Microstock, How To Get Started

By Author: Paul Marchiori
Total Articles: 10
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How to get Started

Sometimes deciding where and how to start out is one of the biggest challenges when doing something new. I decided to write this article to hopefully help anyone that wants to give microstock a try an idea of how to get going in it. Before I go any further I want to say that microstock isn't easy, you can't just upload some snap shots you have and watch the money start rolling in. Yes, it is easy to make a little bit of money, but to start really paying for some nice equipment you need to be somewhat serious about it and give it a real try. Don't upload a few photos, wait a few weeks and decide that there is no money to be made. You need to get enough pictures out there to be noticed among the millions of other photos and give people some time to find them. Okay...now if you are still interested in getting that camera to pay for itself and more equipment then read below.

Recipe for Money

This isn't really much of a recipe, but if I was starting all over again this is how I would do it.

1) Join what is typically considered the 5 best earning microstock sites: Microfoto, ...
... Fotolia, Shutterstock, Istockphoto, and Dreamstime. Use the same username and password on all 4 sites so that it is easy to login to each of them. Okay, now that you are all excited and feel like a member of the microstock community don't go willy nilly and just start uploading like crazy. Instead, take a deep breath and read number 2. These memberships play an important role in the entire recipe and once setup they are ready to be used anytime.

2) Now, both Shutterstock and Istock require a test of sorts to be able to upload images. Shutterstock has you upload 10 photos and Istock has you upload 3, but we aren't concerned with this just yet. Instead let's be concerned with getting images out there and learning how to make money off of them. Take some pics of whatever you like, trying to get a good variety of different subjects and concepts (these can be photos you already have). Use some kind of image editing software and zoom in to 100%. Use a cloning stamp, healing brush, or whatever means necessary to remove any dust spots, bad pixels, or anything else that looks bad. Add keywords to the image, which sounds weird, but is actually a really easy process and a general tutorial can be found in the SprintingTurtles How To section on IPTC data. If you really don't want to do this part then you can keyword the images once uploaded. If you decide to go this route then I highly recommend at least keeping text files of the keywords with the same names as the image files, for future use. Now the fun part, login to Fotolia, go to images and click upload new images. Browse to your images, upload them and put them in the categories they offer. Next, login to Dreamstime, click management area and Upload Images. Add them to categories. A person would think, cool...now I will just sit here and watch the money roll in. Don't do that, it takes a while for them to get approved or rejected and often times, even longer still to start getting downloads. So use this time wisely...start taking more photos, don't think to yourself, "I will wait and see if this is even going to work out." IT WILL! You just need to keep uploading and give it time.

3) Once you get a better idea of the types of images that get rejected and the reasons why it is time to move on to the next stage. Take 10 of your best images (best sellers or ones you feel are really good) and upload them to Shutterstock for their initial test. Don't be bummed out if you get rejected, instead read the Getting Accepted at Shutterstock article. With perseverance you will get accepted and begin enjoying the daily downloads and really start to realize, "WOW...I can make money at this!"

4) After you have been a member of Shutterstock for a bit, take your three best earners (varied types) and upload them to Istock's initial review. Hopefully you get right in and if not, then keep at it. Istock may not sell well at first, but give it a few months. For me, and from what I have heard from others, it takes a while for images to hit their stride on Istock. Sometimes not getting any downloads for a month or two and then taking off all the sudden.

5) By now you have probably created your own recipe and think I am crazy, but I would then go join any remaining microstock sites that interest me. BigStockPhoto would be my next choice, then probably Stockxpert and 123rf. However, you should only join these if you are fairly serious about microstock, because they won't be big earners so it is more of an "in it for the long haul" kind of deal.

6) Buy cool stuff with all your money.

Thanks for reading and Happy Downloads!
Paul Marchiori is a contributor to many microstock agencies around the globe and he recommends this royalty free stock photography website as the best. It is Microfoto.com