The Shutterstock Contribution Program is the premier platform for creative persons and illustrators to sell their work and “Earn Chai” somewhere up to “thousands of dollars” per month.
If you’re a photographer you’ve heard of Shutterstock. And you need to have heard the success stories of contributors who made small fortunes in the business. Unsurprisingly, Shutterstock paid more than $ 1 billion to its contributors. the years.
Table of Contents
How to Become a Shutterstock Contributor?
A lot has updated with Shutterstock Contributor over the years Now we are stepping into 2022. Thus, I created a new account to accurately guide you through the whole process, from creating an account to uploading photos and your first sale.
To become a Shutterstock Contributor, follow these steps given below
1. Sign up
Becoming a Shutterstock contributor is an easy task First, go to contributor-accounts.shutterstock.com and create a new account with your email address and a strong password. After you solve the captcha, you’ll receive an email asking you to confirm your account. Follow that link.
Follow the steps and fill in the rest of your details, such as your address.
2. Upload photos
Congrats! You’re ready to start uploading photos and videos. So Now You can upload your first image directly from the Shutterstock Contributor hub. Don’t worry; you can upload illustrations and videos, as well. Select the picture you want to upload. Select the image from the drive or just Drag and Drop From the Local Drive to Shutterstock and give them time to upload. The length of this step will depend on your internet speed. Once the upload finishes, you’re ready for the next step
3. Add keywords, description and Submit
Keywords play a major part in a booming stock contribution career; however, most contributors have no idea how to use them properly. Keywords will help your image to get noticed by the client, so there’s no point in misleading them by using popular yet unrelated keywords. To help you with the process and also speed up your workflow, Shutterstock helps you with keywords selection. What is more, it will also fill in the keywords for you based on content recognition. Make sure to double-check the keywords because even though the tool is useful, it’s not perfect.
Once they’re accepted, your images will be automatically added to Shutterstock’s library, where they will be one sale.
Shutterstock Contributor Earnings
As a Shutterstock contributor, you earn a percentage of the price Shutterstock receives for licensing your content. There are 6 separate profit levels for images and videos ranging from 15% to 40%. You can go through them in any category regardless of your number of downloads. The more content your portfolio customers buy, the faster you will advance through the levels and increase the percentage you earn with each license. Please see the full revenue breakdown for more information.
What Type Of Photos Sells Best On Shutterstock?
What sells the best on Shutterstock is governed by worldwide Google Trends, which change rapidly in the 21st century. Therefore, I regularly update this section to keep it up-to-date
Idea 1 – Landscapes Images that Inspire Wanderlust
Images that celebrate our connection to nature and the natural elements around us are always popular in photo markets. We have a growing desire to seek connection with the great outdoors, to escape into solitude in the wilderness.
Idea 2 – Working from Home
With people all over the world working from home, we need images to support this environment. This includes home office facilities, zoom calls, virtual connections with colleagues, and work-life balance in combination with private life.
The modern office has changed a lot since the introduction of the partition wall. There are more and more open spaces that offer the opportunity for greater collaboration. Snap pictures of these stunning architectural spaces and the support of communal open spaces.
Idea 3 – Top-down food images and videos
Food is common. It’s international. It crosses cultural boundaries where most photography is limited. Food and recipe videos have exploded in recent years and we’re seeing an increase in searches for top-down food images and cooking videos. These images should highlight food trends (including the increase in sourdough baking, thanks to the quarantine).
Idea 4 – Naturally-edited images
It’s like the saying goes, less is more. In photography, inflating images and adding the wrong elements to your images limit their use by customers. There’s nothing worse than finding an image you like on the stock exchange only to see an intrusive filter at the top. The image that the customer cannot remove.
Instead, keep your edits as simple as possible so that they’ll be useful to customers.
Idea 5 – Powerful portrait imagery
Portrait images are always popular in stock, especially when they represent fashionable communities, professions, and lifestyles. An example of this is during the coronavirus crisis, where we saw an increase in searches for powerful portraits of nurses and first responders battling the crisis on the front lines. Other ideas related to this include grocery store workers and delivery staff. Consider creating portraits of people that tell the uniqueness of their individual stories.
FAQ
I’ve tried to answer as many questions as I can, but feel free to ask more in the comments below.
Can you make money on Shutterstock?
For many contributors, Shutterstock is the most profitable photo agency with profits of over 40% of their total sales.
how much money do you earn on Shutterstock?
Once you cross the $ 500, $ 3,000, and $ 10,000 income thresholds, your license fee increases. For instance, new Shutterstock employees make $ 1.88 for each on-demand image download, but once they make $ 500, that rate increases to $ 2.48.
What are the best-selling images on Shutterstock?
Typically, images that include people, popular sites, business offices, and abstract models generate the most sales.
Can you make really good money on Shutterstock?
Shutterstock has paid over $ 1 billion to its backers over the years, making it the most profitable backer program right now. For most stock photographers, Shutterstock is the primary source of income.
How much does Shutterstock pay contributors?
Shutterstock pays based on your success. You start with 15 earnings but get up to 40% for a royalty-free license. You can earn up to 30% for selling an upgraded license.
Is it worth it to become a Shutterstock contributor in 2021- 2022?
For most photographers, illustrators, and videographers, Shutterstock is the biggest source of income, ranging from 50% to 70%. Therefore, Shutterstock is probably the best choice for selling your photos.
How do I sell my images on Shutterstock?
- Create content. Take beautiful, high-quality photos or videos.
- Send to Shutterstock. Next, you need to upload your image to the Shutterstock contributor platform.
- Add a description and keywords. Adding as much pertinent detail as possible will maximize your revenue.
- Received money. You make money every time you download your content. Percentage Rate of Shutterstock?
Shutterstock unveiled a new “earnings structure. Shutterstock takes a large chunk of profits that range from 85% to 60%. The more content you sell, the higher your earnings and the lower your Shutterstock earnings.
Is it free to be a Shutterstock contributor?
To be the contributor to Shutterstock is totally free
How do I close/Delete my contributor account?
You can delete your Shutterstock contributor account by going to Account Settings in the upper right corner and under Account Status choose Delete Account. You will be asked to confirm this action with your password.
Can I sell videos on Shutterstock?
You can upload videos the same way you upload your photos. From the home page, Shutterstock Contributor, choose Upload Content, then upload your video. Alternatively, Shutterstock encourages downloading via FTPS. Example Filezilla
Shutterstock Sell Photos?
The best way to sell photos on Shutterstock is through the Shutterstock Contributor Program, which allows you to upload your best photos and get paid every time someone downloads them.
Conclusion
Nowhere are contribution programs as profitable as they were ten or more years ago. But Shutterstock’s contribution program remains the most profitable for most photographers. There are several reasons for this:
photo agencies have reduced their minimum income.
1. There is a LOT of content already there on the web
2. Therefore, you need to constantly upload and stay up to date to make a living with stock photography.
Overall, if you’re looking to get into stock photography, Shutterstock is the best place to do it. Or you can find even more ways to sell photos online.
You can Also View the Adobe Stock Collection if you wish
