Images are going up now – mostly stuff I’ve shot in the past because we’re moving and my photo stuff is packed.? I am working on submitting older images.? I know they won’t sell quite the way I want but honestly I need to start getting momentum back and start submitting, get into all the right habits and patterns, etc.

Once we get moved a lot of our work is going to be focused on fixing up the house, prepping the new studio locations, shooting some new images, and so on.? I hope to get a bunch of great images from the move but who knows what will happen when we actually get moving.? I don’t want to be the slacker who’s taking photos while my friends & family lift boxes.

So going forward – momentum, new submissions, new imagery, a solid approach to the new 2010.

Lookstat offers a trial of their new keywording & uploading back office services.? 25 images will be uploaded to up to 10 sites for no charge, no strings, no payment info given.

Now, before anyone asks, you do have to provide your microstock site credentials.? If you aren’t comfortable with providing this to a service provider you need read no further.? Understandably, you’re not going to be interested in this service.? That’s the first stage of getting setup.

Onto my trial!

I ftp’d the 25 images to Lookstat and a few days later started getting confirmation of the accepted and denied images.? I did nothing much in the middle except look at the keywords and approve them.? While in this step you can update, add, remove, change anything you want.? They did a pretty good job on mine though and I didn’t change a lot.

For me, the trial went extremely well.? The images were uploaded, they were almost entirely approved and the rejections were for image stuff not keywords or model releases.

The PROS

Most of the non-creative work taken care of for you.

Better keywording than you probably do on your own.

More time to be shooting & editing.

The CONS

Cost – contact Lookstat for details but it’s not the cheapest service.

Time – the ramp-up time killed me. FTPd the files, waited…waited…then started seeing them.

Handing over credentials – some people will find this a major con.? I don’t, but …

Doing 10 sites for me meant that I had to do the rest on my own – which means either waiting longer to get the keyworded images to sub to my other sites.

Conclusions: Am I going to do it?

For now, no.? During our wedding offseason I’m full time at stock so I have all the time in the world now to edit, keyword, upload and push images through.? This is MY job for the next 6-8 months.? Unfortunately once weddings start in June I will lose all the momentum I build this winter.? I may use Lookstat then to keep uploading for me.? The more images I can get edited between now and June the better, no matter how many I can keyword and edit.? I’m still going to shoot to do as much as I can but it feels really great knowing there’s some backup to keep my flow going.

I encourage any Q&A in the comments – I know Rahul reads them and will respond.? I would love for him to jump in and explain the ramp-up time better than I can as well as anything else he’d like!

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’d like to address something – the time I spend on microstock.? I think some people who read this blog are slightly confused about me slaving away and getting nowhere.

In July, I added 15 new images to my sites.? That means I worked on it for under 1 hour in July.? I made $500 in July.

In June, I added 150 new images.? About 4 hours of work.? I also made $450.? I’ve now in 2 months made $950 on 5 hours of work.

In May, I added 160 new images.? About 4 more hours of work.? Made $400.

Grand total: $1400 while doing 9 hours of work.

What I need to do in order to increase my earnings is actually work on microstock.? I do need to continue improving – I’m just really starting my second year of being a stock photographer.? I need to upload with momentum – that’s proven very successful.? But I’m not sitting here day after day churning out work that isn’t selling.? I’m just simply not putting in the time.

Why?

Our studio has 4 photographers, we’re currently hiring 2 more and we’re going to do between 40 and 50 weddings this year combined.? We’ll likely do another 150 portraits and next year will come close to 70 weddings/250 portraits.? Our wedding and portrait business has brought in over $100k each year for the last 2 and will do so this year and next as well.? I am also in the midst of building a studio management software for photographers that will track clients, billing, orders, calendaring, expenses/taxes, and task management.? It’s a huge project but one I love doing.

All that to say, don’t cry for me, Argentina.? I’m here, I’m going to continue working on micro when I can.? Right now I’m being torn in 3 directions and this one is the least of my issues.

Speed Editing, Intro

We have examined our workflow many times over the last year in an attempt to gain speed without sacrificing a bit of quality.? The first step in that process is always difficult and time consuming but ultimately necessary and extremely beneficial.

Our first step is to create an awareness of our current situation and workflow.

What steps do you take in order to go from image in camera to image on site?

I would suggest that while there are other steps to many photographer’s workflows, the following covers all of the bases and is a starting point to use.

1. Download the cards to your computer.
2. Backup the original files.
3. Choose the images to edit.
4. Edit the keeper images.
5. Keyword the keeper images and add title/description IPTC data.
6. Upload the images.
7. Backup the edited images.
   
