What to Shoot – August 2018

8 topics selling like crazy as stock footage & photography. August 2018 edition.

1. Online Course Giveaway

CreativeIncome is growing in such a fast pace. To show some gratitude to your support, we’re giving away 01 free online course to one of you guys.

All you have to do is answering a quick survey and you’re in. We’ll disclose the winner in September 1st.

[UPDATE: Giveaway is over ): but you can get the course here]

2. Adobe Stock Giveaway

Adobe Stock launched a cool giveaway to reward and encourage contributors.

They’re giving away Creative Cloud subscriptions to 20,000 photographers and 2,000 filmmakers.

There are 2 different plans that you can get:

– 20,000 Creative Cloud Photography 1-year subscriptions will be given to the first contributors to upload at least 300 accepted assets or earn $500 in 2018.

– 2,000 Creative Cloud complete subscriptions will be given to the first contributors to upload 300 accepted video files or earn $500 with videos in 2018.

– In both cases, you must maintain a historical acceptance rate of 50%.

The giveaway was released in July but there are still available packages. Read more here.

3. Shot Lists: 8 hot subjects to shoot and increase your sales in August 2018

Pond5 and Shutterstock have already released their shot lists for August. Here are their requests for the month of August.

1. Women’s Health

This will be a hot subject in October. Since agencies work ahead of time, August is the right time to prepare. All aspects of women wellness will be welcome.

2. Movember & Men’s Health

Men’s health is very strong in november. Work with antecedence to make earnings still in 2018.

3. Photo Booth Props

Photo booth props for weddings, birthdays, and celebrations. Accessories such as hats, glasses, and moustaches.

4. Home Improvement

Professionals or not, interior or exterior shots, floor inspection, walls, plumbing, wiring and appliances.

5. Halloween, Divali, and Dia de Los Muertos

These annual celebrations are always hot searches in this time of the year.

6. Data Centers

Data centers have still a big demand. Having a released talent in the shot will increase your earnings even more.

7. Watching TV

Any angle of individuals, couples, families, or kids watching TV in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc will work well.

8. Severe weather

Weather is a subject that needs constant updating. Shots of Rain Storms, Winds, Snowfall, Hurricanes, etc, are always well searched for.

4. Storyblocks update

If you’re a Storyblocks contributor, you probably received an email from their CEO, TJ Leonard. The email announces the company’s new efforts to grow marketplace sales.

Storyblocks used to pay a commission rate of 100%. That was only possible because their business plan was based on subscription so they bet they could make the marketplace free of rates.

To align their business needs and marketing costs, they will change their commission to a 50/50 structure on both video and image.

CEO TJ Leonard believes this equal partnership will allow them to better promote the Marketplace content, to then increase sales.

There has been some noise from contributors. Some of them saying they’ll take their content out of Storyblocks.

As we discussed in the Footage vs Photography article, Storyblocks is not that big for photographers but has considerable participation in the Footage market.

Although 50% is a big rate, and I agree with that, I have to remind you that this is the smallest rate when comparing to the other big agencies. Pond5 takes 50%, Adobe Stock 65%, Shutterstock 70%.

My personal decision, for now, is to keep my files there. If they’re really investing in marketing, then I’d say I prefer getting 50% of something, than 100% of nothing.

For the next months, the company promises short approval times, new portfolio pages and increased promotion of our contents. The latter is the one that makes me look to through positive eyes.

Read the full letter here.

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Stock Footage vs. Stock Photography

Chances are you already got yourself thinking how much you can make with stock photography vs. stock footage. This article covers earnings, revenue per file, average per sale, the frequency of sales and all the differences in each side.

My goal here is to show photographers & filmmakers how the other side of the coin works and the way to follow if you plan to increase your income doing it (i.e., agencies, workflow, and best tools). I also want to help beginners with useful data so you can take your own decision on which path to follow.

The same content of this article is available in video format on my last YouTube video. You can watch it above.

Although you can do both using the same agencies and even the same equipment, there are significant differences you’d like to be aware. You’ll find different characteristics in the workflow, earnings, speed & number of sales, and various tools for both sides.

To ensure this analysis is as real as possible; I invited stock photographer & blogger Alex Rotenberg. Alex is famous for writing “The Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography” ebook. His eight years of experience made this a must read for every stock photographer. You can get it for less than $8 here.

1. Average revenue per sale in stock video vs. stock photo

To help you understand how much you can get with a single sale, transaction, we calculated our average earnings per sale considering Shutterstock only.

As a stock photographer, Alex gets an average of $0,74 for each image sale he does.

While as a stock filmmaker, I make an average of $24,74 for each video I sell. The maximum I did on a single sale was $125, while the minimum was $4,74.

However, you should always take in consideration that the frequency of sales is entirely different on each side.

Ok, a footage sale will bring you much more, but you have to know they happen with way less frequency.

While my best selling video has sold over 40 times, Alex’s best seller sold over 500 times.

 

2. Time for the first footage & picture sale to happen

Photos will always get more sales than footage. 

Alex’s first image sale happened 2-3 weeks after he was approved.

My first video took 5 months to sell. Alex’s first video sale happened after 6 months of his first video upload.

The indicator you should actually consider is Revenue per File per Year.

 

3. RFY (Revenue per File per Year) for each side

This indicator will take us deeper into the analysis of how much one can earn with each kind of file.

This indicator is used for different things. It helps you to compare and benchmark yourself against the market. I also use it to estimate how much I will make with each new approved file or quantity of photos/videos I need to make a desired amount of money.

If you’re wondering how to calculate your RFY, do this: Divide your total revenue on a year by the number of files you had on that period.

Before I disclose our numbers, let me remind you this isn’t a global average and depends 100% on the quality & variety of each portfolio.

Use the numbers below as a starting point to estimate how much you can make with each new file you get approved.

 

A photographers Revenue per File per Year:

Alex’s RFY usually is $1/img/year.

So, for example, if he wanted to make extra 1,000 per year, he would need 1,000 new photos to do it.

 

The footage Revenue per File per Year:

As a footage contributor, my Return per File per Year is $5,22. My portfolio is far from being decent. I’m curious to hear from other contributors.

 

Let’s find a global RFY?

I have this idea of building a collaborative & anonymous database of earnings so we can get a global return per file per year.  Let me know what you think about that.

 

How to increase your Return per File per Year:

1. Shoot better images

Well, that’s simple. Submit rare and exclusive files, and you’ll get better revenues.

 2. Submit to other agencies

We’re only considering Shutterstock in this calculus, so there’s still space to increase this number by submitting it to other agencies.

One easy way of doing it is using multi-uploaders.

 

4. Multi-uploaders: The quickest way to submit to many agencies at once

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Multi-uploader for Stock Photography

Alex highly recommends StockSubmitter to simultaneously submit to those agencies which are compatible with the program – which happens to be most of them. The software is available for trial for 30 images/per agency/per month. Even if you don’t want to pay for a subscription, you can use a built-in program for keywording.

Multi-uploader for Stock Footage

In the video world, there’s a similar tool called BlackBox that is crushing the market. You only have to upload and keyword your files once, and it will submit them to 4 of the major stock agencies: Shutterstock, Pond5, AdobeStock, and Storyblocks.

The platform is in its early days, but with big plans are for the future.

 

5. Most profitable stock agencies

Best stock agencies for photography

Alex submits to about 20 different agencies, but many of them aren’t within Microstock.

Within microstock, he currently submits to 14 agencies. Shutterstock, iStock, Adobe Stock are his best and most consistent earners.

Shutterstock participates with 40% of his income. Adobe Stock gets him 15%, Alamy 15% too, 10% from iStock, and 20% from others.

Within Midstock, he submits to Alamy (highly recommend for editorial images), as well as Rex Features and exclusively to travel agency, Robert Harding.

He also enjoys capturing Fine Art Images and submits them to Arcangel for book covers, as well as Print on Demand: Fine Art America and Photo4me.

In his opinion, “… spreading images around (when possible) is the best way to receive the maximum income”.

 

Best stock agencies for footage

You can find more in-depth data in my 2017 Earnings Report.

In my personal experience in the footage industry, I mostly submit my footage files to Shutterstock, Pond5, AdobeStock, and Storyblocks.

I also submit to Getty/iStock, DepositPhotos, and seen some contributors having success on VideoHive.

There’s also space for exclusive high-end agencies like Dissolve and Filmsupply, though I have no experience with them.

Considering my 2018 numbers, I get 53% of my income from Shutterstock, 20% from Pond5 and 15% from StoryBlocks.

