MicrostockGroup

Here's one looking for an easy answer to all that photography money:
http://photo.net/business-photography-forum/00Z3z2

Why would you want to open accounts on 10 sites to find images of 10 subjects?  Nope.  Besides, it's plenty easy to find what you need if you search with the right keywords. 

That doesn't have anything to to with #2-4, anyways.

The IS relevancy factor is self policing.  Poor keywords are weeded out automatically.

IS has one of the poorest Keyword management systems I have ever seen. Many special subjects are just not findable because of missing representations in the disambiguation. In other cases the Inspectors just do not seem to understand some technical terms like PHP (website coding language - almost every Agency e.g. is running on PHP scripts). Their disambiguation system is simply a waste of time and resources with only disadvantages.

For whatever technical reason my sales at IS nosedived almost 50% after disambiguation and never came back. I also had numerous snotty objections to my keywords from whomever or whatever is in charge of such things.

I'm late to this discussion, but I have been earning my living shooting microstock since 2006.  I started in 2005 and by 2006 I was making as much as I ever had working at any part time job.  

By 2007 it was a full time income, and kept growing until it reached a very comfortable income in 2009.  Then I hit "the wall" and the income has been declining the last couple of years.  It is still a "full time income" according to US government stats on median and average incomes, but it isn't as good as it had been.  

At one time I had assumed (naively) that the income would keep growing, or at least sustain itself at a comfortable level.  Not sure anymore.  

After just having read the discussion over on LL, Tyler, I sympathize with the futility of tilting at that particular windmill.  I think it is probably fair to assume that most people who are busy earning their full time living in microstock can't be bothered to spend time yapping on LL with a bunch of dinosaurs who are hostile to the concept

Actually, the cv, while it still needs improvements, is a great improvement over sites that can't tell the difference between orange the color and orange the fruit, for example.

It's just like the newspeak dictionary - it doesn't prevent spam it just restricts what can be expressed whether relevant or irrelevant.  Complex, badly designed solutions tend not to work as well as simple effictive ones.  If you want to get rid of spam restrict the number of allowed keywords which will force contributors to stay relevant.

It's difficult to fail to differentiate between photography in general and microstock. The shots that interest me, and probably most of us, are not the shots microstock would accept (although perhaps should accept). But I can't deny the results and what microstock has allowed - which is huge amounts of freedom. I feel massively lucky to be doing this....

Just a quick reply. In my First book in 2007 geared to Newbies We did some research. It was the salad days and I could reach the owners. We found out that an average of 6% of all submitters actually made any real Money or even had sustained payouts. Sean is right though about where these folks live and how far it will Go. Here In Los Angeles a unskilled,Uneducated Latino Day Laborer makes on average $90.00 per day. I think you would be hard pressed to find to many making that selling Penny stock . After time invested and money spent on equipment factored in.

In Late 2004 I saw the trend after watching Andres,Forgiss,Jamie Duplass then Yuri and a lot of others including Sean. I said to Myself coming from a 50 year shooting Background I could easily do this ...Or, Find a way to teach the flood of newbies I saw arriving every minute of everyday. I do Fairly well with my varied Portfolios and have been with 27 sites and Do Ok with Footage and sound effects But My Income , and Im in Beverly Hills is derived from teaching and of course owning the copyrights of 460 TV shows and Renting My Images and paintings for set decorations in TV and film productions and doing Gallery shows with Non Stock work. Far more fun and rewarding than shooting basically the same thing day after Day. Been there and done that, owned studios, had all the big clients. No Thanks.
Coming up on 69 now and teaching is very rewarding In many ways. Lise was and still Is my Favorite shooter in this business, I watched her from her start also Chase Jarvis he breaks every rule and I love that about him. There unique. Thats why. I have about 300 People on SS bookmarked, Theres some major Talent coming up Guys. 3 people in a office situation or a spa was done 30 years ago Folks. I know because I shot it. I would lose the juice that makes me shoot what turns me on if I had to even try to think of doing that again. Variety counter balances fluctuations in sales,Quality makes Buyers bookmark you and they do. those 2 things trump Quantity. Unless you have all 3, Then you win.

IMHO.

BTW, I'd love to get some of you out on a mountaintop somewhere and see what you do.  When I came up we had to shoot something different everyday and know how to pull it off from Products to Bugs to architecture to Beautiful women......In Camera. Gee, Imagine that. Theres a concept.LOL

Have Fun.

So why do ppl like Yuri, Andresr, etc, keep reshooting those endlessly? You all go on fantasizing and seem to forget that its micro: sales need to pile up, which meands generic... well, generic everything. I also strongly suggest not to dream about things like getting bookmarked by whoever client. I'v been a buyer for many years without even knowing the pics belong to certain indivduals... it was just a site with lots of pics. I downloaded some shots from yuri, andresr, and many others without having the slightest clue that those come from different ppl (they are so generic). I had tight deadlines, looking for shots was considered the most wasteful time spent in the workflow, what I wanted was generaly hard to find, the clock was ticking so who the f. cares who shot what, to be honest? Forget it, I -or any of my colleagues, often a dozen at a time working next to me- was never-eva'-ever looking for certain shooters, but certain kind of shots.

I guess because buyers want their office and spa shots with less sideburn and flares now?