Today, we
are talking about earning money online with your photos as a Shutterstock
contributor. Shutterstock, if you're not aware, is a popular stock photo site.
They accept photo submissions every day from novice and professional
photographers.
If you
enjoy taking photos and you'd like to earn a little extra money by submitting
them, read on! I've gotten some good information on how contributing to
Shutterstock works thanks to Candace, a current Shutterstock contributor. She
has answered some questions for me below:
Making
Money as a Shutterstock Contributor – Interview With Candace
Can you
tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as a Shutterstock
contributor?
My name is
Candace, and I have been a Shutterstock contributor since 2015. I became a
Shutterstock contributor shortly after I had my son. I decided that I wanted to
stay at home with my baby, and I eventually became interested in working from
home.
I started
searching online for work from home opportunities and I came across the
blog, Real Ways to Earn Money Online. It was on this blog that I learned
about Shutterstock and how I could make some extra cash by selling my photos.
I was very
intrigued at the idea of selling my photos online because I had several photos
that I believed people would want to purchase.
For
example, my husband and I have taken many vacation photos and holiday photos
over the years. These were the types of photos that I planned on selling on
Shutterstock, and I've been able to do just that!
How does
being a Shutterstock contributor work in terms of pay or royalties?
As a
contributor, I earn royalties whenever one of my images is downloaded by a
customer.
Shutterstock
provides subscription packages, plans, and licenses to customers which allows
them to download a certain number of images.
The amount
I receive for an image depends on the type of account the customer has
purchased.
With a
Standard license, a new contributor will start out making 25 cents whenever an
image is dowloaded from their portfolio. This amount increases as the
contributor hits milestones with their earnings.
You can
learn more about the pay structure in the Contributor Support Center on the
Shutterstock website.
Can
someone depend solely on Shutterstock, or is it better to have your work
available on multiple platforms?
I do not
suggest depending solely on Shutterstock. With the holidays approaching and
another son on the way, it has been a blessing to make some extra money on Shutterstock,
but it is good to have other sources of income.
I am
continuing to build my Shutterstock portfolio, but I have also heard of
Shutterstock contributors who enjoy uploading their work to different stock
photography websites as well.
Is it hard
to get accepted as a contributor?
It took me
about 3 tries to get accepted as a Shutterstock contributor. It can definitely
be a challenge to get accepted as a contributor, but the Shutterstock reviewers
provide reasons why content is rejected.
For
example, most of my images were rejected because they were out of focus. Once I
learned how to edit my images, I resubmitted them and they were approved.
As I
mentioned before, I already had numerous photos that I believed people would
want, and I enjoy capturing things with my camera. This made me determined to
get accepted as a contributor, and I'm happy that I now have over 900 images in
my Shutterstock portfolio!
How can a
person get started as a contributor?
To become
a Shutterstock contributor, you can sign up for free here.
You can
also check out my Shutterstock portfolio here,
and check out my content on YouTube.
Thanks so
much Candace for taking the time to answer our questions! If any of you readers
have something to add about contributing photos to Shutterstock or any other
site, please feel free to comment below.
0 Comments