8. Push the images on each site to completion.

Downloading Cards

Normally the download of cards happens while you do something else, such as drink coffee, watch tv, reply to email.? So most people are not concerned with download speed.? If you are trying to absolutely maximize your potential you will care but normally it will not matter much.? Start with a Sandisk ImageMate card reader or a firewire reader.? These are the two fastest options and will pull images from your cards very quickly.

Backup Originals

We prefer to backup our files to two external 1 TB harddrives.? As professional photographers both in microstock and wedding/portrait fields, we know that it is of ULTIMATE importance that we have these originals.? DVD backups fail? more often, period.? However you backup, however, just make sure you do it.? Some photographers never backup or only do it “every so often.”? Bad habits breed problems.? Backup the same day you download, every single time.

Choose the Keepers

I prefer Adobe Lightroom for this step.? If you have it, use it here.? If you do not, you have to look at your current time and make a decision about the speed you are getting.? Four clear choices exist for culling images from the rest.? Adobe Lightroom, ACDSee, Aperture and PhotoMechanic.?? Whichever you are using, sorting the wheat from the chaff is going to be one of the most time consuming steps so measure your time here carefully.

Edit the Keepers

Photoshop, Gimp, PSP – these are your main editing tools for this, of course.? Use what is familiar.? Do not try to use Lightroom for the bulk of stock editing.? The detail required in noise removal, sharpening and simple spot editing requires Photoshop to be open.? Even though I am a Lightroom LOVER, it’s going to slow you down in the editing stage.? Stick to single image editing programs.

Add Keyword/IPTC data

I prefer to use CushyStock as my keywording/IPTC editor.? It is simple, fast and helps me do bulk images very quickly.? I’ll be exploring this more in detail soon.? Whether you use Lightroom, ACDSee, CushyStock or ProStockMaster, you should have a bulk IPTC tool for simple series labeling.? Photoshop is *not* the right tool for this job.? It does the job, but it’s not the right tool.? You can use a rock to pound nails in too, but a hammer is more efficient.

Upload the images

Again, because I use CushyStock, I’m sticking in it for this step as well.? Once the images are keyworded, set them to upload and you’re done for now.? This part of the process on 50 images does take some time but a bulk upload tool or FTP program will help you immensely not to have to monitor it for each agency.

Backup the edited images

Do this step here, now.? Once the images are headed online, back them up.? If you do it before adding keyword data you can obviously understand what a mess that would be if you lost the images and had to re-keyword them.? Do it after upload because once an FTP has started they can safely be backed up.? If you backup and then start uploading you can cause conflicts which cause either the backup or the upload to fail.? Doing it in this order is computer-preferable.? Again, we obviously recommend double harddrives.

Push the images on each site

I’m not sure what most people call this step.? Completing?? We call it “pushing” because you’re giving the images one final PUSH toward review.? You need to do whatever it is each site requires to complete the process of uploading once the images have been FTP’d.

Some photographers would add things to their workflow such as tracking accepted images, etc. but realistically these are not part of the workflow that gets your images on a site.? Stick to the basics for now.? Download, backup, cull, edit, keyword, upload, push.? That’s it, that’s all stock is at its basics.

That leads us to stage 2 of improving our workflow for speed.

How long does your current workflow take?

In measuring the time it takes to do your workflow we must have a basis for comparison.? I would suggest that a batch of 50 images is a good standard.? Why 50?? Shutterstock’s full page is 50.? Dreamstime upload limits for anyone under 80% is usually 50 and StockXpert used to be 50 and is now 25, or 2 days of transfer.? It’s a nice round number for figuring out percents as well, as half of 100.

Do this: time every step for your next 50 images.? Separate 50 images you want to do the process to and mark it.? Here’s a guide from my last 50.

1. 3 minutes (2.5 gb, 481 originals) to download.
   
2. 1 minute (2.5 gb to 2 external HDs) to backup drives
   
3. 28 minutes to sort 112 keepers from 481 originals.
   
4. 63 minutes to edit 50 of the keeper images.
   
5. 37 minutes to keyword and IPTC 50 images.
   
6. 1 minute setup (50 images to 14 sites).
   
7. 1 minute setup (50 images) to backup drives.
   
8. 9 sites pushed in 35 minutes, 3 sites remain undone (FT, DT and BSP).

My total from the last 50 edited images, 169 minutes.? Of this, the 28 minutes to sort really gave me 112 not 50 usable images so it counts for about 12 of the 28 minutes for just this batch.? It will take me slightly longer than 1 hour to finish FT, DT and BSP? pushes.? So in roughly 4 hours of work I uploaded 50 new images start to finish.

