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Good strategy for stockphoto?

by Quilst
10 replies
I have been working some nice pictures for the last couple of weeks and considering posting them on shutterstock and similar sites.
I can draw just about everything with my tablet and photoshop

Can anybody give me some good advice and strategy how to accomplish good results?

Would backlinking to my profile on those sites make any difference?

Sorry if the message is short - just don't know what more to ask about his strategy :/
#good #photos #question #research #shutterstock #stockphoto #strategy
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Leatherman
    Hey Quilst,

    I'm no expert on this but every bit of advertisement you can put out will help. Backlink away. I would also look at getting up on Twitter and other social sites and sending folks to the shutterstock and other sites where you have them posted. Not only back links to your profile but directly to your work.

    Also have you thought about running a WSO here for your work? You do know you can put an image here in your post. Get your work up and then run a WSO with samples of your work right in the WSO. While I'm thinking about it be sure and put your backlink to your work in your signature file here on the WF.

    Just take action now, don't wait!

    Ken
    The Old Geezer
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  • Profile picture of the author Pete Egeler
    I don't think you'll get many back links from stock photo sites. You upload your material, and they display them and handle all sales. The photos are usually just identified by a number, with no mention of the photographer.

    At least I've not seen any back link opps on the stock photo sites where I post my photos.

    On the other hand, Twitter, MySpace, etc. might work much better.

    Pete
    Signature
    The special sale is over. No longer able to remain acitive. Domain is for sale if interested.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ducksauce
    If you submit a pic to one of these stock photo sites, can you still use the photo yourself ?
    Signature

    I love life an everything in it. Don't worry, be happy.

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  • Profile picture of the author omk
    Well, you can adapt IM to any product or service. So for your stock photography, the same applies. Just create backlinks and all the usual stuff like additional mini sites that focus on stock photography and link back to your main money page on the stock photo site. It's pretty basic with that one. Since the person already has a clear idea of what they're looking for it's not going to be too hard to do a pre-sell, before funneling them thru. Having a mini gallery on your presells is def. a must. - this way they can start to see the quality of your work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Miranda
    stock photography is hard to get into on those big sites. Consider creating a WSO maybe and package your work together like I did.

    I'm a pro photographer.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreeMeal
    I've been a member on Shutterstock for about two or three years. I haven't submitted any new work there for the last year or so. I have about 100-200 images uploaded, but havent submitted any new work for the last year or so. At my peak i was making about £350 a month, but then shutterstock made a change to their search alogorythms (spelling?) and my portfolio just seemed to vanish to the bottom of the results. I still make about £20-£30 a month now without doing anything.

    I found that vectors sell far better than photographs. If you have a unique and exciting style about your work you can do ok. Make sure your work is not too specific in subject matter, for example don't waste your time drawing a picture of a unicorn, wearing a scarf, on a skate board in space. You might think it looks nice but no one will want it.

    Also, be prepared to have a lot of other members on there totally rip your work off, that used to really piss me off.

    On a side note, I actually bought a premium wordpress theme from Elegant Themes yesterday, and noticed they were using one of my photographs on on most of their themes. That's the first time I've ever stumbled across any of my stuff actually being used.
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    • Profile picture of the author HN
      Banned
      This thread has been started in 2008. A lot of things have changed since. Eg. istockohoto is now only paying 15% to new non-exclusive contributor. I have never got any photos approved, but I have uploaded over 700 videos. They are not very popular niche (wildlife and nature), so I get only a few hundred each month (I get 25% commissions). If a video sells for $100, I get $25 they get $75, I think this is robbery, so I stopped uploading. If you spend your time setting up your own stock photo or video site, you could spend time to build backlinks to your own site, not someone elses stock site. You could sell files for half a price but make 2x as much per sale. What I mean? When you sell video for $50 on our own site you get $50, less processing fees. You sell video on istock for $100 you get only $25.

      The very last thing I would consider doing, is to build backlinks for my own portofolio on istock or shutterstock or any other stock photo website. They are already robbing you why work for them for free? Even if you refer surfers to your own portfolio, it's not a guarantee they'll buy your image, not someone else's. How about affiliate payments? Istock only pays $10 for referral. You refer a customer that buys $1000 worth of stock, you get just $10 one time payment. Nonsense.

      It is, however, possible to make money with stock photo or video, but if you have a huge portfolio I'd suggest to build your own site and if you have a small one you'll be making peanuts, so you could be better off, again, by creating your own site, but giving photos away for free to subscribers, thus building your list.
      I 'm writing an atricle right now, together with my fellow photographerMake Money | Sell Stock Photos
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      • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
        Originally Posted by HN View Post

        If a video sells for $100, I get $25 they get $75, I think this is robbery, so I stopped uploading
        That of course is your choice. On the other hand, if the site has the traffic and buyers, $25 is better than $0 if you cannot sell it on your own.

        .
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        • Profile picture of the author HN
          Banned
          Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

          That of course is your choice. On the other hand, if the site has the traffic and buyers, $25 is better than $0 if you cannot sell it on your own.
          And that is exactly why those sites prosper and reduce payments to contributors. You can spend your life building business for someone else or you can take action and do something for yourself. You can upload to those sites and HOPE that your photos/videos are ranked better than those of thousands competing photographers'. What happens if they sell the site or for some reason delete your portfolio? Actually I think this is not a choice, you can do both - sell on your own and thru agency, see what works for you. The worst scenario would be driving traffic to agency that sells your files.
          Finally, regarding traffic. istockphoto has 1.5 to 2 million visitors a day and they have something like 10 million or more files. Let's say each customer views 10 images a day (see alexa) - that is 1 view per your photo per day. My best selling video has 2600 views and 36 sales in 2 years. That's 4 views per day. Can I do better on my own? I intend to find this out soon.
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