Earnings Keep Rising at Adobe Stock

I just posted my March and April earnings data in a new YouTube post, and it’s a mix of good and bad news. I saw a 10.6% rise in earnings at Adobe Stock in March 2024 ($2,224) vs. March 2023 ($2,010). Things were even better in April, with a 22.5% jump ($2,387) compared to April 2023 ($1,948).

Both monthly increases were higher than the growth in my portfolio size year over year (~2,500 files or about 8%), so I’m encouraged that Adobe Stock continues to post increases for me that are not completely reliant on my continuous uploads — though I intend to keep uploading regularly anyway.

On the opposite end, I’m still seeing steady declines in my Shutterstock earnings, with a 22% drop year-over-year in March, and a 35% decline in April. I’d like to think the recent announcement that Shutterstock has purchased Envato may inject new life into my sales there, but I am doubtful.

Top Earning Topics and Themes - Steal These Ideas!

These are my current top-selling themes, that are not only selling well for me so far in 2024, but many are evergreen performers that have earned me consistent sales for the past 16 years. See if you can create some new photography, video, illustrations or generative AI art on these topics:

1. Hiring (applying for job, interviewing)

2. Diversity, equity and inclusion (people of different genders, identities, races and cultures)

3. Managing Risk (avoid danger, staying safe)

4. Investments (stock market, saving for future, retirement)

5. Real Estate (home listing, buying or selling home)

6. Health Care (doctor check-up, hospital)

7. New (just released, improved, better)

8. Winning (lottery, game or competition)

9. Technology and Innovation (inventing new product, robotics, computer tech)

10. Time (Clocks, Act now/limited time)

11. Sale / Save Money (Cash, wallets, cash registers)

12. New Business / Startup (ribbon cutting, grand opening)

13. Taxes (filling out forms, frustrated, getting refund check)

14. Culture (traditions, ancestry, holidays, clothing)

15. Aging / Staying Active (exercising, living good life)

16. Healthy Lifestyle (eating right, physical fitness)

17. Debt (money problems, bankruptcy, credit cards)

18. Cooperation / Teamwork (people working together, cheering)

19. Completing the Deal (handshakes, signing contracts)

20. Computing (cloud computing, AI, networking)

FREE: New Course on How to Sell More at Adobe and Other Agencies - Limited to First 50 Who Enroll

Here’s a code to sign up FREE to my new course that’s a deep dive on how to find high commercial value niches (many of which are mysteriously underserved right now!), how to title and keyword to grab customer attention, and more. Limited to first 50 students who enroll.
Check it out here and use code MICRO-FREE

New Generative AI Poll Results

I’ll cover my latest Generative AI poll in a video to be posted soon on the Microstock Life YouTube channel, but for now, here’s a sneak peak at the results…

No surprise here: Midjourney continues to be the platform of choice. 
DALL-E is the only other AI platform that threatens to give Midjourney a run for its money, but it’s also encouraging to see so many players in this space, which will no doubt keep pressuring each company to keep innovating.

Newbies continue to make up the vast majority of contributors uploading generative AI content at the agencies, but the number of people amassing large portfolios is growing. My prior survey showed that most people have not seen a great deal of sales as they started out, so it remains to be seen how many people will get discouraged and drop off. I’m interested to learn about those who stick with it — my next survey will ask those who have been successful what themes they focus on and other factors that are helping drive their sales. Stay tuned!

Adobe Stock continues to be the dominant agency of choice for those uploading generative AI work, and it makes sense. In my experience, Dreamstime is the only other agency accepting AI to be worth the trouble of uploading. The other agencies appearing in the data are traditionally low-performing agencies that, to me anyway, don’t warrant the time and effort.

In Case You Missed Them…

My latest videos:

Earnings Report and My Top Sellers

How to Write Titles That Sell

My latest course: (free to first 50 students using code MICRO-FREE)

Stock Photos, Generative AI, Video; Deep Dive on How to Sell Online