Stock Photography | Choosing an Agency 2.0

If you have followed along with me so far, we've done everything one would need to do before jumping headlong into uploading our stock photography shots to a platform(s) agency. You can find links to the previous installments of this ongoing project, I'm loosely calling, "Can You Succeed in the Stock Photography Business" at the bottom of this post. We are going to find that out over the course of the next few years as I document my actions and give you tips on how to do it as well. I am hoping you get interested enough to ask questions or challenge me in my thinking process. I really want it to be a two-way street of interaction here!

I'm not new to stock photography. But I am also not successful. This is due to a fairly weak start with no sustained effort. In fact, in as few words as possible, that, there, is the roadmap to failure for doing about anything - a non committal start followed by a lack of sustained effort. It's even easier to have regret at the lost time already. Instead, I've decided to make my contribution to Steemit in the form of this "How-To" adventure.

How to Find a Stock Photo Agency

There are, literally, dozens, if not hundreds of stock photography agency sites on the internet. How do you choose whom to approach? I've found that talking to others about their experiences helps pare the choices down pretty quickly.

For starters, we want to show our photos where the buyers are buying, right? Secondly, we don't want to get boxed into any sort of exclusive arrangement with any one agency. My initial effort began with Alamy. I chose them based on a recommendation and uploaded a set from a few visits to my local farmers market.

I have also tried a few random images. My initial mistake was that I only provided the minimum meta information. My second mistake was I never came back to the site again after doing 5 uploading sessions. Alamy has changed over that 2-year period and has tools to help those who want to help themselves have a better shot at being found when someone searches. When I returned to it a couple weeks ago to prepare for this mission, I saw the notices telling me that I had to do more work. I guess I might have come around more often if I had gotten more sales. I got one. A veritable Catch 22! The interest waned. Now I know I need to spend at least an hour a week at Alamy if I want to actually have anything happen there. That includes improving the 60 photos i have there already as well as uploading hundreds of more pics.

This stock photography game is one of percentages. The more photos you have covering every conceivable keyword search that exists, the more opportunities you get to make a sale. After I have a full effort underway here at Alamy I have a list of four other agency sites that are hotbeds for sales:

• Pond5

• Shutterstock

• Storyblocks

• Adobe Stock

My ultimate goal is to have photos and videos on all five of these within the next 18 months working four hours a week.

The Alamy backend is very user friendly. The help and support are readily available and clear to understand. You start by signing up for an account, providing your personal information that is used on your artist home page. It's a 50/50 split of sales with Alamy. Upload 1/2 a dozen photos. In a short while they will either be approved or denied. All of mine have been approved. But I have heard they do reject photos that are "unfinished," i.e.. crooked, grainy, bad color, etc.

In the next installment we'll talk about some basic commercial rules that exist and restrict what you can sell as stock photography. It may surprise you and will definitely be eye opening for those who don't know...

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Previous "Stock Photography" Installments

Introduction to Stock Photography
Stock Photography | First Steps 1.1
Stock Photography | First Steps 1.2

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