In the interest of your time, I cut a few things out of this video. Probably the most important one is how much time it takes to reach this level of income. I’m in my third year producing stock video. I probably saw very near 0 sales in the first 3 months or so. Even after the first year, I was just making “extra” money. It took until near the end of the second year before I really started to see $2-3k months. But the great news is that my portfolio never shrinks, it only gets bigger. That’s not to say I will always retain this level of income from stock. There is an ever-growing amount of competition after all. However, it has paid for my time and equipment many times over and at least for now, my passive income is still growing.
what sites are you using to sell? I have a problem every time with Shutterstock or the other big ones as they require perfect editing - All my shots are smooth 4k, mostly drone shots of unique places around the world
“You don’t know what’s going to sell” 100% I’ve been at this for about 3-4 or so months after finding your video, made less than 10 sales but surprisingly some of the most mundane and crappy ones (in my opinion) that I initially was considering not bothering to sell have sold the most and the ones I am most proud of haven’t had a single sale yet!
Finally, a great topic with actually showing on how to do it. Too many false guru out there just talking about money, giving an impression that is easy money without skill but never show the real them or behind the scene. What I like about this video, you actually showing people how. Thank you so much!
Wow! I got started with stock photography back in 2020, managed to get only about 300 photos across three agencies. Later that year, I got employed again (non photographer job) and ever since I was too busy, or too lazy to pick up a camera and use it. My main focus was on images, but did manage to upload a handfull of videos, but I found the process of filming, editing, uploading and keywording extremely time consuming, especially for an amateur hobbyist photographer, so eventually I stopped. This video, and your whole process and system of doing stock media has reignited my fire towards stock and I feel motivated to get back to it and focus on video, because someone finally explained how to do it right. I'd like to thank you for this valuable information that I've come across. I would most certainly want to get involved with Pic ur photo. Thanks, Dino
Love it! It all comes down to getting started and then investing/re-investing in the most time consuming tasks. What really sucks the lfie out of stock is the minutiae, but batch and automate, and you'll be able to spend more time doing the fun part. Pic ur Photo is currently at max capacity, but we'll be opening up spots soon. Send an email to c.ostmo@gmail.com, and I can get you on a waitlist
My first time commenting on a video A very clear, frank and simple explanation You are not like the person who asks to participate in a private course Everything is free and very clear
Best to perfect both. I’ve started out in stock photography and it’s know the market. Stock pictures from 2000-2015 won’t be in season compared to the candid-look of today. A friend of mine is already on £2500 per month pictures alone....and he’s ‘lazy’. Best to see Stock like a video game. Get better once you learn new moves/themes. Video is the future though, as billboards are adopting video advertisements more and more.
I do take photos, I just don’t “go out of my way” to take them. They were really important at the beginning especially to build confidence. Those daily sales-even if they’re small are a solid morale boost. Videos sell for much more money, but obviously not as often, so it’s easy to get discouraged
@@callmelil I’ve learnt a lot from your video. The image of the flags or close ups of cooking is smart. I sold a picture of a water bottle for £7. Your idea “Simplicity sells” is genius.
what sites are you using to sell? I have a problem every time with Shutterstock or the other big ones as they require perfect editing - All my shots are smooth 4k, mostly drone shots of unique places around the world. Sorry just trying to figure this out..
Great video Lil !! Thank you very much for the valuable information. I’ll use some of your tips and even perhaps get help from your company’s website. You have a beautiful family. I wish you many blessings. 🙏
Dude, I love your channel! Question for you regarding stock photography contribution. Do you upload the same images to each of your contributing sites, since you are the creator? Or are there stipulations between platforms that restrict having the same image across the board?
