Tips for submitting to microstock photo agencies

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To make money online, get paid to share photos and images at microstock agencies. Before you submit your photos to microstock agencies, there are a few points that you should take note of so that you don’t waste your time uploading and keywording your photos, waiting for days for approval, only to have the lot rejected.

I joined the microstock venture slightly over a month ago at the time of writing. Although I haven’t really amassed a fortune yet, I’ve come to have a fairly good idea of how each microstock assesses its submissions. Maybe my experience will be useful to you.

Research
Before I signed up for anything, I spent a few days looking at the images on the different sites, paying particular attention to the ones with the highest downloads. Simply set the filter for search to display images with the highest downloads. This is for both photos and illustrations. What kind of subjects are popular?

Remember these images are for commercial use - advertising, graphic design and web design. Leave your artistic aspirations aside. You have to be objective if your objective is to make money.

Read the forums of the microstock sites to see what its members are saying. You will be able to get a good idea of how well sales are going, what policies are like, and overall well being of its members. There are also independent forums you can visit where members of different sites come together to discuss issues which may be too sensitive to be posted in the microstock forums. Some which I visit regularly are:

Talkmicro
Microstock
Microstockgroup

Photo Tips
Subjects which are in demand include:
1. People in various situations
2. People depicting a lifestyle
3. People in various occupations
4. People of different ethnic and age groups
5. Objects on white backgrounds
6. Industry specific eg. medical, construction etc
7. Seasonal and occasions eg. Weddings. Christmas

Subjects which are not in demand include:
1. Scenery eg. sunsets, clouds,
2. Nature eg. flowers, insects
3. Pets

A special note for Dreamstime here: If your image is similar to many others already in the gallery, chances of that image getting rejected are very high, even if it is of a different angle or style and commercially in demand.

Check your photo for sharpness, noise and resolution. Sometimes your image will seem noise-free to you but the microstock editors will say it contains too much noise. It’s all part and parcel of the process. You can appeal but normally, I don’t bother.

Illustration Tips
I make my illustrations A3 size.
Subjects that are in demand include:
1. Backgrounds
2. Icons or symbols
3. Lifestyle
4. Business
5. Seasonal or occasions

Subjects that are not in demand include:
1. Fine art
2. Overly simplistic images
3. Fonts
4. Dingbats

Making money with microstock photography (or illustration) is a slow, waiting game for most of us. Several top players earn thousands each month but for most of us mere mortals, being able earn a few hundred would already be a bonus.

Also, you have to be diligent enough to be constantly adding new images to your portfolio, especially in the case of Shutterstock, where new images get more exposure.

If you feel the above information has been useful, and would like to sign up to the various sites, please do so by using my affiliate links below. It would be greatly appreciated.

Shutterstock

Fotolia

BigStockPhoto

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