The strategy of taking "everything" makes sense if you are planning to make money with the simpler images on their cheaper websites. Only the higher end content is what they are probably expecting to sell on istock. Basically istock is just an entry portal for content of any type that they later pass around, move up or down etc...Same with keywords. Even if the keywords are not perfect, the system will anyway only promote the keywords that the customers use, it is self learning.

If you only look at istock itself, the strategy is strange, but if you think about how many agencies Getty owns and how many partner deals they have it makes perfect sense to try and attract "everything" that the stock industry has to offer.

That is why images elsewhere - on stocksy, offset, fotolia or dreamstime are the only real pain for them, especially if they can�t make a deal to get them licensed to their site.

"getty has everything" is a very powerful concept. It is simply a lot easier for the customer, especially for the high volume customer, to get any kind of content that is available from one site.

Well, you can follow the progress of me and many others who went indie. We are not new to stock, but we are new to most agencies. If you are completely new to stock,  you will have to evaluate how much time you have and if you are already shooting at a professional standard.

It is always possible to get in, but certainly will take longer to make reliable money than before.

I don�t want to be treated as an employee. If you do - just apply for a job with them...

stock performer is your friend Sean. I would�t know what to do without them.

The stats on SS are useless with the exception of the world map, but that just shows you the last 10 files, so you don�t get country specific data you can analyse for targeting your shootings. It is more of a gimmick, but a lot of fun.

My lowest was 6 cents. From Gettyimages.

I feel comfortable buying iphone apps for 99 cents that were programmed by over 100 people and took 18 months to develop. I don�t feel bad if people pay 35 cents as long as there are enough sales.

You just need to offer the right files for the high volume market and the specialised content for the low volume market.

Business is business. Only the money in my bank account is what is important.

Fascinating! Very brave to reevaluate your opinion of subs and Shutterstock and to just go and test it directly! Personally I think Videos are more interesting than photos, but my portfolio for photos is still too small and I am not uploading enough. SS needs very regular uploads, preferably in larger batches. At least for me the results were better if I combined my weekly uploads into one large lot instead of sending a few images every day.

Feels like spinning a wheel and a very large batch, gives a very visible push to the whole portfolio. Then things slowly drop down again and settle at a higher level than before. The lower level is remarkably stable, even if you don�t upload for 2 months. I can see why the community likes SS.

Plus the upload system is superb and SS has managed to keep their business running with a lot less emotional drama than all the other agencies. It means they have very good peopleskills and know how to respect the community as a group of independent entrepreneurs that they meet at eye level.

I need to get used to producing in much higher volume, not just for SS. But I am happy to do this if supplying several agencies keeps me free and my income balanced.

I am happy with the results and service from deposit. They accept all my files, I don't need to downsize anything the way I do for SS or Fotolia, they pay me 44% and the income is growing steadily. Very hassle free and easy to work with.

Thank you very much for sharing!

Being fully artist exclusive is a difficult decision. Sending only exclusive files, like Getty does or Fotolia or Dreamstime, is a lot easier. You can then still focus most of your attention on one agency, but can still have different content elsewhere for added protection.

I hope it keeps working for you. Many of my friends are still fully artist exclusive, so I hope Getty will soon focus more energy on their exclusives again and not just the "special exclusives" like Yuri.

Mine dropped as well, from 18 to 17%. Some people already mentioned it in the forums.

Let's see how long it takes to correct this. istock is never boring...

Good for you Mike!

I once had 100 shares and sold them with good profit. Of course now when I look at the stock price...but I have no regrets. I 'd rather take profits once to many then be disappointed if a stock drops.

I wouldn't mind getting back in, but I am really not sure about the timing. PE looks pretty high at the moment.

With SS you can be a shareholder and make additional money instead of just working with your portfolio.

Plus you get published business data to see how they are doing. That is useful for all contributing artists.

All photography, including iphoneography, is more about understanding visual communication and how to convey concepts. Images are created in your mind first before you press any buttons. At least if you want to make money, it is important to work on your overall visuall message skills. You can do that with any camera, although a camera where you can change lenses will give you more creative choices.

Have you considered joining a camera club or taking classes in photography?

In many ways photography has a lot in common with skills like creative writing or illustrations. You need to practise it a lot and get feedback from a very critical audience or teachers to improve.

The money you can make will be proportional to the effort and thinking and learning you put into it.

The journey is great fun though!

I agree, that is strange. They probably assume everyone knows their rates,but if I was checking them out, I would also want to know what the terms are.

If you are making the same amount like you did when you were exclusive and reached this goal in less than 18 months, I am very impressed.

Your files haven�t been online that long and many will certainly still find new customers and haven�t reached their peak yet. At the video masterclass, simonkr shared that in his experience the second year was the financially strongest for his files and then things would slow down until they stabilised on a certain level.


I think your experience is a major indication that going indie is financially a very solid option for video. So now you have a  loyal following of buyers on many different agencies, not just one and can build your portfolio in peace. You also have a much better chance of all files getting their day in the sun and being noticed by the different best match systems. You can sell editorial videos. You can select your own prices on pond5. etc�

In short, unless doing video is a part time thing or you simply prefer working with just one agency, indie looks like the better financial option for video.

And you no longer have to worry which of the sites is moving up or down or if your agency will regain the position lost as market leader.

One more question: do you supply getty separately? If not, why not apply and make them one more of your agencies/webshops to work with.

I guess then you would have them all covered, would�t you?