Sorry for the late response! I upload the same media to all agencies-or I try to. Some of them have stricter requirements than others, and Shutterstock imposes weekly limits, but otherwise I have every right to upload the same media to as many sites as I want. There are some creators who decide to become “exclusive” with x agency or y agency. They’ll usually get a better commission that way, but IMO, it’s not nearly enough to justify not uploading to multiple agencies (like 50% commission instead of 35%).
look at the beginning under earnings one time he is christian ostmo then becomes Kanel Bulle on the other agency, this is bull, money are made from youtube views
Yes, initially my income actually went up as most of the agencies started paying us for the "rights" to train AI on our photos and some other agencies instigated a revenue share. Like, "if you're media was used to train the model that generates an image, you get a cut of the sales" type of deal. However, I definitely expect this to be a blip in a wider downward trend-especially with AI videos gaining a lot of ground in the last few months. That doesn't mean all is lost. What it means is we/you have to become more efficient in production. That's actually what this whole video is about. Stock media sales have had a large downward trend for 20 years. What I share in this video is how they were/are still profitable, and there will continue being money to be made as long as you adapt to the changes.
@@hollyrorienetwork This comment was referring to Shutterstock using our images to train their own AI models. Shutterstock has their own AI generator that they charge people to use-and then pay the people (like me) whose photos were used to train the model. They also partnered with OpenAI to help train Dalle-2 some time ago, and we're supposed to be compensated for that. At least that's what they say officially. I have received money specifically for AI training from other agencies-but not yet from Shutterstock.
Thank you for sharing those tools! I'll try them because my stock video workflow is so slow, so I meanly take photos. I'm trying to make a living from stock, and after watching this video I have decided to shoot more footage at shootings with models.
This video is cool and I support you to make more videos, because you tell it clearly and gave us the example from the video which we could upload on shutterstock. Informative and simple. Good job
Great video Lil, and beautiful family! Thank you for being transparent and frank about equipment and earnings. Just 2 simple questions if you have a moment: how long are the clips typically? If I'm recording something like rain on the sidewalk, or low shot of people passing, what's a good length? 2nd question: you mention editing. Does that involve the same process similar to editing photos in Lr? Thank you in advance for your help.
Thank you! I appreciate the love. In my experience, around 7-9 seconds sell best, but I upload anything from 5-30 seconds. I go through my editing process toward the end of the video, but to sum it up: I use FCPX and batch export using a plugin called frame.io/
I wonder if AI will hit this... I just cancelled my stock image/video accounts because I can create them at a fraction of the price with AI and the quality is getting better every day!
AI has already hit this. I made another video about it when Shutterstock first announced they were incorporating AI: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--Rm6YzBJI68.html. Right now, stock agencies are paying out for your photos to be in training material, and some of them (Pond5) are also selling large datasets for AI training. There's a little extra money there, but overall sales are down (and it's only going to get worse) I have always recommended stock video over photos. They pay MUCH better...but they will eventually get hit too. Check out openai.com/sora. Early stages but it will get there.
Generally, you can’t show brands/logos even with a release. Buildings are ok to show, but you’ll need a release if they’re “recognizable”. Some random storefront will probably be fine, but the shard in London won’t. Vehicles-no. Products-just don’t show any logos.
Brilliant video! A wealth of tips and helpful thoughts about selling more on stock sites and I love how you took us on a journey through the video, very inspirational! As someone only on Pond5 atm because of the commission for exclusive contributors and time it takes to upload to many sites you’ve certainly given me something to think about!!
How well are you doing on just Pond5? I did consider doing that at the beginning, I just think more sites = more opportunity to sell. Even a better commission doesn’t equal 3, 4, 5 times as many sales.
@@callmelil That’s true but for me it’s came down to time and just wanting to get the most out of one site. I think in future I’ll upload to multiple sites as I agree commons sense says; More sites, more money! I’ve also made a bunch of videos about my journey so far on Pond5, check them out and let me know what you think!