Pond5 and StoryBlocks are not a big deal for photographers but are huge for filmmakers.

 

6. Don’t take your conclusion yet. Let’s discuss the workflow first.

Although we made it clear that video files bring more income than images, there’s still a lot of things we should take into consideration before we take any conclusion. You can’t merely conclude Stock Footage is better than Stock Photography.

In photography, Alex spends from 30 to 90 seconds per image (except on individual cases).

For footage that is just impossible.

Adobe Premiere won’t even open in 30 seconds.

Videos will always take more time to capture, to transfer, edit, export, and upload.

Here are some points that make the workflow way easier for the stock photography side.

1. Files size.

No matter the quality you use, images will always take less space than video files. That also means video files will require a faster connection.

2. Editing time.

Needless to say, images will need less time to be edited and exported. That also means you don’t need a NASA computer.

3. Gear price.

There are expensive and professional gear on both sides, of course. But the equipment to get started on Stock Photography is way cheaper. In some cases, even mobile photography is accepted these days.

For photography, Alex suggests
– Sony A7R
– Nikon D3400
– Canon T6i

For footage, I recommend and use:
– Sony A7sII
– Panasonic GH5
– To start: Lumix GH4 or Canon 70D

4. Upload on Browser.

If you’re doing stock photography, most agencies will let you upload your files with their web uploader. For video, you can only do it through FTP. Is not such a big deal, but may scare some beginners.

5. Mobile App.

Stock photographers also have the advantage of writing keywords and metadata right from Shutterstock’s mobile app. It is useful when you have some spare time waiting for a train or something like that. This feature is not available for video files yet.

 

Final thoughts

My purpose with this article & video isn’t to tell you the way you should follow. Instead, I hope this gives you data and insights to take your own decision on which path to follow.

Alex brought a very cool concept at the end of the video:

“Being a stock creator is more like a marathon, than a sprint.”

Work with that in mind. You’re planning to grow in the long run. We’re talking about passive income. You’re building an income that will bear fruit for years to come.

Blackbox is taking over the Stock Footage Market. This is how.

If you already sell your footage online you may have noticed how Blackbox – a free digital platform that connects video creators and curators – has been a very hot subject in 2018.

Found PatMcGowan said the number of users grew 6 times in the last 2 weeks. It has already crossed the 15.000 users mark.

It is still in its early days and has a long path ahead, but has already proven its potential to dominate the Stock Footage market

What is BlackBox?

BlackBox takes care of tagging, keywording and editing (if needed), so you can put your focus on shooting new footage & earn more.

Blackbox, created by Pat McGowan, describes itself as a “Digital Guild” that helps film & video creators make steady passive revenue. And Stock Footage is just the starting point. They do that by connecting video creators with curators. That means we, creative people, can focus on what really matters to us – creating – while the platform and its users take care of the rest.

How to make money on BlackBox?

Before BlackBox, stock footage contributors had to take care of the whole process by themselves. It freed creators by connecting users with different skills so they can focus on their strengths and count on other contributors to help them on their weak side.

  • If you’re the camera guy, you can upload your raw files to have other users edit, write metadata and submit your files.
  • If you’re a video editor, you can get raw files from people around the world and do your work from home. You’ll get a share of revenue for each sale those files generate.
  • If you’re just a copywriter, you can write metadata and submit other users’ files. You’ll get a share of revenue for each sale generated by those files.

Subscribing to BlackBox is totally free as the company makes its money out of the 15% commission rate over the net sales.

Though you might think this commission will make you lose money, the startup believes in the opposite. By creating content as a community, BlackBox files get better rates from the agencies and rank better in search results.

There’s still no solid proof it will generate better results than the traditional way. But some users on the facebook group are already reporting faster results. So I suggest you read our comparison article so you can take your own decision.

Which stock agencies will my files be submitted to?

At this moment, Blackbox community takes care of submitting its user’s files to 4 major stock footage agencies:

  • Shutterstock
  • Pond5
  • Adobe Stock
  • StoryBlocks

What kind of files can I upload through BlackBox?

At this moment, BlackBox only accepts video files. No photos/pictures are accepted yet, but they seem to be working on a Stock Music project.

Why is BlackBox taking over the stock footage world?

By uniting skills of different users and intermediate fair payments among them, BlackBox crushed what I judge to be the biggest obstacle to sell stock footage and stock photography: the time wasted to submit new stock footage files.

