Just like most other niches within the photography industry, microstock has completely changed the landscape. Instead of commanding big bucks for shoots for companies, microstock gives companies a way to buy stock images inexpensively. Yes, they aren’t original. But the low price is what brings them in and makes them stay.

Can you make money with microstock? According to a recent survey, the answer is still overwhelmingly yes. 24 percent of the people surveyed stated that microstock was the primary way they brought in income. And what may be even more exciting, the highest reported income was $900,000. Yep, close to $1 million just by selling microstock.

Many people would argue that this is just the lucky one – the one person that actually had success with it – most people will never make money at it. And I agree. But I would also argue that most people will never make money with photography either. The people that do succeed treat it like a business and work at their business every single day.

Microstock isn’t a passing fad or something that is completely over-saturated. In fact, I’m seeing a growing industry instead.

Images now are more beneficial than ever before. You see them everywhere. Yet if you’ve ever looked through a microstock house, you know there are definite winners – and definite losers.

If you photograph specialized images that focus in on specifics to one industry, you will be more successful than if you just shoot randomly. Don’t shoot without a plan. Instead, take the time to search through existing microstock houses and find out what is selling. Then use those ideas to plan out your own niche.

Once you decide to submit, who do you submit to? According to the survey, the expected sites came up at the top of the list. Shutterstock, iStockphoto, Dreamstime and Fotolia all rounded out at the top four places to submit to.

But where I was really surprised was where the most income was generated from. By far, Shutterstock was the highest grossing site, according to these microstock photographers.

So, should you move forward with microstock? Definitely, if you are ready to be an innovator in this “new” field. Yes, microstock has been around for a while now. Yet its still changing and morphing as we speak. It continues to evolve as media sources drop photographers in exchange for using great images from a variety of photographers, from all over the world.

Stock photographers can no longer rely on a few companies to keep a full time salary in place. Instead, they must morph into a new age photographer, competing in a marketplace with other brilliant photographers from around the world. Focus must be different. Approach must be different. And the way you market your services must be different.

Yet if you change and create a new business model, profits can be amazing. And what’s more, this business can be run from anywhere in the world – just shoot and upload to the stock house of your choice. What could be better than that?

Now its your turn. What is your view on microstock?

There are two ways to make a full time income. Price your services high and select a few customers to cater your services to. Or price your services low and work for volume.

Increasingly people are looking at the low price high volume model, and seeing how lucrative it can really be. You can build apps (I would love to be a part of Angry Birds model), ebooks (think Kindle and Nook), or in the photography world, microstock.

How Does It Work?

If you want to sell microstock, the best place to start is with microstock agencies. There are a number of great agencies, and more are being created every day.

Dig Deeper: 65 Stock Photography Sties To Find And Sell Photography and a couple of new ones

Stockfresh

Pixmac

As you visit an agency, head to their photographers section, and find out what it takes to build an account. Each agency has their own set of guidelines. They want serious photographers only, so you will have to meet their requirements. They usually do that in two ways:

1. Give you an entry exam, usually with a photography submission process and a series of questions

2. Limit the amount of submissions you can make upon acceptance based on sales and approval ratings.

The larger the agency, the harder the submission test will be. If you fail with some of the big ones, start with a smaller one to gain experience and exposure, and try again based on their criteria.

Content and Portfolios

If you look at the most successful microstock photographers, you’ll see they all have one thing in common – a theme. When they shoot, they know what their customers want, and they provide it again and again. With many stock agencies, they allow you to build portfolios and group them together. If someone needs “wedding photographs” and you have a “wedding” portfolio, its easy for them to browse that section and by multiple images.

Successful microstock photographers understand this, and plan their photography sessions around it. They don’t head out for the day to shoot. They plan it.

What Sells

Once you start selling your work, you’ll begin to see a pattern. You can also spend time searching through the most popular microstock sites, and check out their top seller lists. I’ve also had success by thinking very specifically within an industry, and find out what’s missing. The medical field is huge, for example, and when you think specifically, you can easily find holes and things that are missing. Plan a shoot to fill those holes.

Submitting Your Images

When you submit your images to agencies, it can be a time consuming process, especially if you use multiple sites. You can choose exclusivity (where you place it on one site only) or non-exclusivity – your pricing and fees will be placed accordingly.

Check with each site as to size of the file. Also make sure you have a model release on hand for any recognizable faces, and have as much detail as possible about the image. You will be able to keyword/tag each image, title and describe in short summary every image – the better you describe it, the more likely your potential customers will find it.

