October went as expected. I kept up with posting the daily lists of writing job ads throughout the month but wrote little else. I finished a long overdue quest guide for Bright Hub’s MMO channel and wrote a book review for a delightful zombie book written by the husband of a friend/co-writers at Canadian Invader. If you like zombie books you should check it out, it was a great read. It’s called Lies at the End of the World by Phil Wolters.

Here is my word count:

In some respects I am pretty pleased with my earnings from writing this month, in other aspects not so much. I am pleased with the Triond earnings. Thirty-nine cents isn’t much, in fact it’s a piddly amount, but it is an improvement and that’s what I was aiming for. Bukisa is still averaging the same amount every month and I have yet to upload the additional pieces I wrote for Triond last month so this isn’t all bad. This tells me that the articles I have on Bukisa, although making very, very little every month, at least have staying power. I can count on the amount I make there to be constant, at least to a degree. My Red Gage earnings are up despite my lack of uploads and my Bright Hub earnings are also up even though the improvement is marginal. The one big disappointment is my Adsense earnings. A lot of effort was put into the Online Paycheck this month with very little monetary gain. At the same time it’s not overly surprising, it takes time to bring money into a blog. Earnings or no earnings I am happy with the Online Paycheck as I have almost doubled my readership again this month.

Earnings from writing online:

Tis the season for stock photography and it shows in my earnings. I must admit that it still surprises me that I still sell as many photos as I do considering the size and age of my portfolio. I am not getting rich off of photography, of that there is no doubt, but my portfolio is now three years old, I have barely added to it in that time, and I still make money from it every month without fail. Earnings are much lower in summer but I do always make something. This month is only a little less than the last but I didn’t get an EL this month. This means sales are up even though I have earned a little less. I am also glad to see that the earnings are spread out a little. Instead of making most of my earnings off of one or two agencies I made decent amounts with some and a little almost everwhere else. This bring each payout just a little closer and that is always good.

Photography earnings:

And that is pretty much it for this month. I plan on writing as much as I can over the next month but since I am preparing for a move into another province on December 1^st I have idea idea how much that will actually be. Only time will tell. I am looking forward to getting settled in a new home so I can get back to writing more often and setting up a photography space. These two changes in my life will help me really start working on my online paycheck.

Here is my word count:

My whole reasoning for wanted to double my Triond contributions is to try and keep my Triond earnings up. The majority of my Triond earnings come from a travel article which really only gets traffic through the summer months. I would like to see these earnings continue through fall and winter. I am happy to say that one of my new Triond articles reached onto the Hot Content list for a couple of days. One thing I am happy to see in regard to Bright Hub is that even though I didn’t add any new articles, I still reached the 20 dollar payout.

Earnings from writing online:

With fall comes the microstock busy season. My photography earnings from August to September more than doubled. This was helped greatly thanks to an EL sale on Dreamstime for just over $12 and some great sales on fotolia. My iStock earnings have tanked ever since iStock announced their new pay scale. I suspect that buyers are rebelling against the company as much as contributors are.

Photography earnings:

At this point, with my day job as busy as it is, the only goal I have is to keep up with my Daily Markets for writers. I simply don’t know how busy I am going to be. In the meantime, I hope these reports have helped you in your journey towards your online paycheck.

When I first noticed the StockFresh ad in the right column of my facebook I was intrigued and when I read that StockFresh was from the creator of StockXpert I got excited! StockXpert was my favourite microstock agency for quite some time. Then iStock bought it and let it sit stagnant for what felt like forever, and then finally, StockXpert closed. With StockXpert closing, iStock opened ThinkStock which is basically the StockXpert and iStock libraries under a different name and so far, for me at least, it hasn’t been very impressive.

When I first checked out StockFresh I was pretty impressed. The site’s front end actually looks a lot like StockXpert. It’s sleek design gives the same professional feel to it. Signing up was easy and submitting my application to be a contributor was also pretty simple. Unfortunately, at least so for now, that’s where the praise ends. I sent in my application on August 22^nd, the site does not say how long the submission but I have now been waiting just over three weeks. This is the longest I have ever had to wait to find out if I could submit to a microstock. To be fair, StockFresh is a new company and just ran an ad campaign on facebook. They probably got bombarded with applications. Well, I am going to send them a message via their contact form and see what happens. My only real concern is if they take this long to approve me as a contributor, how long will it take for StockFresh to review submissions?

iStock currently uses a tier system to give their more successful contributors raises. A contributor starts at zero downloads. Each time a file is downloaded their number goes up and they get a raises at different set amounts. These tiers are represented by canisters next to the contributors name. Downloads are accumulated throughout the life the contributors portfolio. This system, as of next year, is going in the garbage.

If you are new to iStock then there are a few things you should know. The first, is that iStock is one of the lowest paying microstock agencies out there in terms of royalty percentages. Despite this, contributors make a lot of on iStock simply because they make a lot of sales. Some people make a living off of iStock alone due to the shear volume of sales. The last thing is that iStock has always pushed its contributors to submit their work exclusively to iStock instead of to multiple agencies. In doing so, iStock has also put some very harsh limitations on non-exclusive members, both in pay and the amount of files a contributor can upload to iStock in a week.

