One of the ways that I sell my photos (ok, pretty much the only way most of the time) is via “Microstock” websites. Many of you may not know about them, so i thought i’d post a little bit about them.

A microstock site sells photos for between (on average) $1 and $20. You get a commission anywhere from 20% to 70% depending on the site which sells your stuff. The first one in the business was iStockPhoto.com - and they are currently my #1 earning site.

The whole point of microstock is to sell in volume. You make money by selling lots of images. Sort of like Wal-Mart. Most photographers are familiar with selling their images for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. But generally, they don’t sell lots of them... so microstock’s goal is to make up in volume what it gives up in price.

For example, the billboard image above is one of my biggest sellers - a simple billboard and a blue sky - yet it has probably earned me close to $1000 across all of the sites. It was in the right place at the right time and got to the top of some of the popular lists. I doubt that i would have been able to sell that image for that much in any other environment. It has sold probably over 2000 times. So maybe I get 50 cents a sale (some more, some less) but it adds up over time.

Another example is the photo above of the leaves in the gutter of my house... boring right? Well, it sells pretty well believe it or not. You know how many websites there are in the world for gutter replacement systems? Lots! And they need examples of what is “bad” guttering.

Over my 2.5 year career, i’ve made over $7000. It isn’t feeding my family (it is done in my spare time), but it is letting me learn new things and it is giving me spare cash to upgrade equipment - it is what allowed me to upgrade to a 5d after all!

I know that many traditional photographers aren’t too happy about the microstock model and i really don’t  want to go into that debate. Let’s just say that it is one segment of the photography market. And it has allowed me to learn and grow and i’m having a blast!

If you’d like to see more, check out my portfolios:

iStockPhoto

ShutterStock

Dreamstime

stockXpert

There’s a pretty comprehensive list on my microstockPedia wiki

*note: the links do include referral codes - so if you join up with those sites, i may get some additional income. I’ll be happy to help anyone get approved on those sites... just let me know.

any questions? Then send me an email