Hi! I am new to the forum and started on Microstock 3 months ago. I am now up to a point where  with with 80 files on Shutterstock I earn 80 dollars a month, and with 30 at Istock I earn 30 dollars a month. Before taxes etc.

I want to increase my efforts and in the next 12 months make it a sort of minimum UK wage (�1000 a month)

I know most people are reluctant to discuss earnings etc.

My question and discussion is - I am entering into Microstock in 2010. I have read various articles about the subject and the subject is "Can someone entering into Microstock in 2010 have much success?"

Has anyone started microstock in 2009/2010 and are making $1000 plus a month?

Is it worth the effort, is it worth my effort for the next 12 months?

Please encrypt exact details on what you make if you must or find it necessary - but please enlighten me on Microstock 2010!

Thanks in advance!

It is an exciting game to play!

I agree with AP.  Very impressive that you are earning $1/image in your portfolio per month at two of the top three sites. 

As to your general question if it is reasonable to earn 1k pounds (isn't that about $1500?) per month in a years time, that sounds extremely ambitious to me.   

I know it took me probably over two years and 8+ sites to be making that kind of money on a consistent basis.   And that was when there was much less competition. 

However I won't say it's impossible.  Everyone's experience is different and highly dependent on what you are offering.  If you are doing vectors or video rather than only photographs then your chances are probably better. 

i'm surprised you had a slow start

It didn't feel like a slow start at the time.  I was quite happy with my growth.   But then, I didn't ever expect to be making a living at this.  I don't think many people did when I started in 2005.  

For the past couple of years microstock has been continuously pimped as a get rich quick proposition.  I don't think it ever was that, and certainly less so now than ever before.  

Sorry correction to my post ---  at shutterstock i have 120 images. so not quite 1 dollar each month per image for shutterstock - but istock i do get 1 dollar per month per image several months in a row.

I hope to keep working on it and achieve my goal of 1000 GBP a month in a year.

Anyone else who has started microstock in last 1-3 years and having success in earnings?

Wish I joined in 2003! But I hope to persist and make it.

If you have $1 RPI at istock you're either submitting mostly illustrations or you've been pretty selective in uploading some saleable photos.

If you're going to get to $1000 based on your RPI you're going to need to shoot/upload/get-accepted at least 900+ images over the next year. Given most newer people usually have 75% acceptance rate or less you'll need to produce 1,200+ images.

And it's pretty common that when newer people start going gung-ho submitting images they focus on quantity over quality which tends to drop their RPI from too many similars or questionable subjects. If it drops to 50 cents you now need 2,000+ images.

Every year the requirements get higher, the competition grows and get better, and the sites try to give contributors less of the pie. I'd say for you to get where you want in a year this would need to become close to a full time job, or second full time job.

So can you have success entering in 2010? It depends. How much time, motivation, patience, and other income do you have?

Not trying to take the wind out of your sails but rather give you a realistic view of what some of us have already run into.

I know of an istock exclusive who joined in Jan '09, has 1353 files and about 4500 dls since. A lot of his port is Vetta so I'm guessing he's making about what you want. He's otherwise a successful professional lifestyle and fashion photographer.

I want to increase my efforts and in the next 12 months make it a sort of minimum UK wage (�1000 a month)

I am entering into Microstock in 2010. I have read various articles about the subject and the subject is "Can someone entering into Microstock in 2010 have much success?"

Is it worth the effort, is it worth my effort for the next 12 months?

If you are already a professional photographer, have really GREAT and ORIGINAL images, then perhaps you may reach your goal.  Otherwise, forget about it because the answer is definitely NO.

Quote from: anc on June 22, 2010, 15:51

Hi! I am new to the forum and started on Microstock 3 months ago. I am now up to a point where  with with 80 files on Shutterstock I earn 80 dollars a month, and with 30 at Istock I earn 30 dollars a month. Before taxes etc.

Well I earn 100-150$ per month on SS with 1044 images now, and 30$ on IS with 555 images. This means that your images must be the nec plus ultra, and that mine are crap. If you earn that amount with that quantity of images, you should continue by all means. If you put 800 instead of 80 images on SS, you will earn there 800$ per month, so hurry up! Why are you asking advice here, since (a) you can do the math and (b) most here are just, ahem, regulars.  

Could we perhaps have a link to your portfolio, par hasard, por favor, Bitte Sch�n, 请 ?  

I am giving all my efforts in microstock regarding my gear and expenses, and I am still far from that kind of RPI..! Like FD-amateur said why are you asking us if it is possible??.. if you are having that experience why not???.. you must have a nice portfolio

You will struggle IMO. I think that the learning curve is not possible anymore. "Struggle" still mean possible though

There's truth in all of the answers posted here, from healthy skepticism

We don't know whether he is a photographer or an illustrator. Good illustrations always have a much higher RPI than photos, and while everybody can push a button on a cam, illustrators' talents are scarce. That gives him a great competitive advantage, and that's why I asked, out of curiosity, for his port links.

The earnings at the very start of your microstock "career" don't necessarily reflect a linear growth over time compared to the amount of images.

At some point many of us "plateaued". After 4 or 5 years of submitting it appeared that it doesn't really matter how many more images you throw at the agencies, not more money will come out of it.

Of course there are always exceptions to the rule and while you're in this game you always have to re-direct yourself and your style to supply the current market with what it wants. Don't expect that your best seller now will sell as well in two years time.

The answer to your initial question is yes, you can do it. Entering the industry at this point will require a full-time job approach, which means producing really good images all the time from now on until you either realize it's working or, well, ... not.

I've seen people starting microstock in 2009 and by now they make $1000 a month just at iStock with less than 500 images. The key is to create images that the market needs. That is the true challenge to figure that out. But if you do some smart research you can find that out pretty fast.

Quote from: FD-regular on June 23, 2010, 03:31

Quote from: PowerDroid on June 23, 2010, 03:04

There's truth in all of the answers posted here, from healthy skepticism

... everybody can push a button on a cam, illustrators' talents are scarce.

Come on!!!  

Pushing a button on a camera doesn't make anyone a photographer!   Knowledge and talent are necessary to be a good photographer and have success.

"The camera is the least important thing in photography"

Julius Shulman, 2009

Pushing a button on a camera doesn't make anyone a photographer!   Knowledge and talent are necessary to be a good photographer and have success.

I completely agree.  Anyone can take a picture, but it takes skill to make a good picture and a combination of skill and talent to make great pictures.

But I do think that the line between people who can take good stock photos and those who just think they can is blurry. 

OTOH the line between people who can draw well and people who can't is pretty darn sharp.  There are far fewer illustrators because everybody and their cousin doesn't imagine they are good at it - unlike photography.