The new terms, in my opinion, are a farce. Istock has dropped it’s pay for all except it’s most elite exclusive contributors, who will get a small raise. Almost everyone else is getting demoted. Personally, as a non-exclusive contributor I will be going from 20% commission to 15%. From what I can tell, most contributors, exclusive and non-exclusive, will be taking a 5% pay cut on regular sales and even more so for those exclusive contributors who have photos in the Vetta collection.

Speaking of iStock collections, Getty has announced a new collection coming to iStock called the Agency Collection. This is basically a few select iStock photos mingled in with a bunch of Getty, Jupiter and Punchstock photos. This collection will most likely take up the main iStock page once it is launched, the way the Vetta Collection does now. If this happens iStock contributors will have even less exposure and less sales if clients start buying from the Agency Collection. The kicker, in my opinion, is that this is only available to exclusive contributors and yet pays 20% commission on sales! This is less then Getty pays it’s contributors and less than iStock pays its exclusive contributor at the lowest pay rate. Getty is simply taking advantage of its contributors more because the sales are for larger amounts of money.

I keep hoping that I have read something wrong in the new terms, but I don’t think so. I can only say that as soon as my next payout has been reached I will be closing my account as I see no reason to gouge my royalties by having my portfolio on iStock.

It’s now past the mid-month mark, and I thought I would give another update. I won’t talk earnings until the end of the month, but I can give some word counts and let you know what I’m up to. I’ve spent most of my time writing for this blog and Bright Hub, but I’ve also answered a couple of calls for short stories. I haven’t heard back from either of the publishers I’ve submitted to yet, only time will tell.

As for Bright Hub, I have seven articles assigned to me for the month. I’ve written four so far but only one has been published. One is awaiting approval, another has been submitted and sent back for revisions, the last still needs to be uploaded. I have also created an account on Elance, a freelance marketplace which I will be writing about soon for The Online Paycheck. I wrote my first proposal to an Elance client today. Check back at the end of the month to find out if using this site has paid off.

My goal for this month is to at least double last months word count and I’m right on track. Here’s the count so far:

Uploading photos has also been going well. Five of the shots I pulled out of my archives have been uploaded but many microstock websites I submit to still have them pending in their upload queues. Most of the remaining photos I chose from my archives have been worked over in Photoshop so they will be uploaded before long. I’m also selecting some landscapes that I am going to try on Alamy. Alamy is a traditional stock photography agency that I will soon be adding to the photography resource on this site but only after I’ve looked into them a little more.

That’s it for now, see you at the end of the month!

Details:

URL: www.123rf.com

Industry: Microstock Agency

What they are looking for: Royalty Free Stock Photos and Royalty Free Illustrations

Pay: Commission

Alexa Rating: 3,163

123rf is a micostock agency. They currently feature 4.5 million photos and illustrations for download. 123rf is a great company to upload to. Their upload tool is very different when compared to most other microstock agencies. You use an FTP account or a web form, fill in the title and keywords if they are not in your IPTC data, and then that’s it. You can submit batches with just one click instead of submitting each photo individually. If a model release is needed, you go to the release page in the site, choose the appropriate document and check off all photos in your portfolio that it applies to. It’s simple and extremely fast once you get the hang of it. 123rf will also provide steady sales, making them a definite winner for any photographer or illustrator.

Submitting to 123rf

This site has no initial submission requirements making them an excellent site for those with a larger library and those just starting out in the microstock business. As I mentioned, uploading to 123rf is easy thanks to their FTP access. If you don’t want to use FTP they also have a web form but this is a very VERY slow option to use. All in all, this site is easy to use and worthwhile. If you are not submitting your microstock portfolio to them, then you should be!

Cool 123rf Features

• Great upload tools

• The site is smooth and easy to navigate for buyers and submitters.

• They have a great referral program (10% for referred photographers, 15% for referred buyers!)

• 123rf has a watermark tool, this allows you to move the watermark to any portion of the photo or illustration that you like.

• 123rf also has a blog that is full of awesome photography and Photoshop tutorials

If you have found this article to be helpful and plan on checking out 123rf, please consider using my referral link below. Thanks!

Details:

URL: www.imagecatalog.com

Industry: Microstock Agency

What are they looking for: Royalty Free Stock Photos and Royalty Free Illustrations

Pay: Commission

Alexa rating: 429,553

Image Catalog is a small microstock agency. They have a great interface that looks very much like the interface used by microstock giant Dreamstime. Image Catalog has a much smaller library than any of the big microstock agencies, but sales still come in for those who submit. Image Catalog can provide a fair amount of extra income depending on the size of your portfolio. I wouldn’t recommend putting this site above any of the large microstock agencies, but this would make a great addition to your uploading process. If those that run Image Catalog put a little more effort into their microstock agency, than it could grow to be a much larger business. Unfortunately the site remains mostly stagnant. The splash page and main page haven’t changed in months. It’s too bad, in my opinion, I had high hopes for this site. It is an alright money earner, but it could be so much more.

