Mircostocks April Results

Alexandr Denisenko My Money - Free Image from Dreamstime



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I had a best ever month at Dreamstime; Shutterstock returned to normal after a couple months that included extended license downloads; Fotolia and 123RF were disappointing.

The results

Dreamstime Portfolio 546, New photos 31, Sales 28, Earnings $23.71
Shutterstock Portfolio 238, New photos 14, Sales 57, Earnings $15.88
Fotolia Portfolio 236, New photos 11, Sales 10, Earnings $ 4.06
123RF Portfolio 434, New photos 5, Sales 5, Earnings $ 2.08

Notes

BME at Dreamstime for earnings and downloads
Worst month at 123RF for a long time. First time in seven months to have less than 10 downloads
New referral at Dreamstime (though both referrals haven't started building a portfolio).
The month had the slowest start that I can remember. By the 6th April, I had only one download and my earnings were just 25 cents.

I hope the next month will be better. I intent to add more pictures and really want to add some people pictures. That's the month's main aim.

To do more people's shots, I've started a new blog called 100 strangers to friends.


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March Microstocks Results

Make Money from Photography by Digitalphotonut - Dreamstime


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It's been an exciting month, with BME for both Fotolia and Shutterstock in revenue and the most downloads for Dreamstime and 123RF (Shutterstock matched it's best ever downloads for a month). The cherry on top of the cake was another extended license from Shutterstock.

The results.

Dreamstime - Portfolio 515, New Photos 27, Sales 25 at $17:03
Fotolia - Portfolio 225, New Photos 10, Sales ?? at $17:36
Shutterstock Portfolio 224, New Photos 19, Sales 64 at $46:50
123RF - Portfolio 429, New Photos 18, Sales 15 at $ 8:94

Overall income for the month $89:84

Notes

• BME revenue - Shutterstock, Fotolia
• BME for sales - Dreamstime and 123RF
• The first time that Fotolia has beaten Dreamstime
• 123RF - I had four editorial pictures accepted though they don't seen to be listed in the main portfolio. I guess they will have their own portfolio, though I'm not sure about this.
• 123RF - had a lot of pictures rejected, even ones accepted by Fotolia were rejected here.
• Fotolia - need to verify final result as I'm unable to log in at the moment.
• Extended License at Shutterstock - $28.


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Getting Started in Microstocks

Stock Image - Finance and China









If you have a DSLR camera, a passion for photography (and video) and an appetite for learning then microstocks could be for you. Treat it as an experiment and the very least it will do for you is to broaden your photographic horizons.

I’ve spent time on Flickr, which is great for learning photographic style and getting inspiration.

Microstocks are great for learning those softer technical skills that could help you earn some money from your photography like; why ISO is important, how to deal with noise, how to make isolated images and what kind of pictures sell.

You have a choice of agencies to start with but some require that you qualify for photographer status first before you can submit i.e. Shutterstock and 123RF.

I’d suggest that you first try Dreamstime and Fotolia because;

• You can summit photographs once you have registered.
• If your photographs get rejected, you will get feedback.
• You will learn from rejections and be in a better position to submit more photos.

Fotolia, despite not requiring you submit photographs for inspection before accepting you as a photographer, are very fussy over what they accept.

You can build up a portfolio and also understand which photos are the most suitable to use to gain qualified status at 123RF and Shutterstock.

Shutterstock is now considered to be the number one in microstocks. It certainly is in my experience but it’s also notoriously hard to get accepted. It took me three goes.

Here are some tips for submitting to Shutterstock (also for 123RF).

• Only submit photos that were taken at ISO 100 or less.
• Submitted photos should be different from one another.
• Use the Shutterstock forums to help. They have one specifically for critiquing new submitters.


And good luck. I’ve found that once you have been accepted by Shutterstock that they are fairly constistent with what they accept and reject. It’s now my favourite site.

There are other microstock agencies but these ones are in the top 6 and they provide some income and a lot of fun. Good luck in your microstock adventures and be careful - it's very addictive!



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January Round Up

Freedom in Life

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Considering I escape the race at the end of tomorrow, my alternative income looks inadequate. This month I earned $39.38 from stock photography and about $27 for writing an article for the company's newsletter.

Stock Photography Report


Dreamstime - Total Portfolio - 470 New Photos - 41 Jan earnings - 13.82
Shutterstock Total Portfolio - 195 New Photos - 40 Jan earnings - 15.38
123RF Total Portfolio - 411 New Photos - 16 Jan earnings - 4.79
Fotolia Total Portfolio - 213 New Photos - 10 Jan earnings - 5.39

Highlights

Shutterstock was the number one agent for the second month running. Only had one 'on-demand' download. Sales were up over the previous month and 40 new photos is the biggest portfolio expansion ever.

Dreamstime - I had 23 downloads but rates per photo were low. I had my first referral (no income and very mysterious). Added 41 photos, this was the biggest expansion of the portfolio since Jan 09.

Fotolia - Not a highlight, but they have started to deducted tax. My British status has been established but tax still seems to be deducted. I'm finding it hard to expand my portfolio with this agency.

Writing

I had an 'advice article' for teachers in Taiwan published in my teaching company's newsletter. This is the third article published with them.








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