January – 80 images

February – 20 images

March – 0 images

April – 0 images

May – 0 images

June – 0 images

July – 0 images

Now, to be fair, I did “finish” some agencies.  I am completely caught up on Alamy, DepositPhotos, StockFresh, and several other small sites.  My time went mainly to finishing Alamy as that’s where my income has been building fastest.  But let’s not kid anyone – I’ve done *no* stock work other than blogging since early February.

So where does that leave July, 2011?  My microstock earnings were actually good this month.

Total earnings: $962.55

Right – that’s my 2nd best month ever for those keeping track at home.  I have zero momentum (which I know is huge) and I have virtually 0 new images.  That result makes me think I should be doing this job sometimes.  In 2011 I’ve made $5683.01 submitting just 100 new photos.  This is already my 2nd best year of the 5 I have results for.  By October it will be my best year ever, regardless of how things go for the next 2 months.  2011 is my best stock year ever despite 100 new uploads.  This is GOOD.

Who did what?  Well, Shutterstock was solid at $245.48.  That’s in the right range lately.  If I uploaded new images I know I could push them over $300 without much effort.  February (after my 80 January uploads) actually did go over $300.  Upload to SS, make money.  Simple, really.   Dreamstime was down – almost my worst month of the year.  Fotolia was solid as always.  123RF wasn’t perfect but the last few months have been so sky-high there that I may have set expectations too high.

Alamy sold very well – $356.60.  Not my best month at Alamy but very strong.  I’ve already seen an August Alamy download as well … did I mention I love Alamy?   I’ve only had images on Alamy since October and they’ve passed BSP, IS, SXP, CSP and all the small sites in earnings.  Interesting stat – in 8 months, Alamy has made me more money than 11 sites I submit to … combined … all time.  Can you say “waste of time?”  I knew you could.

Bigstock was just short of a BME.  Not bad for no new images.  Thinkstock/SXP had my worst month in 2011 at $21-ish.  iStock was down from April/May but up from June … I’ve started resubmitting there (work is done, just need to push) so hopefully I can start seeing increases there again.  Canstock had a fantastic month – almost BME.  DepositPhotos had another (for them) solid month.  Mostphotos tailed off again, one month after netting a near-BME.

Wow, long post!  Guess the earnings report was interesting this month.  Is now a good time to mention that I’m moving to Australia?  Talk to you all soon!

The total for the month, though not another $1k month like February, was $847.04

Highlights for the month include:

• BME at 123RF for the 2nd time in 3 months. For all of 2011, 123RF has been flying. My previous best months in 2010 were half of my current BME.  Great job 123RF!
• BME at DepositPhotos.  No, I didn’t make my million with DepositPhotos but they beat iStock, GL, Yay, Cutcaster and all the other small sites.  I have 300 photos on iStock and 2300 on DepositPhotos and DP “won” this month.  I still iSuck apparently.
• BME at Veer by a country mile.  Previous BME: $14.70, new BME: $59.15.  Hello EL.  I had one sale for nearly $45 on Veer so that helped all the way around.  Great stuff!
• Istock didn’t do much for me.  I added new photos and have been pushing hard there this year and I ended up with about $10 on 300 photos.  Wooyay.

Canstock and Fotolia, Bigstock and Dreamstime all had average months.  Nothing to write home about but solid work.  Alamy piped in with $113 in sales to bolster my economy.  MostPhotos actually had a pretty decent month and beat every month I’ve ever had images there except one.  I had 8 sales on MostPhotos this month.

At the halfway point of the year I’m at $4720.46  My goal is $10k for 2011 so I need to pick up the pace a bit. I’ve already had two great months (Feb and June) so I need to really get moving or I’m not going to hit this $10k goal.

Last month was a down month for me in microstock.  $619.58.  Not a lot down, of course, but down.  I don’t like down.

This month should be the start of summer slowdown but without really doing a lot of new work, I’m up. I don’t know why, really.  Dreamstime is carrying a load, Shutterstock is doing its part.  DepositPhotos has already busted through to a BME. MostPhotos has already had its best month for me since 2008.  GraphicLeftovers continues to push along.

I’m currently on pace for $830-ish.  I know that won’t keep up unless something good happens (Alamy sale?) because StockXpert is done, DT and SS have both had an EL already and one of my sites doesn’t double – most sales are early in the month.  So I need to do work or get lucky to hit $800 this month.