Submitting to Image Catalog

Uploading to Image Catalog is easy. They have a great flash uploader that is really easy to use or you can upload via their FTP access. You must upload three photos as your first submission. Once they are accepted you can upload more, there is no limit. Their sales statistic tools could be better, but they do work. Image Catalog also has a referral program that you can sign up for.

Cool Image Catalog Features

• Image Catalog is easy to upload to with their flash uploader and FTP access. This means that adding this microstock agency to your upload process won’t cost you much time.

• Image Catalog chooses some photos to be an Editors Choice. If your photo is chosen it will have some time featured on the main page.

• You can join the Image Catalog referral program to make a little extra money.

• They also have contents from time to time, but none have been announced in quite a while.

If you have found this article helpful and plan on checking out Image Catalog please consider using my referral link below. It won’t cost you anything but it will help me out

I’ve also been going through old photo shoots. I was double checking to see if I missed any photos that should have been uploaded to the microstock agencies I submit to. I found 55 photos. My wife, the resident photoshop guru, looked at most of them and so far 19 have passed her inspection. Even so, I am still hoping to upload five new shots this month, not including these old shots.

Tomorrow I will be taking the day off to celebrate the birthday of my beautiful wife

URL: www.canstockphoto.com

Industry: Microstock Agency

What are they looking for: Royalty Free Stock Photos, Royalty Free Illustrations, and Royalty Free Footage

Pay: Commission

Alexa rating: 33,919

CanStockPhoto, recently purchased by the tradition stock agency Fotosearch, was the first microstock website I ever submitted to. CanStockPhoto has a quick and easy upload process with ftp access. These guys tend to sell a little of everything, but if you really want to reach payouts quickly then business images are the way to go. Business images obviously do well with every microstock agency, but they seem to sell a little better then everything else on CanStockPhoto in particular. Canstock probably won’t be your best selling agency but with a large enough portfolio, you can cash out at least once a month.

Submitting to CanStockPhoto

Getting in to CanStockPhoto is relatively easy. You need only to sign up and then submit three photos for review. Once those three are accepted you can upload up to twenty more. You won’t be able to upload more until those twenty are reviewed. Review times with CanStockPhoto can vary greatly, I’ve seen them take a few hours to look at my work but I’ve also seen it take as long a couple of weeks.

Cool CanStockPhoto Features

• CanStock has a variety of uploading tools so you can choose whichever one you like best.

• There is a photo/illustration request area in the CanStockPhoto forums. It’s not always that active but it can give you some great ideas for subjects to shoot that you may never have thought of.

• They are now owned by Fotosearch, and in turn Fotosearch is marketing the CanStockPhoto library to their clients. Sales have gone up ever since.

• CanStock has some great sales statistics tools on each member page.

• You can create galleries of similar shots, including shots from other members, boosting your chance of selling those photos.

Details:

URL: www.istock.com

Industry: Microstock Agency

What they are looking for: Royalty Free Stock Photos, Royalty Free Illustrations, and Royalty Free Footage, Royalty Free Audio

Pay: Commission

Alexa Rating: 370

iStock is the microstock industry leader. Some people make a living by only selling photographs on iStock. iStock also offer a large range of products, most recently adding RF audio files. Unfortunately, iStock does have some pretty serious problems. Their uploading process is complete garbage, they cap your uploads at a seriously low amount of files per week (except audio), and they are more picky in their review process than any other microstock agency. It’s not all doom and gloom with iStock though. Once you have your files accepted they go into a beautifully designed interface. The iStock, site from a buyers perspective, is gorgeous and that will help sell your work. iStock also has some great statistics tools built right into your profile page. All in all, if you can handle only being able to upload 15 shots a week and having to upload them one at a time, then iStock will treat you well.

Submitting to iStock

iStock is not an easy site to get accepted to in comparison to any of the other microstock agencies. You first have to sign-up, then go to Upload on the left and click the Apply button next to the type of content you wish to submit. Royalty free photography is what made iStock the powerhouse it is today. They now have over half a million photos and illustrations for sale. With that in mind, I’m going to talk about submitting as a photographer. The application for photographers consists of uploading three files for review. Make sure your photographs are noise free and very sharp focus. All three must pass the review process for you to get in. If you do not pass the first time, you can just change out whichever photos did not pass and try again.

Cool iStock Features

Here are some of the things that made iStock the number one microstock agency:

• iStock sells a lot of photos. No matter how frustrated I get uploading to iStock, I know in the end it will be worth it. They will make me money.

• Since iStock takes so many different types of media, you can create a very unique portfolio if you have the skills.

• The iStock Vetta program allows some of your photos to be sold at a much higher price.

• iStock has a great article base where you can learn tons of great tips about how to make money on the site. These tips translate easily to any microstock agency.

• iStock also has a very active forum, although it is heavily moderated.