Return on investment is a vital analysis formula to occasionally take a look at, no matter what business you’re in. It can sometimes take a while to get accurate results in a residual or retail business. Depending on the type of product or service you offer, some returns come faster while others take a long time to truly reveal themselves. You have to be in it for the long haul, plant your “seeds” and wait for them to grow; maybe waiting for the to reach their full potential. Here is the definition of Return On Investment (or ROI for short) from Investopedia.
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.
Graduation time is fast approaching for high school and college students. Many of them are thinking how they will even afford college. Will they be able to get help from their parents? Or, maybe some help from the government through financial aid? Will they need to take out loans that will come back to haunt them once they are done with school? Be smart when choosing your educational path. Debt can stab you over with many pains, so be very careful when planning out your education. I can’t stress enough how thankful I am for paying my way though a state university with a part time job working nights and weekends. If you are a high school senior, be sure to apply for all the scholarships or grants that you can. An extra $500 -1000 from smaller or local scholarships might not seem like much, but they will add up over 4 years.
Timing is everything… I think I might be a little late in the year for this image, but nevertheless it was a subject I wanted to cover.
Ever heard the term “viral marketing” but wasn’t 100% sure on the entire process, or what it means? Well, if you are still curious, this video will clear it up nicely for you.
Over 150,000 images licensed in a little over 4 years in microstock. Holy crap…
I was definitely taken by surprise with this statistic. I only wish each one of those images sold for $30 each instead of 30 cents – Haha! I don’t even know what the total size of my portfolio is right now, so that’s the next thing I’ll have to figure out.
Want to know how many images I’ve found in use? Ha, probably only around 100.
Alright; you got me. Let me be totally honest with you. As of today, I’ve only sold 149,110 images. But close enough… I know I must have missed a bunch somewhere, on some random site I’m forgetting to record. In another week or so it should be there It’s fun running business related stats once in a while, and you’re going to be surprised with the results, almost always. Give it a shot with your own accounts, if you sell stock. I think you just might be pleasantly surprised!
“Okay, so I am really trying to improve my stock photography because I have been uploading many images which some get accepted but very few sell because they aren’t really marketing type photos. I know you have had success with stock and was wondering if maybe we could collaborate on a stock shoot or something so I can get a better feel how you approach stock photography. I really want to be a full time photographer and having a good arsenal of stock photos helps keep the income stream going…”
-Anonymous
I feel your pain. This is something a lot of people express when starting out. Stock is a mindset, and it’s really tough for a lot of photographers to sometimes grasp. I know what you’re saying – the glamor shots and general portraits that everyone loves at places like modelmayhem.com, don’t always sell that well for stock. They’re still fun to shoot, but that is besides the point. Try to think of themes; get ideas from magazine ads, tv commercials, any wherever else you can find inspiration. Look around at other people’s work online for inspiration, but don’t copy. It’s not hard to put your own spin on things. That also, in turn, gives you an advantage by having images that are more unique, instead of the same old cookie cutter stuff. People doing things, different expressions on their faces, you have to just think like a designer or image buyer. Ask yourself, how would someone be able to use this? Ask yourself, “will this image I’m shooting have sales potential? Is this image going to tell a story? Does the message come across clearly? Is this the type of image that is generic enough where it can be used in a variety of ways, or is it more specific?” It’s good to have a mixture of both types in your portfolio. Will someone see this shot and want to buy it? I’m not talking prints, I’m talking usefulness and commercial value. Stock is stock, prints are prints – two totally different worlds.
Return on investment is a vital analysis formula to occasionally take a look at, no matter what business you’re in. It can sometimes take a while to get accurate results in a residual or retail business. Depending on the type of product or service you offer, some returns come faster while others take a long time to truly reveal themselves. You have to be in it for the long haul, plant your “seeds” and wait for them to grow; maybe waiting for the to reach their full potential. Here is the definition of Return On Investment (or ROI for short) from Investopedia.
It’s fun running business related stats once in a while, and you’re going to be surprised with the results, almost always. Give it a shot with your own accounts, if you sell stock. I think you just might be pleasantly surprised!
