Not a single post to this blog all year! That's not just a commentary on this blog, it also leads into the topic of this post. My time has been stretched thin, and things have not been working out as well as I'd hoped. Therefore, I've decided it's time for a change in my "strategy" (if you can call it that) when it comes to photography. This is true across the board, but especially so regarding microstock. As my loyal readers (do I have any?) will know, I sell some of my photos through microstock sites such as Shutterstock and Dreamstime. However, I've made no secret of the fact that I haven't put much effort into those sites and have actually earned substantially more money from their referral programs (by referring photographers and videographers as well as image/video buyers) than from my own original creations.

Things change over time, of course, and now it appears I need to significantly change my strategy regarding microstock sites. This might take the form of putting vastly more effort into creating new images of my own, or greatly ramping up my referral activity, or it might take the form of dropping out of microstock sites entirely. The fairly "relaxed" approach I've taken to gaining referrals in the past, however, is no longer working. I still earn money almost every day without effort, but the level is too low and there's no growth.

I'm still thinking this over, so I don't have a decision yet, but a change is overdue.