30 Apr 2007 Rejected by StockXpert

We received notification today that our application at StockXpert had been rejected. “We are very sorry but at the moment we are not looking for pictures like the ones you uploaded.” As an amateur photographer I’m not taking the rejection personally. However, I am surprised given the images I uploaded had each sold over 100 times on both iStockphoto and Shutterstock. I’m almost more disappointed I can’t start comparing my photo sale statistics from their website than I am about not earning extra income.

This got me thinking. On a quality and quantity chart my portfolio is wide and short, unlike a small portfolio of great images which is narrow and tall. Either way you’ll make money, but with a small portfolio of great images you’ll spend a lot less time preparing, uploading and keywording. Additionally, you’ll likely be adding more value into the market contributing a few great shots than if you’re bombarding the market with cheap fodder.

So I’m taking on the job of raising the quality of my images. But first, I need to be able to measure my quality. So it’s back to the spreadsheets to see if I can squeeze some more insightful information out of my data.

As for StockXpert, they’ve allowed me to re-apply after a month, which I will. I’ll also take their advice and check their best selling photos before choosing which of my photos I’ll upload for the application. I haven’t had an application rejected since applying at my first site, iStockphoto. It’s given me a bit of a wake-up call, which is great. Failures are a much better opportunity for improvement than successes, so I’ll take everything I can from StockXpert’s rejection.