Microstock Earnings - November 2009

Hi...! Here I am today to show my monthly report, it wasn't like I expected because of my "hard" work, maybe I am not doing the right thing, but will certainly continue to do my best, trying to pull up something different to the very competitive microstock industry..!

I have got just a fewer less downloads than last month more precisely 7..! SS continues to be my top agency, but this month very disappointing once I had only 1 OD (0.81$) and 1 backup CD (0.05$), in terms of downloads I actually increase 1 :)
I am also "waiting" for the perfect image that will bring my first EL (agency isn't relevant), it would make a huge difference in my modest earnings..!

Overall I think that SS could have performed much better, and I am also waiting for IS (increase) because many photographers have great return there..! The first and second week of November were very good, but the last two were not so good, resulting in just a second BME! I am also happy with XP once it's performance is going great and almost reaching the 50$ milestone! My RPI is decreasing... but I won't think too much about it, for this moment of course..!

Please look at the following table and charts:



Notes:

• Agencies that I contribute without any sales (ever): Featurepics, 3D Studio,DepositPhotos, ScanStockPhoto
• Never had a Extended License (EL)
• Rate per Download (RPD) decreased from 0.49$ to 0.47$
• Days without sales: 1 (November 14)
• Best day: 11.85$ (November 27)
• Most photos sold in one day: 15
• Top seller photo: 9.35$ (PM)
• BME at DT, VEER
• Referrals: 4.67$ (DT, 123RF)

P.S: If you have any comment referring to my monthly report or other suggestion about my portfolio,etc please feel free!

Next post will be about a new agency (DepositPhotos), so stay focus, just within a few days!

My first attempt at Editorial photography (guide to...)

Hi there, how are you all?
This month I haven't written that much because my posts are all in "hold". Just today this experience with Editorial photography come up after some agencies got my photos approved, the most important for the moment SS approved all my photos from a recent visit at CCB and Electricity museum in Lisbon!
At first I was on a lot of difficulties because as usually no flash is permitted at galleries and also it wouldn't be nice in terms of lighting, so I decided to go on 400 ISO (hand held) and the highest aperture possible (A mode for Nikon cameras)!
I think the result was pretty good for a first time in Editorial and I like them a lot, resulting in a batch of 14 photos!

The photos on the beginning of this post are examples of my Editorial images, maybe you don't know this famous singer, but she will be remembered forever the Queen of Fado (Portuguese music style) and also a woman who traveled worldwide spreading the Portuguese emotions from sadness to love..! You can check more about Amália Rodrigues here!

Agencies that accept Editorial pictures:
- ShutterStock
- Dreamstime
- BigStockPhoto
- YAY Micro
- Featurepics
- 3D Studio

Actually I have uploaded to other agencies and don't know if they will accept them..! From the top7 only SS, DT and BSP welcome Editorial photography! I will update this post as soon as I got reviews from minor agencies...!

I want also to leave here a example in order to get approval on your uploads regarding IPTC info:
- Title and Description
LISBON, PORTUGAL - OCTOBER 9: Fado Singer Amália Rodrigues Exhibition at Electricity Museum October 9, 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal
- Keywords
amalia, amália, rodrigues, electricity, museum, exhibition, fado, singer, famous, music, portugal, lisbon, room, art, wall, image, picture, collection, photograph, photo, view, looking, artist, gallery, woman, female, symbol, memory, memorial, honor, exposition, frame, dress, colorful, interior, portuguese, lady, piedade, worldwide, queen, actress, editorial, vocal, fadista, XX, life, pride, history, culture, cultural, important, face, show

I hope this will be helpful when submitting your editorial photos, now let's see if any sales occur!

1st milestone in StockXpert - 100 downloads..!

Photo taken in June 10th 2009, entitled "Basketball court in a social neighborhood"

Hello everyone! Just a simple post to announce my first milestone in XP..!

