This page lists contributor tools for microstockers, covering everything from how to find out what to shoot, through distribution, to analytics that help you sell more photos.
Also see my list of microstock books which can quickly increase your education of different parts of the microstock business.
Research
The picNiche website measures the quantity of images with a particular keyword combination (the supply) and their combined sales (the demand) to create a rating of opportunity.
Keywording
FindPhotoKeywords.com helps you get the most lucrative and relevant list of keywords for your image. Simply enter a few of the most relevant keywords for your image and then select the images that are similar to yours from the results. The tool will then generate a prioritized list of keywords for you to paste into your image.
Yuri Arcurs has a similar tool at his website, or if you speak Russian you can use the one at microstock.ru .
Distribution & Uploading
ProStockMaster is an uploading tool that automates a large portion of the labor involved in uploading content to multiple microstock agencies. The software is a free download and works on both Windows and Mac computers.
The picNiche contributor toolbar monitors your microstock earnings and provides a browser-integrated FTP upload tool and some submission process automation tools to save time submitting lots of images.
From the makers of picNiche comes picWorkflow, an uploading tool which distributes your files so you only need to upload them once. There’s a free service level, or upgrade for more functionality and permanent storage of your media.
LightBurner provides a similar uploading distribution with a range of services. It also works with ProStockMaster, mentioned above, as it’s developed by the same team.
Tracking & Analytics
Microstock Charts provides an easy and free way to track your earnings at all popular microstock agencies. Simply enter your earnings totals, sales totals and portfolio sizes. Microstock Charts will show you charts of all those metrics plus your return per image, sell-through rate and total earnings charts.