3 ms·

Lots of people will tell you'll fail whatever you do, so you have to get used to that to a certain extent. He has articulated the problem that you'll have gett

by rythie 16y ago

Lots of people will tell you'll fail whatever you do, so you have to get used to that to a certain extent. He has articulated the problem that you'll have getting traction in an established market, though it doesn't mean it can't be done. I don't personally see why you need pros for this, lots of people who take photos in their spare time take very good photos (look at Flickr for example) and many wouldn't mind earning some extra money. In fact I'm looking at doing this with iStock, i.e. not full time. Some people may just be looking for somewhere to put their own portfolio, set the prices, get a bigger cut and promote it via their own network - for example.

silverlight 16y ago
Indeed. And from what I've heard, iStockPhoto has a ridiculous process that you have to go through to get approved...I think they are basically so "full" of submitters, if you aren't already in the system it's hard to break in. Maybe focus on that? (Not saying offer terrible pictures from just anyone, just saying that maybe their site has gotten almost too big...maybe there is a glut in the market.) Something else you might consider doing is good integration/importing. For example Flickr has a check-box where you can easily "offer your photo for sale on Getty images"...while you probably can't get Flickr to add a box for your site right away, use their API to allow new users to easily import some or all of their Flickr photos right into your site for sale. Perhaps also consider offering a mix of high-quality free and paid photos. For example (again using the Flickr API since I am familiar with it to some degree) there are a lot of amazing photos on Flickr that are license Creative Commons, meaning they are free for use in non-commercial works. Maybe go through yourself and find a few hundred really high-quality ones and offer those alongside the paid ones on your site, categorized and tagged. There are definitely opportunities to be had, it's just a question of finding them.
- rythie 16y ago
  I can attest that it's hard to get into iStock. I've had only had one photo approved from 6 I've submitted and mostly those were photos others thought were pretty good on Flickr. One of the photos rejected had been used in publication before (for free).

by rythie 16y ago

silverlight 16y ago

Indeed. And from what I've heard, iStockPhoto has a ridiculous process that you have to go through to get approved...I think they are basically so "full" of submitters, if you aren't already in the system it's hard to break in. Maybe focus on that? (Not saying offer terrible pictures from just anyone, just saying that maybe their site has gotten almost too big...maybe there is a glut in the market.) Something else you might consider doing is good integration/importing. For example Flickr has a check-box where you can easily "offer your photo for sale on Getty images"...while you probably can't get Flickr to add a box for your site right away, use their API to allow new users to easily import some or all of their Flickr photos right into your site for sale. Perhaps also consider offering a mix of high-quality free and paid photos. For example (again using the Flickr API since I am familiar with it to some degree) there are a lot of amazing photos on Flickr that are license Creative Commons, meaning they are free for use in non-commercial works. Maybe go through yourself and find a few hundred really high-quality ones and offer those alongside the paid ones on your site, categorized and tagged. There are definitely opportunities to be had, it's just a question of finding them.

rythie 16y ago
I can attest that it's hard to get into iStock. I've had only had one photo approved from 6 I've submitted and mostly those were photos others thought were pretty good on Flickr. One of the photos rejected had been used in publication before (for free).