New to Microstock? Read This

Good intentions to keep up the SPW blog faltered early. Got a little busy with some photo job assignments, some microstock shooting, a special project, and the Curse of Email. All has been going somewhat smoothly, except of course fot that Curse of Email. A few shooters have contacted me on a casual basis, asking about certain post processing techniques, lens choices, and just general advice. But there are a few who insist on keeping up a continuous dialogue, asking the same question, over and over, but thinly disguised in various forms. And that one question is

What is the Secret to Sales on Microstock?

Well I’ve got news for you Bucko, there are no secrets. There are methods and strategies that will help you along the Revenue Road. Most of these involve Knowledge Acquisition, Hard Work, and Proper Research.

1. Shoot For the Market

It’s not about your choice, it’s about Buyers’ Choice. Yes the butterfly in the rose garden is pretty, but unless the image is stellar, it should only be considered by you as a fill-in or roundout image in your portfolio. Yes they’re fun to shoot. Snap one or two and move on. Concentrate on what buyers look for – Women in Business, the Dreaded Business Handshake, a Smiling Baby plainly dressed, food items such as healthy foods, medical images, different takes on money, such as currency or coin arrangements, green environmental themes, woman shopping, lifestyle images, cleancut family images. The list goes on.

Even though these lists and similar needs are published on sites over and over again, the new shooter still insists on sending up 7 flower shots and some zoo animal pics in an initial application. There are no secrets about what Buyers want. Lists are published everywhere from Bigstock to Getty. And yet, you read those lists, and are insistent on sending images of butterflies and bees in the flowers. Get over it. Seriously begin to think outside the box for stock. Save the butterfly pics for contest submissions to Popular Photography. A nicely styled hot dog or a bunch of plain file folders artfully arranged will in reality have more buyer appeal on micros than a shot of the daisies in the backyard. Time is money – stop wasting it.

2. Learn About Market Trends

Market trends continually emerge all around you. Check magazines, particularly women’s publications. Even though it is said that the man wears the pants, it is usually women who wield more buying power. From fashion to cosmetics, and even now to sectors like home improvement, women are integral in either the initiation of the purchase or in the final decision making for a large ticket item. Look at any product. As yourself who buys that product. Go find that person, shoot her, and get her to sign a model release. Current news items can also help shape the creation of images that sell. With grocery and gas prices on the rise, images related to these current news themes are popular.

3. Do Your Research

In addition to checking the magazine racks, do your own research on the microstock sites. Shutterstock is somewhat limited in what you can do, but iStockphoto and Dreamstime are excellent for research. You can sort by popularity and downloads. On iStockphoto, you can see what’s “on fire”. Pick a subject that interests you, and see what the sales are in that area. If you have some photos that might fit, fine, include them. But do pick a variety of subjects, look at the numbers, and get shooting. Don’t copy photos. Do it better than anyone else. Yes, it does take some talent.

4. Strive for Technical Perfection

The bane of most new stock shooters is camera noise. Camera noise is inherent to most point & shoots, and even camera jpegs in DSLRS. Better to invest in a low level DSLR like a Nikon D40 and start shooting RAW rather than spend hours and hours selecting and keywording images that have limited or no sales value. Please don’t waste your time in trying to slip by all those Canon Powershot pics that are clogging your hard drive. On the money makers like Shutterstock and iStockphoto, they will not likely pass technical review. And microstock has grown up a lot. So you’re not only competing with the guy down the street who got the new Coolpix for his birthday, you’re competing against some seasoned pros who have the proper gear and know how to use it. Yes you can maybe beat out Bob with his Coolpix, but don’t expect to outrun Ron Chapple anytime soon.

5. Realize that Fractals Suck

It is no secret that there are some illustrators that make good dollars on microstock. However, a free fractal program that you barely know how to use is no substitute for good artwork. Fractals are not the way in, and you soil the landscape of the stock community if you whip out crap and dump them to stock. Unless you are competent in the program and can produce an excellent piece, stop dreaming, Even if your artwork is decent, unless you develop a unique and saleable style, you will be lost in the cess pool of microstock that I call Bad Fractal Land. Even your most concerted efforts in banging out 25 mundane fractals a night will result in little or no revenue. Do a search on any micro site for Fractal. Look at the overwhelming number of search hits, then try and find some good pieces. Pretty hard, huh? And it is so unfortunate, the so called “artists” loading all of this schlock because it is the only alleged talent they have. Then of course some of the good work from emerging artists gets automatically bounced because of “too many fractals” on the site. The schlock dumpers are demeaning the art form as a whole and have polluted the pool.Am I totally anti fractal? Of course not. I have a few in my portfolio. But I don’t load up 100 pieces of trash at a time calling it art.

6. Develop a Solid Portfolio

Some will tell you, “You only need 10 images to join Shutterstock”. Well ok, then what? The reality is that if, and only if, those 10 images pass technical quality and content review, they will in fact only earn a few dollars in the course of the first month, and will find themselves mothballed deep within the bowels of the system. And by a few dollars, I mean barely enough for bread and milk. The name of the game is volume, and on both ends, both micro site, and submitter. The microstock site bases part of its buyer draw on volume, and relies on submitters to keep portfolios fresh and supply more new content. In the cases of sites like Shutterstock, Stockxpert, and iStockphoto that have application requirements, you will need to supply more content in order to gain sales volume.

My suggestion is that you have 100 to 150 good images in the can before you even start submitting. Why? Because the novelty and sales bounce of the initial small batch will wear off very quickly. After awhile, stuff will lay there dormant until it catches the eye of a buyer, and if you exhausted the pool of people in need of your image types, that could be a long time. By having at least 100 or so images in your pool, you will have backup in case an initial submitter application fails, or an immediate supplement to your image offerings to keep your little sales run flowing smoothly without feeling pressured.

