This month I haven’t been perfect about my work but I’ve been better.  I’m already over $630 for the month and will expect to finish near $670.  Once I clear $645, I’m at my second best month ever.  I guess it’s a good time to mention BME is $789.84   I will definitely pass that in September.

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?

Yes!  Things are definitely picking up here at N2M!  It feels great to be doing this job and working hard to make the income I’ve always wanted from it!

July and August were a time of transition.  If you remember, I made $790 and BME in March.  Since then, I’ve  moved out of my house, moved to Maine, restarted my wedding & portrait business AND tried to do stock full time.  Something had to give and as always it was stock.  It plummeted to the point where I made 600 then 500 and last month a very low $461.91.

This month is the exact opposite.  I skipped 500 and 600 on the way back up, though.  I plan to be WELL over $700 again this month, maybe even $800 and if luck and fate smile on me, I will reach $1k next month.  Momentum is building and I can feel my life shifting!

Shutterstock is already way over last month ($50+), 123RF is already ahead of last month, Dreamstime is WAY ahead of last month… It’s going to be a heck of a finish to August!

BRING IT ON September!

The next step in my process is to start approaching businesses locally and trying to work on some commercial projects while also shooting some micro.  Has anyone done this?  How did you approach them?  (Flyer, in person, both, phone, email?)

Ultimately, I would really like to start shooting food for restaurants – they prep, I shoot.  Win-win for both of us.

Restaurant/commercial food photography seems like it would be a very interesting occupation as I keep shooting my own personal food photography.  I just need to figure out how I’m going to approach them and meet their needs as well as mine.

That’s the next step.  I’m currently working hard submitting as well as trying to restart my wedding & portrait business in Portland, Maine ( http://www.bestdayphoto.com )

I also  have 20 pending to iStock, again.  I’m following through on my promise to keep submitting there.  Next: Alamy.

I’m looking for guest bloggers on a couple of topics.? I’ll keep this short.

- graphic designers, microstock buyers – what are you looking for, what’s the thought process, frustrations, etc.

- agency heads for interview style posts – bring your own agenda. Want to talk about DT keyword flags? Your new site?? Lemme know!

- iStock exclusivity – why, how, etc.? I know a lot of people, some very successful, use this method. Why don’t the rest?? Will we eventually?

- web gurus: how? can photographers market themselves on their own sites or do it better?? Hotlinking to our own images?? Are there solutions to do this entirely within our own branding?? And not cart-style like Photocart?

I’d love to have you!? I get: one exclusive? post to be posted here on N2M.? I reserve the right to edit and you reserve the right to remove the entire article if you don’t like my edit.? You get: link back to your own site, blog, portfolio, agency, etc. in the post.

Guest blogging is a great way to gain exposure and market yourself. As most of us bloggers? know Problogger loves guest blogging too.

During the last few months one of my major goals has been to shoot more food photography.? I am really interested in the subject, I enjoy all aspects of it, and I think I can do it well (eventually).

So my past few months have been focused on learning – studying food photos, “becoming” a foodie, learning styling techniques – I never wanted to jump straight into food but rather be a food person who knew how to photograph.? I’ve been studying food, food photos, collecting recipes, deciding on what I want to focus on. In learning to “be” a food stylist/chef? you learn about presentation.

Thus my thought for the moment – become involved in the shots you want to shoot.? You shoot sports?? Go PLAY sports more – referee for the kid leagues, shoot hoops more at the park and watch more games.? See how the pros present sports.? You want to shoot business people?? Get deeper into business – meet with SCORE, talk about business planning and attend a seminar so you can see how someone has designed their speech.? Desire to shoot more animals & nature?? Interact – get out there, follow wildlife, hunt (with or without the gun), track animals – learn their behaviors.

— Related tangent —

When I first started learning to be a wedding photographer I listened to everything wedding photographers said. Advertising, marketing, sales, websites, SEO, photography & lighting, everything!? Eventually it dawned on me that photographers were good at making images.? I should learn advertising from an advertising specialist.? I no longer pay much attention to wedding photographers when they speak on subjects other than booking or shooting weddings.? The thought is very similar to what I’m talking about above.? Learn to be great at your subject – not just aware of it.

Sometimes when I want to shoot something I just pull it up, shoot it, wonder why it doesn’t sell.? I think the main reason is because someone else understands the subject while I just wanted a good photo of it.? Can I take good photos?? Yes.? Absolutely!? I shot models for years – and then I realized that because I don’t enjoy it all that much, the images weren’t high-class.? I can shoot well enough but the connection wasn’t there.? The question is – how involved are you in the shoot?

It doesn’t make sense for a city-dweller to go shoot cows and barns.? It doesn’t make sense for a sporty jock to shoot ballet.? Who are YOU and what can you shoot better than everyone else?

Let me quote myself.

I am not going to stick around and pretend to be something I?m not.? Too many people set goals and fail to reach them, yet still continue the journey unfazed.? I often share my experiences and ideas in hopes of helping you.? If I can?t help myself first, I can?t help you.

If I fail to reach both goals (10k images, $25k for the year) by 12/31/09, NiltoMil.com will close for good whether I continue to shoot microstock or not.

At this point in the year it is obvious that I will not reach 10k approved images OR $25,000 this year.

I am modifying what I wrote above.? I am not going to destroy or delete Nil. I am going to stop posting earnings, stop posting ideas until they are working better.? I AM going to keep Nil up for the archives and the posts that often get referenced.? I AM going to continue to put up posts of interest to me – whether that’s of interest to anyone else or not.? My journey will continue.