Loved the video!! I am American expat of many years now. And this May, will be jumping into the deep end by quoting my full time job and traveling for at least a year. I love photography and videography! So the idea of making passive income like this sounds like a dream….if it is really possible. Sorry to rant, but one question - how long are these video clips you are posting to Shutterstock? And why can’t I find the ‘upload video’ option on their app? I only see photo option. Thank you so much for your reply! Your newest subscriber, Zach
Thank you, I appreciate you! And I wish you the best of luck on your travels! To answer your question, some of them are up to 30 seconds long (usually slow drone footage), but most and the most profitable clips are around 7-9 seconds long. I don't use their app, so I'm not sure. On their site, I have the option to upload both, but the app I built actually uses their FTPS capabilities: support.submit.shutterstock.com/s/article/How-do-I-upload-content-via-FTPS. Check out that link for an "easier" way of bulk uploading footage. Some agencies also make you apply for-and get approved for-videos and photos separately. It's been so long, I can't remember if Shutterstock is one of those agencies or not, but double check and make sure you've been approved for video submissions.
Thanks for the info.) If you're still reading this - would be interesting to know how many videos do you upload per week or per month - to consider it a normal ongoing process.
When I first started, I committed to 30 files per month (1 per day). I was not really getting anywhere at first, so I quit. But then my sales started (from those original 60 or so files), and it got addictive. Peak (around when I made this video), I was probably submitting 20 per day on average. Some days, I would submit a lot and others none. Today, I’m focused on other businesses, but I still get steady sales.
Great video. I never thought about selling photos or videos until recently my sister shared some gorgeous video clips and photos from my hometown. And I love documenting my life, trips, and experiences. I have many many videos available already. I would love to be able to reuse them other than being used in my vlogs. Could you please share the bulk editing and uploading tool again? Do you need to create an vendor account with all the stock image agencies first? Appreciate your generous sharing!
Thank you for sharing and what a beautiful family. I am very new at this, I would say I'm on step one. I have a few questions for you. I hope you can help. 1. You mentioned you use virtual assistance for editing, is there a particular company you recommend to edit? What is the usual charges for virtual assistance?
Hey Kebandi, thank you so much! I’m going to be a bit biased, because I run the virtual assistance company: lilassistance.com. You can also find people on freelancer.com or Upwork, but you will want to make sure you get the process perfect beforehand. Ideally, you’ll find native English speakers if they’re writing your metadata (ours are), but that can run up the price
HI . I am watching your video from Tunisia and it's inspiring me so much .Would you please share some recommendations on what to choose as settings for the video exporting and how long are the videos you upload Thank you
Sometimes I export videos up to 30 seconds, but most often/most sales are footage in the 6-9 second range. I export in prores 422, but what options are available to you will depend on your camera and editing software
Good video! Can I ask how long did it take u to get to making $1000 a month? Also on average how many mins per month do u think u upload? Roughly of course, haha, I know alot of these type Qs have so many variables but I think u do a good job answering these type Qs like I wanna know! I think I'm about to start doing something similar to this and gameplanning now. I'm hoping to make a rough plan for things to shoot after doing a little research in sites to use and see if there's anything that I can find that I can shoot that is either missing now or selling good! This has been an idea I've had for a lil while now but I think u just gave me the inspiration to follow thru w some decent facts and your the story of your journey. I also didn't catch what u did before this for work and is the only thing (besides the booking site) that you do for work? One thing I hope to bring to my footage to help me stand out is optional music or dialog...may wait to try and add this after I get going tho or slowly over time!
Thank you to share so much valuable information bro! In the 19:16 you mentioned the virtual assistant you use to edit and keyword the videos, what's the name of that?
Appreciate the compliment! And apologies for the confusion, a virtual assistant is like a PA, but remote/online. You can hire one on a site like upwork, or use something like my agency lilassistance.com
thank you for the amazing video , please i would you learn more from you , and i don't know if shutterstock work in nigeria also or i have to leave abroad before it can work for me?
I’m sorry, I don’t have an answer for you. Shutterstock accepts contributors from almost all countries, but I’m aware that there are really strange rules around money/payment in Nigeria that might make it impossible to get paid. I don’t know this, your best bet is to try and see if
@@kk_3354 You can and should upload the same media to multiple sites! This will not result in any issues unless you sign up as an "exclusive" seller for one of them (don't do that, it's not worth it)
i have uploaded over 500 Footages on depositphotos during last six months but i didn't get any sale there. Should i continue to upload clips there... or not? Do you got your Footages sold on depositphotos?
