A Possible New Source of Income

As I mentioned Friday, I was looking into a possible new way to bring in some extra income. I forget how I came across this article, but the first thing I thought was – SCAM!

How I Make $2,000 Every Year Without Doing Very Much.

Upon reading the article, my mind was put at ease and I was a little inspired.

The author of the article discussed how they have a few illustrations listed at iStockPhoto.com. People looking for illustrations go to the site and purchase what they need. They also have photos, sound and video that you can sell or purchase.

We have experimented with photography and have some pictures sitting around that could qualify for this site. The downfall is that you only get 20% commission for each sale. That’s pretty low. But you can get volume/exposure if your work is good enough – a lot of people go to iStockphoto to purchase pictures. There are some photographers on there that make six figures a year. Then there are some that probably only make a few bucks a month (if that). I like the fact that we could possibly make some money for photos that were just going to be for personal use.

So I went through the application process this weekend (which included reading some material, taking a quiz and uploading three sample photos) and am waiting to see if my application will be approved. They really want to keep the quality of the site really high, so they check every picture/illustration/sound/video that comes in. Sort of nerve wracking, but I thought it was worth a shot. Even a few bucks a month is better than nothing and once you upload your photo and it is accepted – there isn’t much more work on your part.

If you happen to be into photography and can create some business related photos (especially with people in a business setting), they are selling like hotcakes. Some of the people who make the most money on the site have business photos on there. There are categories of pictures they are not accepting right now. One good example is trees. They have enough of them right now.

In a few weeks I should receive a reply on whether I was accepted or not. We don’t plan to pursue this heavily, but it could be a way to make some extra money with a hobby both my husband and I share and hope to get back into at a later date.

Here are a few articles I came across that were interesting to read about selling on iStockphoto.com:

Selling Photos on iStockphoto
Freelancer Sellings 500,000 Photos on iStockphoto.com
iStock Earnings

Thought I would share in case there are any hobby photographers out there

Posted by Tricia on October 20, 2008 at 12:28 PM in Making Money | 10 Comments »
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Budget Mama responded:
Posted: October 20th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I love istock. I know a few web designers and they also use istock. I haven’t used them in quite sometime though, but they are the number one source I would go to.

Good luck on getting approved!!!
Tricia responded:
Posted: October 20th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Well, that was quick. My photos were not good enough

That’s okay, we’ll try again later.
Mar responded:
Posted: October 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Tricia, did they say why the photos weren’t good enough or offer advice/suggestions on what they want?
JLR responded:
Posted: October 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I just recently got interested in microstock also. I signed up to bigstockphoto.com. I was considering iStock but BSP gives slightly higher commissions so I wanted to try them first. You may find the following blogs useful as you explore this new industry/area/interest.

http://www.microstockdiaries.com/
http://microstockphoto.blogspot.com/
Andy responded:
Posted: October 21st, 2008 at 11:28 am
Great tip. I just bought a new SLR camera and perhaps can make it a money earner for me. Wow. I was going to just take pics for my blog, but now a whole new world of possibilities is opening up.
thebaglady responded:
Posted: October 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
You should try some of the smaller microstock agencies. They’re less strict about the photos they accept since they have a smaller collection. There are a dozen or so out there. Right now i have 1 photo accepted at 123rf, and fotolia rejected my submits. Oh well, we’ll take more pics on our next trip.
stj responded:
Posted: October 21st, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Yeah, I agree with thebaglady. At least sites like 123rf reivew fast and accept a wider scope. That way, as a beginner you wont feel frustrated that your work is not out there.
Mrs. Accountability responded:
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I tried at fotolia and they rejected every one of my photos and said one was blurry (it wasn’t). Maybe I will try some of the other ones, too. It is disappointing when they come back right away and reject you. I gave up for awhile but I don’t have a lot of extra time either. The thing I like after reading istockphoto though, is that they accept illustrations, too. Thanks for telling us about this!
Marek responded:
Posted: October 26th, 2008 at 11:13 am
How to make $$$ without doing very much …

What a funny title. Certainly, it doesn’t apply to making money from microstock at least in my case. It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of learning. Nothing easy.

I started submitting pictures to microstock in November of 2007 and I am writing about my experiences including earnings and actual payments in Pixels Away blog:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/index.html
Arty Allsorts responded:
Posted: November 16th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I have just stumbled through some personal finance blog links and ended up here As I’m on iStock (and 7 other microstock sites!), this post caught my eye. Microstock is not an easy way to make lots of money. There can be quite a steep learning curve until you start to ’see’ your photos the way the site reviewers do and the rejections are pretty hard to take at first. However, for those who persevere and build a portfolio, the income will flow and it will continue to flow even if you stop uploading for a while (although it will reduce if you don’t upload for ages).

I have referral links on my blog at http://artyallsorts.blogspot.com but I’m not here just to drop referral links – if you want more info or some help putting together your first submissions, just leave a comment and I’ll try to help you out.

Microstock was my stumbling way of trying to earn some extra money from my hobby. I’m getting there but got distracted this year. Now I need to get motivated and back on track and your blog has helped a little this evening. Thank you for all your hard work in sharing this info. I look forward to reading more. best wishes, Helen