Hi, i've been into photogrpahy for a while now (about 10 years) and thought i'd start to pay back some of what i've spent on gear :lol:

So i've decided to give microstock a go, i've done a fair bit of research but what i want to ask is which websites are best to start out with to get a grasp of the industry before i tackle sites with tougher initial submission requirements?

Also i've set a kind of goal to try to earn ?150 p/m (~$300) after about 4 months is that realistic?

I've already uploaded 4 pics to Fotolia and am awaiting the result :? fingers crossed

Ta,
Col

As you have probably already figured out, Shutter Stock, iStock, Dreamstime and Stockxpert are the hardest to get accepted to. I would wait to do those until you get a good idea of what will sell as stock. I know Shutter Stock makes you wait a month to resubmit if you are not accepted the first time around, I don't remember if any of the others make you wait between submissions. Another good one, after Fotolia, to get your feet wet with is Big Stock Photo, They are pretty liberal with what they accept but you will get occasional sales there.

As far as earnings go, it's like anything else, you can only get out of it what you put into it. $300 month after 4 months isn't impossible but it is a pretty lofty goal.

Hope this helps.

Matt

PS. Feel free to use any of my referral links(I don't have any yet )

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opps post wrongly

I just did a webpage and you should be able to find most anything here ;-) All the basic questions etc that you have will be here definitely and more

http://www.freewebs.com/mygardenofed...microstock.htm

Cheers
Peiling

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All Abt Micro Stock
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istock

Hi Col

If you are going to achieve your aim of ?150 after three months then do not sit back and wait for your images to be reviewed before uploading more, if you think they are suitable for stock then keep uploading. Make sure they are well keyworded so the buyers can find them.

Like the others - please feel free to use any of my links

Christine

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FT|SS|DT|Fotolia |Kerioak

Ideal thanks guys, Peiling your website is pretty spot on for what i was looking for I've got a list of about 10 websites to submit to and you seem to cover all of them there, good job mate

Thanks for the advice Christine I'm moving abroad within the next month so hopefully that won't affect my uploading too much
To be honest I think from what you guys say ?150 p/m is a bit too high, I think i may instead just submit what i can when i can and see how it goes

Hi Col

No, ?150 a month is not too high (but will be easier when the exchange rate improves! ) and many people make way over this but you need a number of good, stock images to achieve it. Some people can do it with a few popular images but I think most of us probably have a variety.

Christine

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FT|SS|DT|Fotolia |Kerioak

Col Hi and Welcome

hey youre just down the road from me, well sort of lol. Anyway Ive only been into microstock for about 6 months, ten years photography before that. Like the guys said start off with the easier sites, like 123rf, bigstockphoto etc. Shutterstock,Istock are a bit hard to get into, I only attempted shutterstock after 4 months of getting to know digital photography. Good luck with your submissions to Fotolia, Im sure you be fine there :lol:

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I got my first ever photos accepted .....on BSP

Fotolia is still processing the same pics though :? i submitted to Fotolia on the 8th and BSP on the 10th, is fotolia usually this slow?

Yes but they are not the slowest. :wink: DT right now seems to be the slowest but they all go up and down depending on how busy they are.

Congrats on your fist acceptance, heres hoping you have many more!

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michaelmill
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Thanks Michael