no one can make a living doing this. Anyone who thinks they can is wasting their time. Especially starting from scratch now.

Nothing to see here, move along.

no one can make a living doing this. Anyone who thinks they can is wasting their time. Especially starting from scratch now.

Nothing to see here, move along.

... is the right answer.

It all depends of what you have to offer and the quantity you submit.

Nope, it's a question of quantity you sell, not quantity you submit.

Quote from: Microbius on February 18, 2009, 08:54

no one can make a living doing this. Anyone who thinks they can is wasting their time. Especially starting from scratch now.

Nothing to see here, move along.

... is the right answer.

 

Okay guys, got it: stupid question!!!

I can realize that, I was a graphic designer just a few years ago and purchased images between $50 to $600 for my company (it was heaven for photographers)... So now since everything is SO cheap, I was just wondering if there was someone in the world who made any living at this. I got chew up, man!

Thanks travismanley and holgs!
That's the kind of info I was wondering about. I understand very well that no one can expect revenues right from the beginning, it's like any other freelance job...... Tough out there!

i suppose if you're living in a country where the wages is pittance, selling on microstock would be attractive.
if you're asking if this is a better way to earn a living,  i would say playing flute walking on stilts at the underground would earn you 24 bucks an hour.
if you're tossing burger in US or Canada, i would say that would still have you better off , as you don't have to pay for expensive camera, battery, mem card, lights,etc..
but, one could still squeegee  windscreens at the junction and make far more money , ... without any initial investment. 
... and you get to be outside in the open air all day. 

So, if it is getting harder and harder for us newbies to get beyond the microstock bottom rung (admittedly, I haven't been doing this long, and I don't have a huge portfolio - but I haven't sold a single download yet - not even to a subscription earning me a pitiful 20c - perhaps it says something about my photos ), is there an alternative - other than learning how to play flute while walking on stilts..?  I never thought I'd make a fortune, but the constant battle to try and achieve even a single image that would sell is taking the fun out of my hobby.

You can make good living at this, especially if you live in countries where life is cheap. Here, average monthly salary is about 300$ and people live with that. But if you live in USA or EU.... you have to be really good in this business to make living selling your photos this way.

... and toasted goodness.

Microstock will amount for about 10% of my income and I'm getting around 20-25$/hour. I started more seriously in may 2008 but had a little portfolio before that since september 2007. I still consider myself a newbie. At the beginning, the pay was a LOT lower because I had to learn the tricks and tips: post-process, keywording (was a pain at first), uploading, etc. Now that I'm used to it, I'm slowly cruising. I could make a lot more money if I put the time into it. You get what you invest in (in terms of hours).

good luck!