Let me answer those questions with some of my own data.

Every image I submit anywhere goes to 123RF first.  It is my “testing ground” – misspellings, keyword errors, really bad issues I don’t pick up on, copyright, etc.  I send everything I’ve ever submitted through 123RF.com  So that means it’s easy to track all of my submissions thanks to their really great stats on uploads.

In 2008 I submitted 1650 new images.  For the year, I earned $216.40.
In 2009 I submitted 1350 new images.  For the year, I earned $298.19 (+88)
In 2010 I submitted 980 new images.  For the year, I earned $425.00 (+127)
In 2011 I submitted 100 new images.  For the year, I earned $587.78 (+162)

Those submission numbers should be consistent to the major agencies.  Let’s see how the income goes:

Shutterstock 2008: 2548.08
Shutterstock 2009: 2205.29
Shutterstock 2010: 2573.89
Shutterstock 2011: 3037.03

Nope.  Shutterstock actually dropped off quite a lot from 2008 to 2009 despite new content.  This past year was my best year ever despite uploading only 100 images.  Strange indeed!

Total income 2008: 4114.07
Total income 2009: 5530.43
Total income 2010: 6896.38
Total income 2011: 8958.12

So a few simple assumptions can be made there.  First, my images stayed fairly strong despite not uploading as much over time.  In fact, 2012 will be the first year I’ve uploaded MORE than the year before.  Second, microstock income is, indeed, passive income.  With the same images online in 2010 and 2011, I made more in 2011 while doing next to zero work.  All 100 of my 2011 uploads were done in January.  I did *not one second* of microstock uploading, editing, or keywording in 2011.  Everything was actually done in 2010 so I made $9,000 doing “nothing” in 2011.  That’s not “bad money.”

The bad news on this front is that $9000 for 3000+ images online is also not “good money.”   It means to be sustainable at this level, I’d need over 10,000 images online to make even $30,000 in one year.  That means the majority of my images are not selling well.  Why?

Well, a quick search of my Shutterstock portfolio can answer that.  360 of my 3300 images on Shutterstock are fractals.  These sell rarely for me.  If I sort by most popular, I can also see that my last few pages of popular (my non sellers) are fractals, duplicates or model images from our trip.  Our trip had its ups and downs but for the most part, was a giant waste of time.  A few of my not-so-popular models are also on my last few pages.   The vast majority of my non-sellers are in one of those few groups.  That means I need to avoid those going forward and my actual return per image would be much higher.  I used to submit 15-20 of one food.  Now I submit 5-8 total.  It makes a huge difference to sales when you can focus on the few microstock type images that sell.

Someone asked me why I continue to blog, shoot and hopefully begin uploading to microstock agencies again.  My SEO business for photographers has *really* taken off and I always have a waiting list.  My wedding photography business should do very well in Melbourne and I’ll have more clients, business and work to do than I’ll have time for as it is.  I think the answer is that microstock really is passive income.  I know that for every image I upload today, I’ll be setting myself up for more income later.  I know that for every mediocre image I submitted in the past, I can submit at least a few decent ones now to make up for it.

Next on my niltomil agenda is updating this website to be current.  I know I’m behind – sorry!  There really is just too much to do and not enough time.  I’m off to work now!

Shutterstock

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<title>Stock Photos | Shutterstock: Royalty-Free Subscription Stock Photography & Vector Art</title>

<meta name=”description” content=”Search and select from millions of high resolution royalty free images, stock photos, vector art, and stock photography.”>

<meta name=”keywords” content=”stock photos, stock photography, royalty free, stock images, buy pictures, illustration, image library, stock agency, graphic design, web design, high resolution images, royalty free images, stock photo, subscription, buy photos, vector art, photo bank, photo library”>

<img src=”http://thumb11.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/137/137,1295379965,1/stock-photo-large-harvest-of-fruits-and-vegetables-69272839.jpg” alt=”stock photo : large harvest of fruits and vegetables” /></a>

Dreamstime

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<title>Royalty Free Stock Photography: Harvest foods</title>

<meta name=”description” content=”Large harvest of fruits and vegetables”>

<meta name=”keywords” content=”agriculture apple background bulk carrot collection corn diet ear food fresh fruit green group harvest harvested health healthy leaf many market mix mixed nutrition orange organic pepper potato red ripe set squash tomato vegetable vegetarian yellow”>

