Author Topic: How long did it take you before stock footage became your full time job? (Read 8315 times)

Abstract.Arts · « **on:** April 08, 2019, 14:20 »

What's your story? I'm a novice with this stuff but am aware it's possible to be very successful in this realm. I know a guy who was contacted directly by Pond5 to and asked to name his price to sell his complete portfolio several years ago, did this ever happen to you?

dpimborough · « **Reply #1 on:** April 08, 2019, 15:35 »

and there was I thinking you were writing a dissertation for your Phd ~ LOL

Pauws99 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 08, 2019, 15:48 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on April 08, 2019, 15:35

and there was I thinking you were writing a dissertation for your Phd ~ LOL

I doubt you ever thought that somehow ;-)

cthoman · « **Reply #3 on:** April 08, 2019, 15:59 »

No, but people keep trying to get me to open up an insurance agency franchise. What's up with that?

pkphotos · « **Reply #4 on:** April 08, 2019, 17:05 »

It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

thirdbornentertainment · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2019, 17:23 »

Quote from: pkphotos on April 08, 2019, 17:05

It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

This is what you consider constructive to this forum? Ive made upwards of 2k per month doing this and its steadily growing. People like John from crafted shutter make a good living off this so Im not sure what youre on about.

Not only have you shown yourself to be rude, but clueless as well. Don't give advice on things you have no knowledge about.

Check and mate....again.

Cider Apple · « **Reply #6 on:** May 05, 2019, 17:35 »

My short story... In 2011 I started uploading stock footage using my DSLR as a bit of side money.

In 2013 I was making more money in stock than my day job (a media teacher).

In 2015 I quit teaching and went all in on stock.

2019 I've never looked back. I'm now at the stage where I work when I want (not much in the last year as I've been enjoying being a dad to my 3 kids and doing house DIY stuff)

My monthly income is extremely stable and am earning more than I could have ever wised for. I have more free time now than ever before in my life (that means more to me than income).

If you work hard and put the effort in to the right places. Stock is a fantastic career / lifestyle. Just remember content is king, it dosn't matter so much on equipment as long as you understand framing and lighting.

Good luck, hope u join the party

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2019, 21:04 »

Seven years. But I wasn't really trying for the first six!

pkphotos · « **Reply #8 on:** May 05, 2019, 21:05 »

Quote from: thirdbornentertainment on May 05, 2019, 17:23

Quote from: pkphotos on April 08, 2019, 17:05
It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

This is what you consider constructive to this forum? Ive made upwards of 2k per month doing this and its steadily growing. People like John from crafted shutter make a good living off this so Im not sure what youre on about.

Not only have you shown yourself to be rude, but clueless as well. Don't give advice on things you have no knowledge about.

Check and mate....again.

I'm guessing your about 15 judging by the childish way you communicate.

dpimborough · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2019, 02:02 »

Quote from: thirdbornentertainment on May 05, 2019, 17:23

Quote from: pkphotos on April 08, 2019, 17:05
It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

This is what you consider constructive to this forum? Ive made upwards of 2k per month doing this and its steadily growing. People like John from crafted shutter make a good living off this so Im not sure what youre on about.

Not only have you shown yourself to be rude, but clueless as well. Don't give advice on things you have no knowledge about.

Check and mate....again.

I'm going to jump in on this PKPhotos said nothing rude at all they expressed their view that its not possible to earn a living out of stock video (whether they are right or wrong)

The only rudeness was your comment and you are clueless because you obviously can't read an innocuous comment without getting pissy.

15? More like 5

Go and take a chill pill and come back when you learn to play nice.

[email protected] · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2019, 02:03 »

I feel that I need 10,000 pictures online, which can achieve objective benefits.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2019, 02:17 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on May 06, 2019, 02:02

Quote from: thirdbornentertainment on May 05, 2019, 17:23
Quote from: pkphotos on April 08, 2019, 17:05
It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

This is what you consider constructive to this forum? Ive made upwards of 2k per month doing this and its steadily growing. People like John from crafted shutter make a good living off this so Im not sure what youre on about.

Not only have you shown yourself to be rude, but clueless as well. Don't give advice on things you have no knowledge about.

Check and mate....again.

I'm going to jump in on this PKPhotos said nothing rude at all they expressed their view that its not possible to earn a living out of stock video (whether they are right or wrong)

The only rudeness was your comment and you are clueless because you obviously can't read an innocuous comment without getting pissy.

15? More like 5

Go and take a chill pill and come back when you learn to play nice.

Well it could have been expressed better as a view rather than a categorical statement that is demonstrably not true. Not really rude though.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2019, 04:22 »

I'm with Pauws99... not rude, just a tiny bit blunt and completely false. Although it could be a cunning ploy to dissuade would-be competition!

Pauws99 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:34 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 06, 2019, 04:22

I'm with Pauws99... not rude, just a tiny bit blunt and completely false. Although it could be a cunning ploy to dissuade would-be competition!

I think the type of person that could make a full time living from this would need the kind of determination that nothing would put them off ;-). Particularly starting up now.

georgep7 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 06, 2019, 07:38 »

TBH Upvoted pkPhotos "impossible to make a living" comment as long as this is my current status or at least current thoughts.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #15 on:** May 06, 2019, 10:12 »

Yeah but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Is it impossible to run 100m under 10 seconds? I couldn't, most probably couldn't... but that doesn't mean you can state it's impossible, like it's some kind of fact. Definitely agree it gets harder every year though.

georgep7 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 06, 2019, 10:25 »

Perhaps some of us are at day one of the six first years you mentioned in your post!

