Thanks for checking out my review of Shutterstock.
My review is for those of you who are interested in making money by selling stock photos online.
The internet has opened up a huge market for stock photos, and subsequently an opportunity for keen photographers, both professional and amateur alike, to supply the increasing demand of these photos.
Shutterstock happens to be just one platform where you can submit your photos for sale, so we will see how the platform matches up.
My Shutterstock Review will show you how the platform works to give you a more informed view as to whether you feel you can make money from it as a professional or amateur photographer.
What Is Shutterstock?
The Shutterstock platform accepts both photographs and video, and your work may appear in promotional content for businesses, such as brochures or even retail packaging.
Ensuring that your content will look great when utilized on both large-scale prints and small brochures will help you to get more sales.
Your images and films should be as versatile as possible. Each client has unique needs and they want media that can readily be included in their marketing campaigns or in academic work.
While Shutterstock caters to several niches, you earn more by producing the most popular types of films and pictures for the niche that you select.
Large Audience
You can earn money on Shutterstock by selling your videos to a wide audience.
Each photo that you upload to the site could be purchased by anyone in the world, since the client base is drawn from designers and other professionals around the globe. This gives you a large market right there for your work.
How Much Can you Earn Selling Photos to Shutterstock?
You will earn money on Shutterstock every time someone downloads your photos. Tips for success on the platform are provided, so even if you have never tired to sell your video content or photos online before, you can spend some time learning how to maximize your efforts by using their free advice.
Joining is easy and you only need to be 18 years old to start sharing your pictures with the world and building your brand as a creative person.
You can earn decent money on Shutterstcok if you use the platform as a base for your photography business. You will however benefit from spending some time on external marketing.
Tags
You can also make the most of the large number of designers, marketers and students who use Shutterstock, by ensuring that your work is tagged properly.
People search for images by using descriptions. Your image tags should match the search terms that they use closely. This helps to ensure that your films and photos will show up in the results and your work will be chosen for their needs.
The platform is easy to use, with everything you need presented in a single dashboard. The site offers quick suggestions for tags, which help you to find your audience.
Licenses
You earn more with certain types of licenses on Shutterstock. The Enhanced License will help you to earn more than the Standard License.
Photos may be purchased in packs, which means more profit for you. Subscription packages pay the lowest rate, putting $0.25 in your account every time an image is downloaded.
This rate increases as your earnings on the site increase, with top earners obtaining $0.33 per photo with every download.
You receive different rates based on the licenses and your Lifetime Earnings, so someone who has earned more than you historically will generally be paid a higher rate per download than you, based on this fact alone.
The top tier is the $10,000 plus range and pays 30% commission with the Enhanced License.
Many photographers and videographers earn money on Shutterstock through direct sales of their work.
This is not the only way to earn money however…..If you are one of the many creative people who actively network with other designers, illustrators and artists, you can earn a lot of cash through referrals. You get paid whenever someone joins the platform as either a contributor or a customer.
What Are The Pros Of ShutterStock?
- Shutterstock is a versatile site, which offers several ways for you to earn money.
- In addition to earning money by creating content, you also earn through referrals. If you teach photography or otherwise have access to a large audience of photographers, this could provide you with a significant source of income.
- Their tiered system increases your earnings per photo as your lifetime earnings go up, so that you are rewarded for doing business on the platform. You can take photos on any topic that interests you, or that you decide is profitable.
- The site suggests tags to you, so that you can save time.
- Your audience is drawn from many different countries, so you could sell to people who speak other languages and build your brand by catering to designers in these markets.
What Are The Cons Of ShutterStock?
- Some photo packs place restrictions on images sizes.
- High Competition
Is Shutterstock Worth It?
Shutterstock has a wide reach and many designers automatically go to the site for their needs.
In addition, the site has developed partnerships with other platforms, which increases your audience. You can sell vectors, illustrations, photos and footage, so there is no limit on what you can produce and sell as a creative person.
Tiers increase your earning capacity, ensuring that as your earnings grow, your capacity to make a profit increases.
If you’re a photography looking to sell your best photos then Shutterstock could be a good place to start.
Star Rating 3.5/5- A good platform for photographers to build an online business as a freelance photographer.
Thanks for checking out my review of ShutterStock. I hope you found the article informative and will help you decide if The ShutterStock platform could be a good option for you.
I have written hundreds of similar reviews and articles about making money online here on my website Wealthinflator.com. You will find all my latest posts HERE