Photographers and videographers tend to hate the boring hours sitting down in their offices to write metadata to submit their files. After all, we’re creative people – we want to create more.

There’s also the belief that submitting files as a community while using the writing skills of experienced curators and collaborating to a unique profile at 4 major stock agencies (Shutterstock, Pond5, Adobe Stock, Storyblocks) will make sales increase and exceed the revenue the traditional way brings,

So if it saves time and, theoretically, pays better, it’s pretty understandable why stock filmmakers are moving to BlackBox in bulks.

And once the big obstacle is defeated, the gate opened for everyone, not only the experienced but thousands of new stock contributors. 

BlackBox still has a long path to follow but this we know: these are the early days of a platform that will soon revolutionize the way video creators make their incomes.

Blackbox Footage vs. Shutterstock

Which method is the best to submit your stock footage?

As we wrote previously, Blackbox is taking over the Stock Footage market – and well deserved. In June of 2018, the number of users grew amazing 700%.

BlackBox is not only attracting the old experienced stock filmmakers but is opening the doors for thousands of new contributors.

And though there’s a big hype around it right now, it’s prudent to carefully take a decision if you’ll go exclusively with them or stick in the traditional way (uploading straight to Shutterstock, Pond5, Adobe Stock, etc).

This isn’t a company comparison overview. After all, Shutterstock is one of BlackBox’s partners. This is actually a comparison review with pros and cons of selling footage in the traditional way or the BlackBox way.

I hope this comparison helps you take your own decision.

What is Blackbox?

Stock Footage is just the starting point of BlackBox. The platform is revolutionizing the process of making content and getting paid the long tail money creators really deserve. If you listen to Pat McGowan’s interview, you’ll agree this is just the beginning.

This article covers the stock footage process, but you can check our BlackBox focused article here.

Blackbox is a digital guild that connects video creators and curators. With their platform, film creators can focus on shooting/filming new footage and leave the “boring work” on them (metadata, descriptions, keywords). The video content will be submitted to 4 major stock agencies at once:

  • Shutterstock
  • Pond5
  • Adobe Stock
  • Storyblocks
  • more to come

For stock filmmakers, it means you can now be free to work on what you really like, while you let other users take care of writing metadata and keywords for you.

It is also an opportunity for editors and copywriters to work on files of other users so they can get a share of the income.

If you haven’t subscribed to BlackBox yet, you can do it clicking here. By using our referral code, you help us keep the work on this blog and YouTube channel.

Choose your side: the BlackBox way or the old-fashioned way

While many new users are going exclusively with BlackBox, it might be a good idea to analyze the traditional way before going full speed on the decided direction. The whole idea explains the hype around BlackBox but your decision should be based on real information, not just hype.

Since you can’t upload repeated footage files to the agencies Blackbox submits to (Shutterstock, Pond, Adobe Stock and Storyblocks), you have to decide which way you’re going to submit your footage files.

There are pros and cons on both sides. It will really depend on what kind of user you are. The following comparison might help you take your own decision.

Pros & Cons of submitting files exclusively to BlackBox

Still not a BlackBoxer? You can become a stock contributor right now registering here.

I’m personally in love with BlackBox and its community. Still, I’ll put my emotions aside and will write you neutral pros & cons.

1. Pro. Submit to multiple websites at once.

I’ve been working on my own multi-agency spreadsheet for years and no matter how good it gets, the whole process still takes several hours.

Each agency has its own way of doing things. The categories names, the maximum of keywords and file formats are just a few given examples.

That struggle alone makes BlackBox worthy of attention. As for today, BlackBox submits your files to 4 major agencies: Shutterstock, Pond5, Adobe Stock and Storyblocks.

Check out my 2017 earnings report and notice how those were my most profitable agencies.

2. Pro: More time doing the work you love

I’d say this is the biggest advantage of BlackBox: being free to focus on producing more footage.

Writing metadata, uploading your files to multiple agencies… All this while trying to fit the stock agencies requirements is a hard and tedious work. Upload your files to BlackBox and they’ll take care of the dirty work.

It gets harder if English is not your native language, which is the case for me and 60% of Creative Income YouTube Channel.

If needed, BlackBox gives you the chance of letting other users curate your files (from editing to keywording) in exchange for a small share of those files’ income.