7. Select Your Microstock Site With Revenue Potential in Mind

Select the top earners first, and start with a good base portfolio of at least 100 to 150 images. Many have mused over which is best, but across the board, usually iStockphoto and Shutterstock come out on top, with either Dreamstime, Stockxpert, or Fotolia as a close third. As a brand new submitter, you may be tempted by what are called the “low earners”. I would suggest staying away until you gain a little more experience. More quality images on a few high earning sites are more valuable than a small number of images spread over many low earning sites.

My Opinions on the High Earners

Shutterstock – An absolute must if you are serious about earning some real cash. Application process is tough. Ten images must be submitted for technical and content review. If you fail, you must waiit 30 days to re-apply. Submit only your very best, and ensure your subject matter varies and that your images are saleable. Once accepted at Shutterstock, I find new submissions are fairly easy, but than again I have high technical standards. I really can’t remember when I last had an image rejection there. But I definitely think about what I submit there.

Istockphoto – Another “must have” for any real revenue. Application tough here as well even though only 3 images are required. If they are on the fence about you, they will write and ask you to submit 3 more. Varied content and technical quality again imperative here. Once accepted, high standards must be maintained.

Dreamstime – No application process there, just submit. They’ll take what they want. Your image acceptance rate does however figure into how many you can submit in the future. If your acceptance rate plummets, your daily upload number will be cut as well. And besides, we really don’t want to load garbage up for customers, do we? This is an excellent site for beginners because there is no application review, and sales can happen with the right images in a short time.

Stockxpert – Application process requires 5 images for review. Standards for acceptance are high, but they are perhaps a tad less stringent that Shutterstock and iStockphoto. Doesn’t mean you should goof off though. Revenues on Stockxpert for me are lower than Dreamstime, but it is on the move. And being that Stockxpert is part of the Jupiter Images network, I have no doubt that there are better things to come there.

Fotolia – Only a couple of months ago, Fotolia was considered a very good earner by many, but a new subscription model has come into play that has disgruntled many users. To my knowledge, the buyer base is still there. A reliable company, I have no qualms about submitting there, but who knows if the subscription model will change the climate there. It could well become what is known in microstock land as a “low earner”. There is no application process there, just submit.

8. Keep Uploading

As mentioned before, the micros must be replenished on a regular basis. Why? On Shutterstock, for instance, subscription buyers there are sort of “image collectors” and in a lot of instances will search on “newest first”. So it is the beast that must be fed. All the more reason for having a good image pool to start with. Imagine yourself going into a high fashion store only to find yourself with the same goods trip after trip. Same with the micros, only it happens much faster! I upload perhaps 10-15 new to Dreamstime and Stockxpert per week, and maybe 20 or so to Shutterstock. I now have a feel for what will fly where, and thus the different numbers.

9. Adjust Your Strategies to Suit Market Needs

Strategies change and adjustments must sometimes be made to remain competitive. You may want to shoot less of one subject and more of another. For my own images, I have been rummaging around the local flea markets looking for very old very odd items, have hired a few new models, and have recently started up doing some vector illustrations again. In any image you submit, just ask yourself, “What Can I Sell Using This Image?”

Stock Photo Expert? Or Not?

One of my pet peeves is people who write about stuff they know little or nothing about.  If you proclaim your self as “expert” you should at least know a little about the subject.

Back last year, I was doing some research on a certain art technigue and ran across one of these “ask an expert” sites where they post videos and actually show how things are done. It was pretty darned good. It gave me almost exactly the info I was looking for.

Well was cruising the web just a little while ago on a research project and ran across this at eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_2041729_buy-stock-photography.html

How To Buy Stock Photography

By eHow Hobbies, Games & Toys Editor

Stock photos are unlicensed photographs available for general use. This means that if you are looking for a professional photo for an art project, for wall decor or for any other purpose, you can find it in stock photo archives. These archives can be accessed online and photos can be easily purchased.

Yes I went through the pain in the butt signup and posted the following reply:

on 5/19/2008 Your opening statement of “Stock photos are unlicensed photographs available for general use” is not correct. All images marketed and vended by a stock agency, even a free agency, have licensing language regarding terms of use. You are misleading people with this incorrect statement. Althogh Royalty Free stock is very different from Rights managed stock with regards to terms of use, there are yes, still indeed terms of use in a royalty free licensing agreement.

Sorry, but with so much abuse today in the photo industry, licensing is a sticky issue with me. and if you want to write about it, please get it right.

The eHow ratings system ranged from 0 to 5. They did not offer me any negative numbers that could be checked.

OK, all done venting now.

 

Creative Inspiration

Around the various microstock forums, there are many posts for “images finds” and “tear sheets”. Although the posts are nice and it’s great to see your images in use, I really don’t have time to surf and look for my own. But I do look for inspiring sites that will help me see more clearly a designer or ad agency vision, which in turn helps me create better illustrations and photos.

One such site I have found is Ads of the World, a creative advertising archive and community. Most of the stills are shot specifically for the ads by top notch pros. But it gives me a better view of what kinds pf images may be suited to advertising. And there are some great video commercials here too. STopping by here just helps me get out of the microstock box a little.

Stock Photo Evolution

Over the past 3 years or so, I’ve had an eye on the stock photo industry.  Lots of changes have taken place, and there has been an evolution of sorts in the stock photo game. In this blog, I’ll be keeping an eye on stuff, and will comment on current trends, various stock services, technology, learning tools and more. I’ll even feature some favorite photographers and some new and emerging talent.

I learn a lot by just watching. Hopefully you will too.