Great video. Are you still making a healthy amount from SS? Because my earnings have become a joke in the last month or so. All clip sales. Where I would once receive around $20 each, I am not getting 36 cents to $1.80! Anyone starting as a video contributor, avoid the greedy SS site. It is not worth time time and effort.
SS has always been my “bittersweet” partner. They probably sell more items than any other agency, but wages have steadily declined-am I making a healthy amount? That’s subjective. Its probably halved in the last 3-5 months, but It’s still a paycheck every month. You might be interested in my updated video that I published 7 months ago. I go into my predictions for stock, and they (sadly for some like us) seem to be coming true
Back when i was in highschool, I used to work for a film studio that would pump out hundreds of stock video footage clips per day. My whole job was to upload them to shutterstock and type in the keywords for each video. They would pay me 10 bucks per hour to do this. 10 years later, I've started thinking that it can't be that hard to go out and do this. Especially now, you could have AI automate the keywords and possibly even the clips themselves?
Great video! Thank you on the strategy for earning extra income! I saw that there are editerial & creative photos for stock. Which one do you usually post? Or which option generate better income stream?
Creative will make you way more money, but in every batch, there me be some you can “only” sell as editorial. If there are recognizable people or buildings in main focus, and you don’t have a release for them, you may need to add them as editorial only.
Awesome! I bought a gimbal to use with my 6D and it made a huge difference…carried it everywhere all the way through owning the EOS R. However, I eventually invested in the R5 so that I didn’t need the gimbal anymore. They are amazing but also a huge pain to carry everywhere. The R5 has in built stabilization second to none-so good that combined with the 120fps, I can leave the gimbal at home 97% of the time. Batteries-I have one inside my camera and I carry two extras. I have a few more extras, but they live in my drawer. That’s plenty, I’m not sure I’ve ever run through all 3 batteries in a single day, but I carry a small battery pack for emergencies. It can charge my camera directly through USB-C. It also charges my mics and phone.
Good night. How do you ensure that a buyer, after buying a photo of you, doesn't sell it as if it were that buyer's photo? What security does shutterstock give you so that this doesn't happen to you? Thanks
This is a good question that doesn't come up often. Google "legal indemnification Shutterstock" or {insert agency name}. Each agency offers some sort of protection for the unlicensed/illegal use of your images, but truth is, I don't know much about how it works in the real world.
@@carrilhanodias7936 it might not put your mind at ease, but stealing/selling your photos is a crime. Crimes do happen, but that’s true in any business and IMO shouldn’t put you off. It would be like saying, “my dream is to open a bookstore, but I won’t because I’m afraid of shoplifting resellers.” Yeah, it could happen. There are always risks, but there are also ways to deal with that.
@@callmelil Hi. I've already uploaded images taken by me on my travels but most of what I've uploaded are AI images. It's just a matter of investing time in creating a portfolio and someone stealing it. Thank you for answering my question. All the best
Hey! I have a company called Lil Assistance (lilassistance.com). You can also hire people off upwork or similar-just make sure they are native English speakers
How do you deal with. model releases? Seemed like you were getting quite a few shots with people in them... your table of friends, the large group of Jewish folks, etc. I can't imagine you can go around and get signed model releases for every person that appears in those shots. So how do you deal with images like that?
I don't get model releases, they're not worth the time. I have model releases on record for my family and myself, and I do my best to avoid "recognizable" people otherwise. Most of my footage of the Jewish people will probably not make it, but I have one great shot where you just see the back of the guy's head/hat and everything else is very blurry-similar to 3:38, but a bit closer (so bg is blurrier) and he doesn't turn his head. No release required for that shot. Every once in a while, Shutterstock disagrees with me on whether I need a release or not. I just move on when I get that kind of rejection.
