By trade I am a web developer and my wife is a graphic designer. Together we started selling our photographs over the internet over two years ago as a way to earn a little extra money on something we enjoy doing. At that time we only had a small 4-megapixel point-and-shoot camera, but my wife knew how to edit photos because she was studying Design at university. At that time we thought we also knew about photography, but now we know what we didn’t know then.

When we started selling our photos online, we only made $16 in our first month. Since this was something we were passionate about, we persisted, and with a lot of research, we raised the amount to $270 in six months. Since it was only a part-time hobby, we honestly didn’t expect it to make as much money as quickly as it did, but our initial success convinced us of the possible potential and we immediately bought a digital SLR. It’s been over two years and we are now making around $600 each month with a modest portfolio of around 700 photos listed with eight agencies. We are still considered hobbyist photographers who create stock photos in our spare time.

Who sells photos in the microstock market? I have reached out to hundreds of other microstock stock photography sellers across the internet and have been amazed at the variety of people who are contributing to this marketplace, each for an equally impressive variety of reasons. There are retired couples who just want to see their photos posted, and I’ve met people who make tens of thousands of dollars every month. For some, microstock is their job and for others, like me, it is simply a part of my total income. Surprisingly, one of the largest groups of contributors are photography students, both those who have chosen photography and their career as hobbyists who study for fun.

Why is microstock so good for students? There are three main reasons: freedom; money; and education.

Participating with Microstock is free and there are no fixed work hours, no hits and most importantly, no expiration dates. Microstock pays money, which is great since photography isn’t a cheap endeavor. If you’re interested in learning about the business side of photography, Microstock is also a great way to educate yourself. What better teacher than a global marketplace of photo buyers?

Isn’t microstock ‘bad’ for the industry? If you’ve been interested in selling stock photography for a while, you may have already discovered that microstock is controversial. Since the concept works solely with the Internet and high-quality digital cameras, it is still relatively new. Because of that, there are still many professional stock photographers with strong feelings about the impact microstock is having on the industry.

Many of the world’s most successful stock photographers I’ve spoken to have said they’re not seeing any impact on their microstock business. These professionals know that their photos are competing on quality and not price (microstock photos sell cheaper but in greater quantity) and they also know that there will always be buyers interested in the top tier of the market, regardless of price.

It also makes sense to assume that the hundreds of photographers now making a living from microstock have displaced some ‘traditional’ stock photographers. This is a natural phenomenon and occurs with any technological change as big as the Internet and digital photography, and it is completely understandable that those who receive it are not happy with it.

Without a doubt, Microstock has brought new buyers to the market. Before Microstock, small businesses, charities, and bloggers weren’t big buyers of stock photos when each image cost $350 or more. Now that blog size images are $1 and print size images are $10, you can imagine how sales have increased.

So how much can I earn on microstock? The quantity depends on both the quality and the quantity of photographs you can produce. Those who work full time with microstock and have a portfolio of 7,000 high quality images or more can easily earn over $20,000 per MONTH! On the other hand, those contributors who have only a handful of images earn only a few dollars. Like me, you most likely fall somewhere between these two extremes.

I usually make just under $1 per photo per month. On the Internet you can find monthly earnings figures and links to portfolios. With a little research, you can easily compare your portfolio or photography skills to others to determine roughly how much you could expect to earn from your photos on the microstock market.

Is microstocking easy? Not at first, it’s not. Many online agencies require a test submission which is generally more stringent than your typical review process. Microstock agencies also review submissions based on what it sells, which are super-sharp, quiet, commercially appealing images. Due to this initial review, many of the highly-skilled, established photographers experience early rejection and are quick to dismiss the microstock opportunity. You can start with some of the mid-level agencies that don’t require you to pass a test. By doing this, you can easily get an idea of ​​which types of photos are accepted and which ones are selling well. After that, it’s relatively easy to start making money.

Doing a little research you can find examples of best-selling photos. Typically, most of them are simple shots taken with the intention of selling them, but with no preparation other than being in the right place with the camera. Many photos can generate upwards of $30 per month, although potential success will vary between agencies.

It’s also not easy to create above average success. The average earnings per photo for many of the top microstock contributors can be up to ten times what I currently earn, so you can imagine the difference in the quality and appeal of the photos they produce. They also need to repeat this success many times to build a large enough portfolio to increase their earnings above average.

How can I improve my chances of success? Here are my top tips for people starting to sell their photos on the microstock marketplace:

Managing your expectations can often seem easier than it really is. A typical sales pitch might say, “click here to start earning money from photos sitting idle on your computer.” That’s not exactly realistic and you’ll soon be quitting if you start with this expectation in mind. Do your own research to find out what sells, get these photos right, and be smart about how you contribute. Focus on the workflow.

If you want to contribute a lot of photos, it makes perfect sense to have an efficient workflow so you don’t waste time doing unnecessary and repetitive tasks. Do your research and refine your process so that you can put a quality product to market in the most efficient way possible. Microstock is business. If you’re more of an artist than an actual commercial photographer, you might want to seriously consider whether you and microstock are a good match. Don’t get me wrong, artistic photos will sell on the microstock marketplace, but not as well as commercial photos.

Investigation. Do not stay with the few ideas that I have already given you. It’s important to get all your questions answered before you start to save time and not accidentally do anything that doesn’t work in your favor. There are blogs written for people selling photos on the microstock market, read these and other sites.

6 Microstock Sites Where You Can Make Money With Your Photos Here are a number of Microstock programs that offer photographers money for their images: Shutterastock, Dreamstime, Crestock, fotolia, 123rf, Stockxpert.