Here is a question for you...

What would you do if you were earning a stable $10,000/month from microstock? (no I am not even close

Would you quite working and travel and enjoy life, and upload only once in a while.
Keep uploading like regular.
Go back to school..

I don't know what I would do.  I enjoy microstock that I would probably continue uploading photos, but would probably travel a lot more.  The big shooters in microstock seem to only have $$ in their eyes and keep shooting, have more expenses and increase their income more and more.  if they can increase their bottom line then it would be worth it, but it would also be tempting to try and keep costs at an absolute minimum and keep most of the $$ as wages.

I also have dreams of doing other projects in my life, perhaps going back to school for something else I am interested in, doing pottery a few times a week... perhaps 50% photographer and 50% something else?  I guess I have a few years to decide

At 10k/month, you're already working and likely don't have another job. If you quit uploading you'd have to pick a pretty cheap place to live because it wouldn't be long until the money started to dwindle. I'd like to spend some uninterrupted time writing.

I think that the only way to make that much would REQUIRE me to be a shooter full time. I might travel more, but only if I was an accomplished travel photographer and could use the trip as a way to generate more stock shots (& get a tax write off).

With the stiff competition these days, you would not keep that income level for long if you allow your portfolio to become stale.

Zeus pretty much covered it, while I was writing (I'm a slow iPhone typist).

Buy a big share of Fotolia.

I would spend more time taking the photos I enjoy but wont make money.  It gets a bit boring taking stock photos and I can't seem to switch between artistic and stock easily.

... If you quit uploading you'd have to pick a pretty cheap place to live because it wouldn't be long until the money started to dwindle. ...

... But seriously,  I would say that the lucky few (very few!) who are  making that much better keep shooting and uploading or they would probably see their sales decline over time.  ...

Not necessarily. Here's an example of someone who stopped uploading without experiencing a drastic decline in income.

Speaking for myself, I've barely uploaded anything in the last six months (excluding SS, of course) and have seen my income increase. Instead of creating new images and uploading them, I've instead focused on managing my various portfolios with the aim of increasing my overall exposure. So far, so good, I'd say. Sure, a more favorable placement in the IS best match played a prominent role in this, but even excluding that I can easily say that there's more to making money in this industry than simply shooting, processing, keywording, and uploading. In my mind, the traditional approach to stock photography is not going to get you as far as you should be going. The era of 'shoot it and see what sticks' is ending, and success nowadays is equally dependent upon a good understanding of Web 2.0 tools and techniques.

Okay, I admit it. I'd have to pick a cheap place to live because my income would quickly dwindle.

... And Sharply, in your case it sounds like you have still been working at it, but just switching your energies to improving your exposure rather than adding new pictures.  Sounds like a very good use of time IMHO.

Yep, the writing's on the wall.

If you choose to keep with the old ways of simply shooting and uploading without investing any time into optimization and management, I think you'll inevitably see your market share erode as more and more of your competitors modernize their approach. When that happens, what are you going to do - shoot even more or take a step back and rethink things?

Quote from: lisafx on April 28, 2009, 17:08

... And Sharply, in your case it sounds like you have still been working at it, but just switching your energies to improving your exposure rather than adding new pictures.  Sounds like a very good use of time IMHO.

Yep, the writing's on the wall.

If you choose to keep with the old ways of simply shooting and uploading without investing any time into optimization and management, I think you'll inevitably see your market share erode as more and more of your competitors modernize their approach. When that happens, what are you going to do - shoot even more or take a step back and rethink things?

Sharply Done, would love to hear more about your approach to optimization.  And, I've heard several mentions of Web 2.0 Tools but have very little knowledge of just what that is.  Maybe we should start a new thread to talk about those tools? 

Off to query my SEO guy and google web 2.0.   

I would bother less about uploading.  Even with very little new images in the past year, I'm keeping an almost stable monthly earnings - of course, very far from 10k!   

I would make more charity donations.  They already make me feel so good.

leaf, you must be joking ... 10K a month 
if i make 35K a year,even 25 US $  , which many of you are already earning that,
 i 'd pack up and go back to tunisia or costa rica, and won't come back to Canada, except to renew my passport. rofl.

1. Quit day job FINALLY!!!
2. Do full time shooting
3. More travelling
4. Pay a student to take over the boring stuff like uploading, maybe keywording too

Life would definitely be more fun!

Quote from: lisafx on April 28, 2009, 17:08

... And Sharply, in your case it sounds like you have still been working at it, but just switching your energies to improving your exposure rather than adding new pictures.  Sounds like a very good use of time IMHO.

Yep, the writing's on the wall.

If you choose to keep with the old ways of simply shooting and uploading without investing any time into optimization and management, I think you'll inevitably see your market share erode as more and more of your competitors modernize their approach. When that happens, what are you going to do - shoot even more or take a step back and rethink things?

So far I haven't done anything other than upload images and my earnings are still increasing.  It might be because your portfolio is full of great images and will keep earning more, as there are still new buyers using microstock.  There is increasing competition but a lot newcomers will find it harder to make money and are more likely to give up than they were a few years ago.  Some that were doing well will not be able to make enough to go full time.  I am still blindly optimistic that there are a few more years of good times ahead

It is a good idea to use everything you can to promote your portfolio and I might have to spend time doing that in the future but for now I am sticking with uploading as much as I can.