I need to help myself first.? I need to figure out the steps I should be taking to reach my goal? and when I do, I’ll be back full force with the full effort I can give Nil.? Until then, expect sporadic updates on what I’m doing, how stock is going and what I am trying to do to improve.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank our new NiltoMil sponsor, Corbis for supporting NiltoMil and helping us along the journey.? I don’t factor any advertising earnings into my quest for $1,000,000 but I do appreciate the boost and wanted to thank them publicly.

Many of you know but some may not – Corbis has transformed SnapVillage into the Veer Marketplace.? Veer looks great – my images have been transferred and I await the results now.? I hope to see some movement there soon.? Keep an eye on my Veer chart for the results.

Thanks again Corbis!

Ah June.? Smells of bbq, flowers and sales worth dog poop.

As always my chart (which was done on the 1st btw!) is here.? And for Lee who is self-proclaimed lazy, I’m posting a June chart:

The work … well … let’s see.? For the month I started strong and have had a terrible last two weeks.? I had some personal stuff come up that has interfered with “work.”? I would say for the month I did about 4 days of uploading at about 2? hrs a day so 8 hrs of work.? My income increased from last month by $47 and I earned a total of $455.02. I did no shooting for stock in June and added only about 160 new images to my galleries.? That’s consistent with the time I think I put in.? So my income increased slightly on very little work.? Eh.

Two BME’s – StockXpert continues to burn up the charts, continuing in 3rd on my charts behind only SS and DT.? CutCaster also earned $4.02 breaking the previous high of $3.19.? Heh.?? Other notes: Canstock had another Fotosearch DL, the 5th one in 5 months.? I like that.? I have many non-earners that may get permanently removed very soon.

At the halfway point of the year I think it’s important to take a look at where I am.

I’m not shooting enough.
I’m not editing enough.
I’m not uploading enough.

That about sums it up – decent return for almost no work I’ve done but wow, ok.? I am done playing around now.

My upload strategy of late has been momentum.? I think if we upload consistently rather than doing Power Week then nothing, we’re going to be better with sales and have a better acceptance ratio.? So far that has proven to be true.? I am now almost a full week into this consistent strategy and what I’m finding is that sales on SS, DT and SXP are rising.? Fotolia always takes awhile and BSP/123RF don’t sell enough to notice trends yet.? This consistent approach is also good for my portfolio.? Let’s take a look at where I was/am as an update.

• Shutterstock 1/1 – 1441
• Shutterstock 6/7 – 2395




• Dreamstime 1/1 – 1570
• Dreamstime 6/7 – 2346




• Fotolia 1/1 – 646
• Fotolia 6/7 – 1696




• StockXpert 1/1 – 1365
• StockXpert 6/7 – 2758




• Bigstock 1/1 – 1540
• Bigstock 6/7 – 2857

5 full months of uploading has nearly doubled my gallery on many sites, +700 or 900 new images on many other sites.? However, I’m nowhere near where I need to be on images, sales or earnings to get what I want.? So this change, along with some other new things I will be doing, will hopefully get me closer to goal.

So from now on, I’m uploading 25 a day 5 days a week, every week.? I think 500 new approved images a month is going to have to be a “good enough” goal.? If I can manage that, by the end of this year I will have 3500 new images or over 5000 on every site (except IS of course!)

Another goal that will happen this month – I’m adding at least a couple batches to DeepMeta for Istock, submitting more to Fotolia and trying to create some images that may sell better than things I have now.? We need to improve out quality to keep up with the best in this business!

I learned a huge lesson in the last 3 months. That lesson:

“Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort.” – Charles Givens

What I mean to say, exactly, is that stock is a momentum game. The more quality images you upload, the more people visit your gallery and thus the more sales you have overall. The first bit of starting requires a harder push than later on but you must start and (here’s the lesson of the day) KEEP GOING.

I’ve watched the downloads of several major contributors this month and last. They nearly always are consistently uploading. Image totals go up here and there and the contributors continue to be successful. Another thing I did was watch a few contributors with totals near mine. Some went up, some did not.? For the most part these type of users make up the majority of active contributors – those who are basically spinning their wheels.? The last group needs no monitoring.? They are the contributors who submit a few times, don’t make $10,000 and go away never to be heard from again.

I’m concerned only with the group that uses momentum in its favor.? This group uploads consistently, 50-200 images? a week almost every week.? This group also seems to make most of the money in microstock.

So what is it that keeps the momentum going?? What keeps a contributor going?? I think they are obsessed.? One of my favorite quotes ever is by John Irving.? He said the secret to business was “You’ve got to GET obsessed and STAY obsessed.”? Many start there – how do? you continue your obsession?? What makes you enjoy the business?

Recently I was away for a few months, reconsidering what I wanted to do in microstock.? Over the summer last year I lost my momentum and it really hurt my sales and my mood.? I have in the last few weeks been kicking it back into gear.? It’s time to run again.? I am obsessed with microstock again.? I want to learn, move forward, WIN.? I want to hit goals, hit higher ones and hit ones so high I have to reset them all.? I am officially OBSESSED with microstock and it’s time to get back to good.? I’m not going to let summer stop me this time.? I am shooting again, editing again, uploading again – with more consistency and less “flurry.”? Powerweeks work against me – that’s figured out.? Moving forward in a consistent manner is the goal.? We shall see!

Thanks for reading – I really appreciate all of you guys.? Leave me a comment and I’ll stop by to see what you’ve been working on too!