My New Year Kicked Off with Good News!

My New Year started off well - I finally, after three disheartening tries, was accepted into Shutterstock. This site is probably the best known of all internet sites for photographers who wish to sell their photos, and is used internationally by thousands of web designers, magazine editors, and other graphic artists who purchase monthly subscriptions to Shutterstock.

It's not easy to get into Shutterstock. Rarely does a photographer get in on the first attempt. They are quite picky about the photos they accept, and it was a learning process for me as continued to submit my photos. They require that you submit ten shots for consideration. If they accept a minimum of seven, you're in. Otherwise, you have to wait another 30 days before they will allow you to re-submit your photos.

The first two times, I missed by just one approval - each of those times six of ten of my offerings were accepted. By the third time, I sent a wider variety of images, and made extra-certain that they were sharp, not cropped too tight (that was one of the reasons some of my photos were rejected earlier) and that the subject matter was salable.

The third time was my lucky number! I am just so pleased, and slightly surprised. Many photographers apply to Shutterstock several times before finally being accepted, and I thought I'd be one too. But to get in on my third try - knowing there are hundreds of excellent photographers out there applying at the same time - really made my day. It was a fabulous start for my New Year.

Shutterstock is slightly different than other microstock-selling sites. Buyers subscribe on a monthly basis and can download up to 750 images over the course of 30 days. It works well for those companies who choose not to have a photographer on staff, since it costs them less to download any of the millions of images available on Shutterstock.

For photographers, it's matter of uploading digital photos easily from their computers. They can do it any time of the day or night, at their convenience. The downside is that you must send in images frequently to stay high on the "recent photos" list. It gains you attention from regular buyers (which is all SS has, since its a subscription service), and keeps your name in front of them. Since every sale nets a photographer 25 cents, it's definitely not a get-rich-quick scenario, but since SS is the leading microstock site the gain for photogs is in the high number of sales each day.

If any of my photographer friends who aren't already on SS wish to use me as a referral, I'd be very honored. My referral link is http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=102236

With only 1 full day on board, I've had two sales already with my tiny portfolio of eight photos.
SS is now on my New Year's Resolutions List - I'm hoping to build a portfolio of 400 images by the end of the year. Wish me luck!