Challenges,Micro Tricks & Tips,NiltoMil News,The Microstock World         1 comment

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, …

 Micro Tricks & Tips         1 comment

Google is all about content.? Forums are FULL of content.? A lot of microstock forums are full of REALLY bad ?pimping? threads – where you show off your latest ?X Topic? image.? “Show us your Red Balloons.”? Google hates those threads because a) nobody talks on them really and b) they have bad titles and no real keywords.? If you really want to ?pimp your images? on a microstock site?s forum here?s the best way I know of.
Great title
Stock images of red objects
Great text
Looking for your microstock photos of objects …

 Micro Tricks & Tips,The Microstock World         1 comment

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 …

 Micro Tricks & Tips,The Microstock World         1 comment

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 …

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This is a fantastic trick that helps your model understand the session you have planned (and helps you execute it and not get sidetracked).? Simply come up with a title for your shoot and pass it along to the model.? Maybe something that?s the title of a song, a book, a movie, something made up – whatever.? As long as you & the model are on the same page, you?ll go far.
For example – our last shoot we wanted to do a painter, artist, writer & pianist set – all …

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So, you?re using Image Manager to upload to IStock?
1) Shoot yourself in the head because it?s less painful.
2) Go to http://www.deepmeta.com and download the program.
There?s a reason I hated uploading to Istock – it was plain & simple a pain in the butt.? With a 20 per?whatever?limit, you never had a good way to know when to submit more, how many slots you had free, etc.
Deep Meta changes a LOT about the way IStock will work for me.? I can simple add images (not simple in IM – you had …

 Micro Tricks & Tips,The Microstock World         Comments Off

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 …

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We have currently setup EIGHT model shoots in the next seven days.? Tues, Wed, 2 Thurs, 2 Sat, Sun, Mon – at least.? We may end up with 9 or 10 this week.
We get our models from a couple of sources – you have to diversify how you get your models in case one place dries up/flakes/no use.
1) ModelMayhem – this site is the new OneModelPlace.? OMP is good but not free – thus a lot of models & photographers skip it, especially NEW models, the type you want.? Go …

 Micro Tricks & Tips,The Microstock World         Comments Off

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 …