Adobe Stock Earnings Report & Top Selling Topics - Aug 2023

How I did last month, and what you can learn from my top sellers

Author

Microstock Life
September 06, 2023

Here’s a look at how my portfolio performed at Adobe Stock in August. While the summer slump continued, I was pleased to see growth compared to 2022, both for the month and year to date. (I wish I could say that for every agency!)

While I grew my portfolio about 5% from 2022 to 2023, my Adobe Stock earnings of $1,896 in August was 15% higher than August 2022 ($1,649).

Also, August was my first full month with AI-generated images in my portfolio. I’ve just been testing with AI so far, but my early results are encouraging, with 10 images accepted, and just over $10 in earnings for the month. I think I’ll stick with it!

Whenever I analyze my earnings, I’m looking for insights that can help me earn more. I like to see what topics were my hottest sellers, to help me decide where to direct future efforts. I’m sharing them with you here, in case you can work these topics into your image and video workflows.

My hottest-selling topics on Adobe Stock - August 2023:

  1. Raffle/contest/winner

  2. Diversity/equity/inclusion

  3. Preparation/drill

  4. Crumpled paper background

  5. New/improved

  6. Perfect candidate

  7. Integrity/reputation

  8. Automation

  9. New hire

  10. Belonging

  11. Emergency management

  12. Apprenticeship/training

  13. Check (blank)

  14. LLC/501c3/business types

  15. Storytelling

  16. Introductions

  17. Engagement

  18. Event

  19. Time running out

  20. Culture

  21. Playbook

  22. Wealth

  23. Home for sale

  24. Continuous improvement

  25. Mental health

  26. Risk reduction

  27. High taxes

  28. Steps/processes

  29. Recognition/appreciation

  30. Customer needs

  31. Expertise

  32. Success

  33. Keeping promises

  34. Exam/test/evaluation

  35. Sales techniques

Adobe Stock clarifies its policy on having multiple accounts

Many new contributors are setting up Adobe Stock accounts to upload AI-generated images, with some choosing to create multiple accounts to keep various topics separate. This led to speculation in forums on whether a contributor is permitted to hold multiple accounts.

Mat Hayward of Adobe Stock posted in the Microstock Group forum that multiple accounts are indeed allowed under certain conditions:

“You may create more than one contributor account if you wish to track different asset types in separate accounts, e.g., video submissions versus image submissions, or generative AI submissions versus traditional photos or illustrations. Also, if your account gets close to an online portfolio of 1 million assets, we recommend to open a new account. We don’t permit multiple account creations to submit similar or identical content to inflate sales, or to bypass upload limits for generative AI content.”

In my opinion, it makes little sense to have multiple accounts, unless you’re a traditional photographer or illustrator and you want to try generating AI images, but you’re worried that you’ll make a mistake and get your account banned. Having a separate account portfolio just for AI images would apparently shield your primary portfolio from such a ban. Indeed, there have been many horror stories of contributors accidentally running afoul of Adobe’s AI submission rules and finding their accounts locked. Tread carefully out there, fellow microstockers!

CanStock Photo ceases operations

It was disappointing to see the announcement that CanStock Photo will cease operations as of October 1. The company said, “Decreased business and increasing costs has made it no longer possible to keep operating, to our great disappointment.”

I’ve contributed there since 2008, and while it was never one of my highest-earning agencies, I was still able to earn $55,466 since joining. It’s been in decline the last several years, but I kept on uploading since it had the easiest upload system around.

This removes one more agency from the list of places I currently recommend uploading your images and/or videos. You can check out my agency report card here.

The Daily Microsoft Life Quiz

I’ve been posting new questions about new developments in microstock, history of the agencies, and more. Test your knowledge here.

Caught up on my latest videos?

Here’s the links to the last several video updates, in case you missed them: