November Microstock photography results

I didn't quite do as well as last month but that was an anomaly. This month continues the gradual growth that I have been seeing since I began. I only uploaded about 7 photos this month so the increase is not due to more photos, just a better return on the photos already there.

Below are percentages for the month to show how I have been going:

30% shutterstock (BEST EVER MONTH - BEM)
13% dreamtime
8% Fotolia
19% istockphoto (BEM)
7% bigstockphoto
9% 123RF
9% StockXpert
1% Featurepics
2% Canstock
0% Galastock
0% LuckyOliver

shutterstock out did itself again with another best ever month and a new best ever day pretty much every week. Designers are obviously flocking to this model (subscription model) so this is definitely the place to be.

Microstockphoto - October results

It was my best ever month..

Below are percentages for the month to show how I have been going:

20% shutterstock (BEST EVER MONTH - BEM)
17% dreamtime (2nd BEM)
9% Fotolia (BEM)
13% istockphoto (BEM)
4% bigstockphoto
25% 123RF (BEM)
7% StockXpert
1% Featurepics
2% Canstock
1% Galastock
1% LuckyOliver

123RF is high this month as I had an Extended License sale (EL) on which I earned a lot more that the normal 0.3 - $2. An EL is where the buyer gets additional rights with the purchase, for example being able to do bigger print runs. Most sites do them but to date, I have only had a couple. Due to the small size of my portfolio, this messed up the percentages a bit. Normally it is only about 7% with the others obviously picking up the difference.

I have also added above the smaller sites that I upload to. As you can see, not a lot going on there. I am supporting them in the hope they will take off but at this point, it doesn't look like they will be catching up to the big boys any time soon.

shutterstock continues to be my pick as it continues to get consistant high sales, so if you haven't joined up yet, have a look:

My guess for the site to improve most is Fotolia . It has a huge portfolio of photos and their marketing is only starting (they are less than 1 year old). They have multi-language sites and have quite a focus in Europe where the other sites dont seem to be as focused.

Galastock and LuckyOliver - the new microstock sites

In the past couple of months, a couple of new microstock sites have popped up: LuckyOliver and Galastock. I have now got my photos onto them and can report sales at both, though very slow. This is to be expected as they haven't started marketing yet.

LuckyOliver looks very slick and appears to be run my marketing people as they are trying to be unique to get market share. Galastock is more traditional. It will be interesting to see if they survive as the market seems pretty competitive.

If you want to have a look, click on the links or the banner above and you will get taken there:

LuckyOliver
Galastock.

September Microstock photo result

I uploaded another 20 photos this month so that the portofolio keeps growning. Depending on the site, I now have between 100-200 photos on each (acceptance of 50-100%). Most of my shots are travel shots so they do not get big downloads (people shots and business shots apparently do best) but I get a steady, but slow, stream of DL, even on the older photos.

Below are percentages for the month to show how I have been going:

20% shutterstock
26% dreamtime
6% Fotolia
10% istockphoto
5% bigstockphoto
6% 123RF
16% StockXpert

I do submit to another few sites but they dont have enough sales to warrent a mention. The sites above are the ones that are worthwhile unless you have a really large portfolio.

With solid sales this month, the pick of the months is dreamtime :

My guess for the site to improve most is Fotolia . It has a huge portfolio of photos and their marketing is only starting (they are less than 1 year old). They have multi-language sites and have quite a focus in Europe where the other sites dont seem to be as focused.

Mircostock article at MSN

Here is the Article. The links to the two sites in the article are - shutterstock and istockphoto - both of which feature in my regular end of month summaries.

 

Size comparisons of the microstock sites

I am upload photos at the moment and a bit bored so thought I would do another post. Since it is mid month I can do my monthly update so had to think of something else. From a desingers point of view (they are the ones that buy the photos so are very improtant), the number of photos is very important, after the quality of the photos on the site.

Therefore, it is intersting to compare the number of photos on each site. So here goes. These are from the last time I looked but give you an indication:

Fotolia 1,264,747
shutterstock 1,032,613
dreamtime 610,000
istockphoto 1,055,075
bigstockphoto 509,000
123RF 400,000
StockXpert 220,000
Featurepics 72,995
Canstock 264,470
Galastock new

Well, as you can see Fotolia is the biggest, followed by istockphoto and shutterstock so these are definately the big three and should be used by all microstockers. StockXpert is definately batting above its weight at the moment so is one to watch.

Shutterstock

I haven't done much posting except for month end results so I thought I would post some details on shutterstock. If you look though my prevous posts, you will see that it consistantly a top earning. It is different to most of the other sites in that it is a subscription model. What this means is that designers pay a set amount each month and they get 30 downloads per day. Due to this, they are encouraged to download which is why you will see a lot more Downloads at shutterstock than any other site.

The downside is that you only get 25c per photo but the volume of sales means that it is still as good if not better than than the other sites.

If you look at the photos at shutterstock, you will notice that the photos dont have to be spectacular. In fact, sometimes the boring ones sell better. They do have to be technically good though - that means thay have to be exposed correctly, have good composition and not have noise in them. Due to this, I recommend you join up and have a look at the forum. You can post pictures in there and they will say whether they think they will be accepted. You have to submit 10 for approval and if less than 7 get accepted, there is a 1 month stand down period so it pays not to rush into it and make sure you submit your best photos.

So click on one of the banners and have a look. I will keep posting how I am doing on the various sites so you can see which other ones are worth submitting to.

August results at the microstock photo sites

I haven't done much this month again (submitting wise) and ony submitted 20 at the most at the different sites. However, income was up and I am now due a payout from StockXpert as well as another one from shutterstock.