Last month’s good part was payouts.  I hit payouts on Veer, Yay and most of my big sites. This month is looking better because of a big Dreamstime payout but worse because almost none of my small sites are there now.  I may hit one on DepositPhotos, which would help a lot.

So when will we see new work from me… hm, maybe … soon?  I have a backlog of almost 1000 images ready to process (culled, that’s what I need to EDIT, not sort through!)  I wanted to have a backlog as I went into this fall (big move coming!) but maybe not 1000+!   So I should get on some processing and uploading soon.

(As of this very moment, I’m at $22,520.94 on my niltomil journey.  Not exactly where I need to be but hey, higher than last month!)

Starting tomorrow: every Friday I’m going to be linking to some images of mine that I like as well as a few from my commenters and microstock friends.  If you’d like to get an image on the list, make a comment at some point during each week.  However, please don’t leave your portfolio link in a comment.

All that to say that I talk to 1000s of photographers and have watched their businesses in both micro and event for the last 7 years. I have seen businesses go from nothing to something and some from something to “rockstar photographer.”  I see new photographers pop up almost daily and it makes me wonder where our business is going.  I’ve seen them come, I’ve seen them go.  Here’s my take on the next few years:

When I was in law school in 2000-2002, I remember every lawyer telling me “there are too many lawyers, find something else you love to do!”  It was incredibly difficult during that time for lawyers to find jobs.  Now if you search Google for “lawyer shortage” you’ll find that business is cyclical.  Lawyer shortages in NC, MA, and all around the country have prompted the need for more lawyers than ever before.  The foreclosure crisis in the United States has also created new jobs for lawyers.  Bankruptcies are up when mortgages are down.  Nearly every job has an opposing job.  One is up, the other is down.

Right now photography is going through one of those surplus times.  Our industry *clearly* has far, far too many photographers. That’s not a guess. According to Indeed.com’s salary comparisons, average photographer salaries for job postings nationwide are 16% lower than average salaries for all job postings nationwide.

Statistics show that for a photographer, the average annual salary in 2010 was $29,000. The lowest 10% earned less than $16,900, the middle 50% between $20,500 and $43,500 while the highest 10% earned upwards of $62,500.

What does this all mean?  It means if you’re not PASSIONATELY in love with photography – if you don’t think about it day and night, if it doesn’t consume your heart, if you don’t mind taking a paycut to do what you love – then you should get out now.  Things are going to get worse before they get better.

Will they get better?  I think eventually they will.  I think photographer salaries will go so low and require so much work to make a living that people will give up.  Their cameras will break and they’ll have no backups, they’ll get bored with it, their jobs will recover and they’ll be making enough to get by.  Others will get tired of the 60+ hour weeks for min. wage and quit.  The more photographers give up on this dream, the more work will come back to us.

In the meantime, yes, you’re going to have to work harder and longer hours. You’re going to have to learn to work smarter and do more than the competition. If you can’t do it, save your time and find something you can do for now.  Photography is going to be a low paying career for years. Stop expecting that to change.  Make a change in yourself – be better, do more, or decide to walk away for now.  Either way, good luck!  We’re going to need it.

(In good news, if photography is down, something else is up. What is it? Photography workshops? Products?)

Best. Month. Ever.

(By a lot.)

My previous best month in stock was $789. Not bad, not amazing.

This month I earned $1235.

$450 increase was obviously the result of my work on Alamy but there were other agencies with great results this month.  Here are some numbers:

• Shutterstock – $307.83 (best month since March 2010, second best since July 2008)
• Dreamstime – $154.22 (best month ever.)
• ThinkStock/SXP – $23.75 (best month since StockXpert died)
• Canstock – $37.55 (third best month ever)
• Alamy – $478.40 (by far my best month ever)
• GraphicLeftovers – $11.46 (second best month ever)
• 3dStudio – $10.30 (best month ever)

How will I follow that up?  I have no idea.  But I’m really grateful for such a great month. I don’t expect another $500 month from Alamy so I guess if I want to keep these $1000 months coming, I need to crank it up a notch and get some work done!

(Thanks to DepositPhotos and my NiltoMil sponsors for helping me survive the last few months as well. Appreciate it and hope enough people click the banners and sign up to make it worth it!)

For September, 2010 my microstock income was $671.45.  This was down from $692.76 in August.   The drop came from Dreamstime (-20), 123RF (-15), and a few other random places.  IStock had a BME (despite the news).  Mostly buyers, though.  I didn’t sell anymore than usual but referred some buyers for a decent chunk of my IS income.

