For anyone who has ever dabbled in the world of microstock photography you quickly would discover how imperative it is to be organized. Often times those lacking organizational skills will quickly fall out of the commercial photo field. Along with the stress of coming up with creative ideas that will translate into profit you also are working around the clock to improve the speed at which you produce these high quality images. As the old saying goes, “Time is money.” In the stock photo world this couldn’t be any truer.
So how does one create a workflow? This isn’t a question a single person could answer; we each do things differently and tackle each task from a unique perspective and in a unique way. What I suggest is to simply find out how other photographers do things and try out various methods until you piece together one that suits your personal needs. A lot of what has made me so weary in producing more stock images is the lengthy process of uploading, naming, describing, keywording, and submitting each batch of photos on multiple sites. The more I do this the easier my work flow becomes; most importantly the higher my profit margin.
There are a ton of tools and guides out there that list ways to make your life easier, so I definitely suggest setting some time aside to research and take notes; get a feel for various methods and apply them in your own routine. One important bit of advice I can offer that most overlook is that you must look at selling stock photos as a secondary job. For those of you with self-motivation troubles (We all know that feeling) you really need to organize yourself, put the time aside, and most importantly remain determined. Since you essentially are your own boss it is your responsibility to create a work schedule that you must strictly stick to; imagine if you spent 3-4 hours each day producing images and uploading them by the end of the week. If you work 5 days in a row you are putting in 15 hours worth of productive work that essentially will turn into profits.
Anyways, I hope this post can be found useful to some in a very similar situation as I am. If you have any questions feel free to ask! I love collaborating and sharing ideas; you can always expect a quick response.
Shane Byrd's Photography 