Stockimo app - how to make money with your mobile photos?

What is Stockimo?

Stockimo is a division of the Alamy stock photo agency that specializes specifically in mobile phone photography. It only works on iPhones, and no Android version is expected, given that there has been no improvement on this for years. Below, I will explain in detail what it is good for and how to use this great app.

Why does Stockimo only work on iPhone?

Alamy recognized the potential of mobile photography, so it developed its own app to upload photos easily and quickly. They say it’s much easier and more cost-effective to develop for iPhone, which is why they chose iOS. They try to keep their costs low, thus e.g. they can give more share (from the already higher prices) to photographers than e.g. the most common microstock agencies.

Sell ​​your creative mobile photos on the Alamy stock photography site

Your mobile images uploaded to Stockimo will appear for sale on the Alamy interface, like your portfolio on Alamy (if you have any). The difference appears in the image ID: it starts with the letter "S". When a buyer searches for a keyword, relevant photos of both Alamy and Stockimo's portfolio will appear in the results list. Stockimo does not have a separate customer interface.

What kind of images should you upload to the Stockimo application?

Virtually anything. You may want to look at the list of Customer Likes available within the app because it displays mobile photos that customers have purchased, clicked on, or otherwise interacted with. So they didn't necessarily buy it! Regardless, you get a realistic picture of what topics are in demand.

The 4/4 Stockimo Club (photos with the highest score) shows exactly what and how Stockimo expects to shoot.

It is basically true that the makers of Stockimo want to see our real world in your photos. Take photos of everything you like, what you notice, what belongs in your daily life. You don't have to be an artist, customers are curious about the moments and impressions of our (their) real lives.

You can also sign up for the StockimoNews option, which you can activate at the bottom of the Account page of the application. As the name suggests, fresh, newsworthy photos are welcome here (from the last 24 hours).

Using effects on Stockimo

While your images uploaded to the Alamy interface are expected to be as lifelike as possible with as little post-production as possible, for Stockimo the exact opposite is true. Feel free to use effects, pull up the saturation, the composition may be skewed, the perfect setting does not really matter here. The point is that your image evokes emotions and moods in the viewer.

How much money can you make by selling your mobile photos?

Stockimo pays a 20% share of the purchase price of each image. This is not (much) more than the percentage allocated by microstock agencies, however, average prices here are much higher. The range is wide, from $ 5 to $ 500, depending on the usage rights of the photo you sold. They typically pay more for a TV use, and you can sometimes expect up to hundreds of dollars for a photo on a book cover.

If you get a feel for the topics customers are looking for, the way you process images, you can make a lot of money from relatively few photos. Of course, as your portfolio grows, so do your chances.

How does Stockimo work?

The application is easy to use; after entering some data you can send the photos.

The structure of the application

You can choose from three basic pages: Home, Upload, Activity.

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On the Home page you will find your uploaded pictures and the constantly updated gallery of Customer Likes. The latter includes photos that were either purchased or clicked. So it’s a kind of indicator of customer needs.

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Uploading your photos

Click the Upload icon to select the image you want to upload (only one at a time) from the photo app on your phone. The photo must be edited, cropped, have effects applied in advance, because the application does not have the capability to do this. You can also use your phone’s camera directly, but I don’t recommend it for the reason just mentioned.

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If the image is not allowed to be uploaded by the app saying it is too small (less than 640px), open the Photos app, find the photo, and zoom in on your phone. This way, the image is loaded in full resolution. By returning to Stockimo, you can upload the image without any obstacles.

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Providing caption (title) and tags (keywords)

The next step is to enter the Caption (or title). It is advisable to provide the title taking Alamy's general guidelines into account. Include all important words that are specific to the content of the image, as well as the English and Latin names of the animals, plants. Also provide the exact name of the location - city, county, country (if relevant). This is important because Alamy’s search engine weighs the title the most.

Then you need to enter the keywords. Here it is advisable to reuse the important words from the title, compound keywords are welcome (e.g. roe deer, Eiffel tower, etc.). In addition, it is worth including the moods and feelings evoked by the image. Singular and plural nouns can be used as a single keyword (e.g. tree trees), regardless of whether your image contains one or more of the subject / animal / person. Avoid keyword spamming, that is, just type the most important ones. It helps, if you try to search for your own pictures afterwards. If you find it, it’s good! If your image doesn’t come up to the keyword you have entered, then add it as well. Although you have to use mainly English words, in my experience it is good to use the typical national names / proper names (e.g. Canal du Midi, La Concha etc.).

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Usage of your photo: commercial or editorial

You will then need to declare the properties / persons shown in the photo "Can this photo be sold for commercial use?" (i.e. can your photo be sold for business or advertising purposes?). Is there a logo, emblem, private building, car license plate, person in the picture? If there is and you do not have written permission, select the "No" option here. If there is no such things in your image (e.g. a snail on the side of the road), then "Yes" is the right choice.

If you only have permission from four of the 5 people in your photo, you must click “No”. (so it counts as if you didn’t have permission from anyone of them).

If you answered "No" in the previous step, you will need to specify how many people are visible in your image.

You have now successfully uploaded the image!

Sales / Payments in the Stockimo application

Stockimo is a completely separate platform. Although closely related to Alamy, it can be used independently in all respects, regardless of whether we have a portfolio with Alamy or not.

If a picture (more precisely the licence to use it) is sold, it will be announced on the Activity page. If you reach $ 10, you will be paid through your PayPal account the next month.

RF or RM? That is: royalty free or rights managed?

According to Stockimo, photos with model and / or property releases or depicting a general subject are sold with RF (royalty free) licence, while photos without releases but containing property and / or persons are sold with RM (rights managed) licence. The former are categorized as "commercial", while the latter are called "editorial”. Editorial images are bought mainly for news value, but a street photo (with people) or a photograph of a special building also falls into this category.