Hi, I just got acquainted with Shutterstock and registered. The photos I uploaded are photos of nature that I took with my phone camera, but most of them are rejected because of noise and... I am from Iran and the income from this site will be very good for me, but currently it rejects the photos, what is the solution? Do you think I should continue uploading nature photos or should I start making graphite photos like making avatars and...? Thank you for answering
Unless you have a newer iPhone the camera on most phones won’t be good enough. Also even with some iPhone cameras a photo a night or in the dark will have a lot of noise.
9:51, when you say 'stock video'... What do you actually mean by that!! Can you explain in the next video with some examples shot via phone n dslr, please. And how to shoot, edit n upload to Shutterstock?
I didn’t mention stock video at 9:51, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but the whole video is about stock video-as in video you sell usage license for. Around that time marker, I did give examples of what was taken via phone (the airplane landing for example), and most of the rest was shot with a mirrorless camera (not DSLR, but there’s no meaningful difference). Shoot, edit, and upload: that’s what the whole video is about, so unsure exactly what you want to know that’s not in here
Photography is mutch harder to make then footage when its done right. I spend editing 20min to 1hour only for one photo... Everything else nicely done. Cheers
I don't really put a lot of effort into it doing it for stock. Not because it doesn't "deserve" the time, but because it isn't worth much money. I take photos for fun. Some days I will go out all day just trying to make art....but those photos end up making me peanuts. I will take a few snaps here and there to cash in a little extra on the time I'm taking videos, but it would be a waste to put too much time into it if my end goal was money
@@callmelil Every take is a practice with what you become a better artist. Every single time while i was just dooing it wihout planning and thinking about money, something beautiful was made. Money follows...Lets remmember why we started taking photos in the first place from an artist stand of view. Whish you all the best. Nik
@@NikOla-mt4gj thing is the vast majority (~95%) never earn a true profit, and an even much larger percent will not make a fulltime income, so money doesn’t necessarily follow your art. Second, my path isn’t the same as yours. I got into photography to preserve beautiful moments, not because I saw it as “art”. Tomato-tomato perhaps, but in those early days, I never really cared about composition, framing, and similar. It was a just about capturing that moment and attaching a story to it to look back on. Money followed this as I saw an opportunity to essentially take business from photographers who “saw their business as art” when photography as a business is really a commodity. I used to be a programmer. There is certainly some art to programming, but ultimately the money comes from producing a useful final product. Same as almost all photography that you actually make money from. There are exceptions to this, but not as many as you make it sound. I then made (and continue to make) money from stock video, but only after all of this did I ever see some portion of my photography as art. There is almost nothing better than being completely in myself trying to perfect my craft and as you stated, I almost always come out with something beautiful…but I’d never put the “pressure to make money” on that aspect of my life/business. There is too little freedom there, and it almost never works out
Thank you! I do not personally have an experience with Pic-Time. I have seen them around, but I've always sold prints on my own website, so I have never really felt the need to use Pic-Time. I can certainly see the niche they fill, though
@@callmelil Pic-Time has a huge niche around Wedding Photographers, its also really good for transferring photos to clients quickly. Actually, I'm looking to build my own website, but I don't know where to start. Do you have a video on this by any chance?
I loved your video, it is very inspiring! Quick question, do you shoot lots of your content in slow mo? It seems like when taking a food video, it wont be long enough unless you slowmo it, also, did you use a phone gimble when recording with your phone? thank you!
Yes and yes. I now shoot mostly in Slowmo. It's not just about the length, but also easier to stabilize without a gimbal. I used to carry a gimbal around everywhere, but it is a real pain.
Thanks for this, I have a question: If I record footage and there are people passing by in the background, how does that affect privacy and copyright of inviduals and having my footage rejected? It's different if my partner or family are in the footage, because, if needed I can provide a wriiten consent, but, what about strangers? what's the feedback on this subject please? Thanks very much, Jay
The litmus test is whether or not they would be able to recognize themselves. Generic blurry “people” is usually fine, but if enough individual characteristics are visible that any person “would be able to recognize themselves” then a model release is necessary. Also “written permission” has to take a specific form. Google “adobe stock {or insert agency name} model release” and you will see what I’m talking about. Each individual person needs one and it needs to be attached to each photo/clip they appear in.
