i devoted 100% of my time for a few months last year to microstock.  Found another photography job which was a bit tempting and now spend about 30% of my time doing microstock and 70% doing other photography.  I am tempted to just focus on microstock some days and drop everything else, but i think a little variety is good.... and keeps me going and perhaps gives fresh ideas.  I find doing 100% microstock ends up putting me infront of the computer an awful lot.

I still have that fulltime, corporate,middle-mgt,  'day job', same one for 30-some years now.... as rosta said, it pays the health insurance and kicks some into the 401k and stock options for later in life.  Although not all that much later anymore.  At age 58 I'm sniffing at retirement.  Looking at that recently, I came to realize that with escalating cost of living here in New Jersey, usa...    even with the 401K and stocks and social security,  the fact is I won't be able to retire in New Jersey.
        Heck, my taxes equal my mortgage already, and they are only going to go up. That with the hectic pace of life and the crowds of people... I know, something's gotta change.
        That being said, we are planning to move into the backwoods of Pennsylvania or  upstate NY.  And we are very close to buying the acreage and building a nice, cozy cabin.  We plan to do that as soon as possible. 
        Of course, when that happens there goes the corporate job.  I've been shooting photos since being a young boy. It has been a passionate hobby.   Last year, I decided to see if my work was worthy of microstock.  See if this could be a source of income to supplement the retirement monies.  So far,  it is fair.  Of course, I only have a portfolio of 200 something and that varying in size on 9 agencies now.
        Through or I should say due to my pictures being seen on microstock,  I have recently gone into contract with an east coast publishing company.  I am quite happy about that and honestly surprised.  My first spread will be in a June issue of one of their magazines.  I have been told that I can expect more assignments, they are putting out 4 magazines and publish coffee table style books. We'll see....    This outfit is owned by a larger publishing outfit, so the opportunity is there for even more work.  The typical magazine spread is for 8-10 photos.  By contract, they can only use them once. If they use them in any form again,  except in advertising of the magazine, I must be compensated again. I am being paid the  "standard rate" in the industry for half day or full day shoots.  Which, frankly, I almost feel guilty about taking for a legitimate 15-30 minutes work. But I suppose that's why folks are professional photographers. The money is very handsome and for me, the work is still fun.   I wish I could do this 3 or 4 times a week, I  COULD quit my day job and maintain my current lifestyle.
        At this time...  I am spending approximately  20-24 hours a week on photography and the related micro and/or magazine business.  I hope to be able to segway into it fulltime in the near future, leaving the corporate world behind,  ...work out of my cabin on a mountain-top somewhere in the wilds.            Now a dream... but quite possibly a reality.     Well, that's my story,  who's next?      -tom

Less than part time but I recognise the potential.  And good timeless photos are almost like investing in the stock market as they may pay dividends for hopefully a few years.  I'm a stay-at-home hockey mom, chauffer and finger paint instructor.  I work from home (sometimes part time, sometimes triple time) make my income about 70% youth sports photography, 20% grad/portrait, 5% design and 5% or less stock.  Goals this year are to shoot A LOT of stock... but I honestly don't enjoy the amount of hours scrunched over the computer with all involved.  Often I'll ftp during the day then when things are quiet in the evenings watch tv with the laptop and submit.

Gee ... you really jumped into it.  Dont you do other photo work as well?

Nope, not anymore. I've run the photo biz gamut and find shooting stock by far the most rewarding: I can shoot what I want, when I want, and how I want. Sure, the money's not too good right now - my current level is at about $1000 per month - but I'm building.

Odd thing I've noticed about this site: Nobody seems to talk about money. Why is that? It might prove helpful to compare portfolio productivity.

Sure, the money's not too good right now - my current level is at about $1000 per month - but I'm building.

sharply_done:

You have some fantastic work, but I have to call you out on your statement.

On IS, you have been a member since 09/2006 and have sold a total of 512 images, which probably totals ~ $300.

On DT, you have essentially been a member since 01/2007 and have sold 102 images, which totals <  $100.

On Fotolia, you have sold 90 images, which totals < $75.  FT doesn't say when you joined, but from the lowest image numbers in your portfolio, I would guess it was also at the beginning of the year.

So for those 3 sites, you have sold a total of < $500 over the past few months.  Even if we just include the last two months, that is $250/month.

SS doesn't give stats, but I doubt that you are making $750/month on that one site.  That would mean that you would be selling 3000 images/month on a portfolio of less than 500 images.

I think it is possible to have 3,000 dowloads a month with a portfolio of 500 with shutterstock. 

The best I manged was over 2,000 with 1,000 photos but I have no people photos and a lot of my photos are not ideal for stock.

You also need to factor in the EL's.  10 of those a month reduces those 3,000 downloads by 800.

        Through or I should say due to my pictures being seen on microstock,  I have recently gone into contract with an east coast publishing company.  I am quite happy about that and honestly surprised.  My first spread will be in a June issue of one of their magazines.  I have been told that I can expect more assignments, they are putting out 4 magazines and publish coffee table style books. We'll see....        Well, that's my story,  who's next?      -tom

Hey Tom!
Congrats on the magazine gig!
That's great!!!!
May you get many more!

S

yep i did get four in one day last week, that accounts for 4 of them... 2 more a few months ago   i have gotten a few on fotolia as well but not many

shutterstock gives lots of downloads the first few weeks after you upload which could account for some of the lop sidedness you are seeing when compared to dreamstime and fotolia, but still for me SS and IS are better performers than DT and FT.

I found it surprising to hear that phil date is doing so well on ft... he must be keywording things correctly and getting in good with the search engines over there.

eendicott: I upload to SS on an almost daily basis, so that isn't a problem. Thanks for the IS tip - I'll have to start spending a bit of time there, making comments and rating images. Flickr is about the same way - by "socializing" you get more views, and thus become more "popular". I hope you're right about DT - my income from there and FT sure could use a good kick in the, um, pants.

... I hope it does develop and open some doors and doesn't turn out to be a one-shot deal, flash in the pan.

a.k.a.-tom: It's my experience that your sale will be a one-shot deal unless you actively market yourself. Out-of-the-blue sales like that are like EL sales on microstock - they're nice to get, but don't count on people beating down your door to buy your stuff without you having a big hand in that. The only way to make any sort of appreciable money through (fine art) photography is to aggressively market yourself.

That being said, a possible source of casual revenue may be to frame a handful of your best shots for use in local coffee shops and restaurants. Doing this on a regular basis, as well as displaying your work in local galleries, really helps to get your name out there.