P#4 Q2b: How Much Money Can I Expect To Make With Microstock?
Hard work and talent help you succeed with microstock
I asked Scott Stulberg what mistakes people make when they want to get into stock photography, and if it's possible to make a living selling microstock. He talked about how the business is changing and explained that the big agencies aren't the only players in the game any more.
I asked him how much money one could make selling to microstock agencies, and if he thinks it's worth it.
Microstock is easy to get into, but does it pay?
Scott Stulberg: With royalty free and microstock, it's harder to make a lot of money like you could in the old days.
However, at least a thousand dollars a month is not unreasonable. But $10,000 a month is pretty unreasonable -- unless you are absolutely amazing.
There are some people out there that make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. They are amazing, but they are relentless. They are shooting every other day or every day, and they are setting up all kinds of shoots with models and lights and locations. They have a full staff.
When it comes to microstock -- I tell people they can get in really easily and they could start selling photos immediately but they're going to get a dollar or two a picture -- maybe.
Microstock relies on selling that image over and over again, every day, every month, and that's how you make your money, by multiple sales.
The microstock agency will say, "Well, we'll take this photo and you'll get a dollar for it but we'll sell it 30 times today maybe, and that's $30 a day. Now that could be $900 a month."
That doesn't usually happen but that's what they'll tell you when you sign up. They want you to believe that multiple sales will make you multiple amounts of money. That doesn't always happen.
I'm just not a big fan of microstock. I think it has destroyed the stock industry. I might eventually have to go into it because that's what's overtaking the market. People are looking for cheaper images.
If you're the owner of a company and you want to get an image for your ad, would you want to pay $20 or do you want to pay $500? That's the way the market is going and it's disconcerting for a lot of photographers.
In summary
If you're looking for a way to quickly get into stock photography, microstock may be for you. The trade-off is that you might not earn as much for your photos as you expect, or as you would with a big agency. But, as the advertising market changes, agencies may be forced toward selling cheaper images.
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