Create A Plan

It’s easy to get caught up in the sales, and watch how your images are doing on the various sites. But selling ones and twos without having a plan for increasing your sales won’t help you succeed. Instead, create a marketing plan to help your microstock business grow. How many photographs will you take each month?  What theme will you focus on? How will you promote your portfolio?

Equipment

The great thing about microstock is you can create an entire portfolio of images with very little equipment. Much of it depends on what type of images you will be putting into your portfolio – weddings need different equipment that landscapes. Start with the basics – a body and one or two lenses, and a reliable flash. Then add as you find things you need. You can always rent before you buy to make sure you get exactly what you are looking for.

This post is Day 18 of 30 Ways In 30 Days To Redesign Your Life With Photography. This series seeks to provide you with practical steps to get you from wherever you are today, to exactly where you want to be – this year! If your goal has always been to take your photography to a whole new level, hang on and start enjoying a new lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

“I love to photograph food, products – things for commercial use. I would love to sell my work to companies for hanging on their walls of for them to include in company magazines, brochures, etc. But I’m finding more companies are turning to micro stock, and I’m having trouble getting my foot in the door. Is commercial photography still a viable business? Or should I shoot micro stock myself?” John

Great question.

I’m currently reading a book I Live In The Future & Here’s How It Works by Nick Bilton. I’m only about half way through it, but something Nick wrote in the first chapter has stuck with me, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it the past few days.

In it he speaks of the unraveling of Playboy Enterprises Inc. (I know, Playboy? You have to read the book to see how it fits in to a technology book.) Anyway, between 2004 and 2007, Playboy’s revenue was between $330 million and $340 million, and the company was turning a small profit or just breaking even. But in 2009, revenue slid to $240 million – a 30 percent plunge. The company’s stock slid from $25 to $5 a share. And its outlook isn’t encouraging.

Then he writes of the bureaucracy of the organization itself. In meetings, managers don’t talk about “how to be ready for what’s next”; instead they focused on “how can we continue to get people to buy our DVDs and magazines?”

And that really is the underlying problem of what we are facing as an economy right now.

Are You Focusing On The Right Thing?

It’s easy to look backwards and contemplate “what’s been”. Photographers always made a good living shooting on backdrops and selling portraits. Photographers always made a good living working for corporate clients and shooting products.

The problem with looking backwards is you are focusing on what worked in a different era.

When film was the mainstay, every photographer had to shoot, wait, and then evaluate his or her performance. You couldn’t get instant results.

The professional camera equipment truly meant you could take better photographs. It took true talent to create an amazing image.

Fast forward to 2000 and beyond, and everyone is now a photographer.

Have you seen some of the images people create with a digital point and shoot, or even an iPhone? Not bad.

Okay, I agree there is still an art form to it. And I can go through a hundred sites and say “average, average, average”. Until I find the one that makes me say “WOW”. But the problem is there is so much “average” that the consumer has lost sight of the value of the “WOW” image. They simply accept “average” because they don’t know any better.

I read interviews, websites and blog posts all the time by traditional stock photographers who have made a great career out it. Yet most say if they had to start today, they couldn’t make it work. They simply couldn’t compete in today’s marketplace. There isn’t the money here that once was.

Is that true? Or again, are they looking with blinders on because they started in the past, and can only see things the way they used to be?

A New Future

The problem with Playboy is they are lost in the past. They think “DVD and magazine”. They think “blonde, 5’6”, and 120 pounds”. They think yesterday’s norm.

And in today’s highly specialized world, the norm just isn’t good enough.

Nick went on to describe in his book companies that are making it today – in a BIG way.

They’ve broadened their visions, and began thinking outside the box. They focus in on niches that Playboy has never dreamed of. Black women, Latinas, Asians, striped stocking, older women, bigger bottoms, smaller tops, and quirky combinations.

Okay, I can’t say I’m a fan of the whole Playboy concept, but what did fascinate me is the fact that the true winners today are looking forward, not backward. And any business that is fixated in the past will never make it into the future. Things have changed, and they won’t go back to the old ways.

Same with stock. You will never be able to compete with microstock houses, especially with the likes of iStockphoto, which appears to be pulling ahead with its forward thinking views.

Can you jump into iStockphoto today and create a very good income? Yes. Can you shoot commercial work for a customer, and charge enough to make a good living? Yes. You just have to think a bit different.

The problem with stock is you have to take what you can find. Yes, there are amazing photos out there, but again, you have to take what you can find. What if you want something specific? What if you want to showcase your own stuff? That’s where a photographer can be the hero.

