MicrostockGroup

There"s a great one-on-one discussion with our number 1 Aussie here. Good reading...

thanks for the link.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Amanda (Hidesy).  She was kind enough to share her thoughts and experiences about microstock over a couple of coffees.  It was that meeting that made me decide to give microstock a serious try.

She is, of course, a very successful, talented and energetic girl.  An example to us all.

One of the most important bits of advice she gave was to 'always upload the maximum possible size'.  She said 'I would be surprised at how many downloads would be at large sizes, if those sizes were available'.  This is one reason why she upgraded to a Canon 16mp.

If a file is available in very large size, that tells the designer that the shot was taken by a serious player.  Files only available in small sizes can be offputting, possibly amateur.

I thought about her comments from an economic point of view.  Then I joined iStockphoto and started uploading two weeks ago.  Already got my first two downloads.

Interestingly, of those first two, one was at web size, but the other was downloaded at the largest available size I'd uploaded.  Commission on the first one was 23c, but 88c on the second one.

Clearly if a person has a target of say 100,000 downloads over two years, an average commission of 23c provides pocket money, but an average at 88c gives a liveable income (just).

There were some things Hidesy would not tell, such as her average commission, which is understandable.  But something told me that her commssion average is at least that 88c and possibly well above the $1 area.  250,000 downloads at an average somewhere above $1 is good money.

My D200 gets to 'large' on iStock, but not to XL.  I am considering upgrading to a D2X to get to XL, but also to let designers know I am shooting with quality equipment.  It seems the investment cost in a D2X will be recouped easily.  However, I am hanging on because I believe Nikon will announce a 16mp model soon.

On 100,000 downloads I can aim for commission of $23,000 or alternatively $88,000 (or higher).  That equation will only be fulfilled by having the best equipment and submitting everything at great qulaity and max size.  But the economics of it say 'do it'.

Having said all of this, I am a newbie with only 15 pics uploaded so far.  DOH!