Study collection by Arooj Seo
<p>Nowadays we can observe a robust growth of the need for high-quality and exclusive photo content, thus, the market comprises over 30 stock photography platforms at the moment. Does it make any sense to create another similar service? Our task today is to figure it out.</p> <p>According to the latest statistical data, stock photo resources make pretty good money. For instance, the revenue of <em>Shutterstock</em> is over $600 million, and <em>GettyImages</em> makes around $900 million. Now no one will dare to doubt the profitability of the e-stock image market.</p> <p>Benefits of entering the stock photo segment</p> <p>Typically, the industry of stock images puts together the below groups of people:</p> <ul> <li> <p>individuals who’re looking for top-level pictures;</p> </li> <li> <p>cameramen who’d like to earn from selling their photos;</p> </li> <li> <p>entrepreneurs who manage to <a href="https://agilie.com/en/web-development-services"><strong>create a successful website</strong></a> allowing the above-mentioned people to meet.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Benefits for photographers:</p> <ul> <li> <p>the opportunity to get additional profit due to their talents. The thing is that stock photography services could be seen as a major source of revenue, as well as an extra one;</p> </li> <li> <p>modest entry threshold, meaning, every person who has at least a good smartphone camera can swell the ranks of photo contributors;</p> </li> <li> <p>easy search for potential clients since the site will take care of that process;</p> </li> <li> <p>24/7 platform access, so it’s possible to work whenever it’s convenient;</p> </li> <li> <p>little investing, cos contributors only need image-editing software, a camera, and the Internet. The registration itself is totally free.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Benefits for clients</p> <p>You can hardly find a company that never needs any great-quality pictures. These days with mandatory online representation stock image industry engages all businesses. Not each firm will require to have their own designers on staff, thus, Shutterstock-like platforms will come to the rescue, whenever needed. What those solutions provide:</p> <ul> <li> <p>a wide range of pictures;</p> </li> <li> <p>content of great quality;</p> </li> <li> <p>flexible prices;</p> </li> <li> <p>simplicity in the work with the service.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Benefits for site owners:</p> <ul> <li> <p>regular profit;</p> </li> <li> <p>small expenses to arrange the business;</p> </li> <li> <p>fiscal stability (as practice shows, the COVID pandemic hasn’t actually impacted the stock revenue).</p> </li> </ul> <p>The business model of Shutterstock</p> <p>Let’s review the monetization strategy of such a well-known stock image resource to figure out how its owners manage to generate great income.</p> <ul> <li> <p><strong>On-request pictures</strong>. Not every company needs to apply for stock image sites on a regular basis. In some cases, there’s a need for a few photos only. Shutterstock offers a set of 5 pictures for $45, or a package of 25 images for up to $180.</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Subscription</strong>. That would be the best choice for organizations which consistently require top-level images. The solution in question provides a few price options with certain limits of monthly downloads. The highest price is up to $200, and the lowest one is $30/month.</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Corporate offers</strong>. Under certain circumstances, big corporations decide to conclude exclusive deals Shutterstock offers;</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Advertising</strong>. Such as approach helps to make the site even more lucrative.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Obviously, a share of the profit goes to picture contributors since they obtain a specific amount of money for every image that was downloaded. Still, as we’ve witnessed at the very beginning, the mentioned platform can’t complain about low income.</p> <p>A few more monetizing hints</p> <p>It wouldn’t be the best idea for a stock photography website to raise the prices for its picture content. Such a strategy might be truly tempting, but definitely, not farseeing. This approach will most likely minimize the chances to attract more users. The price increase shall only be reasonable in the below cases:</p> <ul> <li> <p>the website offers one-of-a-kind features;</p> </li> <li> <p>the resource cooperates with the well-known professionals (photographers);</p> </li> <li> <p>service owners have come up with an exclusive and cohesive marketing campaign.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Otherwise, it’s safer to steer a middle course regarding pricing.</p> <p>Key features of stock picture resources:</p> <ul> <li> <p>check-in (for contributors, as well as for image seekers);</p> </li> <li> <p>personal profiles (to keep some users’ info, say, portfolio, etc.);</p> </li> <li> <p>multi-leveled catalog (it has to be divided in accordance with varied criteria);</p> </li> <li> <p>search engine (sorting and filtering tools shall allow users easily find the required content);</p> </li> <li> <p>highly-protected payment solutions (clients are supposed to safely purchase pictures, and contributors shall get paid);</p> </li> <li> <p>shopping cart to keep all selected photos in one place (not to manage each image separately);</p> </li> <li> <p>calculators (for contributors to be able to figure out their income);</p> </li> <li> <p>administrative tools (for admins to manage all the users and the content).</p> </li> </ul> <p>Secrets of stock image platform development</p> <p>The below you can find the most essential points to bear in mind while designing a site like Shutterstock.</p> <p># Nich choice</p> <p>To start with, it makes more sense to determine a particular market niche to aim at since selling “all kinds of photos” might be pretty challenging for beginners. By choosing a specific niche, you do narrow your audience, however, the mission to reach those people will turn out to be simpler and more effective.</p> <p># Content diversification</p> <p>Your users will be satisfied with a wide selection of top-level content. This will help you increase their loyalty.</p> <p># Mobile application</p> <p>To become one of the market leaders you’re to build a mobile app as well. You could learn the experience of the <em>Shutterstock Contributor</em> mobile service to figure out how it allows the audience to do on the go everything people need (purchasing, uploading, downloading, and more).</p> <p># Aggregated content</p> <p>In case you offer both video and image content, you’ll manage to maximize the chances to interest wider audiences.</p> <p># AI technologies</p> <p>Artificial intelligence together with machine learning shall be applied to ensure a more effective operation of the search feature. AI and ML will ensure that users will obtain the most accurate and relevant search results. That would be one more tool to make people happy.</p> <p># Multilanguage UI</p> <p>You’re free to ignore this aspect if you plan to target only one country or region.</p> <p>There are rumors, Shutterstock’s contributors are getting unhappy since their earnings are being cut by the site owners. Maybe you’ll manage to steal some of the professional freelancers by having developed a great stock picture solution of your own?</p>
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