I recently had a question from a reader. She asked, “I was introduced to iSyndica through a friend, and was wondering if that would be a tool to use to help me grow my stock photography business”. So I had to go over and surf around for awhile to find out what iSyndica is all about.

I love sites like iSyndica because as a photographer, they make your job easier. They take away the difficulties of having to go and do the same functions again and again on multiple sites. But of course there is a price to pay – you have to pay for the ability to accomplish more in less time.

The best way to start testing is to start with their 14 day free trial. That gets you into the backend system so you can start uploading your images, and seeing how the backend works. Sign up when you can really use the 14 day free trial to its fullest potential.

From there, the program itself is reasonably priced. Their top package is just $150 a year, and if you’re planning on making a living as a full time stock photographer, that’s a small price to pay for effective time management. Start small, and upgrade as you find the system more useful, and you start reaching your limits. Upgrades take place almost immediately, so you can change based on your needs.

Once you have your account, you can upload and manage all of your photos. You can upload and manage in large batches, and begin grouping items to help you better organize your content. Keyword, adding descriptions, and even spell checking are all there to make sure you have your content organized to quickly feed it into the appropriate stock house.

ISyndica has over 50 distribution channels to select from, so you can easily find your favorite and most profitable stock houses online, and quickly feed your best images to them. You can also manage your accounts and add things like model releases as necessary.

Every account comes with a certain amount of credits. These credits are used as you submit your information to a stock house. ISyndica does it right here by allowing you to buy more if you need them during the month, and allows you to bank them if you don’t. Use only what you need without worrying about losing what you’ve already purchased. This is great if you are off shooting or doing other production work for a month, and simply don’t have the time to upload.

The reporting feature is also well thought out. The more you use the system and the higher plan you choose, the more frequent you’ll receive access to your reports. Track what stock houses are working the best, and quickly assess where you should be spending your time. And if you use Firefox as your browser, the statistics bar is a great feature to keep you up to date all through your day.

Thinking of using iSyndica? I give it a thumbs up. The more efficient you can be with the business and selling side of things, the more time you’ll have to devote to what you truly love – your photography.