So get an idea where you are – that’s all for now and I’ll come back later with tips on speeding up, where I save time, where I lose time, and what programs we can use for everything we do.

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!

Ok, I know Powerweek was over awhile ago and I haven’t written.? To be honest I needed time to think about my next steps.

Here’s what happened

I submitted 550 images in 4 days.? Easily enough to beat the 700 in 7 days mark.? The “fail” for Powerweek v3 was our image quality.? On day 4, we had a BUNCH of images reviewed across many sites.? And the results were absolutely terrible.? Not my editing, not my keywording – but I had 4000 trip images to sort through and many were unusable at 100%.? I hadn’t noticed that while culling in Lightroom but upon closer inspection I knew it was going to be a hard week.

The second major issue we ran into was overdoing it.? Honestly it’s not a great idea to submit 1000 images in one week.? You lose the benefits of continued growth and spread as well as you “feed the beast” once instead of continually, which results in another loss for you.

1) My process ARE better.? I could easily edit and key MORE images than I should rationally submit in a week.? I like that.

2) I still need to get more new images up – we had several shoots since Powerweek which has kept me busy and one of our major goals is to improve our photography dramatically in the next 12 months.? I definitely think that will help all around.

3) Our trip images were not what we needed.? We had a great time, I’ve sorted through and picked another 1200 or so we can use but overall the images themselves were iffy at best and not very good stock.? Lesson learned.

What’s Next?

I think my next goal will not be a Powerweek but a Growth Month.? I would love to grow our gallery fast still.? I think a better way than 700 in a week and 150 for the rest of the month would be 50 new images uploaded 3 times per week.? 150 new images a week for a year is not enough but I can add some in whenever possible to add to that.? I still want 10k up by the end of this year although I’m not certain I will close N2M if I do not, given our new education.

I still need – I still hunger.? I have to work on my lessons and what is next for us.

WHOA!? If you’ve read NiltoMil for any longer than 1 day you already know I’m all about speed, workflow and making things simple for us, especially across the smaller sites where it’s not necessarily worth our while to upload unless it’s dead easy.? Well I have had the opportunity to try Canstock‘s new bulk upload tool and I’m impressed!

According to Duncan, who is obviously still running things over at CSP after their buyout by Fotosearch, the main benefits of the bulk upload tool include:

• You do not need to categorize images; they will do that for you
• Model releases can be applied in a batch, with a page of 100 images at a time
• Added the ability to?upload a photo of each model, for quick identification when selecting releases
• Images can be submitted a page at a time, instead of one at a time
• The interface is faster than ever

According to Matt, me, I had 1400 images backlogged from Canstock because I wasn’t uploading over the last few months.? I uploaded them all one day accidentally forgetting that I had 7 days to get them done.? Canstock came to the rescue by letting me use this bulk tool to finish.? In the first 5 days I’d managed to finish about 400 images in 6 hours.? Once I started using the bulk tool I finished just over 1000 images in 90 minutes!

The bulk uploader is still in beta, but you can activate it on your account in the meantime by going to http://www.canstockphoto.com/beta/

Why am I uploading to? Canstock?? Sales have been crazy-good.? Wait for the end of month but I’ve sold more this month than in the last 6 months put together.? Add in the new $19.80 Fotosearch Sales (which I’m still waiting for …) and it makes sense.? If you bother to upload to anyone after the top 6 you should now include Canstock Photo again.

Most bloggers in microstock are very polite, respectful and friendly to everyone.?? I try to be the same but there are some times and some issues that push my buttons and I think it’s appropriate to respond to issues that come up.? I would like to say that I will talk to, help and work with any agency that wants to listen.? On the other hand, I don’t feel bad for the agencies that get upset by criticism and don’t change.

(Short version: I’m going to bust some chops.? Don’t like it, fix it.)