Yes it is not impossible but, guess, full time on anything comes naturally
either never comes, no measurements, no time framing, sometimes not even self-evaluation,
opportunities knock the door do not come after a checklist completion.

Also agree that everything goes more and more difficult
in a globalised market, from competition to oversaturation
to more and more gear to get and skills to master.

Perhaps people asking "how much {time} to achieve {goal}" do not understand that
experience as mentioned (framing, light etc) and (also mentioned) dedication
are not developed easy or even equal from person to person.

Clair Voyant · « **Reply #17 on:** May 06, 2019, 11:02 »

Quote from: pkphotos on April 08, 2019, 17:05

It is impossible to make a living from stock footage. You can make some pocket money but hold on to your real job.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” - Henry Ford

Footage is a supplement of my full time income 'real job' of shooting stock, and I could quite my 'real job' and shoot footage only, but I enjoy both so I won't.

BTW your negativity inspires me and others to not think like you. Thank you!

ForrestBrown · « **Reply #18 on:** May 06, 2019, 14:23 »

It's pretty tough to say how long it takes to start making a living from stock footage, there's just too many factors. It also depends on how much income you consider making a living. If you live someplace cheap, it's much easier to make a living than it is if you live someplace like Los Angeles or another expensive city.

How much you make depends on how many videos you have uploaded and the quality of the videos. If you're uploading crap, then you may never make a living from stock footage, no matter how much you upload. But if you're uploading high-quality footage, you could probably make a living with 5000-10000 videos.

kenwood · « **Reply #19 on:** May 09, 2019, 23:17 »

It also depends on where you live. If you live in a third world country, 1-2k in usd a month should be enough to cover most of your expenses plus more. But if you live in a place where the average housing price is 2 million, then 1-2k is obviously insufficient.

davidbautista · « **Reply #20 on:** May 12, 2019, 00:44 »

Quote from: kenwood on May 09, 2019, 23:17

It also depends on where you live. If you live in a third world country, 1-2k in usd a month should be enough to cover most of your expenses plus more. But if you live in a place where the average housing price is 2 million, then 1-2k is obviously insufficient.

True. 1000 usd per month in Colombia is a good salary.

Enviado desde mi ALP-L29 mediante Tapatalk

georgep7 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 12, 2019, 01:50 »

Quote from: davidbautista on May 12, 2019, 00:44

Quote from: kenwood on May 09, 2019, 23:17
It also depends on where you live. If you live in a third world country, 1-2k in usd a month should be enough to cover most of your expenses plus more. But if you live in a place where the average housing price is 2 million, then 1-2k is obviously insufficient.
True. 1000 usd per month in Colombia is a good salary.

Enviado desde mi ALP-L29 mediante Tapatalk

Also on taxation system.
1000 USD translated to around 900Euros is also a nice income for Greece nowadays with all this unemployment.

But.

exhausting taxation and compulsory insurance to state inconsequently regulated services, for this amount of money,
leads to almost zero profits annually if not leaving a debt plus the loss of any benefit as long as freelancing is literally punished.
Already asked my accountant and even for aminimum payout appearing to my Paypal and then local bank is considered illegal
by local tax offices and in order to be totally legal I was adviced to start a video producing one person company.

Sigh!

thepokergod · « **Reply #22 on:** May 16, 2019, 04:29 »

Been full time stock footage producer since 2010, things really took off in 2012 and 2013 onwards has been great. Last 6 weeks though have been horrendous sales wise though.

pkphotos is completely wrong...

pkphotos · « **Reply #23 on:** May 16, 2019, 05:26 »

Quote from: thepokergod on May 16, 2019, 04:29

Been full time stock footage producer since 2010, things really took off in 2012 and 2013 onwards has been great. Last 6 weeks though have been horrendous sales wise though.

pkphotos is completely wrong...

yes but for how long when people have to trumpet their success and encourage another 1000 newbies to an already over-saturated market. People on this forum love shooting themselves in the foot.

thepokergod · « **Reply #24 on:** May 16, 2019, 05:33 »

Quote from: pkphotos on May 16, 2019, 05:26

Quote from: thepokergod on May 16, 2019, 04:29
Been full time stock footage producer since 2010, things really took off in 2012 and 2013 onwards has been great. Last 6 weeks though have been horrendous sales wise though.

pkphotos is completely wrong...

yes but for how long when people have to trumpet their success and encourage another 1000 newbies to an already over-saturated market. People on this forum love shooting themselves in the foot.

I get it and I agree to a certain extent. But if you're so terrified of the masses destroying your business then you either need to adapt or have a plan B in the sidelines.

Personally I'd direct your sentiment toward the folks running Youtube channels and writing e-books about how to make a living at stock footage. I'm more than happy to share with people the fact it's possible to make a living at stock, if you really have a unique high value niche available, but that's about as much as I'll say.

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Author Topic: How long did it take you before stock footage became your full time job? (Read 8315 times)

Abstract.Arts

dpimborough

Pauws99

cthoman

pkphotos

thirdbornentertainment

Cider Apple

SpaceStockFootage

pkphotos

dpimborough

[email protected]

Pauws99

SpaceStockFootage

Pauws99

georgep7

SpaceStockFootage

georgep7

Clair Voyant

ForrestBrown

kenwood

davidbautista

georgep7

thepokergod

pkphotos

thepokergod

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