I have crossed this milestone days ago (November 4th) with the photo above! It took me 5 months because I got my first photos approved on May 26th! It is the 2nd stock agency to cross the 100 downloads right after SS!
I have great expectations from this agency, I am uploading regularly to all agencies, but XP is selling very well for the start of the month, having already more earnings than in October!

1st milestone - 41.1$ (0.41 per download)
(2nd milestone will be 500 downloads)

The minimum payment request in XP is 50$! I am sure it will be demanded this month! :)

What is your opinion/review on XP?

Microstock Earnings - October 2009

Hi...! Here I am today to show my monthly report, it was a good month but in fact if it wasn't a sale from Phantermedia I wouldn't have a BME. In September report I said that I needed to work more and produce better concepts and photos, I actually uploaded a lot of new pictures but the results kept the same, let's see if this month brings some sales to those uploads!

I want to add something about PM, I stopped uploading there because of their boring submitting system, but after this big sale I will work more and will have my entire portfolio uploaded there this month, I don't know if it was just a lucky sale, but the client paid 49.90€ which I received 15.47€ (31%), so I just need 1 more sale to reach my first payment, let's hope it happens soon, the sold photo was Vasco da Gama bridge in Lisbon, Portugal!

I have added a new tab to my earnings table (PORTF +), which is the number of uploads during the current month!

Please look at the following table and charts:



Notes:

• This November I will be receiving my second payment from SS
• First sales in Phantermedia
• Agencies that I contribute without any sales (ever): Featurepics, 3D Studio
  
• Never had a Extended License (EL)
• Rate per Download (RPD) increased from 0.44$ to 0.49$
• Days without sales: 1 (October 31)
• Best day: 26.12$ (October 29)
• Most photos sold in one day: 15
• Top seller photo: 22.87$ (PM)
• BME at DT, IS, BSP, CSP
• Referrals: 2.57$ (DT, 123RF)

P.S: If you have any comment referring to my monthly report or other suggestion about my portfolio,etc please feel free!

Cheers and keep shooting!!

Do you enjoy shooting Graffitis?? (guide to...)

Hi..! I took a bit to have this post ready but now it is :)
As you may know there are agencies that accept graffiti without property release and others don't, I have sent a email to all agencies to understand what is their policy regarding graffiti!

Agencies that accept graffiti pictures:
- Fotolia
- iStockphoto (segment advised)
- YAY Micro
- Featurepics
- Pixmac
- Cutcaster
- 3D Studio
- Mediaphanter

Agencies that only accept "portion/segment" graffiti pictures:
- Shutterstock
- StockXpert
- Crestock
- Veer
- BigStockPhoto

Agencies that don't accept graffiti pictures:
- Dreamstime
- Canstockphoto
- 123RF (only if a model is in front of graffiti)

So if you want to upload your graffitis to DT, CS you will need the property release..!

I must say that maybe some could get rejected or accepted on the different agencies, sometimes a "new reviewer" doesn't know the policy and it gets approved, you must try yourself to know better if they are approved or not!
I strongly advice you to shoot only close up/portion of the graffiti, making it "impossible" to be identified, or it will be rejected, don't upload visible artwork!

I want also to leave here a example (photo on this post) in order to get "more" success on your uploads regarding IPTC info:
- Title
Segment of a colorful graffiti on urban wall
- Description
colorful segment of a graffiti in Amoreiras quarter on a public road in Lisbon, Portugal
- Keywords
graffiti, wall, background, paint, painted, color, colorful, segment, spray, urban, abstract, art, grunge, vibrant, outdoor, street, detail, exterior, horizontal, vivid, shapes, multicolored, multicolor, artistic, wallpaper, green, yellow

I hope this will be helpful when submitting your graffiti photos! :)

First payment from 123RF..!

Hello...!
Like I have mentioned on my last post I reached my first milestone at 123RF, it was on October 15 with the photo below for 1.86$, crossing the 50$ (51.1$) after 64 downloads!

Photo of National Palace of Pena in Sintra, Portugal, taken on June 4 2009

Since the beginning until today, 123RF has provided me 10.8% of my total earnings (referrals not included), making a RPD of 0.79$

Next milestone will be 100 downloads!

