The article contains a certain characteristic portrait of a stoker, and those difficulties (or for someone’s convenience!), On which the success or failure of the author will depend. All figures are rather arbitrary, but this is enough to understand the general picture.

In the article, stocks are considered as the main or one of the main earnings. It is clear that there are no restrictions for the hobby format.

1. Your level of drawing / design / photography is above average

The days when it was possible to draw 10 lessons on illustrator and, having sent them to the exam, become the author of Shutterstock, are long gone. It is very easy to get to shutterstock now. But this still does not give any guarantees of earnings. If you want microstock income to match or exceed decent wages, then you need to be above most competitors. Otherwise, your work will simply drown in the mountains of similar quality content. This can generate some sales if you ship regularly, but if your income is practically not growing with regular loading, it means that you need to raise the quality.

By the way, this is the most common problem point for beginners. It is much easier for experienced tent craftsmen to get started, especially for those who have worked in the advertising business and understand what the buyer needs.

2. Are you ready for a deferral of earnings

The income from the stock does not come immediately. For at least a few months, you will only have to invest, getting almost nothing in return. It will take about 6-12 months to reach a decent (in this case, we will mean the income that you would have had in another job) earnings. If you do not have a “safety cushion” for this period, then it will be difficult to develop a stock business.

3. You are willing to work without external motivators.

At work and freelancing, there are managers, deadlines, or at least external tasks. On the sinks, you are your own commander. But keep in mind that you still need to set tasks and deadlines for yourself. And do it all the time. With that, we move on to the fourth point:

4. You are ready to work regularly

On drains, stability is very important. Especially for the period of portfolio development, when income is still insufficient. Constantly getting into the new gives the only opportunity for newbies to advance in the search results. Therefore, you need to motivate yourself every day.

5. You are ready to paint a lot

To develop enough new content, you need to love what you do. Otherwise, you will quickly be horrified by dozens of floral ornaments, icons or isometrics. A portfolio with fewer than a few hundred works will not even be an indicator of your stock opportunities. Better to draw 500 works. To get to this figure, you must be sufficiently passionate about the topic.

6. You like to draw a lot of fairly simple work, rather than a few very complex ones.

Of course, quality is appreciated on stocks and the exactingness to the level is constantly growing, but still stocks are cliparts that you have to do quickly enough, and not works of art. If you cannot finish one job for several days, then it will be very difficult to get out on the drains.

7. Do you like to draw “blanks”

The stocks do not sell works of art, but universal templates for later use. This leaves on all successful stock things a kind of imprint characteristic of cliparts: simplicity and clarity of the message, neutrality and, at the same time, expressiveness, versatility, adaptability. Most of these tasks are the opposite of what an illustrator or designer faces when working on a commissioned basis. Without delving into this difference, you can draw high-quality things, but they will be very poorly bought, because they simply will not suit anyone.

8. Fame is not very important for you.

Of course, top works are found all over the world, and there is just something to brag about, but this happens only with the most popular works, and even then, only you can know that this is your work. Unlike working in an agency or with customers, where you can be personally thanked (or scolded;)) for the work done, the stoker remains on the sidelines, even if his work decorates a billboard or advertising poster. True, sometimes conscientious buyers write themselves, but this is rather an exception. Most of the stock works are used for small-scale projects or their purchase is not advertised.

In conclusion, I will say that stocks are not a magical place where you can just get a lot of money. But this is an interesting and real opportunity for professional creative people to get a job that is not tied to orders, terms and place of residence.

Source: Olga Silmen illustration