Different platforms do it differently. As an example, Pond5 allows you to set your own prices, but Shutterstock does not. I also sell on my own website, where I can set the price.
Thank you! The answer to that question is always "more". Shutterstock is the hardest, though, because they currently cap you at 100 videos/week. I can/sometimes do produce 100 new videos per DAY. Which means a lot of my videos never make it to Shutterstock (they do go to the rest of my network). My total library is about 15,000 assets-roughly 50/50 photos and videos-but only about 5,000 on Shutterstock. I guess you could use that as a goal, but you really need to commit to submitting x/day and stay consistent IMO. When I first started, I set a goal of producing, writing metadata for, and submitting 10 new clips every single day, and that consistency is what carried me through.
@@callmelil thanks for such a quick and honest answer! This helps a lot. I have currently 280 videos and I am now trying to do exactly as you mentioned - upload roughly 10 videos a day. I have learned that it really depends on who is reviewing so I am afraid to upload too much at the same time to make sure that one picky person wont decline too many videos at once 😅 With this system 99% of my videos get accepted :) Thanks again and good luck! (Fun fact, my most sold video is a 4K closeup of a pine cone. I remember doubting if I should even upload this ‘useless’ clip)
hey man, Im with pond 5 already, but this video helped alot. Using your tool, and that app to download, whats the fastest way to get signed up with the other stock platforms? Thats my question and also does your tool cost monthly?
Interesting. What legal complexities do we need to be aware of when starting this business? Are we allowed to upload stock videos with random strangers in it?
I can't give you all the answers to that, but in general: - Do not include logos - Any "recognizable" people need to have model releases - Any "recognizable" buildings need property releases If you have recognizable people or buildings with no releases, you can still sell it as "editorial", which is usually used for informational purposes/news, but can't be used in commercial projects.
How do I get around that issues of always getting "not approved" because my photos are out of focus or has noise. Because 70% of the time they really aren't, and I'm not trying to sugar coat it, I'm extremely particular on what I submit and always have the same results; on shutterstock by the way.
Add the “selective focus” key phrase (mostly in Shutterstock). To avoid noise rejections that are not noise stop uploading photos that include things like sand or any other “grainy” subject that might confuse the AI
Did you find an answer to this? It's my big issue... what sites are you using to sell? I have a problem every time with Shutterstock or the other big ones as they require perfect editing - All my shots are smooth 4k, mostly drone shots of unique places around the world
What I've found with shutterstock is they will often reject an entire upload (or almost all of it) if they find a few clips they don't like. I've partially combatted this by splitting batches and submitting them separately. You get fresh eyes on each of your clips that way
Thanks for very inspiring video. How do you upload your footage with brand logos? For example wife with baby carrier. And how do your editorial footage perform compared to non-editorial? Huge thanks
Thank you! Good question. I start by being aware of where logos are and trying to avoid them. On items I film frequently and I know have logos, I will often tape over the logos. My black Nike shoes, for example, have black duct tape permanently over the logos. Otherwise If it’s small/subtle or otherwise easy to remove, my stock editor will double up the clip and trim the top one to just over the logo, then apply a Gaussian blur and use keyframes to keep the logo blurred. If it’s tricky or he tries that and it looks too obvious, we just toss it. Each individual clip is not generally worth much more than a couple minutes of your time. I liked the clip you mentioned for this video, but my editor might have tossed it. Even though I liked it, the more I do this, the more I realize that what I like doesn’t always sell, and it’s ultimately a numbers game. Finally, not all sites reject trademarks and logos, so sometimes I submit stuff to Pond5 and not Shutterstock, for example.
How to get into these sites? my videos are 4k, are smooth and steady but I always get rejected because they are not perfect quality I guess. Any advice?
Random question. I’m in iStock, Adobe and Shutter which are micro. Can I put the same video in all three agencies like I can with photos? P.S over 4K subs, now you can make passive income from RU-vid.
How to get into these sites? my videos are 4k, are smooth and steady but I always get rejected because they are not perfect quality I guess. Any advice?
