MicrostockGroup
Microstock Footage Forum => General - Stock Video => Topic started by: MotionWorksFilmStudio on July 28, 2017, 10:53
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Hi guys,
If you had to make a bet on how much my 7,000 file (video) portfolio could earn at one top agency (let's say SS) in one average month, what would it be?
I uploaded my video portfolio only a few months ago so I presume its much too early to tell, but in one year from now, what would you guesstimate my current portfolio to be worth? Would it be too hopeful to expect an average income of $1 per video clip per month?
If you could spare 60 seconds or so to quickly browse my portfolio I would be very grateful:
www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en (http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en)
All of my clips are 4k, most are aerials, many have male/female models (with releases) and they were all shot on the paradise islands of the Maldives.
Please be brutally honest guys - what will the portfolio be worth when it has been online and in the SS search engine for 12 months?
Go on please, hazard an educated guess, hit me with a number you feel is a good bet.
Please kindly place your vote at the top of this page.
Thanks guys much appreciated.
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Good move on having all 4K videos! My guess would be from $2,000 (USD) to $4,000 (USD) per month. 8)
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BadCompany: Thanks. So you think maybe less than 50 cents per clip per month. Is that about average then for an average portfolio?
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BadCompany: Thanks. So you think maybe less than 50 cents per clip per month. Is that about average then for an average portfolio?
I used an old formula--- 20 percent times your inventory = $1.400 at a dollar each (images) but video should get $2 each so double the $1,400
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BadCompany: Got it. Thanks
Anyone else?
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The quality of your video is excellent.
$1 per month per video is achievable with a good port (even more I guess).
The huge problem is that all your clips are absolutely the same subject; the amount of repetition is insane and is not going to help you at all with the rankings.
Have you seriously shot 7,000 clips of a beach in the Maldives (OK, some of them with models)???
Yes you can get more than $1 per month per clip, but I would consider your port as if made by 50-60 clips. Sorry for being brutally honest
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Brightontl: No problem, thank you for your honest answer. Yes I live in the Maldives and am lucky enough to shoot here every day. It's true all my clips are the same theme (beach/sea/sand/islands etc) so I tried to shoot every clip differently, from different locations, with different subjects in different light etc. So what do you think? Only a couple of hundred dollars a month due to the repetition?
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I would incorporate food and sports in your clips as well. Closeups of a lady/guy drinking a healthy drink- even clear, clean water.
Sent you IM of examples to add to your super portfolio...
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BadCompany: Yes that will be done soon when I next work with some models. But for now I am just looking at a value for my current portfolio. Kind of doing some calculations for my future plans ;) Thanks for the input.
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Now, I want to travel there so I think you will do well :)
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BadCompany: Now that is something I enjoy hearing... :)
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Brightontl: No problem, thank you for your honest answer. Yes I live in the Maldives and am lucky enough to shoot here every day. It's true all my clips are the same theme (beach/sea/sand/islands etc) so I tried to shoot every clip differently, from different locations, with different subjects in different light etc. So what do you think? Only a couple of hundred dollars a month due to the repetition?
If you live there I understand better now.
As I said, you are technically very good, no doubt about it. But really the amount of repetitions is enormous and it probably harms your sales.
Try by all means to diversify, maybe some shoots inside, at home, by the BBQ, in a garden...
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I would think if you have already had them up for a few months you should already have some idea of what your income is or would be?
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I agree with Brightonl - good clips, but they are almost all the same clip (in the eyes of a buyer).
7,000 becomes more like 700 or 70. A "paradise beach" search will only get you limited sales.
7,000 diverse clips could bring in a lot of $$$ but here it will be lower. The competition for "beach", "tropical beach", "vacation" search terms is very, very strong.
It's just like living close to an epic forest. One or two of those clips could be stock bestsellers, but a portfolio of 7,000 epic forest clips won't earn 3,500 times more...
$1 per clip per month on Shutterstock only is a good average. It will likely be much lower than that. $2 per clip per month in total across all agencies is a realistic average with a diverse portfolio. It will likely be much lower here.
What do you make right now?
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Unrelated questions:
• How is internet out there?
• Were you born there or are you from another country and moved there? Easy? Hard?
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Great portfolio, congrats! Could tell us a little bit about your equipment, camera, lenses etc? Keep up the good work!
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BTW, besides stock sales, I bet you are enjoying life on the beach, right?