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Dreamstime SEO

Fotolia

Test image http://us.fotolia.com/id/29217690

<title>Photo: harvest foods © Matthew Antonino #29217690</title>

<meta name=”keywords” content=”harvest, vegetable, fresh, fruit, food, background, green, vegetarian, ripe, tomato, organic, healthy, yellow, pepper, red, set, diet, agriculture, health, leaf, bulk, mixed, mix, squash, harvested, potato, carrot, ear, corn, many, group, nutrition, orange, apple, collection, market” />

<meta name=”description” content=”Royalty Free Stock Photos at Fotolia.com; Matthew Antonino: harvest foods” />

<img src=”http://t1.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/29/21/76/400_F_29217690_GGJYnVQemwJErIxspxA7IdqaMqv0ZsYf.jpg” alt=”harvest foods” title=”harvest foods” width=”400″ height=”236″ zoom_ratio=”1.938991221″ zoom_depth_max=”3″ />

Fotolia SEO

IStock

Test image http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-224018-snail-s-100-yard-dash.php?st=5cafde5

<title>Snail’s 100 Yard Dash | Stock Photo | iStockphoto.com</title><meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″ >

<meta name=”title” content=”Snail’s 100 Yard Dash | Stock Photo | iStockphoto.com” >

<meta name=”description” content=”Download a royalty-free stock photo of Snail’s 100 Yard Dash by Matthew Antonino(copyright) from iStockphoto.com.” >

<meta name=”keywords” content=”Road To Nowhere, Rat Race, Snail, Sports Race, Competition, Sayings, Ideas, Shell, Humor, Fun, Bad News, Shock, Sport, Running, Slimy, Personal Perspective, Vanishing Point, Scale, Red, Sprinting, Speed, Relay Race, Marathon, Greeting, Urgency, Angle, Attitude, Candid, mindset, The Future, Viewpoint, relativity, scape, Approaching, Strategy, Planning, stock images, royalty free images, stock photography, stock photos, inexpensive, istockphoto” >

<img id=”ZoomImage” src=”http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/224018/2/stock-photo-224018-snail-s-100-yard-dash.jpg” title=”Click on thumbnail to zoom in.” alt=”Click on thumbnail to zoom in.” style=”width:380px; height:304px; border:1px solid #E5E5E5″ /></div><div id=”ZoomDroppableDiv” style=”display:none; margin-left:10px;”>

1) Join more agencies.

This is simple.  You’ve created the image.  You’ve edited the image to be absolutely stinkin’ perfect.  You’ve keyworded it in IPTC.  You’ve uploaded it to two agencies.  Boo!  Hiss!!   Unless you’re exclusive somewhere (and unless you’re well established as an exclusive somewhere the numbers normally say you shouldn’t be) then pick  up as many places to sell your work as you feel comfortable submitting your images to.  I understand there are more agencies than you could ever want to submit to and some make drastically more money but when your earnings need a quick pick-me-up, look out for an agency you hadn’t added before.

I added Alamy in October and in less than 1 year it has surpassed most of my other agencies in earnings.

2) Pay attention to each site’s “specials.” 

Think about “faves” on 123RF.com – do you mark images as faves?  I never used to.  My earnings have *tripled* since I started faving images from every shoot.  Spread out your faves and do what you can to change them up whenever possible.  On StockFresh, categories aren’t required but you can bet they’ll increase earnings if you use them.  Group images by pseudonym in Alamy.  Use every special opportunity a site gives you.

3) Opt IN.

This is going to be WILDLY unpopular to say but I can’t ignore it in a post about making more money.  If your images were on StockXpert and you are not opted into ThinkStock you’re leaving money on the table.  If your images are on iStock but not opted into as many of their options as possible, you’re leaving money on the table.  If you have images anywhere and there are resellers, distributors, other programs that can make you cash and you’re not doing it, you’re leaving money on the table.

Is it more noble to stand up for your principles and not take a rate under a certain amount or not do subscriptions or whatever else you aren’t doing because someone made it sound like a good idea?  Sure, if they’re paying your bills.  Me?  I like money.

4) Submit regularly.

This is what I’m most guilty of – not submitting regularly.

Regular submissions build “momentum” and whether you believe it or not, every agency requires new images to make the top money.  Some people will say “I haven’t submitted in 2 years and my income has stayed exactly the same.”  Yes, well … mine’s gone UP every year so maintaining is not good enough.  You need to submit new images to play this game.  Period.

You have two choices to submit images – all at once bulk or as you go.  I’ve tested both methods many times.  Momentum and consistent uploading beats bulk uploading to death every. single. time.

5) Spend time preparing for your shoot.  Educate yourself.

Whether you’re shooting 20 models in the studio or a chunk of chicken on a plate, preparing your ideas, shoot plan, etc. will help you make more money.  Research what sells.  Learn about your market and what buyers are looking for. The more information you have and the more you see in your mind’s eye what you want to produce, the more money you will make and the easier that money will come to you.

