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Author Topic: NEWBIE: My first 20 Days in Shutterstock Gave me 3 Downloads.  (Read 9229 times)

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« on: July 05, 2018, 05:13 »
0
Hey Guys,

Newbie here. I got 3 downloads for my first 20 days in shutterstock, I just started last June 20, 2018. Is this a good indication that I will have a brighter future like....I desire to earn at least $300-500 (monthly) from shutterstock alone. My photos are consist of travel, landscape, people (editorial), nature, and some underwater soon. For now I have already 95 pictures in shutterstock since I started last week. I am going to upload more until I reach a thousand. Thanks a lot in advance for your ideas.

CHEERS!

« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 10:34 by natureshooter »


« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2018, 05:31 »
0
ummm   well best of luck.
You want ideas ? 
Shoot and upload images that sell, cant be that hard right.

« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2018, 05:41 »
+3
Travel, landscape, nature....
Out of my own experience Id say for an expectation of $300-500 better plan for 10.000 photos. You may have exceptional work and do better, or you may do worse...
Good luck!

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2018, 05:43 »
+2
Just upload the best content you can and as much as you can... then review in a year. Well, review all the time to get an idea of what's selling and what's not, but from a how much can i earn/is this profitable standpoint... you'd be better giving it a lot longer than three weeks.

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2018, 05:54 »
+6
if you don't have superb portfolio, with places uncovered by the library, or unique photos, is a total waste of time...maybe you can reach 100 200 , but the work you have to put on this will be heavy and time consuming.

Brasilnut

  • Author Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock & Blog

« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2018, 06:42 »
0
May we see a link to your port and give you suggestions?

Underwater may be the most profitable of the categories you've listed but depends on a million factors.

« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2018, 07:21 »
+4
That's an extremely ambitious target you've set you will need to work very hard and very smart to get there.  You need to be amongst the top few % of contributors to get there.

THP Creative

  • THP Creative

« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2018, 09:36 »
0
All the best with it. Be prepared to upload a lot more high quality images, and give it time as well.


fritz

  • I love Tom and Jerry music

« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2018, 09:38 »
+3
You'll need only 19905 CV files to achieve your goal ($300-$500) Good luck

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2018, 09:48 »
+2
Travel, landscape, nature....
Out of my own experience Id say for an expectation of $300-500 better plan for 10.000 photos. You may have exceptional work and do better, or you may do worse...
Good luck!

I think that and the rest of the comments are more realistic. The new member boost is real, anyone who starts and thinks the same return will last or be proportional is going to get a wake up slap in about a year. RPI is not flat or equal as the portfolio grows.

I'd like to see some day what NatureShooter shoots. I mean that's a nice area and I'm sure enjoyable. But also like birds, they are everywhere and free. I know that offends some people, but if you shoot something that nearly anyone, with the right tools, knowledge and effort can go out and shoot, your competition is limitless. Nature is like shooting food, you need shots that are different, needed by buyers, useful, and stand out.

« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2018, 13:39 »
+2
You say you are looking for sales of $3-500/month, not sure what the bulk of your sales are, but 25 cents seems to be the norm for myself, so given that, to get $300/month I would have to sell  a total of 1,200 photos! So I think you would need to rethink the size of your portfolio unless you are confident that you have shots that are a cut above the rest.

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2018, 20:13 »
+2
The new member boost is not real, FYI.

« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2018, 03:55 »
0
Hi natureshooter,

Like you, I shoot mainly travel, landscape and nature images.

My annual RPI on Shutterstock is $0.75. So, I would need to have at least 5000 images on Shutterstock to get $300 per month.

But, half of my revenues come from my 1% bestselling images. So, If you have only awesome images, you can get $300 per month with 100 to 150 images :-*


« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2018, 09:51 »
+4
Should the joke be that you need 1000 good images to make that per month, then 10,000 good images a month after that to maintain it?  :o

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2018, 03:46 »
+3
Newbie here. I got 3 downloads for my first 20 days in shutterstock,
I'll say it again, I really admire the optimism and tenacity of newbies nowadays. I'd likely have given up with 3 dls in my first 20 days.

Still, I was excited with my early sales (iS, never SS) and doing sums on the backs of envelopes to work out a projection, which seemed good then. The reality (more than you're talking about, on average, but on iS, after I passed 3k photos) matched my excitement - for a short time. I kept uploading, (reluctantly) changing my style to more closely match micro style, and the sales followed. Then all manner of sh*t happened, most of which (e.g. drops in prices and royalties, changes in policy) were totally out of my control. Now earning c1/3 of what I was back then. Today is a totally different reality.

You need to see what you can do which is better for your subject matter than what's already out there (but know that it's not always the 'best' pic which is chosen, but the image which best suits a layout), be shooting what buyers actually want (you may well have the only photo of the Lesser Blotchy-backed Twitchy bird, but buyers likely won't be looking in SS to buy it, and the one sale in a decade netting you 25c isn't going to pay your accountant's fee), and you need to be lucky with search positioning. This latter is far more important than I initially believed. I've had two photos go from selling every day on average to selling fewer than once a month overnight because of sinking to the bottom of the Best Match algorithm (both files for years in the top five in the best match for their main keyword). Neither file has recovered best match or sales since.

Keep realistic - with your subject matter (which is also mine),  you'll find it hard to earn that amount of money nowadays. However, if you switched to producing the high demand images (model/property released), you'd be competing with a LOT of very experienced producers, and you'd likely have a lot of outlay (totally different equipment needed).
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 14:40 by ShadySue »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2018, 04:12 »
0
.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2018, 05:57 by ShadySue »

« Reply #16 on: July 08, 2018, 05:53 »
0
Based on my own stats as a travel photographer, you'll need 75,000+ plus photos to achieve your goal


jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #17 on: July 09, 2018, 06:44 »
0
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

namussi

« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2018, 07:26 »
+3
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2018, 07:30 »
+2
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

maybe yours. loser.

namussi

« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2018, 08:44 »
+3
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

maybe yours. loser.



No idea what that means, either.

Your posts don't make sense. They are badly written.

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2018, 10:47 »
+2
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

maybe yours. loser.



No idea what that means, either.

Your posts don't make sense. They are badly written.


i don't care
« Last Edit: July 09, 2018, 10:49 by jonbull »

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2018, 10:48 »
+1
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

maybe yours. loser.



No idea what that means, either.

Your posts don't make sense. They are badly written.

keyboard warrior.

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #23 on: July 09, 2018, 10:49 »
0
75000 to make 300 500 dollar months' better check the quality ad interest of your content really...with less than a 10 of photos i make much more at months.

Gibberish.

maybe yours. loser.



No idea what that means, either.

Your posts don't make sense. They are badly written.
better


« Reply #24 on: July 09, 2018, 12:33 »
+2
I got 3 downloads for my first 20 days in shutterstock, I just started last June 20, 2018.

I got 35 downloads for my first 20 days in shutterstock, I just started last April, 2009. ;)

Back in 2009, 35 downloads in the first 20 days wasn't worth a forum post.


 

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