I’d say this is the biggest advantage of BlackBox: being free to focus on producing more footage and earning more with that.

3. Pro: Better rates

The power of being part of a big community is that together we preferential commission rates from the stock agencies. So even though BlackBox takes 15% on net sales (that would be ~5% on the gross value) you will still get more money than you would alone.

You just have to be aware that if you’re taking help of other users you will also share your earnings with them. We call it the curator’s share.

In fact, it is totally negotiable. You’ll choose your curator among many users and will let BlackBox know the share that specific user is going to have. BlackBox’s platform will take care of paying each user through PayPal.

For Metadata only curation, BlackBox recommends a share of 20% rate. That means 20% of that file’s net income will be paid to the curator.

For Full Curation, which means someone is also writing metadata for you, BlackBox recommends a share of 40%.

4. Pro: Sell more than you would be working alone

At this point, some of you might be thinking you will make more money if you just do it by yourself. You may be right, but let me ask you a few questions first:

  • Do you still have files laying on your computer and external HDs waiting to be edited?
  • Do you think you would get better metadata if someone else writes it?
  • Do you believe you would get better-looking footage if someone else edits it?

If you have answered yes to any of the questions above then you’re probably losing money right now. You should never have files laying on a hard disk when they could be making you money instead.

Although you’re getting a smaller share, there’s a big chance you will be selling way more than you would alone. Especially if you’re a bad keyword writer.

It’s a better idea to get a smaller percentage of something than 100% of nothing.

Having experienced BlackBox users to write and submit your work to the 4 big agencies will probably make more sales than your own keywords would. So there is a big chance you’ll sell better with their help.

The platform offers collaborative work and takes care of the revenue sharing process.

COLLABORATION will always beat COMPETITION.

5. Pro: Rank better on search results

Given that we’re all contributing to the same BlackBox seller profile, you should probably get better search rankings for your files.

That means your footage will probably appear on the first line of results and, consequently, sell better.

It’s the size of our BlackBox portfolio that makes every member’s content more searchable to buyers.

6. Pro: Stock Footage is just the tip of the BB iceberg

I had the opportunity to talk with Pat McGowan and got amazed with all the plans the company has for the future. They are totally centered on creators and their financial freedom.

Stock Footage is really just the starting point for them. Being part of this community means giving power to the creator’s community.

7. Con: You’re contributing to BlackBox profile

As I just said, we’re all contributing under the same BlackBox profile. So I believe you got it that your name is not going to publicly appear on the stock websites.

Though you still got all the rights for your files, they will all appear under the BlackBox profile.

Some people might see it as a downside. But let me be honest, is Shutterstock really the “social network” you want to get famous on?

From my point of view, this is even better. Some of my files do embarrass me, but they still sell. So I’d rather keep them there.

Pat’s argument is that “in our experience, the concept of personal branding is not a factor in buying decisions on agency platforms.” I would say the same.

You still own the rights over your footage. Use it on your YouTube channel or something like that. Youtuber Jeven Dowey that in a pretty amazing way.

8. Con: Blackbox process

The team behind BlackBox is really working hard to make it better every day. It’s a promising future.  If you’re already a member you’re probably getting weekly news of their improvements.

BlackBox 2.0 should be launched soon, but for now (June 2018), BlackBox portal is still a little hard to comprehend and might be difficult for beginners.

You may also be experiencing a delay on some files. But hey, this is totally explainable. They just grew 700% on a month!

If you want a better understanding of the microstock market, I suggest you register at Shutterstock as a contributor and go through the process to submit a bunch of pictures. Shutterstock’s process and user interface are really user-friendly.

I see this as a temporary downside. I’m still sure BlackBox will get there soon. I receive constant emails of weekly improvements they’re doing.

9. Footage only

As of today, Blackbox is only allowing stock footage contributors and shows signs for Stock Music. So photographers will have to wait.

If you’re a photographer, I still suggest you give it a try to shooting footage. You’ll probably raise your earnings by doing that and it probably can be done with the same camera.

Pros & Cons of going the old-fashioned way (straight to Shutterstock, Pond5, Adobe Stock, etc.

If you didn’t start submitting your stock photos/footage yet, I’d suggest you start with Shutterstock. It is normally the most profitable stock agency and has the best contributor interface so far.

