Become a Millionair via Microstock Sales

[Mogwai]

Has any contributor ever become a millionair selling images? Is it possible for anyone to do it?

Even outside of reality, perhaps in the area of the hypothetical, how could one do it? What would it take?

[Justanotherphotographer]

There are some I am sure. Yuri was making millions per year.
I would guess some of the other top photographers also do.

[stockmarketer]

There was once a frequent poster here who had a blog called Nil to Mil, which was going to detail his rise from $0 in microstock sales to a million bucks.  After a few years he realized it wasn't doable and threw in the towel... on the blog, and it seems, on microstock in general.

[luissantos84]

There was once a frequent poster here who had a blog called Nil to Mil, which was going to detail his rise from $0 in microstock sales to a million bucks.  After a few years he realized it wasn't doable and threw in the towel... on the blog, and it seems, on microstock in general.

I believe Matt has a SEO company now

[stockmarketer]

There was once a frequent poster here who had a blog called Nil to Mil, which was going to detail his rise from $0 in microstock sales to a million bucks.  After a few years he realized it wasn't doable and threw in the towel... on the blog, and it seems, on microstock in general.

I believe Matt has a SEO company now

Smart man.  That's a field where one could actually earn some money.  He may have realized that he did a good job at promoting his site and driving traffic, and when the primary goal of the site looked unattainable, he took what he learned and ran in a different direction.  A 'pivot' I believe is the current buzzword for it.

[Justanotherphotographer]

I agree that Yuri is likely making a lot less now than at his peak. I still think there's  one or two making a million per year. I would think only because they built a very large portfolio over the years and are still adding masses to it.

Starting from scratch now I think you'd struggle as an individual. You would need a studio set up with staff. Any big investment like that would take so long to pay you back in the current conditions I am not sure it's worth it anymore.

[Justanotherphotographer]

There was once a frequent poster here who had a blog called Nil to Mil, which was going to detail his rise from $0 in microstock sales to a million bucks.  After a few years he realized it wasn't doable and threw in the towel... on the blog, and it seems, on microstock in general.

I believe Matt has a SEO company now

Smart man.  That's a field where one could actually earn some money.  He may have realized that he did a good job at promoting his site and driving traffic, and when the primary goal of the site looked unattainable, he took what he learned and ran in a different direction.  A 'pivot' I believe is the current buzzword for it.

I though SEO was similar to microstock, a get rich quick scheme 

[Copidosoma]

Some of the image factories might be making that much but then the money is shared by a number of people.

[Justanotherphotographer]

Wait. Does the OP mean total or per year? I make low six figures per year and am not near the top so there must be lots of people that have made a million total over the years.

[ShadySue]

There are some I am sure. Yuri was making millions per year.

Yeah, but with his outlay and big staff, how much profit is he making?

[Justanotherphotographer]

He claimed to be making in excess of ten million so I am guessing still more than a million.

[Jo Ann Snover]

Taking the time machine out of the picture...

You don't say what needs to be $1m - gross royalty income? net income? Having $1m in assets aside from your annual income?

If you are concerned about gross revenues, getting that to $1m per year requires vast volumes of images. Which means lots of people shooting and processing them. That's probably do-able but who would? Because your costs would be high and your net profit small.

Perhaps you could tackle 4K video and try to lock that up? It's newer than illustration or stills, but I think the buyer population is smaller as well as the supply, so I don't think that's a sure bet either.

Start an agency?

[ShadySue]

Actually, the OP didn't specify the currency of millionaire. Could make a big difference.

[etudiante_rapide]

yes, i have LOL
when i was starting in microstock i was living in a country where 10,000 local currency = $1US
i was indeed rolling in local currency and yes, i made my first million very quickly.
but when i was relocated and posted in US, i became close to a beggar with my earnings of microstock...

actually, no, correction, i made far less than the squeezee kid at the junction, and far less than the mime at the waterfront .

[Copidosoma]

Actually, the OP didn't specify the currency of millionaire. Could make a big difference.

True, I walked away from a bank machine in Cambodia a millionaire. That was nice.

[sharpshot]

I think it would still be possible to make a million starting today, spend 10 million taking the photos, going to locations nobody goes to, hiring supermodels, easy

[Hongover]

It's still possible.

If someone at top 1% was making $5000 a month over 20 years consistently (minus taxes), he/she would be millionaire. Assuming he doesn't spend any of it of course.

[etudiante_rapide]

I think it would still be possible to make a million starting today, spend 10 million taking the photos, going to locations nobody goes to, hiring supermodels, easy

or you could make a million isolated photos of marijuana and get ss to advertise your product for free. then give and take , in one year or so, the druggie in your area and around the globe will know where to find you. you get 0 dls, but your free ad will make you surely a millionaire in no time

[stockastic]

I think it would still be possible to make a million starting today, spend 10 million taking the photos, going to locations nobody goes to, hiring supermodels, easy

or you could make a million isolated photos of marijuana and get ss to advertise your product for free. then give and take , in one year or so, the druggie in your area and around the globe will know where to find you. you get 0 dls, but your free ad will make you surely a millionaire in no time

Funny!  But seriously - do we know if this particular guy has actually made any money from these photos? 

[Hongover]

I think it would still be possible to make a million starting today, spend 10 million taking the photos, going to locations nobody goes to, hiring supermodels, easy

or you could make a million isolated photos of marijuana and get ss to advertise your product for free. then give and take , in one year or so, the druggie in your area and around the globe will know where to find you. you get 0 dls, but your free ad will make you surely a millionaire in no time

Funny!  But seriously - do we know if this particular guy has actually made any money from these photos?

Yes, he does. There are about 250-500 images that sells decently and about 25-50 images that sells regularly. The strength of his portfolio is that people are not downloading one of his images, but multiple at a time. I've seen download patterns where people download multiple images from the same set at a time, so it's possible that he could have 10 downloaders that download 50 images.

My guess is that he gets about 50-100 downloads a day. Maybe more.

[etudiante_rapide]

Funny!  But seriously - do we know if this particular guy has actually made any money from these photos?

Yes, he does. There are about 250-500 images that sells decently and about 25-50 images that sells regularly. The strength of his portfolio is that people are not downloading one of his images, but multiple at a time. I've seen download patterns where people download multiple images from the same set at a time, so it's possible that he could have 10 downloaders that download 50 images.

My guess is that he gets about 50-100 downloads a day. Maybe more.

well, that proves my point , even though it was in jest...
the free advertisement of his product does work with ss.

hmmm, i guess we should think of using ss as a way to push our own products ...
whether it is marijuana , tomatoes , apples,..

what next???  s*xy escort service   

[Stockmaan]

Yes u can sell image potatoes if you want to become a millionaire 

[Difydave]

If I wanted to become a millionaire, I wouldn't be doing microstock. You need to look for something that has a large potential for growth, and a good profit margin. Something that is protected in such a way to stop competition if possible. You don't want to be investing in your own labour.
Watch "Dragon's Den" 

The problem is that 's exactly what every other "entrepreneur" is looking for.
I'll guess that a few individuals became pretty wealthy in the boom period of microstock. I don't think you could do it now.