Last issue, I told you three reasons that photos get rejected from stock photo agencies, and how to avoid them. If you missed it, you can read it here. It takes time to practice shooting and making your images stock-worthy and saleable. But in the meantime, there’s a stock photo agency out there that won’t reject your images for ANY of the issues I mentioned in the last article. In fact, it won’t reject any of your photos at all. It’s a Swedish agency called mostphotos. Photographers aren’t reporting boatloads of sales from this agency. But when you do get a sale, you keep 50% — which is a hefty cut, especially when you’re just starting out. Plus, you get paid in Euros, so it’s a little more bang per sale than you’d get in dollars. I like their motto, too: “Make money, have fun, and learn new things.” Overall, I think it’s a good place to get your feet wet where you can practice taking photos regularly and uploading them to stock. Since all images are accepted (so long as they conform to the legal rules), there’s no fear of rejection, and your photos are up for sale immediately — no waiting for a yes or no from inspectors. I just signed up for an account and uploaded four images in under eight minutes. Here’s how you can, too:
- Start by going to: http://www.mostphotos.com/
- In the upper right corner, click on “Register,” then create a username and password. Make sure you check the “I want to signup as a photographer” box.
- Once you’re registered, you can immediately upload your images. Hit the “upload” button, and you can search your computer for photos to upload. It automatically starts putting them on the site.
- Go through your images, adding titles, descriptions, and keywords.
- Once you’re done, hit “Publish” and accept the legal agreement.
That’s it. In under eight minutes, your photos are up for sale. Other members can rank your images, which helps you get sales, according to the site. As a member, you can rank images, too. The site suggests that you do to stay active in the community to get your photos seen by potential buyers. More ways the site can help you learn:
- When you upload a photo, you can request a peer critique and other members will comment. (You can comment on photos, too.)
- The “What’s selling” section will help you figure out which photos are selling best on the site.
- You can participate in what mostphotos calls their “Request feature,” which allows photo buyers to put out a request for certain types of photos, and you can submit shots that fulfill that request, sort of like working on assignment.
It is, of course, free to join. Now there’s REALLY no excuse not to get started. I hope to hear from some people who uploaded photos over the weekend. Drop me a note on the Breakfast StockClub Facebook page and let me know how it goes! [Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.] Your Weekly Breakfast Dish The latest from your Breakfast StockClub Facebook Page Two BSC-ers got accepted into Shutterstock and are already seeing sales! From Phill Danze: Third time lucky, accepted into Shutterstock; interesting though that they failed pictures that on previous attempts had not failed; there’s that people factor again. Kim Wilson: Got accepted into Shutterstock with 8 of my first 10 images. Richard Mcclure’s got a plan: Well I am back. Tax season is over, I do taxes for others. I took a week off and did a lot of sleeping. I have set up a work plan. I shoot every day and on the other days I work on getting what I have ready and up-load. That leaves one day for any thing I missed that week. Now when I say “a day” that is most times 4 to 5 hours. I am slowing building up some pictures on 4 sites even with a lot of rejects. And more people are asking questions and sharing answers. From Paula Barnak: Any suggestions for my first DSLR? Looking at Nikon D3100, Cannon Rebel Ti, T2 or jumping into Lumix or Sony? Anyone shooting with these last two? See the answers to this question on the Breakfast StockClub Facebook page.