How to Reach 10,000 Sales on a Stock Photo Site?

Today, I am presenting a translation of an article by microstocker Nikhil Gangavane (Thefinalmiracle) on how to achieve 10,000 sales on a stock photo site. You can view the original article on the Dreamstime photobank website at blog.dreamstime.com/2011/06/16/lessons-to-have-10000-sales_art35457.

This September marks five years since I started working with the Dreamstime photobank. This site/agency has inspired me to shoot more photos, improve quality, and, consequently, increase my earnings on the stock photo site due to enhancements in the commission structure over the years.

There were times when I managed to be featured as a “featured photographer,” and not so long ago, I reached my 10,000th sale on Dreamstime. Over this time, I’ve made sales through SR-EL licenses and other types of extended licenses.

Yes, I’ve faced disappointments over royalties and rejections, just like any other photographer, but thanks to Dreamstime and their team, with their prompt, clear support, I was able to overcome these obstacles.

Now, I want to share a few tips that might be helpful to others. Some of these I may have already mentioned, but they remain valuable. I believe that among the readers there may be newcomers to the stock photo site, and repetition is the mother of learning:

1. Stock photo rejections help you improve your photography skills and, in the long run, lead to higher earnings. You may feel disappointed, but it will pass, while the experience will stay with you.
2. Instead of analyzing the top sales on the stock photo site, simply create your own niche and fill it so buyers specifically seek out your portfolio.
3. Avoid repetition and duplication. Too many images of the same shot will lower their ranking and, accordingly, reduce the earning potential for those images.
4. Engage with the community. Even if you don’t post anything yourself, just reading specialized forums and blogs keeps you updated on what’s happening around you.
5. Upgrade your equipment once you reach a certain sales goal or income level on the stock photo site. For those microstockers whose online stock photos aren’t their primary income, this will be an easier task. But remember: better equipment doesn’t mean better sales; it just helps improve the acceptance rate, based on my experience.
6. If you can’t upgrade your camera equipment, focus on mastering Photoshop; improve your editing skills and try to create something with it. Once you reach a certain level in it, you’ll be able to achieve results similar to those with high-end cameras.
7. In my view, image editing is 60% more important than composition in real-time. Stock photo buyers don’t care if an image is edited or not — they just want the final product to be worth paying for, or something that makes them want to buy the photo through a stock site. Photography shouldn’t consume all the thoughts of someone selling images; think about sales potential, who will buy the photos, rather than just the photography technique.
8. Neither your acceptance rate nor rejections should affect your ego. The acceptance rate does nothing to your creativity as a photographer. What isn’t accepted on one stock site might easily sell on another, or even get high praise elsewhere.
9. If you have bestsellers in your portfolio, don’t repeat similar shots more than 4-5 times; otherwise, you risk oversaturating your portfolio, which will ultimately lead to lower earnings.
10. If you’re not exclusive, try to identify and analyze the differences in sales of your work across different stock sites. For example, if political images sell better here, entertainment might sell better on another site. This helps in deciding what and where to upload first.
11. Information is power! You should stay updated on all the latest developments in photography, both technically and in the stock sales market. You need to know where the photography world is headed. There are many forums, blogs, and sites online to help you learn about microstock trends.
12. Don’t go asking others for their opinions on your work. This is acceptable only for beginners at the very start of their journey. Later, the best way to assess your images’ quality will be sales analysis — both of your work and others’ portfolios with similar content.
13. Don’t analyze the best-selling images; instead, look at the most popular trending keywords on the stock photo site over the past few years. Analyzing keywords from the last 2-3 years can help predict what will sell best on the stock site next year.
14. Last but not least: Be thankful, whether it’s to God if you believe, or simply to technological progress, your equipment, your models, and those unique moments nature allowed you to capture in a perfect shot. Just be grateful to all of them, as they contribute 80% to your income growth on stock photo sites.

By the way, using noise reduction or other corrective effects in image editing is acceptable, but only in specific areas of the image, where necessary. For instance, use noise reduction only in parts where you need to increase sharpness, but avoid applying it to the entire image.

Good luck and all the best!