How to sell your photos online ?
A guide to selling at microstock sites
1.1. The Introduction
The following questions keeps returning on photo forums or do frequently show up in google searches :
Who sells his photo s at microstock sites like Shutterstock, Dreamstime or iStock ?
How much money can I earn at those sites ?
Where to I sell my photo s online ?
Which are the best sites to sell my photo s ?
Can I earn some money with stockphotography ?
Therefore I thought it would be interesting to write an article about how and where to sell photos online at microstock sites. When I began writing I thought it would take me 2 or at the most 3 pages, but things turned out differently.
1.2. The Question
In the summer of 2005 there was a similar discussion on the Dutch-spoken forum of
BelgiumDigital.com. Most members didn't like it then. Especially the fact that a photographer only would get $0.20 for a sale while the site itself earned $0.80 (assuming the image was sold for $1), was seen as unacceptable.
I myself found such a ratio pretty absurd too. Why would I want to sell my photos for a lousy $0.20 a piece. I'd rather let them sit useless on my harddisk !!
1.3. The Result
Well, my photos did sit useless on my harddisk for a year. And they surely earned less then $0.20 a piece in that time.
Therefore I decided to give it a go around August 2006 and started to sell my photos at various microstock sites like shutterstock, dreamstime, istockphoto and fotolia. This article is the result of my experiences of two years of microstock. If you read it, you can decide for yourself if it's worth the trouble or not.
1.4. The Versions
December 2008 : The microstockmarket is evolving rapidly, so I began updating this article again. There are two main updates I want to introduce. Firstly I used a new, more plesant color scheme. But secondly and more important I will update all information and use much more links referring to certain problems / thoughts. In this way I hope the keep the article more up to date and I also incorporate the meaning of others.
August 2007 : In the previous version I skipped several subjects I initially wanted to cover. So I started all over again :o) Besides, after one year of microstock photography I thought it was a good idea to update the info in this article.
August 2006 : The first version of "Sell Photos Online | Microstock sites : Curse or Blessing ?" contained 5 HTML-pages (12 printed pages).
1.5. The Latest updates
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Page 10 |
9 dec 2008 |
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I updated page 10 and included links to Findphotokeywords.com and Photokeywords.com. Two tools which help to find the correct keywords for your image.
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Page 14 |
7 dec 2008 |
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I'm introducing an extra page button.
This article has already 29 pages, but sometimes I want to add even more info. In order to keep the number of pages under control I will give some of the information on ´satelite pages´. I'll make them stand out so you won't miss them by means of this "extra page" button. The first usage you can see on page 14.
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Page 12 |
6 dec 2008 |
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I introduced the download button seen above to highlight download opportunities. You can see one in action on page 12 and page 29
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Page 29 |
5 dec 2008 |
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added a link page. The first link is to the blog of Rasmus Rasmussen and his Microstock Photographers Guide |
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Page 27 |
4 dec 2008 |
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added article by Dan Heller about the future of the stockindustry |
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Page 21 |
4 dec 2008 |
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added Tineye, a picture search engine |
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Page 1 |
3 dec 2008 |
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added
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