Lets suppose this business of microstock ends up being a like a neutron star and gets so big and fat that it collapses under its own size. You know -- like sets suppose, just for the fun of it, that if you slice a pie into ten thousand pieces among 1000 people, nobody wants the pie anymore. Lets suppose that your a beanie baby and the microstock business is ebay? Ebay is gonna do fine, but pretty soon your not even going to sell at yard sale.

Any of you have a fall-back plan? You guys that are making a living in this?

For sure, things are going to change. Its just hard to predict how. But forget trying to learn how to use the crystal ball -- we've all learned a lot in this biz.

How are you going to put your skills to work if you need a plan B?

Just for fun of course, cuz we all know that this business knows exactly where its going and everything is going to be fine.

PS - I have nothing against beanie babies.

Since microstock brings food on my table while I am student, in next few years plan B is to die from starvation for me. lol.

LIZARD! Too funny man! Add 'comedian' to your list of back up plans -- you got it made

Chode -- Add wilderness survival to your education -- then you can bring photography to the wild and get some cool shots of the last remaining tribe uncontacted by man, proving the last one to be a mistake or hoax. You will also not starve because of your newfound skills in foraging, even if that venture doesn't work.

Leaf -- thats  a very good and educated reply. I never thought of it that way actually. It is more stable than a big corporate job (or even a small one) because the storm won't come on all at once.

Please, post all of your doom and gloom and microstock conspiracy theories in this thread. No thread I've ever started remained serious and down to earth for very long.

Wow.. lots of doom-and-gloom going on about microstock lately.

I've started many a post like this, and I'll start this one the same way: "I'm not worried."

Sure microstock is young, there's lots of growing to do and who knows where that growth will lead. But how is that any worse than what's out there in the regular job market? Think about how many of your friends or family have lost jobs in the last year or two. How many thought they had a good thing going and then the rug was yanked out from under them? It can happen any time, any where, for any reason regardless of whether you're talking about microstock, car sales, flipping burgers, building houses, answering a phone, whatever.

The nice thing is that with microstock, if such a thing happens it can't and won't be overnight. It will be more gradual. If the market gets oversaturated, we will feel the effects slowly over time. And even if that happens, we'll still have time to continue making some money at this while looking for the next thing. Any one of us could walk away today, just stop uploading and leave your images where they are, and those images already online would continue making money for months to come. In this scenario, it would be far less money than we're used to, but it would be something.

Microstock isn't going anywhere, and while oversaturation is a possible problem, it's better than being in a market where demand is shrinking. Demand for affordable images will always be there, and so we'll always be able to make some kind of money at this.

I'm not worried and have no plan B.

I don't think it'll go down that soon. But if it would go down then I'd probably find another addiction. I always do Wouldn't be much of a problem since my regular job easily covers my expenses atm.

Well, my porn name is James Sunset.  So keep your eyes open.

Gladly stock photography is just a way to justify spending so much money in photography equipment.

Frankly, I don't live on that and a very small part of my income comes from it, but it is good to see that the DSLR I bought last year plus the extras was basically covered by stock earnings.

Regards,
Adelaide

Diversify Lisa. 

If you know someone who can mentor you in real estate, find out as much as you can and buy when property prices in your area are depressed and the deal will give you positive cash flow. 

I cannot imagine not being in the stock market, even as weird as the last 10 years have been. But if you aren't comfortable just parking money in a Vanguard index fund, consider an income fund which pays you a reliable dividend, insulating you somewhat from price movement.  Bonds are another diversification tool.  Just stay away from trendy stuff like gold and what not, that over time tends to return little to nothing.

Whatever you do, learn enough to invest when what you want to buy is cheap, and out of favor.  The public will think you are an idiot.  10 years later, you will be much richer, and they will be buying at the top again.

All very, very good advice Dan.  I really appreciate the tips :-D

Honestly, it seems crazy not to invest in something reliable while we do have some disposable income. 

I am embarassed to admit that right now we have earmarked the next few thousand for a kitchen remodel.... But on the up side, it will be so modern and gorgeous we can definitely use it for some pictures ;-)

LOL!  Sorry I gave you the idea!

OTOH I guess I owe you for the financial advice

Think about the "during" pictures, not just the gorgeous new results. We did remodeling in 2001, before I did stock and before I had a digital camera, but I cleaned up the scans of a few of the shots that I thought were stock worthy (and all those *^#% logos on the ladders and tools) and they sell quite nicely. Home remodeling is big business.

Yes, there is that.  Not sure if the guys doing it will be willing to sign releases though...

Yes, there is that.  Not sure if the guys doing it will be willing to sign releases though...

From what I've seen of your work, hubbie should be able to easily step in as a worker after the real ones have left for the day.

As far as the real workers are concerned, you may want to approach them from a "I'll give you the images for free if you sign model releases so I can use them in my business" standpoint. I'm sure anything you shoot could be made into a nice brochure for them.

If microstock went belly up tomorrow, my life (well my income) wouldn't be affected since I make very little with it.  My life would definitely be affected because I would have lots more spare time!  

My plan is to always keep my day job that pays well until I can retire (hopefully not more than 10 more years).  If microstock and stock in general survives, it will be a nice extra retirement income.