Great video, i have try with Black box. I have only timelpase videos uploaded on it and in 7y i have somwhere 700$ sales and i have only 160videos. Thinking to go back since inlive in switzerland i think it will be worth it to come back to stock footage market
I tried black box and it’s great if you’re a meta data writer-not a footage producer. If you produce the footage yourself, you’re financially much better off outsourcing the metadata writing and taking all the sales yourself. Being on black box doesn’t help you sell more in my experience. Also, their terms are extremely restrictive. There’s a clause in there that basically forbids you from doing any sort of “similar work” off their platform. I emailed them about it, and they said something to the effect of, “that’s what it says but we don’t really mean it”. True that it’s probably not legally enforceable, but it makes me really uncomfortable with who they are
Thank you for this video Sir I learn lot of things and I will try to get started to create Stock footage, thank you for sharing this video and for the advice it will be very helpful for me as I started stock footage, I upgrade my device for Now l used iphone 13pro and I will save money to invest DSLR, Can you give me Sir another site to sell video clips and stock footage, Thank you so much Sir I’m a fun here
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! Promismo is another project I was working on and it is no more. I’m embarrassed to say that was the link in the description. It used to house a voucher/coupon code for my main company, which is lilassistance.com. Lots of people have still managed to find the site, so it never occurred to me that the link in the description of this video was broken.
It’s not something you have to be comfortable with if you don’t want to do it yourself, but there are millions of stock clips that include kids. How exactly do you think they get up there?
Thank you! My virtual assistants are remote employees who help me with tasks like writing the metadata for my stock, but also web design, software development, data entry, video editing, etc..I hire them out here: lilassistance.com. The software is picurphoto.com/. There is not public way to get access at the moment. We're have a running shortlist. Email me if interested: christian@ostmo.me
do you get property releases when you do stock video in restaurants or the agencies let that slide if the background is blurred / bokeh'ed out the details in the background?
You would only need that if the place is recognizable and/or the main focus. Generally, when filming in restaurants it doesn't meet this threshold-but my clips do get rejected every once in a while for "needing a property release". I just forget about them and move on
@@callmelil I have just sent an email to sign up to Pic Ur Photo as I would love to share to multiple different stock sites in one click. Hopefully here from you soon
@@ricflomusic Hey Ric! Thank you for commenting here. I'm currently drowning in a flood of emails, so the reminder is helpful. We're currently at full capacity, but I'm adding your email to our waitlist. Hoping to add a few more spots in a couple of weeks! You have a kickass portfolio, btw. You London-based?
@@callmelil thanks bro, will look forward to getting an email from you when a spot opens up. 💯 I'm London-based most the time! Most my vids are from travels but you've inspired me to appreciate what's on my doorstep.
Looking for a side hustle, and a way to start making money off my love for sky, thunder and other landscape stuff to reinvest, and potentially live off.
I've certainly made some money from that type of stock, but I'd encourage you to get diversity. A lot of my best selling clips are food, signs, city buses, and yes, some nature shots
In your experience is it worth uploading in ProRes vs. H264? File size/upload time etc... Was wondering if this would be worth the effort and would it make a difference in possible sales? Tnx!
I don't have a definitive answer, because I almost exclusively upload in ProRes, but I can give you two (anecdotal) pieces of evidence that that's the best way to go: 1) My biggest/best sales are all ProRes. Like I said, _most_ of my footage is ProRes, so it's hard to know for sure if it would have sold at h264. 2) Most "professionals" (ie people with a budget) work with ProRes, and they prefer sticking to ProRes throughout the editing process. That's not to say they will never use h264 if it's the perfect clip, but they may be using filters to only show them ProRes footage. These are the people paying the most for the biggest licenses-where I can make $100+ on a single sale. If you have time to upload it once (but not like 10 times to 10 different sites), I'd say focus on a few of the most profitable agencies, or use a service like mine (picurphoto.com). You can upload once to Pic ur Photo and it will propogate across all agencies you have a login for.