Below are percentages for the month to show how I have been going:

20% shutterstock
18% dreamtime
9% Fotolia
14% istockphoto
8% bigstockphoto
7% 123RF
15% StockXpert

A pattern is clearly showing as to which are the best sites are the best, which Shutterstock consistantly being the best payout dispite the lowest payout ratio - this is due to their high downloads due to being a subscription model.

Shutterstock and iStock have also both reached 1 million pictures so together with Fotolia are looking like being the market leaders.

Shutterstock now has 32,000 contributors

Press release from shutterstock

Shutterstocks® Network of Photographers Hits 32,000
Written by Press Release
Friday, 04 August 2006
Adding a Record-Setting 3,000 New Photographers in July Alone, Worlds Largest Subscription-Based Stock Photo Agency Continues to Attract International Talent


New York, NYAugust 3, 2006Shutterstock® is pleased to announce that its worldwide network of contributing photographers has reached 32,000. The geographic, stylistic, and cultural diversity of Shutterstocks photographers, not to mention their sheer numbers, ensures that Shutterstock maintains the most varied and relevant collection of premium images possible. Shutterstock, which currently adds about 15,000 new images a week to its collection, is popular among photographers for its user-friendly submission process and prompt response time. This, of course, translates to a stronger Shutterstock photo librarycurrently pushing one million imagesa collection that has become a go-to resource for the creative community.

July was a banner month for the company. Shutterstock added a record 3,000 photographers to its community last month alone, all of whom are now submitting new content to the site. And photographers earnings are keeping pace with their numbers: commissions earned by photographers also hit a record last month. This shows that Shutterstock is not only recruiting new talent to the site, but that these new photographers are proving to be remarkably adept, i.e., their photos are being downloaded frequently by Shutterstock subscribers. The constant influx of new photographers ensures that the quality and quantity of the collection continues to improve.

The continued success of the company depends equally on these two issues. You cant have sustainable growth without quality content, said Jon Oringer, CEO of Shutterstock. Were grateful to have a constant stream of premium images coming in from photographers around the worldtogether we are building an image library of which all 32,000 of us should be very proud.

Both photographers and their photographs must meet strict standards to become a part of the Shutterstock community. Currently, about 40% of submitted photographs meet screeners criteria for acceptance; the balance is turned away. In order for new photographers to begin submitting regularly to Shutterstock, a certain percentage of their first portfolio must be accepted. If they do not meet this standard, they are not permitted to submit at that time, though they are invited to try again after a month has elapsed. These high standards are the key to maintaining the quality of Shutterstocks photo collection even as the site grows at an unprecedented rate.

So if you want to join up, click on the banner below:

iStock now does video

For anyone who does videos, istock now does videos so have a look.

For those that haven't heard of istock, they sell photos, and now videos, for you. They are cheap, so people can afford to buy them. Each one can sell over and over again so if you have a good image, over time, it can earn you quite a lot.

Microstock photo results for July

I haven't done much this month (submitting wise) and yet I earned just a little bit more than last month. This is a good sign as it shows that it is a good passive income stream that I am getting, even if I am away from the computer. I also got a payout from two more to bring that to a total of 4 that I have received payouts from.

Below are percentages for the month to show how I have been going:

24% shutterstock
28% dreamtime
10% Fotolia
14% istockphoto
6% bigstockphoto
7% 123RF
8% StockXpert


However, my pick of the month is dreamtime . Sales are increasing (I am not the only one to report this) and the amounts are increasing as the amount of old credits (half the price) start running out:

Fotolia is now above the 1million photos (as predicted last month) so that are also a hot pick for when they start their marketing drive (note they onlly really started in Janurary and are already the biggest).

My first Microstock photo payment

I received my first payment from shutterstock and bigstockphoto . I received payment by paypal and had it successfully transfered into my bank account. No fees were charged by shutterstock , bigstockphoto or paypal .

This was my main concern with doing this is that I would never see the money. i have enough for a payout at 2 other sites now so I will request some more money. This is actually starting to payoff.

Fotolia now has the most photos

Fotolia have done it. They now have more photos (911,000) than both shutterstock and istockphoto (908,000)

It has been a good month. Not quite as good as last month but is better if you exclude the two extended license sales that I got.
Below are percentages for the month and since I began so you can see that they are pretty consistant:
32% 28% shutterstock
19% 23% dreamtime
14% 9% Fotolia
7% 6% istockphoto
6% 12% bigstockphoto
5% 5% 123RF
13% 10% StockXpert
0% 0% Canstock
4% 6% Featurepics

shutterstock and dreamtime are still my best two and I recommend everyone to jump onto these. However, my pick of the month is Fotolia . Sales are increasing as as I stated in my previous post, they are growing at a great speed - they will probably be the first to 1 million photos so that whould attract buyers:

Microstock photo results for May 2006

I thought I would migrate my blog here to see how it goes. What I do is give a monthly breakdown of where my microstock photo earnings come from (based on $ received).

The following is a breakdown of where I earned my money from for the month of May so you can get an indication of what sites are better.

26% shutterstock
23% dreamtime
5% Fotolia
4% istockphoto
20% bigstockphoto
4% 123RF
13% StockXpert
0% Canstock
5% Featurepics

shutterstock and bigstockphoto are higher than they should be due to each having $20 extended licenses which with my small portfolio has quite a distortionary effect. Hopefully I will get a lot more next month.

dreamtime is my pick for best site at the moment. StockXpert is my up and coming recommendation. istockphoto is the one I need to do some work on. I only submit there when I know I have a successful shot due to high rejections, as such I only have a very small portfolio there but it has a very good per picture payout rate (ie good sales - unfortunately they have a low payout ratio though).

I will try to update monthly so you can see how the different sites are going. But for this month the winner is: