How many years does it take for a microstocker to run into a burn-out syndrom?
 
And how to overcome it? To take a break? For how long?

How to overcome a creativity block?

Any experience?

How many years to burn- depends on too many variables. If you are okay with working 18 hour days - 6 days a week with no time to take a shower or eat a good meal than burn out will never come 

If I was still making money and seeing growth from my efforts I may not have burnt out. I quit about three years ago after five years of submitting. When I first started, I got really motivated when I saw revenue increasing consistently when I added new images. It was awesome for a few years until the plateau hit and then the drop. The hamster wheel. I still experiment with stuff like mobile to see if there's anything new that makes it worth my time but haven't found it yet. I spend my time producing stuff outside of micro where I still find profits and growth. I also license my own stuff through my site.

Like Mantis said, things are shifting. Up until a few years ago equipment and quality requirements were so high it prevented a lot of people from entering micro. Now the requirements are so low that anyone with a cellphone can join micro which opened up the competition floodgates to just about anyone anywhere in the world. And micros will continue squeezing people until they find that fine line where taking away too much negatively affects their financials. Hasn't happened yet and there's no bottom in sight.

Wish it wasn't this way because in the beginning I was so excited. I actually thought I could live off of this with just a few thousand images. Now I'd need tens of thousands and it's not viable.

Great analysis as usually, Paulie. Sums up my feelings and experiences, too.
I thought I was riding the gravy train. Then the train derailed.

You must burn before you can burn out.

If you are part-time microstocker, you can only cool down a little bit.

The agencies have become so greedy and gutter bent on subs that I, like many, have given up the chase.

Someone posted one key truth about the content of micros and that is the quality of the content will be, more or less, sustained by people in third world countries where $800 a month is a nice living.  Much of their work is very well done, both images and illustrations.

well said... both insightful truths!!!
i also remember at the beginning of my microstock here on leaf's msg, reading someone who said he left his country to settle in a 3rd world where the microstock earnings goes a longer way.
esp for us old crows (not the other one with the same monicker here), we can go that route too,
and make our earnings go a longer way with 35 bucks a month. but i will be crazy and old
if i say i will support greedy ss to let them rule my life with 35bucks as a wooo yayyy i got payout every month from ss, sooooo cool. !!!
no, won't be an ss coolie !!!

i got my equipment all paid up by micro, so like you mantis, next year will be a new project.
stay local doing my own thing, while getting in touch with all those who are using my micro work
..by finding their blog directly and make a deal with them.
they will pay less for my work without the middle man, and they won't have to rummage through
hundred pages of spammy sh*t .
this way, we both get the best of our relationship.

i doubt if ss will really improve contributors, or clients relations. that's way too old school for them.
the only thing to happen is Oringer cut out and go private again, but that too won't happen.
the taste of green is too much like opium to the masses... you don't go back ...

Quote from: vladimir on November 27, 2016, 12:34

I am a noob and i am trying to get into stock and I dont understand what its happening. I see people complain about revenue and that they stopped producing years ago and my question is why are they still here wasting time on this forums ? I dont mean to be rude but something does not sound right to me ....

I don't waste much time. I do way better in other areas outside of micro so I don't come here much anymore. I check in once in a while hoping micro will turn around but things still seem headed downward.

What's happening? A lot of people who used to make a living making thousands per month are now making hundreds per month even though they submitted thousands of images with the "shoot, upload, repeat" method. Dont care? Ok. For you new people or people who live in areas where the cost of living is lower and hundreds of dollars per months sounds great, what if you had the same situation happen to you? Like in a couple years you went from earning $500 per month and living well down to $50 per month? Or $5 per month? And micro no longer paid your bills? You'd probably quit or... come back here complaining about it.

You have a place to "quit" only in some wealthy country. There are not so many photography or video related options to quit microstock in Russia or some other third world country today.

That's exactly what a lot of people have said.
The prices are going so low that it's unsustainable for many people to make stock images, particularly for micro.
Where photography expenses and living expenses aren't so great, the situation is different.

I love doing stock.

It feels very rewarding that strangers that I will never meet use my images in projects I will never see. Even when I am long gone my files will keep circling the globe being used somewhere.

I am focussing more on macrostock or specialized agencies for photos, but have some themes that continue to do well on microstock.

I have also fallen in love with video and at the moment the average download is higher than for photos. But processing and uploading 4k takes a lot of time.

To prevent burnout, I turn to editorial video and photos.

Look at events going on in my city or drive to a new place and try to capture that.

But for me stock is the best thing ever and now we have so many different agencies and styles, you can sell anything.

I enjoy editorial, too, and they can sell quite well.  I have a decent portfolio of the presidential candidates from 2015-2016 and it helps support my losers...I love to just jump in the car and go.   I am, however, working on a budget now instead of constantly investing in equipment.   I am also trying to build a traditional photography business.

Quote from: vladimir on November 27, 2016, 12:34

I am a noob and i am trying to get into stock and I dont understand what its happening. I see people complain about revenue and that they stopped producing years ago and my question is why are they still here wasting time on this forums ? I dont mean to be rude but something does not sound right to me ....

I don't waste much time. I do way better in other areas outside of micro so I don't come here much anymore. I check in once in a while hoping micro will turn around but things still seem headed downward.

What's happening? A lot of people who used to make a living making thousands per month are now making hundreds per month even though they submitted thousands of images with the "shoot, upload, repeat" method. Dont care? Ok. For you new people or people who live in areas where the cost of living is lower and hundreds of dollars per months sounds great, what if you had the same situation happen to you? Like in a couple years you went from earning $500 per month and living well down to $50 per month? Or $5 per month? And micro no longer paid your bills? You'd probably quit or... come back here complaining about it.

Same here... I only come here maybe once a week to see if there is anything new in this industry. It really was exciting times back then when you envisioned retiring early and living off micro royalties. Even tho I make substantially less than what I used to make, its still a pretty big monthly income that i pay attention to. It's been ages since i uploaded anything to the sites.

@50% I am living in a country which is not all that wealthy at the moment, you might check the todays newspaper of Zimbabwe to learn more about...

Quote from: Josephine on November 28, 2016, 12:40

only the wealthy people cry...

Where I live people with a house and a garden are considered rich because it cost at very least 500.000, living in a rich country doesn't make you rich on a personal basis, the daily life is actually just harder because everything is so expensive.
Having a house with a garden you should consider yourself wealthy!

I doubt very much your life is harder than many of those living in countries like Zimbabwe where for many getting a decent meal is a priority.

Everybody in this forum knows the theory of THE WALL.

I belief that The Wall is related to Burnout. Unhappiness, worries, anger, complaints suck the energy and creativity of your brain, which means that your performance will decrease�. and you finally will hit The Wall.

LOL, maybe sometimes but I think you mostly have that backwards. Those things are what happen after you hit the wall.

This all sounds a bit depressing to read, especially from a financial point of view as it's clear that earnings have dropped significantly for quality work.

I've been submitting to microstock sites for 3 years part-time . I do get frustrated, as from a business point of view, it doesn't make much sense that is unless you live in a country where $500 a month is a good salary. As for getting burnt out, I haven't yet because I love photography too much and I look at microstock as a means to an end which helps me to keep things in perspective.

I�m grateful for my time submitting to Microstock sites, since I�ve received an education in the technical aspects of photograph simply by participating in that market. It�s like having a Bachelor�s in Photography without going to school. The money, which isn't much for the time spent, is a bonus and pays back for all the equipment i've purchased and gives me some revenue to upgrade regularly.

The photography industry is huge and I�m constantly exploring other opportunities outside of Microstock, such as fine art where some of my work has gone on display and editorial / photojournalism. Thanks to the skills I picked up submitting to Microstock I've landed a few gigs photographing residential properties and events.

This type of work isn't for everybody and I urge that photographers starting out manage their expectations and think about the reasons why you want to go into this business. If it's just for the money, don't do it.

Brasilnut
www.arotenberg.photoshelter.com

I'm completing microstock year #8.  Working hard to avoid the proverbial wall.  Not burned out at all.  Enthused to be building a supplemental retirement income (hope it lasts).  Enthused to have a place and purpose for my travel shots.