I’m sure there are literally 100s of ways to make more money in microstock but these are 5 of my favorite tips to quickly improve your earnings.  Have tips?  Comment!  As always, I’ll reply.

Alamy has one of the most creative ways to manage your images in pseudonyms.  I wish all agencies had a program like this!

A pseudonym is the name under which you sell your images and which will be credited by customers. You may use your own name or create one or more pseudonyms to represent and brand your collection.

Your approved images can all be under your own name or they can be under a name you create to represent a specific collection.

AlamyRank is calculated per pseudonym NOT for your entire profile.  A new pseudonym is given a “median” rank until the actual rank is established.

Why use a pseudonym?

I’m going to start using one basically the moment I push publish on this post.  I have always just used my name but I have done enough research now to think I want to try it.  Under a pseudonym, your group of images can be theme or type related.  I have done model shooting in the past, fractals and illustrations, now mostly food.  Whatever I am shooting gets lumped into one big pile.

Well, with pseudonyms, I can separate those piles.  I can use my food photography site name (StartingtoCook) for my food photography and keep my name for model work.  I can also separate out the illustration and fractal work which sells less and give that it’s own pile.  If it sells there, it sells, but I’m strengthening the main collection of model work and strengthening the food work by branding it.  Because of AlamyRank, having them lumped together gives me a lower rank for every image.

Alamy rank is Views / Clicks + Sales.  So if you have 100 views, 2 clicks and 2 sales, your AR is 25.  If you have 1000 views, 5 clicks and 2 sales your AR would be 100.  You do want views – but you really want clicks and sales, too.

Ranks are calculated every 100 days using the previous 300 days data.  What you don’t want is 20,000 views, 1 click and 1 sale.   (Alamy explains their ranking system VERY clearly – better than anyone – here.)

Another great reason to use a pseudonym is for managing your RF and RM collections.  Put your RF under one name, RM under another and it’s easier to track usage using Google’s image search.

How do I use a pseudonym?

1. Go to My Alamy.
2. Under “Organise images”, click “Manage images”.
3. In the top menu, click “Defaults and pseudonyms”.
4. Create, delete and set default pseudonyms.

I visit Google Images everyday of the week.  Often, it’s to find my images in use and create tear sheets.  Today I logged in and saw a new message that I’m not sure was there before.

http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi

New! Now you can use an image to start your Google search.

Learn more, or try it now by dragging one of these images into the search box above.

Note: some of these posts are old and contain outdated info, especially about defunct agencies or software that is no longer leading edge.  Please use these for the info contained but be careful about the dates.

So You Want to Shoot Microstock

Top 10 About the First 10 – getting accepted at Shutterstock, iStock, etc.

List of the Top 20, er … 19 Microstock Agencies

Preparing Our Next Shoot

Categories Cheat Sheet

List of Rejection Reasons

How Not to Make Money at Microstock

Speed Editing, Intro

Speed Editing, Part 1

The Long Tail Part 1

The Long Tail Part 2

The Long Tail Part 3

Don’t forget to check out the new book by Steve Heap – Making Money in Stock Photography

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 – it’s been done.  Why would someone pay their businesses money for images they can also so easily acquire? if you have that many options, you can find a cheap, cheap image.  On a subscription site, they can get fresh, new temple images every single day.

2) Shoot stuff within 10 feet of your computer, your computer, someone holding a computer or an isolated person on white.

Just for fun one day search isolated man on Shutterstock or iStock.  Record the number of images.  Do that same search for a week.  When you get the point, you’ll get the point.  You are NOT going to make serious money shooting the same images as everyone else.

3) Make sure you upload everything at once.

As long as you upload everything at once you’ll dominate ONE page of a search result. That’s great for … a few days. Then what?  Uploading everything at once is a bad strategy for maximizing a shoot.  Although you dominate “most recent” for a moment, the effect goes away and your own photos bury your own photos, creating less chance of any one image gaining traction/sales.

4) Upload EVERYTHING from a shoot.

Definitely do this if you do NOT want to make a lot of money in stock.  I know – you want a lot of images online.  Right.  However… think about this scenario:

• You upload 2 images and they sell 20 times.  They reaches higher levels of income on some sites for you.  This produces more income.
• You upload 10 images and they all sell 2 times. They all always sell for the minimum.  Even if they all sell 3 times, the income is lower than above. Even if they all sell FIVE times the income is lower.  Get the idea?

5) Never test out a microstock site for what works and what doesn’t.