Will every company jump at the chance to use your creativity? No, some will never see past the inexpensive options. But that’s a reality anywhere. There will always be some that do and some that don’t. You have to find the clients that can, and want to use you because of what you can offer.

I’ve also blogged about other options here.

Lauren Victoria Burke created a semi-stock site in which she photographs political happenings, and sells them to various media sources for a subscription fee. It’s cheaper for her clients to pay this rather than hire a journalist, and she gets to do what she loves and make a great income at it. She took the traditional concepts, and made a twist.

Or what about Via U? They created a great way to photograph products. A company sends in their product, professionals create the image and send the product back, and they download the photograph the next day. All for a very reasonable fee. The photo studio has little work – their studio is set up and easily maneuvered. They receive products, take images and do a little computer work, and get paid immediately. Simple idea, great twist.

So is there a way to make it in the future with commercial or stock photography? I say yes! You just have to think out of the box, find a way to do what you love, and keep doing it. Again and again.

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.

I wandered across a new beta site today, SpiderPic. SpiderPic may be a consumer’s best friend – and a photographer’s worst nightmare if you’re not careful.

I know that feelings on microstock vary across the board with the photography community. I’ve always been a fan of selling microstock on the side, and letting it help you build up a residual, or second stream of income while you do whatever else you love.

When you sell to a microstock house like iStockPhoto or Fotolia, you make anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars, depending on your level of authority within the community.

And if you play the microstock game correctly, you’ve sold images to multiple sites. Some sites reward you if you sell exclusively to their company; and others allow you to sell the same image currently listed on other sites.

Where the danger lies is selling for different prices to different microstock sites. And that’s where SpiderPic comes in. With SpiderPic, search for images based on keyword or URL, and it will find everywhere an image is listed, and give you pricing in every location. Consumers can instantly find the lowest price for their image, instead of purchasing from a preferred microstock location. And in today’s difficult economic times, who isn’t looking for a way to cut costs any way you can?

Moral of this story: If you do sell microstock, make sure you are pricing your images the same in every location. It may also be better to build up your reputation with fewer stock houses, and use more exclusive content per site, especially as you gain a larger portfolio, and have a larger following.

Getty Images has been scouring Flickr for over a year now looking for photographers that can add to their portfolio. Now they’re taking it to the next level, and are putting out a formal call for artists.

If you are interested in becoming a stock photographer, start by uploading 10 of your best images to the Flickr collection on Getty Images. Getty’s editors will be monitoring the uploads, looking for the right photographers to add to their contributor list. If you make the cut, your images will be a part of their collection.

Stock photography is a step up from microstock. With places like iStockPhoto, you make a few cents to a few dollars per image, depending on your portfolio status. With Getty Images, you stand to make substantially more. But keep in mind if they do accept your photos, you enter a contract with them as the exclusive seller of that image.

As with any type of photography, your best course of action is having several different ways of making money. If you’re photographing regularly for both micro stock and stock photography, the results could be rewarding.

If any of you are fans of the Robert Kiyosaki series Rich Dad Poor Dad, or one of many other trainers out there who teach about earning income, you’ve probably heard the terms active income and passive income.

Active income is the revenue you  earn by physically doing something. Your income depends on you being there.

• You show up for your job and you get paid by the hour.
• You bring in a client and charge them for a photo shoot.
• You shoot a wedding and have people order images from you.

Passive income is the revenue that comes from something you have in place that earns revenue whether you are there or not.

• You own a rental house and the renters pay you month after month.
• You have investments, stocks, dividends, or retirement funds paying you every month.
• You write a book and receive royalty checks year after year.
• You own a stock image that makes money month after month.

Chances are up until now you’ve received the majority of your revenue from active sources. Most people do.

But think for a moment how much easier life would be if you could have both working for you all the time.

Active Income
You are a wedding photographer. You photograph 35 weddings per year. You spend over 40 hours catering to each individual client’s needs (including initial consultations, marketing, booking, shooting the event, production, and delivery).

Your average wedding brings in right at $2,000. The fee is generated over several months, broken down into deposits and final orders.

As an active income source, that $2,000 is only guaranteed if you perform. You have to stay healthy and be available for the entire process. Or you’ll have to refund and deal directly with your client’s and their attorneys.

Passive Income
Now let’s look at microstock photography as a passive income source.

With stock photography, you take an image once, and put it up on the site. Once you have the image up there, it will earn you income “forever”.

Let’s say you have a great image that does very well, and ends up selling over 5,000 times over a two year period. You make on average 50 cents per sale.

