand Download about once or twice a week and I haven't gotten any EL's yet. I keep hoping one of these times when I log in that one will be magically waiting for me :)

tsebourn · Joined: 13 Dec 2009 Posts: 26 Location: Southern California

I thought there was a mistake the first time I had an EL :)

My goal is to average $1 a day on SS; which is hard to do without OD's and EL's.

Another unsolicited tip: don't spend too much time editing any image for stock. I once spent A LOT of time trying to clone-out people and other copyrighted things in my image, only for it to get rejected for "poor lighting." Fix the easy fixes, upload, and cross your fingers.

Microstock is a marathon, not a sprint.

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:19 am

lmel900 · Joined: 13 Mar 2011 Posts: 5007

I'm $33.92 away from $500.00

10 months at SS:

411 Images
1152 Dls

25/day-$266.25
OD's - $136.78
EL's -$56.00
SOD's- $7.00
CD - $0.05

Total:$466.08

I was able to add over 150 images during the past month ,and a half, and it doubled the amount of downloads compared to last year.

olavs · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 243 Location: la la land

Joined sept 2010
187 images
25 a day $604.21
od $305.16
el's $84

Total $993.37

The raise at $500 makes a big difference

I love this site

I get alot of rejections but as i have only had a dslr since june of 2010 i am an inexperienced photographer.
Listening on the forums has taught me a lot there are some great photographers on here.
Stock has shown me that i should keep photography as a hobby but because of ss i can earn new bits of kit by uploading more.

linma · Joined: 23 Jun 2011 Posts: 29

very good information, thanks for your sharing! BTW, what's the meaning of "small batch" for uploading for review? once for 5 images or more? thanks.

hhltdave5 · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:04 am

tsebourn · Joined: 13 Dec 2009 Posts: 26 Location: Southern California

I've been uploading 3-5 images per review; then again, I'm not taking a lot of new images. Also, I'm the first to admit that my subjects and compositions are duplicative to some extent, so its important to not upload 25 shots of the same subject.

dcdp · Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 10

angelawaye · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:06 pm

Thank you for being so open about your earnings. A lot of people are very hush hush about the figures. You have some really great images but try to diversify more as I am sure you know. I'm a firm believer of quality of quantity so try not to focus too much on the number of photos in your port. Cheers!

angelawaye · Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:08 pm

linma · Joined: 23 Jun 2011 Posts: 29

It seems that SS take the much strict standard than IS, isn't it? I have many images in IS ( especially all studio shooting ) was killed by SS.

dcdp · Joined: 20 Jan 2012 Posts: 10