Earn passive income by being a Shutterstock Contributor!

One of the goals of my site is to document and ultimately successfully create and sustain multiple streams of (hopefully) passive income, such that they, combined, can totally replace my full time day job, allowing me to semi retire. Of course, some hustles will be less passive than others, and what is more passive than earning money from shutterstock by being a contributor and selling your photos? So today, let’s look into becoming a shutterstock contributor as a side hustle.

Being an Uber driver or a tasker at fiverr, you’re still trading time for money. True passive income allows you to earn money, even in your sleep. So this week, I looked into becoming a shutterstock contributor. This is a long game though, but the process is something I actually am already doing. Taking photos of beautiful things on my trips, or even in my daily life.

So, let’s dig into the weeds of it. How do they pay?

Shutterstock Payouts

Shutterstock contributors get paid out according to the lifetime earning tiers you fall under. In the beginning, you’ll be paid $0.25 each time your image is being downloaded, and it goes up over time.

Customers using the On Demand plan will pay a higher rate, and you consequently get paid more as well. I’ll leave the exact earnings explanation below here.

A long game

Of course, the more quality photos and sought after photos you post, the better your chances of your photos getting downloaded. It’s a long game, but ultimately, could pay off if you build up a great portfolio of photos.

I’ve only just started, and so far only managed to upload 6 photos. I’ve actually submitted more, but the others were rejected due to various reasons, and this has informed me in terms of how and what photos I can and should focus on capturing.

Here are the 6 photos I’ve uploaded and are approved so far. I’ll be adding to this for sure.

How do I become a shutterstock contributor?

So, if you too, are interested in a truly passive income, get started at the shutterstock contributor site, create an account, and start uploading your photos! Follow the button below.

If you’re currently a shutterstock or any other stock photograhy contributor, I’d love to hear your story and your experience with it.