1. Con: Fewer sales (in case of poorly written metadata)

You’ll definitely get more money per sale – but that doesn’t mean higher overall earnings. BlackBox curators are good at their work, so there’s a big change you won’t write as good metadata (title, description, keywords, etc) as they would. So you might get a smaller amount of sales in the end.

2. Con: Requires discipline to edit, curate and write metadata

Why did so many filmmakers and photographers give up on Stock Photography/Footage?

Simple. We all hate writing metadata. We’re creative people, after all.

In my case, I found the discipline to work on a batch of files every 6 months. It’s a very boring week but pays out in the end.

3. Pro: Process is easy and quick to understand

Shutterstock is on the market for many years. So, of course, their contributor interface is still better and simpler than BlackBox. But I’m sure it is just a matter of time before BlackBox comes up with new improved tools.

4. Pro: Better understanding of the whole process

The experience of contributing to Shutterstock (and Pond5, Adobe Stock, Storyblocks, etc) at least once will make you better understand the process. I see a lot of new users uploading files to BlackBox and asking people on the facebook group why is it taking so long.

The experience of submitting your own file will give you a complete overview of the process and market.

5. Pro: Your own portfolio

Submitting your footage and photos straight to the stock agencies will also allow you to create your own portfolio and track specific data (each agency gives you a couple of different insights).

6. BONUS: Choose your thumbnail

Shutterstock, Pond5, and StoryBlocks let you choose a specific snapshot of your video to be used as a thumbnail. Strong thumbnails are strong when it comes to footage files.

This is small, but a considerable obstacle for BlackBox.

My personal advice

As a 6-year-experienced contributor, my advice is that you subscribe to both platforms: Shutterstock and BlackBox. Try to upload a dozen different footage files on each of them and check how comfortable you feel.

On the other hand, if you hating writing your own keywords and description, then stick with BlackBox and focus on producing more footage.

If you can’t wait a few days for approval, prefer to choose your thumbnails and believe you can do a good job writing your own metadata, then go forward and try to sell your files by yourself.

 

What is your opinion?

What are your thoughts on this? Are you moving your footage to BlackBox, staying on Shutterstock (and other agencies) or mixing both? I believe this is a strong subject for our community to discuss!

If this article was helpful I’m sure you’ll enjoy liking our Facebook page and following us on Instagram. We would strongly appreciate that!

my stock footage earnings (2013-2017)

Stock Footage – What I earned and what I learned.

On this article, I’ll bring you a full report of my earnings from 2013 to 2017 and the participation of each agency on the total income as well. I’m definitely far from being a big contributor, but I’m sure this data can help a lot of people choose the right direction.

Full 2013–2017 earnings Report

I sell my footage online since December 2012, when I only had a Canon T3i. Most of my files were refused, so I started with a very small portfolio (30 video files) on Shutterstock and Pond5. The info I had at that time showed me these two would be a good way to start my stock earnings.

Since that time I used to work on my stock portfolio once a year, I slowly started uploading my files to other microstock websites: Storyblocks (former VideoBlocks), DepositPhotos and iStock/Getty were the next ones. This is how my portfolio grew on the last years:

I reached 240 video files in February of 2017, so I believe it’s fair to say that was the official portfolio size for 2017.

Total Earnings for 2017

So by the end of the year, the sum of all my stock footage earnings was: U$1.690,80.

 

My 2017 earnings by each agency.

Alright, no complaints about that. Definitely, a good revenue based on a small portfolio. But I have to admit I was expecting a little more earnings when compared to 2016. I thought the increase of files in my portfolio would directly impact my sales. Take a look at my year over year growth.

 

My personal yearly earnings when summing Shutterstock, Pond5, iStock, Storyblocks, and DepositPhotos.
My personal yearly earning when summing Shutterstock, Pond5, iStock, Storyblocks, and DepositPhotos.

My big mistake

I did a mistake by betting all my chips on Shutterstock. If you go back to the first graph I showed you’ll notice Shutterstock was the only stock agency on which I really uploaded new footage/photos. Since I had never analyzed these earnings as close as I’m doing now, I thought Shutterstock was the main and only source of this “creative income” (I was also very lazy)— but I couldn’t be more wrong.

Take a look at my 2016 income share, when Pond5 and Deposit had my total portfolio, StoryBlocks had 75% and Getty/iStock had 20%.

earnings per stock agency in 2016 (footage + photography)
What each stock agency represented on my 2016 earnings.