That means over the two year period you’ve earned $2,500 for that one image.

Yes, it did take you two years to earn it. But how long did it take you to earn the $2,000 from your bride and groom?

Create A Plan With Both
Imagine for a moment you love photographing weddings – we loved our wedding business. We often earned well into the five figure range with our clients, and made a very good living doing what we loved.

Imagine flying into a wedding, and photographing the event. What if you also photographed 100 images all for you and for your stock image business at the same time? You uploaded each image, and let it grow.

Where could you be two years from now?

Looking for stock photos, stock video, or stock graphics to go into your marketing and advertising? Or looking for a great resource to begin selling your photography to stock houses? Check out this list for a variety of resources, both general and specific.

Stock Photography – Commercial/Fee Based

123 Royalty Free
AbsolutVision
AgeFotostock
Agodia
BigStockPhoto
CanStockPhoto

Dreamstime
Fotolia
FStop
ImagePlus
Imagestate
iStockPhoto
JupiterImages
Photocase
PhotoLibrary
Photos
PhotoSpin
ScandinavianStockPhoto
Shutterstock
StockedPhotos
Stockxpert
TipsImages
Veer
WebStockPro
World of Stock

Stock Photography – Specialty
Aerial Stock Photography
AfricaMediaOnline
Air Photo
AirTeamImages
Alaska Stock Images
Around the World in a Viewfinder
BicyclingStock

CoastCaribbeanImages
ConstructionPhotography
Costa Rica Stock Photography
CutAndDeal
Doctor Stock
Everynight Images

Stock Video
A Luna Blue
ArtBeats
CorbisMotion
Getty Images
FootageFirm
iStockPhoto
Nature Footage
Ocean Footage
ThoughtEquity Motion
WavebreakMedia

I’m always amazed when I head out to the forums to find photographers complaining about stock photography, and the fact there is no money to be made in that industry?

It’s just not true.

As a matter of fact, it is an incredible way to make money, and I’m seeing huge potential over the coming years in this field.

Last fall I touched on this in my Trends In Stock Photography and today I read more about it in Microstock Photography Is Getting Big.

By far, iStockPhoto is advancing as the leader in the stock photography industry. In February 2006, Getty Images purchased iStockPhoto for $50 million. In 2006, iStockPhoto had revenues of about $23 million. Fast forward to 2008, revenues jumped to $150 million, with projections for this year being around $200 million. Huge growth! And huge potential for us photographers!

If you’re thinking, “How can I ever make money with just a few cents per image sold?”, think again. iStockPhoto obviously has the desire to make money through sales of images, but it also looks for ways for building deeper relationships with great photographers too. Which is why they’ve just announced their newest division, Vetta Collection, which is comprised of images that meet a higher quality. They cost more for the end user (starting at $20 per image compared to the $1 per image for the standard images) – and provide more income for the photographer as well.

So, can you really make money as a stock photographer? Let’s take a quick look.

Obviously the more images you have on iStockPhoto, the more you build your portfolio, the higher potential you will have.

If you sell one image to a person on a pay as you go plan, you can earn anywhere from $0.30 to $8.40 per image. If you sell just 10 images at every level during the month, you would make $270 that month. And this is the lowest level possible to make money with iStock. They also have subscription options, their new Vetta program, and the opportunity to move up in levels when you have bigger sales potential.

And the best thing is you continually build on your portfolio. If you have a best seller this month, chances are it will continue being a best seller a long time into the future.

Convinced? Ready to get started as a Stock Photographer? Then you’re going to love my program on Creating A Stock Photography Business. Get started today.

I’ve been noticing a trend lately on the stock sites.

Shutterstock just announced a new subscription plan with higher payouts – meaning as a photographer you can ultimately earn more money for each time your photograph is downloaded. [And it's not just Shutterstock that's raising their payouts.]

According to their latest newsletter, their payout fees have gone up anywhere from 3.25 to 7.5 times over previous numbers, ultimately paying you even more for your images.

As you earn more with these stock sites, you make more for each download. For a large file once you reach the $10k plus level, you would receive $2.85 per download. Imagine how quickly that would add up if you have a following of people that like your photography, and you continually add a few photographs each month!

I know people go back and forth with the benefits of putting images onto stock sites. I always look at it for future growth. With just a little bit of work each month, your potential is huge. Just like any other business endeavor, you have to work the system.

Want to learn more about earning a healthy income from stock photography? My stock photography program was created especially for you. I’ll show you exactly how to build up your portfolio, and create an income that will continually come in month after month.