Great video! Some advice please. I need to upgrade to a new camera on a budget. I write articles so need a good camera to sell good accompanying photos, but I am also interested in uploading stock video as I travel. I am thinking the Sony A7 iv, but this camera has a 1.5 crop when you shoot in 4k @ 60 fps. Is that a problem do you think? Thank you!
Hey Steven, a 1.5x crop is "fine". Like if you really love the A7 iv and all it's features, and that was the only drawback, it's probably worth working around it. You can buy a shorter lens-a 16mm with a 1.5x crop will be almost the same as a 24mm without the crop. That said, there are bad things about to doing it this way. For example, a 16mm will have slightly more of a fisheye look, and if you use really fast lenses like I do (f/1.2 or f/1.4), a 16mm will be more expensive and/or harder to come by. So all in all, you can certainly "get by" and produce sellable stock video, but it's not without drawbacks. That said, before you commented, I didn't actually know that the A7 iv has a 1.5x crop at 4k 60fps. I've always thought of it as a similarly specced Sony camera to the EOS R5. I've only used one briefly, so never looked too far into it, but it's definitely a very expensive/top tier camera. Usually when justifying a crop factor, we're talking ASP-C cameras-like the EOS M6 or Sony A6000 or maybe much cheaper full frame cameras-like the EOS R. Personally, I wouldn't be dropping that kind of money on a camera with that limitation. An EOS R5 is only a little bit more money..and forget the crop factor, the 4k 120FPS alone is worth the price difference.
@@callmelil Hmmm! Thank you very much for the advice Christian. I'm not stuck on the Sony A7 iv, but I was trying to find something in that price range. I have an old Canon 7D and love it! But, well overdue to move on. What's the Canon EOS R5 like for taking normal photos? Thanks for such detailed info by the way.
Hey Lil!! Awesome video, very inspiring! I have a question. How did you get the property release for the buildings you filmed?. (For example the one with the pride flag) Thank you!
There are a couple elements here to discuss, but first thing's first: I don't ever bother with property releases. It's too much hassle/not worth the time and effort. Getting away with no property releases: 1) These buildings (like with the pride flag) are not really recognizable and as such, don't need property releases. If Shutterstock disagrees (rare, but it happens), they will let me know and reject my video. I usually don't try again, but if it's particularly good, I might try to submit as editorial. 2) You don't need a release for buildings that are more than 120 years old. I don't know how old this particular building is, but most of the buildings around are from 18th and 19th centuries. If I cared about it, I can simply mention the year it was built in the title. I have a number of 18th centry buildings, particularly in London, that I sell photos/videos of. You might decide differently, but with my system and workflow, it's really never worth getting releases.
@@callmelil About not needing property releases for buildings older than 120 years...where did you get that info? When I looked into Pond5, Shutterstock and AdobeStock I could not find anything about exceptions for older buildings. Very interested to know, because I film really old buildings and if you are right about this it would be a gamechanger to me.
@@tomask.3983 here are the details on the 120 year rule: helpx.adobe.com/in/stock/contributor/help/property-release.html#:~:text=You%20may%20need%20property%20releases,release%20from%20the%20new%20architect. I usually put the name of the building and the year it was built in the title to remove any doubt. I have plenty of stock sold/for sale of British castles and other important buildings. This also goes on to explain why you can sell photos/videos of the Eiffel Tower during the day but not at night. The Eiffel Tower is more than 120 years old. The light show design that’s on it is not
@@callmelil Big thanks for your answer! This was important for me to know in the future. And also thank you for sharing information so generously! PS. Do you have Norwegian or Swedish roots by any chance? Saw the word "kanelbulle" somewhere at the start of the video! 🙂
When you say virtual assistance do you mean like software or you actually outsource to other people to submit your stock? appreciate all the tips you give us!!!! health happiness and prosperity!!
Thank you! I am talking about actual people. I found my first virtual assistants on Upwork, but I now have an outsource agency! lilassistance.com My staff do use some AI tools to speed up their keywording and metadata writing, but ultimately we need people to do it
