There are different ways to market your new microstock agency to contributors.
- Fotolia paid contributors for each photo.
- LuckyOliver gave them credits (tokens) for each photo.
- Albumo is paying contributors when they reach an upload milestone.
- It's my opinion that SnapVillage did deals with high-profile microstock contributors, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of the others did this as well. Yuri said that he's been offered many deals by new agencies.
Leaf is right - many of them start out with the owner's own photos. You can still see
Bruce Livingstone's portfolio on iStockphoto and
Bryan Zmijewski's on LuckyOliver.
Fundamentally, they need to inspire confidence in contributors, such that the contributors believe they'll eventually get a return. Incentives help get the ball rolling, as it's easier to attract more contributors if they can see others already have their portfolios uploaded. Flexing a bit of marketing muscle goes a long way too, as contributors can see you have the ability to draw attention.
Of course it also helps if your owner is the richest man in the world!