It’s a really good idea to just shoot, upload and forget it .  If you don’t want to make money, I mean.  If your approval percent helps search results on one site and not another, wouldn’t it make sense to increase it where possible?  If categorizing helps you on a site, never do that … that’s the sure way to get more exposure.

6) Whatever you do, don’t learn about the industry.  No MicrostockGroup for you.

Education is really bad for you if you want to not make money. The easiest way to not make money is to stay in the dark about how others are successfully earning a living at this career.

7) Under no circumstances are you to upload regularly and create momentum.

Momentum is the bane of microstock photographers. It can make or break you, especially at sites like Shutterstock (which gain momentum) or Dreamstime (where new images take awhile to season in and consistently uploading means consistently selling.)  Momentum can help you make the most money in micro so absolutely do not gain any momentum or you’re going to make more than you want.

There you have it – the top tips for NOT making money at microstock.  Have fun and remember not to shoot anything today!

In my “spare time” I run a food blog/website. It used to be more blog and now it’s more site.  Hard to explain.

Anyway. I decided to create a page to allow food blog readers to license my food photography.  The most interesting part of the project was choosing a vendor to sell my images through.  Do I choose Shutterstock and their subscription model? iStock where almost none of my images actually reside?  Maybe Dreamstime because I like their site really well even though I wish I could get paid more there?

I actually chose d) none of the above.

What do you want in a site you license your images from?

When I license my own images directly I am looking for 3 things:

1. A fair commission rate.  Even if iStock had my entire portfolio I wouldn’t license from them. 15%, sustainable business model, all that garbage. I’m not into that. I want something upwards of 30%+ and preferably 50% since oh, it’s my work?
2. A decent price. Sure, I don’t mind selling images for pennies. But if there are sites where I can make dollars, I’d rather use them.
3. No categories. Easy upload. Fair reviews. I want to get a ton of images online as quickly as possible to make all those dollars at 50%.

That’s really all I am looking for.  Maybe a good watermark to protect my images, embedding with a referral code would be even better. Anything else?

So who did I choose?

There were a few agencies in the running for this.

• Alamy – great prices, good commission and most of my food images are already there.
• 3d Studio – decent pricing, good commission, easy referral links. Almost all my images are there, too.
• Cutcaster – good prices, good commissions, love supporting newer/smaller sites.
• GraphicLeftovers – good prices, good commissions, also a newer great site to support.

In the end, I chose to license my images through GraphicLeftovers.  While all of the other sites were great options, I love everything about GL and want to help make it a success story.  You can see my new licensing page at StartingtoCook – Licensing food images.

For tabletop work, I’d love to own some Lowel EGO lights but they’re pricey.  Instead, I’ve started creating my own using this link from BS in the Kitchen.

Whenever I do food photography, I use reflectors.  For that, you could just buy a reflector off BH Photo or Ebay but I make my own, too.  These are pizza box tops covered in aluminum foil. I’ve also used some cereal boxes (they stand on their own) and small instant oatmeal sized boxes and covered them as well.  I have almost any size reflector I need, now.  My biggest is a single sheet of foamboard covered in tin foil on one side and white on the other – dual use!

Snoots and grids are also very easy with DIY materials.  One of my friends, Leann, wrote an article awhile ago about DIY snoots and you can get that black foamie stuff at either Amazon, Joann’s or Walmart – if your Walmart has a craft section still. This is the same lady who was featured on Strobist for her coroplast grid tutorial after the elections.

Lately, my favorite DIY lighting product has been the stick and a can from Pro Photo Life.  He uses mirrors and a silver posterboard for some reflection as well.  You can see the results as he shoots in the video.  The same guy shows off his own DIY setup here.

Want one more?  If you’re fairly handy you can make a DIY beauty dish for a speedlight for under $20.  The full plans can be found on the WeeklyPhotoTips blog.

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 help you much.

If you run your own photo business along with microstock (as I do) or you have a microstock selling site (such as Todd’s at http://www.arenacreative.com) then yes, SEO will help you.  If you have a business outside of photography, yes I’ll look at it.

Is SEO something you can do on your own?  Absolutely!  If you understand it well you probably don’t need PhotoSEO.  If you don’t, you may want to consider where you rank now vs. where you would like to be.

—-

For the “can he do this?” record, NiltoMil is the 3rd ranked microstock blog behind the uber-popular MicrostockDiaries and a blog called “Microstock blog” – hard to beat!  My own wedding sites were regularly on every search in Syracuse for wedding photographers (most still are) and my Melbourne wedding photography site is already starting to rank for some keywords. PhotoSEO and my food blog also regularly rank for their relevant searches.