Can you still make “passive income” from microstock photography?
Can you still make passive income in microstock in 2012? Statistics say you can still make money in microstock photography.
SEO, stock and keywording – raw data
This is some raw SEO data – I’m going to analyze it in another post but here’s what I have so far from four major agencies. I am actually quite shocked by a few of these.
5 Ways to make more money in microstock
These are some of the tips I’ve picked up along the way that help me earn more microstock money now than ever before. Note: not all these tips will apply to everyone. Some are basic. Like always, take what works and discard the rest.
Alamy pseudonyms
Alamy has one of the more creative ways to manage your images in pseudonyms. A pseudonym is the name you sell your images under and is credited by customers.
Google Images Search – Tineye Killer?
It’s a Tineye-type Firefox or Chrome extension so I added it and rebooted Firefox. Right click an image and under TinEye is the new Google Images context menu.
Microstock for Beginners
Over the last 3+ years I’ve written a lot of posts for the new microstock photographer. Everything from how to get your first 10 images accepted to the Long Tail of Microstock. This is an index of those microstock blog posts for new photographers and new microstock artists.
How NOT to make money at microstock
This is a primer for new microstock photographers. Sometimes you have to understand where you can’t make money to know where you can.
I reviewed for an agency for awhile and learned some things. Here are some observations from the inside.
How NOT to make money at microstock
1) Shoot temples, Buddhas, generic landscapes, farmland, flowers, fields, and did I mention Temples and Buddhas … oh and statues.
I’m sorry but these images are done. They’re done again. And then a few thousand more times. I don’t care what angle you stand at – …
Licensing on my own sites
When I license my own images directly I am looking for 3 things: 1. A fair commission rate. 2. A decent price. 3. No categories. Easy upload. Fair reviews.
DIY Lighting for stock
DIY reflectors, lights, scrims, beauty dish and spot grids – all the tabletop DIY lighting you could want.
SEO for photographers – questions
Thanks to a few friends and well placed posts, I’ve had a lot of questions this month and last from photographers wondering about my new SEO for photographers business, PhotoSEO (thanks Flem, Todd, and all!)
It’s true – I’ve begun working on several sites for photographers to push their sites higher in the Google ranks. I wrote a page explaining most of my SEO business here.
How will this help you? If you don’t have a website, it won’t. If you’re a microstock submitter who simply shoots, keys and uploads, I can’t …
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