So a bit has changed …
A sunset at Acadia National Park
Since I left stock in July it seems a bit has changed around us.
- Shutterstock hit 5 million images?? Congrats to them!
- Bigstock accepts editorial images now – finally!
- Yuri started video blogging.
- Getty and Jupiter merged.? WTF?!
- PhotoPlus Expo went off well – with many microstock stars there including our friend at Microstock Diaries, Lee Torrens.
Anything else I need to know?? I?m trying to get caught up but imagine walking away from your house for 4 months and life kept happening around you – …
A little recognition dribbling in…
It?s always great when a project starts to gather momentum. I wanted to take a moment to AGAIN thank my blog readers for coming to see what I?m up to. I know the last month has been off but it?s going to get really exciting around here VERY soon. October 8th and counting!
There have been a few bits mentioned about NiltoMil.com that I think warrant posting about:
1) Image of the Day at Snapvillage for 100 Yard Dash – my #1 most popular image ever.
2) We?re doing an interview with Moodboard, …
Coming up with ideas
Ideas can come from anywhere.? As a stock photographer, your job is to make them come from everywhere.? There are 2 steps to coming up with great stock ideas:
1) Create or visualize the concept.
2) Record the idea in a medium other than your brain.
Create or visualize the concept
The area most stock photographers struggle with is the creation of new stock ideas.? If you are sitting at your desk everyday, you won?t come up with many ideas.? Ideas for stock are based on activities and the world.? Activities are based in …
RPI = the valueless statistic
I read a lot of microstock blogs – every one that I know about. I hear a LOT about RPI, return per image.
This stat has no value, month to month. I?m sorry, but it?s true. It?s an interesting stat, but has no value. Sort of like innings pitched for baseball or blocks per 48 minutes for basketball. (Kenny George averaged a triple double per 48 minutes last year for UNC-Whatever?he still didn?t get chosen in the NBA draft).
RPI has no value for two reasons:
1) As your collection grows, older …
Featured at BigstockPhoto!
Very cool – I am one of the Featured Photographers of the week at BigStockPhoto.com
Click here to view the image or go to their site to see it live. (link no longer works – it’s a weekly feature)
I just passed 1000 images accepted there and this is fantastic for us – we?re very excited to have a feature. This is our very first time we?ve been featured by one of the microstock agencies.
YayMicro – the next major player?
Every industry has what I like to call a v.2 player.
Who are some v.2s? Google, MySpace, Apple?s Ipod, Ebay, IPhone.
A v.2 player is a business (or product) that didn?t exist until later in the relevant cycle than other players. Google came much later than Yahoo, Altavista and Go.com Myspace followed Friendster and the IPod followed many failed MP3 players. IPhone success blows away even the Blackberry, not to mention other cell competitors.
The main feature of a v.2 is their education came free. They are able to learn from the …
ISuck … at Istock
When I announced my earnings last month, I heard a lot of feedback about my IStock performance and how it should be MUCH MUCH better.? I agree, but I still can?t get them to accept any of my images!? I have 700+ images on multiple sites.? I have 89 on IStock and have submitted 40 this month.? They took 8.? I?ve done my part for the last 3 weeks – 60 submissions (MAXED OUT) and 21 new images online.? That basically stinks.? It de-motivates me.
So I?m asking for help.? I …
Demo-ing Cushy Stock
So I read about this program, Cushy Stock, on Microstock Diaries.? I had heard the name in the past but thought it was just another agency (Shutterstock, Canstock, Bigstock, CushyStock) so I never investigated.
Well Cushy Stock is an application that will drastically speed up my workflow.? The gist of it is this:
1) You can navigate to your edited photos, keyword, describe & title them, set the status as ready to upload and then upload them to as many agencies as supports FTP at once.? Yep!? No more watching your FTPs …
What I’m reading to learn
Microstock is a fairly new and thus still growing industry, especially on the net.? So right now I?ve found few ways to stay on top of what?s going on, but I wanted to share some with you in case you found me and didn?t know what *else* you needed to be reading.
Forums
Microstock Group – 1200+ members, lots of forums specifically directed at each agency.
TalkMicro – 550+ members, simpler forum structure, but basically one big ?category dump? for MS.
Blogs
Microstock Diaries – Lee Torrens – his personal goal to get microstock earnings …
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