To those of you wanting to have some extra income, you can start selling on these sites too. A photo / illustration sells from as low as 25cents to as high as 2 dollars. And what more, if it is sold for extended license purpose, it can shoot up to 25 or 30 even 99 dollars, depending on which site you are selling.
You may opt to go exclusive with only one site, with a higher commission on each photo / illustration sold. Or you may sell over few sites, as what I am doing now.
Here are some sites worth joining, for you to earn some extra bucks. Or if you are really good, and can commit yourself, you can even make a living out of this!
| SHUTTERSTOCK | This is undoubtly the biggest stock photography site today. It pays 25cents per image sold, or 33cents if you have a total earning of more than USD500. They sell like hot cakes. Shutterstock is based on a successful subscription model, which means that you get quite a lot of downloads every day. You have to submit 10 files for initial inspection, and upon 7/10 approval, you will then be accepted and you can start selling and earning! The trick is that you have to keep uploading new stuff, and you will be assured of a steady income every month.
| DREAMSTIME | Downloads start as low as 25cents from subscriptions. But not to worry, as a very high percentage of downloads still come from credit sales where each sale can earn you anything from 50cents to 2dollars! They have also recently increased the commission for photos/illustrations in higher levels (the more a photo sells, the higher level it gets to)!
| FOTOLIA | One thing about Fotolia is that you are able to view the details of buyers who had downloaded your images. Most of the them are Europe based. You can earn from 30cents for a subscription download to as high as few dollars for image with higher resolution. Each image uploaded will be separated into different sizes such as M, L, X and XXL. Do not worry, what you need to do is just upload your original image, and they will resize it.
| BIG STOCK PHOTO | Big Stock Photo is also among one of the biggest earning site for stock photographer. The commission is fairly good, earning $0.50 or $1.00 for every image sold. The only downside is that you need to have a 7-word description for an image. But still, it's worth it. Sales have been going stronger lately.
| FEATURE PICS | This site is different in the sense that you can set the price of your image. And you earn 70% from each image which is sold! 70%! That means by setting the price at $2.00, you will be able to earn $1.40! That's about the highest you can get in stock photography! The site is very much user-friendly and acceptance rate is fairly high too.
Other stock photography sites you can explore includes 123RF,
and StockXpert.
SOME USEFUL TIPS
1. Always shoot with your camera set to the highest resolution, ie. shooting large smooth format.
2. Beware of noise. Stock agencies do not like noisy photos. Make sure you shoot with light, or use a tripod.
3. Research! Browse others' galleries, and the top selling photos to get an idea of what's selling.
4. Keywords are important as they will match your photos with the searches. Think like the designers/buyers while keywording your photos. Think of the usage, and the emotions/mood the photos generate.
5. Do not give up if you have many rejections at the initial stage. You learn from mistakes, and practice makes prefect. So keep shooting and keep improving.
So, get yourself registered, and start shooting and uploading, and earn some money!
Do drop me a message, if you have any queries, need any help or have anything to share! Thanks, and peace!
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