:-)
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7000++ beach theme clips looks similar..
i'm pretty sure you earn less than $1000/month for now
you need more diversify, not just playing around the beach
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Hi guys,
If you had to make a bet on how much my 7,000 file (video) portfolio could earn at one top agency (let's say SS) in one average month, what would it be?
I uploaded my video portfolio only a few months ago so I presume its much too early to tell, but in one year from now, what would you guesstimate my current portfolio to be worth? Would it be too hopeful to expect an average income of $1 per video clip per month?
If you could spare 60 seconds or so to quickly browse my portfolio I would be very grateful:
[url=http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en]www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en[/url])
All of my clips are 4k, most are aerials, many have male/female models (with releases) and they were all shot on the paradise islands of the Maldives.
Please be brutally honest guys - what will the portfolio be worth when it has been online and in the SS search engine for 12 months?
Go on please, hazard an educated guess, hit me with a number you feel is a good bet.
Please kindly place your vote at the top of this page.
Thanks guys much appreciated.
personally i find there are some nice video, but the topic is already oversaturated.
practically similar files everywhere.
personally if you do 600 700 dollar is good.
your portfolio show how every topic in ss or micro has so little barrier of entry so competition is so big. u bought a drone for 1000 and went to maldives to shot 7000 files uploaded in a few months.
personally even aerial drone video is pretty finished....mostly for the same problem..zero control of approval files. everybody can upload every snapshots and they approve.
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Beautiful clips! You know what you're doing, but all in the same category which isn't good for sales, I think.
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I would say between 0 and 100k$ per month.
Seriously, how can we predict this ??
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I would say between 0 and 100k$ per month.
Seriously, how can we predict this ??
An even better question, why would we care?
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
I would guess that even though you have more clips than me, you might not get more sales just because so much of your portfolio is similar looking. Uploading so many similar clips might even hurt your sales because no single clip is going to get many sales and rise up in the search results.
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Uploading so many similar clips might even hurt your sales because no single clip is going to get many sales and rise up in the search results.
Precisely! Duplicates/similars only hurt your sales and is really bad for SEO.
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I might be wrong and someone more experience than me may correct, but I am under the impression that one of the main factors in personal ranking in most agencies' algorithm i the ratio sales/number of files.
I suppose that it is also the best way to control spammers.
I really believe that uploading to many duplicates of the same topic can bring you to the bottom of the search.
BTW, this would be a very interesting topic of discussion, after all, understanding how the search engines work is the key to be successful in this game
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Hi Guys,
Thanks so much for your votes, and interesting comments - I will address them all:
Brightontl: "Try by all means to diversify, maybe some shoots inside, at home, by the BBQ, in a garden......I really believe that uploading to many duplicates of the same topic can bring you to the bottom of the search. BTW, this would be a very interesting topic of discussion, after all, understanding how the search engines work is the key to be successful in this game"
- Yes I know I need more diversity, and that is something I will work on next. Especially lifestyle shots with young couples being romantic on the beach etc. No gardens here by the way...lol :) But yes, of course it is a pleasure to shoot here. The light, scenery and wildlife here is a photographer's dream. With respect to duplicates taking you to the bottom of the search engine - really? This doesn't seem logical. You are right - this is a very interesting topic of conversation for the forum, very important - I am not sure what the problem is with the user cathyslife, but of course there is always at least one fool in the room...
wds: "I would think if you have already had them up for a few months you should already have some idea of what your income is or would be?..."
- Sure but I believe a couple of months is not enough time to judge, as most portfolios usually start earning at a decent level after maybe 6-12 months?
increasingdifficulty: "What do you make right now? Duplicates/similars only hurt your sales and is really bad for SEO..."
- The first couple of months only around $500, so hoping for much more than that in 12 months from now. I don't have any duplicates - I have many of similar theme. Surely having many clips, all with good metadata, is better for sales than a few? Think about this - if someone types 'white sandy beach' into the search engine, and almost all the results on the page are my clips, I'm going to have much better chance of selling than if there were only 1 of my clips in the search results. Unless I am missing something?
Vlad: "Great portfolio, congrats! Could tell us a little bit about your equipment, camera, lenses etc? Keep up the good work!"
- Thanks mate, mainly Canon DSLR's/DJI Phantom/Mavic/Osmo - whatever equipment best suits the shot.
akaza: "i'm pretty sure you earn less than $1000/month for now..."
- You are right, I do earn less than 1k...NOW. I am interested in people's opinions as to what the portfolio will be worth after 12 months.
jonbull: "personally if you do 600 700 dollar is good..."
- Thanks for the guess...of course I will surely prove that amount wrong if I am already doing $500 after 2 months ;)
helloitsme: "Beautiful clips! You know what you're doing, but all in the same category which isn't good for sales, I think..."
- I don't know - what is wrong with the idea of me saturating a niche? Very few people shoot 4K footage in the Maldives - why not monopolise it? :)
Thomas From France: "I would say between 0 and 100k$ per month...Seriously, how can we predict this ??"
- By using your own experience, and simple arithmetic - I was asking for a guess, not a precise figure, and most people here with a portfolio have a rough idea at the least.
cathyslife: "An even better question, why would we care?"
- Thanks for your input - so constructive, helpful and intelligent... My question is very important and probably on every photographer's mind when they start selling in microstock. If you don't have anything to contribute...
ForrestBrown: "I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month..."
- Thanks for that, it gives me a clue - I can work with those numbers. $0.33 per clip per month. So mine would probably be less than that due to lack of diversity. Or could be much higher due to my niche. Interesting. Thanks.
So thanks for that guys, would love to hear further opinions and numbers :)
Cheers
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Honestly, I would've chosen $0-$1,000 if you have put that. I think many agree. Good luck though.
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My opinion is why would we care to predict YOUR earnings? How does anyone here have any idea how your images will sell? Any answer given is based on THAT persons experience, not yours.
I agree with helloitsme...between $0 and $1000. Maybe. Or wait, maybe around $100... see how ludicrous the whole question is?
VERY important topic. :D "One fool in the room... " you are so funny! Actually, I think there's at least 2. 😀
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Honestly, this site is a bite on the pessimistic side especially compared to just six years ago when I enter the MS world. I was encourage by most folks here and some were top earners which really motivated me! If it wasn't for this site I would have given up after about a year within the business.
Can we say the same about this site today? 8)
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I think $1000-$2000.
Everyone here is right - your videos are cannibalizing each other on the market.
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Don't worry Bad Company I don't suffer fools gladly - best to ignore small-minded people anyway. Thanks everyone else for your opinions and advice - much appreciated :)
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Don't worry Bad Company I don't suffer fools gladly - best to ignore small-minded people anyway. Thanks everyone else for your opinions and advice - much appreciated :)
:D
Small-minded, fool. You forgot realistic. ;)
I just went back and re-read your original post. You mention the word "guys" several times. No wonder I am a fool...I am not a guy. Makes perfect sense now.
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Hi guys,
If you had to make a bet on how much my 7,000 file (video) portfolio could earn at one top agency (let's say SS) in one average month, what would it be?
I uploaded my video portfolio only a few months ago so I presume its much too early to tell, but in one year from now, what would you guesstimate my current portfolio to be worth? Would it be too hopeful to expect an average income of $1 per video clip per month?
If you could spare 60 seconds or so to quickly browse my portfolio I would be very grateful:
[url=http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en]www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/MotionWorksFilmStudio-4312687/?contributor=MotionWorksFilmStudio&page=1&perpage=100&sort=random&translation_method=service&use_local_boost=0&lang=en[/url])
All of my clips are 4k, most are aerials, many have male/female models (with releases) and they were all shot on the paradise islands of the Maldives.
Please be brutally honest guys - what will the portfolio be worth when it has been online and in the SS search engine for 12 months?
Go on please, hazard an educated guess, hit me with a number you feel is a good bet.
Please kindly place your vote at the top of this page.
Thanks guys much appreciated.
-
increasingdifficulty: "What do you make right now? Duplicates/similars only hurt your sales and is really bad for SEO..."
- The first couple of months only around $500, so hoping for much more than that in 12 months from now. I don't have any duplicates - I have many of similar theme. Surely having many clips, all with good metadata, is better for sales than a few? Think about this - if someone types 'white sandy beach' into the search engine, and almost all the results on the page are my clips, I'm going to have much better chance of selling than if there were only 1 of my clips in the search results. Unless I am missing something?
Yes, you ARE missing something. Something very important.
"White sandy beach" yields 17,117 results on Shutterstock. The default sorting is "Popular", meaning clips with many sales. Your clips won't show up there unless they have many sales.
With 1,000 interchangable "white sandy beach" clips you're diluting your potential sales over 1,000 clips, meaning maybe 20 will have 1 sale after a while. If you only had one or maybe three perfect "white sandy beach" clips it's much more likely that those clips would get 6-7 sales each and they would rank much higher in the Popular search. If one clip would get 20 sales it would rank very high.
"Relevant" is also largely based on sales, so the same applies there.
"Random" won't show many clips from the same contributor.
Many of your clips would only show up if you have very unique clips with search terms yielding few results. This is not the case with "white sandy beach" or anything related to that unfortunately.
I know you don't have actual duplicates, that's not what I meant, but you have clips that are so similar that they are interchangeable for a buyer.
The only good strategy would be releasing the clips slowly, one by one, so that you always have something show up when customers search for "New". But since the default is "Popular" that's what 90% of customers will use.
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increasingdifficulty: "What do you make right now? Duplicates/similars only hurt your sales and is really bad for SEO..."
- The first couple of months only around $500, so hoping for much more than that in 12 months from now. I don't have any duplicates - I have many of similar theme. Surely having many clips, all with good metadata, is better for sales than a few? Think about this - if someone types 'white sandy beach' into the search engine, and almost all the results on the page are my clips, I'm going to have much better chance of selling than if there were only 1 of my clips in the search results. Unless I am missing something?
Yes, you ARE missing something. Something very important.
"White sandy beach" yields 17,117 results on Shutterstock. The default sorting is "Popular", meaning clips with many sales. Your clips won't show up there unless they have many sales.
With 1,000 interchangable "white sandy beach" clips you're diluting your potential sales over 1,000 clips, meaning maybe 20 will have 1 sale after a while. If you only had one or maybe three perfect "white sandy beach" clips it's much more likely that those clips would get 6-7 sales each and they would rank much higher in the Popular search. If one clip would get 20 sales it would rank very high.
"Relevant" is also largely based on sales, so the same applies there.
"Random" won't show many clips from the same contributor.
Many of your clips would only show up if you have very unique clips with search terms yielding few results. This is not the case with "white sandy beach" or anything related to that unfortunately.
I know you don't have actual duplicates, that's not what I meant, but you have clips that are so similar that they are interchangeable for a buyer.
The only good strategy would be releasing the clips slowly, one by one, so that you always have something show up when customers search for "New". But since the default is "Popular" that's what 90% of customers will use.
Plus 100 for this comment!
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What makes you think you'll earn more in 12 months than you do now?
"Jonbull: "personally if you do 600 700 dollar is good..."
- Thanks for the guess...of course I will surely prove that amount wrong if I am already doing $500 after 2 months"
If you're already doing $500 after 2 months then why would you be making considerably more after six or twelve months? $600 to $700 seems pretty realistic. Or you might continue to get $500 to be fair.
Do you honestly believe that your sales figures are just going to keep on increasing for no apparent reason? It might increase a bit over time, maybe from $500 to the $600 or $700 that Jon suggested.... but your original post asked whether $1 per clip was possible. Of course it's not. Not if you're currently getting 7 cents a clip. A bit of growth isn't out of the question... maybe to 10 cents or even 20 cents per clip if you're really lucky... but your sales aren't going to increase by 1400%!
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I'm guessing if you are super-rich retired in Maldives and trying to do stock video for fun.
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I'm guessing if you are super-rich retired in Maldives and trying to do stock video for fun.
What does this sentence mean?
People aren't automatically rich because they live in the Maldives. And if they were, they wouldn't try to make future plans involving a potential income of $1-2,000...
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Hi Guys,
Thanks so much for your votes, and interesting comments - I will address them all:
Brightontl: "Try by all means to diversify, maybe some shoots inside, at home, by the BBQ, in a garden......I really believe that uploading to many duplicates of the same topic can bring you to the bottom of the search. BTW, this would be a very interesting topic of discussion, after all, understanding how the search engines work is the key to be successful in this game"
- Yes I know I need more diversity, and that is something I will work on next. Especially lifestyle shots with young couples being romantic on the beach etc. No gardens here by the way...lol :) But yes, of course it is a pleasure to shoot here. The light, scenery and wildlife here is a photographer's dream. With respect to duplicates taking you to the bottom of the search engine - really? This doesn't seem logical. You are right - this is a very interesting topic of conversation for the forum, very important - I am not sure what the problem is with the user cathyslife, but of course there is always at least one fool in the room...
wds: "I would think if you have already had them up for a few months you should already have some idea of what your income is or would be?..."
