Hello All, a bit of a newbie question here.... I have my own website with my own general photography, nature / motorsport etc images and wondered is there any reason that I shouldn't make a seperate gallery and call it  (Stock photos or similar )and then  upload say a hundred of my images that are also uploaded to several different stock sites ( I would watermark the images to try and stop them being nicked ) then put a link on the gallery going to all of the stock sites trhat I upload too..hopefully pushing a few more views and hopefully sales from my stock sites..

firstly is there any reason why I am not allowed to do this. second is it a good idea to do this or would I just be wasting my time.. ( oh yeah, I wouldnt be selling any images from my own site ..just displaying them )

Thanks  Steve....and merry xmas to you all..

Yes, I encourage you to try it.
You have nothing to loose (except effort, some time and maybe some money if you plan to invest).

I will try to share some of my thoughts with you here...

I do self-promotion through my own personal stock website(s) (not fully finished yet) and so far it seems to be good idea. It needs to be noted that I do it as a hobby (and also as a kind of experiment) and thus I have nothing to loose, except what I mentioned above,... It is fun & relaxation for me. Simply kind of hobby. I have pretty clear vision and plans in my mind about what I want to achieve with my personal stock website(s) � and because I take it as a hobby I really have nothing to loose � If my plans and goals are not achieved nothing happens, but if / when they are achieved and confirmed I am of course happy. <� So far my thoughts were confirmed, so I am happy. :-)

Example of my Stock Photo Catalogue Listing: (Medium Previews)
http://www.jareso.com/photo/catalogue/page/6/

Don�t forget about large preview(s) and what is most important in my opinion is not to forget about proper targeting of onsite text, such as titles, descriptions, and keywords describing the photos.

Example of my Stock Photo Previews: (Large Previews)
http://www.jareso.com/photo/57/ruined-interior-of-likava-castle-slovakia/
http://www.jareso.com/photo/131/famous-orava-castle-slovakia/

On large preview pages of my personal stock website(s) I am trying to use different (and much more descriptive) titles and descriptions whenever possible. Keywords I use on my personal site(s) are usually not just simple words (as are on stock agencies) but rather longer descriptive phrases. Sometimes completely different from texts / words my photos have at stock agencies.

When possible I try to use descriptions that are "story like" not just plain short descriptions.

Examples of "story like" description:
(English, long description.)
http://www.jareso.com/photo/268/entrance-to-the-strecno-castle/
(Czech, even longer description.)
http://www.jareso.cz/fotografie/268/vstup-do-hradu-strecno/

My regional / local language versions are human translated � including titles, descriptions and keywords.

Translations are far from fully finished yet in all language versions, but are planned and some translations are in progress now.
Unfortunately, it is possible that current translations will need little rewriting / corrections, because I initially made a mistake and hired professional translators, that are otherwise good, but are not familiar with "stock photo" terms.
Luckily I realized and corrected my mistake soon.
So I started to hire native speaker stock photographers instead professional "non-stock photo" translators.

When talking about this - if you are native speaker and you are familiar with "stock photo" terms in your mother tongue (I guess that is everyone who is reading this here ;-) and you see mistake(s) in your language specific version of my site. Please contact me if you feel that you can do those translations in much better way... Really don�t hesitate and just let me know! (I offer 20$ per 1000 source words � I have no problem with sending you the money even in advance if I will see that you are trustworthy person.)
But on the other side I cannot promise you that you will be doing the translation right now. <- I will put you to my contact book and when (if) I will need that language I will contact you. Same if you want to do translation for me into the language that is not currently present on my website. Just drop me PM. I plan to constantly develop my site(s) in future. For example to include articles about stock, etc. (don�t know when actually � but have that on TO DO list) so there will be possibility for you to earn some $ by doing the translations when (if) will be the time.

But back to the topic. Some of my local / regional titles, descriptions and keywords describing my pictures are different amongst various languages and I try to rewrite them to best-fit current language specifics.
(To pick traffic I target from search engine results in the best possible way.)
 
Thanks to this I am starting to receive interesting (constantly growing) traffic for regional searches such as for cultural heritage pictures, local monuments, or other language specific searches. (I am far from typical stock photographer. I am hobbyist / amateur photographer actually. Shooting landscapes, nature and architecture.) Stock agencies are usually focused on English language (or use automatic translations) and thus I believe there is still a space for picking regional / local traffic / searches.

So conclusion and my advice to this point is that you should translate your website (including titles, descriptions, and keywords) at least by yourself to your mother tongue as addition to the English version. (If you are non-English speaker of course.)

Another specification of my site is that I decided (after a lot of thinking about all possibilities) not to watermark my images on "Large Preview Pages". Exactly the opposite. I decided that I would offer images on my "Large Preview Pages" for free of charge to anyone who wants to use them. With only one condition - back linking to my site. My free large preview images are low resolution 360x360 pixels maximally. But I am starting to think to make them even bigger. Not sure to what maximal free resolution yet. <- Free photos can greatly extend promotional possibilities of website.

Of course all of these would be good for nothing without some kind of monetisation.
Because I am not selling images directly from my site (and I don�t plan to) I am sending traffic my site(s) receive to external agencies.

All of my stock photos can be clicked and -> linked to Dreamstime.
All of my stock graphics (3d renderings) can be clicked and -> linked to YayMicro.
All of my 3d models can be clicked and -> linked to TurboSquid.
(And I plan to add also separate section for texures.)

Btw. I don�t like mixing of stock photos and stock graphics together in one portfolio (one agency). And thus I sell my photos (only photos) separately at Dreamstime and don�t mix them with my stock graphics. And opposite I sell my stock graphics (only graphics) at YayMicro and don�t mix them with my photos. Same for textures and 3d models - I sell those only at TurboSquid.

Of course I plan to shoot more photos and to create more stock graphics to expand my stock portfolios (and thus also website) to bigger and with more diversified subjects to choose from.
It will surely take a lot of time but hopefully it will be achieved one day�

That�s what I wanted� In my opinion it is worth (at least it is worth trying)...

Thanks for the replies, I will give it a go.. and hopefully it will bring in more views  to some of my stock sites.

Steve.

In my experience, direct-selling on such a platform is a big waste of time (search engines aren't keen on sites which don't go anywhere, and a lot of the seo-verbage is already soaked up by the agencies), though there is something to be gained from using it as a platform to generate some relevant 'link juice' to your agency portfolios. Though be mindful that generating traffic (especially if your images are in a competitive topic) is time-heavy... a couple of hours a month probably won't cut it.

Extra tip... Try to work in a blog relevant to the kinds of people who buy your specific images, post regularly (twice a week or more) and get a lot of comments out. Building links is hard and takes time