As I recently mentioned in the morgueFile.com forums, I set a goal for myself to build my tiny portfolio of images on Shutterstock up to the not-quite-as-tiny size of 250 images before the end of 2010. In January, I only added one (and it was a fractal, not a photo), so I'm not exactly making good strides toward that goal, yet. I've been very busy so far this year with things unrelated to photography, but once the last of the tax forms is done and some other projects are completed, hopefully I'll have more time for new image creation -- which will presumably include a mix of photography, fractal creation, and rendering 3-D objects and scenes.

However, despite setting a goal for adding new images (some of which will also presumably end up on Dreamstime and/or BigStockPhoto, since I upload all new images to all three), this does not mean that my "strategy shift" is toward creating new images. It's more "just for fun" because, at this point, I don't see any reasonable chance that I'm going to establish a steady, significant income from my own images in microstock.

I've settled on my new strategy regarding microstock, and that is to work on expanding the market of buyers, using the referral programs of the microstock agencies (mostly Shutterstock). This will help all contributing photographers, and the referral revenue should be higher (if more sporadic) than the steady, but tiny, trickle of referral revenue from bringing in more photographers. Right now, I think the microstock marketplace has all the photographers it needs, but there is a lot of opportunity to introduce microstock to new buyers.

So, this blog post is really about two goals: A for-fun photo goal of expanding my Shutterstock portfolio, and a for-profit goal of finding new image buyers. Speaking of which, if you're looking for just the right image for your creative project(s), take a look through the millions of photos and other images that Shutterstock has ready for you to use!', 'As I recently mentioned in the morgueFile.com forums, I set a goal for myself to build my tiny portfolio of images on Shutterstock up to the not-quite-as-tiny size of 250 images before the end of 2010. In January, I only added one (and it was a fractal, not a photo), so I'm not exactly making good strides toward that goal, yet.