300 images – 5 stock agencies - let’s see how they do

[luxborealis]

As I’ve written on another board, I’ve stepped up to Adobe’s CC Photography Plan. My goal now is to have 300 images accepted on Adobe Stock by year’s end, which, according to Adobe, converts to the Photography Plan free for 12 months.

So, I’m turning this into a little experiment. My goal (time permitting) is to get the 300 images accepted, but not just to Adobe Stock; I will upload the same images to Alamy, ShutterStock, EyeEm and Getty as well, then I’ll track their performance over the next year to see how they do.

I’ve dabbled in stock over the years and have sold images from my website as well. I’ve never made a lot as I’ve not kept up with submitting images on a regular basis. So this will be a good test for me, my photographs and ‘the system’.

Some may see this as throwing away hundreds of images for pennies on the dollar. The way I see it is this: I have tens of thousands of image files, maybe a few thousand of which have some marketing potential. But, they are doing nothing for me sitting on a hard drive. I may as well get something for them.

We’ll see. Wish me luck!

Edit: I just read the post about Getty and “feeding the monster”. Hmmmm. Not feeding the monster will not starve it. I have images that have some potential. Leaving them on a hard drive won’t get them sold. And waiting for someone to ‘discover my art’? Let’s just say, I won’t hold my breath.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... We’ll see. Wish me luck!...

I do.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Good luck!
And next week you can tell us in detail how you got your 300 accepted.   

[John R]

Indeed, good luck!

JR

[luxborealis]

Ha-Ha, Eric! It may take me a thousand to have 300 accepted! That’s why I was careful to say, “time permitting”. It takes a few minutes to properly set up each photo, so we’ll see how far I get Between now and 31 Dec!

[LesPalenik]

Actually, most of those agencies accept now pretty much anything. The more images submitted, the merrier.
300 images used to be a good test portfolio in the days when a stock agency had 3-5 million images in total. Today some agencies have in excess of 250 million images and are adding 1 million every week, so you'll need a few thousand images to notice any action. Of course, the image quality and uniqueness are important criteria for a sale potential, but it's hard to fight the sheer quantity when even great images get instantly buried in the sea of mediocre photographs.

   

[KLaban]

Getty Images is phasing out rights-managed 'creative images' in favour of royalty free content.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/0475276807/getty-is-phasing-out-rights-managed-photos-in-favor-of-royalty-free-content

[Alan Klein]

Good luck on your experiment.  How do you limit re-sale of a particular picture where the buyer wants an exclusive?  After all, you have submitted the same picture to more than one distributor.

[LesPalenik]

Good luck on your experiment.  How do you limit re-sale of a particular picture where the buyer wants an exclusive?  After all, you have submitted the same picture to more than one distributor.

Limiting re-sale of a particular image applies only to rights-managed method. To some extent with a possibility to track individual purchases also to exclusive images with just one agency. Sometimes, a prospective customer will offer to buy all rights (including RAW file) to an image outright even if it was originally published on a royalty-free site with prior sales.

[Alan Klein]

Limiting re-sale of a particular image applies only to rights-managed method. To some extent with a possibility to track individual purchases also to exclusive images with just one agency. Sometimes, a prospective customer will offer to buy all rights (including RAW file) to an image outright even if it was originally published on a royalty-free site with prior sales.

So how is that done when there are multi agency particularly?

[LesPalenik]

So how is that done when there are multi agency particularly?

When you decide to send your images to multiple agencies, you essentially give up image usage tracking / licensing.

[ejkrouse]

It's a good experiment for sure. You don't have anything to lose except time. I've been a hobby stock contributor since 2009, and haven't noticed huge peaks and valleys except with Dreamstime and iStock, which for me are essentially vestigial at this point. The biggest sea change came from video submissions. stock income went from just supporting my lensrentals habit to more serious money. Adobe's subscription giveaway is honestly the best reason to start now; it's worth $600, and they're very prompt about sending the voucher. Adobe and Shutterstock are the runaway earners for me. Assuming you're doing all your file prep in your DAM, give Depositphotos and 123RF a shot too.

Good luck with it!

[Cornfield]

Adding three hundred images to five stock sites and measuring performance over a year will not produce meaningful results. 

Uploading regularly and having a few of your images that sell every day/week is the key to feeding the algorithm.

I'm pleased with my performance over the last five years.  The first five years were poor.  I have 6,500 images online and surprisingly one single image generates 11% of my total income.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I have 6,500 images online and surprisingly one single image generates 11% of my total income.

When you first posted it, did you have any idea that it would do so well?

[Cornfield]

Sort of knew it was a strong image but surprised it sold over 3,200 times across three agencies.  I don't like to post too much about images or strategies as there so many people ripping off ideas from forums.

Regular uploads, at least once per week with around 50 images fully keyworded and captioned.  I had software developed by a friend for keywording that really helps.  The keywords, captions and metadata are crucial to selling, simply making it easy for images to be found.  A lot of stock contributors do not give much thought to how an image may be used in regards to copy-space and cropping.  I often submit two or three images of the same subject with different cropping/copy-space.

I have recently started uploading video clips and early results have been positive.  The royalties from video clips is much higher than stills with an average of around $50.

[Alan Klein]

Adding three hundred images to five stock sites and measuring performance over a year will not produce meaningful results. 

Uploading regularly and having a few of your images that sell every day/week is the key to feeding the algorithm.

I'm pleased with my performance over the last five years.  The first five years were poor.  I have 6,500 images online and surprisingly one single image generates 11% of my total income.

Do you have to keep adding photos because the "old" ones get played out?

[Cornfield]

Do you have to keep adding photos because the "old" ones get played out?

Its not so much getting played out but everything to do with the algorithm.  Agencies want to have regular contributors who sell well and the reward is featuring high in the search results.  I have had images sell the same day of being approved which also gives a clue on how the algorithm rates fresh content from an active contributor.

[luxborealis]

Very helpful perspective and advice. Much appreciated.

Sort of knew it was a strong image but surprised it sold over 3,200 times across three agencies.  I don't like to post too much about images or strategies as there so many people ripping off ideas from forums.

Regular uploads, at least once per week with around 50 images fully keyworded and captioned.  I had software developed by a friend for keywording that really helps.  The keywords, captions and metadata are crucial to selling, simply making it easy for images to be found.  A lot of stock contributors do not give much thought to how an image may be used in regards to copy-space and cropping.  I often submit two or three images of the same subject with different cropping/copy-space.

I have recently started uploading video clips and early results have been positive.  The royalties from video clips is much higher than stills with an average of around $50.