On that year, Pond5 was even better than Shutterstock! Videoblocks and Deposit also had better impacts. So that’s a big lesson I learned — I will diversify my portfolio to other websites.

There’s still a lot of lessons I learned when analyzing my best sellers, but this will be a subject for the next time.

If you would like me to keep writing/recording this reports/insights, please let me know! This is something I love doing, but knowing there’s someone reading and interested is the gasoline I need to keep making it public!

My 7 Personal Bestselling Stock Footage Files 

On this the second article (and video), I will showcase my 7 best selling files, the earnings of each one, and all lessons learned as well. I’m writing this to attend a request on my last video.

If achieving creative income through Stock Footage and Stock Photos interests you, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube.

I’m sure every microstock contributor with at least a few sales already noticed there’s no correlation between his/her favorite files and the ones that sell the most. While I was doing the analysis I noticed how wrong my first predictions were.

Many of the files you believe will sell a lot may never bring as many sales as many files you despise.

My 7 Top Sellers on Shutterstock, Pond5, iStock and other microstock sites.

01. Space travel

This group of Space Flight simulations made on After Effects is by far my best seller. So far, they made me U$1.898. (50% from Shutterstock, 40% from Pond5, 10% from DepositPhotos, approximately).

You can start selling your photos and videos today with this link: http://bit.ly/newcontributor

These are actually the only files I got that were entirely made on After Effects (and makes me want to that again). They were originally made for a church service opener that later I adapted to sell. It’s quite a nice effect, but I never expected they would do so well and I’m so happy I did submit them.

This is a precious lesson for me: leave no file behind.

02. The Brazilian Flag

On second place I have this slow-motion shot of the Brazilian flag. This file alone made me $914 (approximately, 90% from Shutterstock). It was shot on a Canon 60D and is not even in Full HD. So there’s a second lesson: start with what you got.

It was shot in 2014, a few months before the World Cup in my country. This is a strategic one, of course. So learn to identify this kind of opportunity that happens close to you. I also submitted other soccer related files in that year that made good sales.

03. Curitiba Bus

In third place comes this editorial pack of my city’s public transportation. 5 files combined made me $714. Storyblocks brought 20%, while Pond5 and Shutterstock represented 40% each.

Apparently, the city where I live in, Curitiba, is a historical reference in public transportation. So these ones might work very well for documentaries.

Lesson to learn? Explore unique subjects close to you. Many other clips of local touristic points also sell well. Maybe I don’t get to sell the famous Rio de Janeiro landscapes, but I can definitely build some authority on my city’s icons. This works well if you live in a city that’s not so mainstream.

04. Aerial Amazon

Next, we have this aerial shot of the Amazon forest. With this shot alone I was able to sell $602. This one is strong on Pond5 (80%), while Shutterstock had 13% and Storyblocks had 7%. If I combine the other images I made on this trip to the Amazon, the total would easily go over $1000. Which I believe is enough to cover the trip costs I had.

Lesson: Make good use of your travelings.

05. Labrador Dog

Here’s a funny one. These were my first approved files and were actually nothing but a test I made with my dog. $357 earned. 40% came from Pond5, and 30% from Shutterstock and iStock each.

Lesson: Commercial value can be found much closer than you think.

06. Car Mirror

Another interesting case. A shot of a sunset on a car mirror. No sales on other agencies, but $230 on Shutterstock.

Lesson: Take your camera with you.

07. Public University

This is a public university in my city that for some reason sells a lot. $228 earned on this file alone. Also one of my first files (Canon 60D, I guess). I have no idea what people see on it. It’s one of those files I was almost giving up on. There’s even a shake on the end I forgot to cut.

The original file was shot during the night with a very bad camera and conditions. So I tried it again with a better camera and lens a couple of years later. No sales. Go figure…

Once again, start with what you got. But start!

I’ll stop here but there’s still a lot of curious cases I could talk about. It’s interesting how many files I despise sell better than the ones I am proud of.

What about you? What are your funny best sellers? Feel free to put them in the comments below. I guess this is a way we can learn a lot from each other.

If you would like me to keep writing/recording this reports/insights, please let me know! This is something I love doing, but knowing there’s someone reading and interested is the gasoline I need to keep making it public!