MicrostockGroup

I am wondering is it better to start at the big sites or to upload to some of the smaller agencies even if only to get myself acquainted with the whole process.
This article appears to support the latter approach.

Also, I shoot lots of travel photos: places, attractions, etc. Is it more suitable for macro sites?
Thanks.

If selling RF (micro or macro) you will need to make sure there are no people, unrecogniseable people or even parts of people in your images unless you have model releases. You will need to make sure that there's nothing in your photos that would need property releases, unless you have them.

Wow that site is awful, even for as spam site trying to get you to click ads or referral links.

Try top ones first. Everything else is just icing on a cake :-)

first, the big ones which don't require an admission test (FT and DT) and all the middle ones

then, the big ones which require a test (SS and IS), as soon as you're confident enough to try

eventually, some of the low earners - but only if you have a lot of time [you will hardly earn 2% more, with a lot of additional work]

Unless they're specialists, but of course that wouldn't be micro.
FWIW, until the end of August I'd have said go straight for iStock then, if you've got time, look around if you want to try others.
But now all bets are off on the iStock front.

I can kind of understand where you are coming from but, surely it can only be a good thing to have your work for sale in as many shops as possible?  You use the same images but could potentially earn more from them, or am I missing something?

The small agencies aren't worth bothering with.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure the big ones are either. 

About a year ago I applied to the Big 4.  I was immediately accepted at SS, FT and DT - IS accepted 1 of 3.  I only had a few images on each site.   Continued to upload some random shots, but got more serious about it this past summer - especially after I sold an EL on SS (that's enough to get you going!)

In the past month I've been agressively uploading, setting up and shooting images specifically designed for stock, and signed up with all the middle tier agencies (except Veer - haven't signed up there yet) plus Crestock and Stockfresh (hoping they will review my portfolio sometime before the end of 2011).  During that time I was also accepted at IS - not sure how I feel about their changes yet, but as a matter of pride I wanted to be accepted, even if was to ultimately recect them.

SS has been by far my best selling agency and most consistant.  Sales continue to grow there.  DT - two sales early on, nothing since.  FT, no sales until this past month when I got two.  One sale on IS, no sales yet on any of the middle tier sites or those in the low-earner category.

My goal for this year is to get my portfolio up to 100 images by end of year - next year TBD as I learn more about what sells.  I also plan to review the sales at the various sites over the next several months and by the end of next year I expect that I will eliminate some that are not giving me the return on time invested.  That's the strategy I'd recommend - pick several, including the top tier, and see where you get accepted and shich sites start selling for you - it will help you assess which site or sites are a good match for your style and where you're getting sales, then you can eliminate those that don't fit.