• Categories – I would love to know the stats on images bought through categories vs. keywords.? Are these seriously necessary?
• Shutterstock refusing to update the photographer side of the site (views, easy image management, etc).
• Banning & removing contributors for having differing opinions on how things should work.
• Fotolia flat out changing the rules mid-stream without telling anyone ALL THE TIME.
• Flat sales in a down economy – this is when we should be picking up new business partners for life.
• 123RF‘s negative review wording “bad this” “poor that” “Snapshot” – ack!
• Editorial captioning rules that are ridiculous – and this includes almost every site that allows editorial images.
• Some sites show off work on their main page that has blown highlights, poor lighting, and looks awful.? It wouldn’t be accepted if you submitted it today – don’t show it off!
• Submission processes that take too long: IStock, Fotolia and several smaller sites – I’m talking to you.? This is a time-oriented business.? Make it FAST for us.
• Small sites that promise to do things different and get no sales.? Ever.? That’s not different.? That’s the same if you’re a small site.? Here’s a hint: photographers + images + sales = more of all of the above.? Thousands of images with no buyers, thousands of buyers with few images – neither works.? Stop trying to do it overnight and BUILD your site.
• Inconsistency.? I subbed 50 to a site and 45 were rejected.? I resubmitted in anger the same exact 45 with *no* changes and 43 were accepted.? Please. Fix. This.
• Make things easy – how many times do I have to repeat this on the list for stock sites to get it?? Not just submissions – make getting our money easy, make resubbing for missing model releases easy, make updating an image data easy. (thank you Bigstock for nailing this!)
• If I submitted an image 3 years ago and I have better PS skills now, allow me to replace the image with a better upload without losing all my stats, views, etc.
• Sites without FTP annoy me.
• Great looking/usable sites without views/sales/revenue – what IS that?? You have the site right.? Just sell.? If you can’t sell, close the business.? This business is ALL sales.
• Get rid of images 4+ years old with no sales.

Okay I’m done for now.? Please feel free to comment, wish me luck in my next career…(laughing), etc.? Someone has to say it.

The most time consuming part of the uploading/pushing in microstock is categorizing images on certain microstock websites.? The worst offenders are Dreamstime, Bigstock, Fotolia, and Shutterstock.? Categorizing takes time and the more time you spend, the less you are earning per hour.

I use two methods to ensure I spend as little time on categories as possible.? The first is to know the categories on each site.? The second is to “type” categories rather than mouse to them.

Know Categories

The first thing you need is a list of categories on each site.? I’ve saved you a LOT of time and put together a canononical list of categories on these four sites.

Download the list here

It’s a printable word document (four pages) that lists every category and subcategory on each site.

Type Categories

Bigstock

Click the first category and close it.? Type the first letter of the main category until you reach the one you want.? Tab, then type the first letter of the sub category.? For instance, Objects > Over White = O Tab O.? People > Men = P Tab M.? When you’ve finished the first category press tab again to go to the second and repeat through all three categories.? When you get quick at this you should be able to do all three categories much faster than clicking directly on them.

Dreamstime

Dreamstime gives us a bit of a headache for a couple of reasons.? First, many categories start with the same letter.? Industry, IT&C, Illustrations…? So what we do to save time is click to open the first category, click the first letter of the main category then simply scroll and click the right subcategory.? Not as time-saving as the rest but effective nonetheless.? Unfortunately because the categories are “all in one” on Dreamstime, there’s no simpler way.

Fotolia

Simply put there is no fast way to categorize at Fotolia.? I *ABHOR* categorizing here.? I put it off for so long.? If you have been watching my charts you know that I made a real “job” of Fotolia last month and added over 1000 new images!? I simply had that many stored up from not doing them.? THE most important part of categorizing at Fotolia is knowing the categories.? Please refer to the chart often and make it as fast as possible.

Shutterstock

The terms of service at Shutterstock include categories and descriptions so I’ve included them on the list above.? They are the best to type other than Bigstock.? I do end up tabbing a LOT though – but for me it’s faster.? To type categories, open & close the first one as you did with Bigstock.? Now type the first letter until you get the category you want.?? (ie. A = Abstract, AA = Animals/Wildlife, T=Technology, TH or TT = The Arts, TR or TTT = Transportation)? Note – Shutterstock includes “VECTORS” as a category on their list but this category doesn’t actually exist.? I included it because they did.

After the first category, press tab.? Now type the second category.? Press tab (space if you need to check the first box), tab (space if you need to check the second box), tab (type “I” for “I will include it now” for a model release, “E” for Editorial, no release needed) and then tab all the way to the next category on the next image.? Basically you can tab all the way through Shutterstock’s submission process and you should.? It takes you through the keywords of the second image, etc. but you will get back to categories and once you know how many tabs between each field you can easily just type your way through the form without ever once touching the mouse after the first two clicks to open and close the first category.? I can submit a batch of 50 Shutterstock in about 5 minutes or less.? I will time it soon.

Batch and Groups

I was reminded by Adelaide that one other speed tip on categories is to do bulk/recent whenever possible.? Bigstock lets you select “Import from previous image” so series’ are great there.? Dreamstime, Fotolia and IStock also allow you to do batch/bulk categories.?? Using these tools will also speed up your categorization.? Thanks for the reminder!

Ok?? Conclusions?

So that’s it.? I type my way through almost every set of categories I possibly can.? I have a cheat sheet to know what those categories are and I spend as little time doing the boring humdrum work of stock as possible.

Hope the sheet and the tips help!