Cheers!

1000 downloads !!!!! (across all agencies)

Hi! How are you all? Today, I woke up pretty excited once I was almost reaching the 1000 downloads, and it really HAPPENED!! In fact, I don't know where are my photos, if they are being used or not.. but I keep on dreaming that I will find one soon.. :)

Let's go to the exciting part of my milestone, the STATISTICS, I have created the following table to illustrate the earnings/downloads/etc along the different agencies, check it out!


Quick notes:

• The photo in the beginning of this post is the lucky 1000, it was taken in September during vacations at Praia del Rey, the handsome model is my brother (thank you)!
  
• Waiting for FT and 123RF first payments! (more info on the next blog post)
• Agencies that I contribute without any sales (ever): Featurepics, 3D Studio, Phantermedia
  
• Never had a Extended License (EL)
• Top seller photo ever: 5$ (XP)
• Referrals: 3.95$ (DT, 123RF)

I am also predicting a new BME this October, let's wait and see how it goes :)


Cheers and don't give up!

First payment from Fotolia..!

Hi...! Last month, more precisely on September 25, I reached the 50$ milestone to get my first payment in FT.. :)

So, I crossed this first goal having 62 downloads (32 paid / 30 subscription) with a portfolio of 391 photos, making a RPD of 0.8$, and it took me 7 months (started in March, actually it was my first stock agency)
Since the beginning until today, FT has provided me 13.4% of my total earnings!

The following picture was the lucky one crossing the milestone of 50$ (50.12$):


Photo of April 25th bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, taken on March 31 2009

Now, I am working on achieving a "greater" milestone, which is the full 100 downloads!














36 paid = 36 downloads
37 subs = 37/4 = 9.25 downloads
TOTAL = 45.25 downs

So I am almost half way to reach the bronze level for a raise of 2% (30% to 32%), it is a long way to a very low increase!
You can check this out and also more details in here

Cheers and have a nice month!

Microstock Earnings - September 2009

Hi...! Here I am today to show my monthly report, and YES, it was a great month and I feel that things are going the right away, but I must continue to work and produce much better photographs and concepts..! This September was a BME, with a increase of 44% from August report and finally reached 3 digits, more precisely 114.98$
I have finished sending my Maldives photos to almost all agencies besides IS because of their upload system (15/week), now I will work and upload Christmas concepts and other photos from summer vacations in Portugal

Please look at the following table and charts:



Notes:

• This October I will be receiving my first payment from FT (more info on the next blog post)
  
• First sales in YAY Micro
• Agencies that I contribute without any sales (ever): Featurepics, 3D Studio, Phantermedia
  
• Never had a Extended License (EL)
• Rate per Download (RPD) increased from 0.41$ to 0.44$
• Days without sales: 0
• Best day: 10.62$ (September 21)
• Most photos sold in one day: 19
• Top seller photo: 3.24$ (IS)
• BME at FT, SS, 123RF
  
• Referrals: 2.48$ (DT, 123RF)

P.S: If you have any comment referring to my monthly report or other suggestion about my portfolio,etc please feel free!

Cheers and keep shooting!!

2nd milestone in ShutterStock - 500 downloads..!

Hello everyone! I am happy to announce that I have crossed this important milestone days ago, it is getting quite interesting and I am motivated to continue, the photo above was the lucky 500, São Jorge Castle in Lisbon, Portugal, it was taken on July 14 2009

So I have reached the 500 downloads in SS, it was on September 17 and took me more precisely 97 days (started in SS on June 13)

1st milestone - 33.76$ (100downs, 0.33 per download) - July 8 2009
2nd milestone - 144.71$ (500downs, 0.29 per download) - September 17 2009

(3rd milestone will be 1000 downloads)


As we all know SS is very demanding but it is also our "best/earnings" stock agency (50% of my earnings every month), so keep up the good work and UPLOAD...!

Next posts:
- First payment from Fotolia
- September microstock earnings