My Online Marketplace Journey
Sometimes we simply leave things because we are satisfied with their immediate output and fail to consider their potential in the longer run. It goes the same in my case as well. When I first started researching ways to make money from marketplaces, I found a platform named Shutterstock. When I looked at how it operated and its rates (only $0.10 per download) it wasn’t really exciting at first glance but as your level rises, you will receive a higher rate, which is still quite low.
But when I tried to view it on a larger canvas, Shutterstock (one of the most well-known stock platforms) is what drives me on. If you search for any image on Google, most of the images that you will come across will be having Shutterstock watermark which means that Shutterstock accounts for a significant portion of online stock images. Its significant reach is inspiring for me. The second is that I believe designers have a lot of design libraries that need to be tapped as well.
I went through my portfolio and discovered that I had a lot of designs that I was not using, so I prepared files for Shutterstock and uploaded them. I discovered that the Shutterstock file uploading structure is quite simple; you can upload files within a minute and easily configure the title and keywords. So I uploaded hundreds of files over the course of a few months. One more thing that really strikes me is that if you upload files and specify appropriate keywords and titles, downloads will start to happen on their own.
I would want to emphasize that your design should be strong and distinctive. However, I believe that each designer may create a wide range of things, including logos, backdrops, illustrations, greeting cards, brochures, flyers, and much more. On Shutterstock, even videos are quite famous as well.
What I’ve learned from my experience with Shutterstock is that we should always consider pricing in addition to actual potential before making a choice. My 3000+ files have been downloaded globally in a few months, which is a really amazing motivator for me. I sincerely hope it inspires you as well.
See my Shutterstock portfolio https://www.shutterstock.com/g/iamashfaqalikasuri
