Why Start a Stock Photo Website Business
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.
According to the latest statistical data, stock photo resources make pretty good money. For
instance, the revenue of Shutterstock is over $600 million, and GettyImages makes around
$900 million. Now no one will dare to doubt the profitability of the e-stock image market.
Benefits of entering the stock photo segment
Typically, the industry of stock images puts together the below groups of people:
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individuals who’re looking for top-level pictures;
cameramen who’d like to earn from selling their photos;
entrepreneurs who manage to create a successful website allowing the abovementioned people to meet.
Benefits for photographers:
➢ 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;
➢ modest entry threshold, meaning, every person who has at least a good smartphone
camera can swell the ranks of photo contributors;
➢ easy search for potential clients since the site will take care of that process;
➢ 24/7 platform access, so it’s possible to work whenever it’s convenient;
➢ little investing, cos contributors only need image-editing software, a camera, and the
Internet. The registration itself is totally free.
Benefits for clients
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:
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a wide range of pictures;
content of great quality;
flexible prices;
simplicity in the work with the service.
Benefits for site owners:
➢ regular profit;
➢ small expenses to arrange the business;
➢ fiscal stability (as practice shows, the COVID pandemic hasn’t actually impacted the
stock revenue).
The business model of Shutterstock
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.
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On-request pictures. 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.
Subscription. 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.
Corporate offers. Under certain circumstances, big corporations decide to conclude
exclusive deals Shutterstock offers;
Advertising. Such as approach helps to make the site even more lucrative.
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.
A few more monetizing hints
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:
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the website offers one-of-a-kind features;
the resource cooperates with the well-known professionals (photographers);
service owners have come up with an exclusive and cohesive marketing campaign.
Otherwise, it’s safer to steer a middle course regarding pricing.
Key features of stock picture resources:
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check-in (for contributors, as well as for image seekers);
personal profiles (to keep some users’ info, say, portfolio, etc.);
multi-leveled catalog (it has to be divided in accordance with varied criteria);
search engine (sorting and filtering tools shall allow users easily find the required
content);
highly-protected payment solutions (clients are supposed to safely purchase pictures,
and contributors shall get paid);
shopping cart to keep all selected photos in one place (not to manage each image
separately);
calculators (for contributors to be able to figure out their income);
administrative tools (for admins to manage all the users and the content).
Secrets of stock image platform development
The below you can find the most essential points to bear in mind while designing a site like
Shutterstock.
# Nich choice
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.
# Content diversification
Your users will be satisfied with a wide selection of top-level content. This will help you
increase their loyalty.
# Mobile application
To become one of the market leaders you’re to build a mobile app as well. You could learn
the experience of the Shutterstock Contributor mobile service to figure out how it allows the
audience to do on the go everything people need (purchasing, uploading, downloading, and
more).
# Aggregated content
In case you offer both video and image content, you’ll manage to maximize the chances to
interest wider audiences.
# AI technologies
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.
# Multilanguage UI
You’re free to ignore this aspect if you plan to target only one country or region.
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?