- Sure but I believe a couple of months is not enough time to judge, as most portfolios usually start earning at a decent level after maybe 6-12 months?
increasingdifficulty: "What do you make right now? Duplicates/similars only hurt your sales and is really bad for SEO..."
- The first couple of months only around $500, so hoping for much more than that in 12 months from now. I don't have any duplicates - I have many of similar theme. Surely having many clips, all with good metadata, is better for sales than a few? Think about this - if someone types 'white sandy beach' into the search engine, and almost all the results on the page are my clips, I'm going to have much better chance of selling than if there were only 1 of my clips in the search results. Unless I am missing something?
Vlad: "Great portfolio, congrats! Could tell us a little bit about your equipment, camera, lenses etc? Keep up the good work!"
- Thanks mate, mainly Canon DSLR's/DJI Phantom/Mavic/Osmo - whatever equipment best suits the shot.
akaza: "i'm pretty sure you earn less than $1000/month for now..."
- You are right, I do earn less than 1k...NOW. I am interested in people's opinions as to what the portfolio will be worth after 12 months.
jonbull: "personally if you do 600 700 dollar is good..."
- Thanks for the guess...of course I will surely prove that amount wrong if I am already doing $500 after 2 months ;)
helloitsme: "Beautiful clips! You know what you're doing, but all in the same category which isn't good for sales, I think..."
- I don't know - what is wrong with the idea of me saturating a niche? Very few people shoot 4K footage in the Maldives - why not monopolise it? :)
Thomas From France: "I would say between 0 and 100k$ per month...Seriously, how can we predict this ??"
- By using your own experience, and simple arithmetic - I was asking for a guess, not a precise figure, and most people here with a portfolio have a rough idea at the least.
cathyslife: "An even better question, why would we care?"
- Thanks for your input - so constructive, helpful and intelligent... My question is very important and probably on every photographer's mind when they start selling in microstock. If you don't have anything to contribute...
ForrestBrown: "I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month..."
- Thanks for that, it gives me a clue - I can work with those numbers. $0.33 per clip per month. So mine would probably be less than that due to lack of diversity. Or could be much higher due to my niche. Interesting. Thanks.
So thanks for that guys, would love to hear further opinions and numbers :)
Cheers
the problem is that how much video aerial are sold every year of maldives?
in addiction as i told you don't have barrier of entry. anybody can go to maldives, after u said 500 dollar i will go probably because in 2 weeks with a 3000 investment i can produce 1000 aerial easily, i have 5 drone included an inspire raw and phantom 4 pro, so i can easily surpass for video in quality, who for me look so flat and dull mostly,.....maybe other 100 will go next year and maldives aerial will go to 40000 easily.
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OT but maybe OP can answer this:
It's great to offer 4K stuff but your file sizes are incredibly small. Sure, some clips have very little motion going on and it's understandable that those files will be smaller but even in clips with full frame fast motion you achieve a 4K file under 100MB with 14 seconds duration???
How do you do that?
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Honestly, this site is a bite on the pessimistic side especially compared to just six years ago when I enter the MS world. I was encourage by most folks here and some were top earners which really motivated me! If it wasn't for this site I would have given up after about a year within the business.
Can we say the same about this site today? 8)
It's not this site, it's this business, which certainly isn't the same as it was even just six years ago. Those were the glory days, at least for me!
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Honestly, this site is a bite on the pessimistic side especially compared to just six years ago when I enter the MS world. I was encourage by most folks here and some were top earners which really motivated me! If it wasn't for this site I would have given up after about a year within the business.
Can we say the same about this site today? 8)
It's not this site, it's this business, which certainly isn't the same as it was even just six years ago. Those were the glory days, at least for me!
and the glory days for me so it seems (The story of my life - a day late or a dollar short) :-[
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
Could you give us a link to your portfolio? Thank you!
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
Could you give us a link to your portfolio? Thank you!
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest (https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest)
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
Could you give us a link to your portfolio? Thank you!
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest (https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest)
Well balanced portfolio! Thanks for sharing.
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
Could you give us a link to your portfolio? Thank you!
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest (https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest)
Good footage!
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I uploaded 3000 really diverse high quality clips to Shutterstock almost exactly a year ago and I average a bit over $1000 each month.
Could you give us a link to your portfolio? Thank you!
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest (https://www.shutterstock.com/video/gallery/Forrest-Brown-4488097/?contributor=Forrest+Brown&page=1&perpage=100&sort=newest)
Wow, impressive!
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Good job ;)