The Stock Image Revolution
There is a revolution occurring on the Internet that all photographers, videographers, artists, and graphic designers should know about. "Micro stock" sites (as in stock images, not stock market) are popping up all over the web and have not only changed the way people buy and sell stock photagraphy and stock footage, but are providing new opportunities for artists to make money.
Stock Images refer to pre-existing, multi-purpose images available for commercial use to anyone who buys the rights to it. It may be anything ranging from a photo of a flower to a video clip of a child at a computer to an illustration of an abstract floral design. Whereas marketing professionals and web designers used to have to either hire a photographer, or fork over hundreds for the rights to an image from one of the original stock image agencies, now they can search a database of hundreds of thousands of images and pay a few bucks - sometimes as little as a dollar - per image!
You're probably thinking - "Why would I sell my image for a dollar?" Well, the answer is that it adds up. The low prices encourage buyers to purchase many images. A single high-quality stock image may average three downloads per day on one site. Now, say you have a portfolio of 100 images, and you upload them to multiple micro stock sites. You do the math.
The two heavyweights in the microstock industry are iStockphoto and Shutterstock. Other popular sites include Dreamstime, Fotolia, Stockxpert and Bigstockphoto. Some of these sites (including iStock and Shutterstock) require that you apply as a contributor before you can upload content. Don't be surprised if you have to take a little tutorial/test. Be sure to upload your best work when you apply! If you're not approved the first time around, don't allow yourself to be discouraged. Use the tutorials or forums on the site to find out why your images weren't accepted.
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