Shutterstock was nearly the same as August, $287.57 to make up the majority of my stock income for the billionth consecutive month.  My momentum slipped a little as I worked on my new Portland Maine wedding photography site.  (Check it out! Like it?!  I LOVE it!)

So September was down a bit.  October has had a slow start.  Today is the 4th and I have done absolutely no shooting, editing or uploading.  Insanity: doing the same thing over & over and expecting different results.  That changes now.

This week I will be shooting every day.  I’m going to submit at least 20 everyday and edit 20-40 everyday.  Momentum will be mine.  I now have all my life to do stock.  I have to take care of this business.  It feels great to be back – now I have to keep going!

Others posting results: post in the comments and I’ll add you to next month’s “reporting” list.

For August, 2010, I made $692.76 which is a year-over-year improvement of $265.36 from last August.  It was also a $230.85 improvement over July 2010.  That’s a HUGE improvement!  I hope to continue advancing so quickly!

The winners last month were Shutterstock – $298.66, almost a BME.  Dreamstime was up from $57.12 to $110.10, almost doubling July’s total.  123RF also had a great month, beating every previous high that didn’t include an EL.  IStock and Fotolia were somewhat flat but the great jumps in SS and DT more than made up for it.  It was nearly my second $700 month ever.

This month is starting slowly.  Today is the 4th and I haven’t uploaded a batch yet.  Life is like that, I suppose.  I need to get back prepared today for Monday/Tuesday and then just keep working.  I want to see if I can keep gaining momentum so I need to keep pushing images through.

Grand total for NiltoMil is now $16,986.21  I won’t say I’m well on my way but the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 should be the best time I’ve had at microstock.  We’ll see if shooting & submitting now does anything for me.  For passive income, stock sure is a lot of work.

With momentum coming back to me and sales starting to dramatically increase, I cannot wait for the next 6 months!  We’re going to see major improvement across all agencies as I go from ~3000 images, many of which I HATE now, to ~6000 images and many of which I will love!

I’ve been fairly vigilant about IStock lately.  I’m hoping that starts to pay dividends.  This month is my lowest month of IS ever so I’m not sure it really is yet but it will, eventually.  I need to push Alamy and get caught up on some other sites but otherwise I feel like it’s starting to pick up and here I come again!  I’m going to attempt to cross $1000 in Sept.  Think I can get there?

$433.03
$539.39
$789.84
$640.94
$515.82
$517.88

After the $790 month (a bme) things got crazy here at home.  That’s when I decided that I do want to pursue micro.  In the few months since everything has been a blur of preparation for Tuesday (when I move!).  So yes, earnings decreased again but I saw a lot of hope in March.  March gave me the idea to do some portfolio sized projecting.

In March Fotolia was a BME.  That definitely helped. So were 2 other sites as well.  But not IS or SS.  I know with “full momentum” what my earnings are (June 08 results help define that).  I think my full max BME right now is about $1200.  I can achieve that by September.  Then my goal has to be to grow to a $2k+ platform to build my new life on.

One thing is clear to me – Shutterstock is fully dependent on “momo” (momentum) to keep up the earnings.  When I was at “full momo” in June 08 I made almost $400 just on Shutterstock – in March 2010 I also made well over $300 and only uploaded  a few new images but on a regular schedule.  I haven’t uploaded more than 150 images in a month in a year!  So the big jump from $433 to $790 in 2 months was a result of working out some things that had been plaguing me about micro for awhile.

I want to record some stats for the future.  As of right now I’ve made $15,313.66 in micro.  BMEs are:

Shutterstock – $398.59
Dreamstime – $125.75
Fotolia – $111.94
123RF – $60.08
Bigstock – $38.50
IStock – $17.81
Canstock – $56.20
MostPhotos – $25.00

I have been contributing some images to IStock and Alamy lately – hopefully those will boost my earnings as well.  I hope to catch up my Alamy portfolio soon and push my max at IStock every week until I can’t push anymore!  My ultimate goal is for August 30th to write ALL new BMEs.

Shutterstock – $800
Dreamstime – $200
Fotolia – $150
123RF – $100
Bigstock – $70
IStock – $40
Canstock – $70
MostPhotos – $50

That would put me WELL over my goal of “$1200 in 1 month by September.”  Away we go!