How to Effectively Shoot & Sell Stock Footage
Like most videographers, you’ve probably taken tens of thousands of video shots throughout your career. Or perhaps you are just getting started. And if you are just getting started, then this article will be perfect for you. Because its what I wish someone would have told me a long time ago! Start putting your stock footage online today! This process is gradual, and for me, it has become the slow winter months kind of extra work to do when I’m in the office or when I have an extra hour in the evenings.
Stock Footage, also referred to as library footage, archive footage, or file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other projects. Its highly sought after because as videographers and film makers we cannot all be everywhere all the time to get the shot that we want at just the right time. For convivence sake and practicality, stock footage just makes sense! Use a shot that someone else has already got and put it into your project.
If you have footage or are getting into the industry you should be posting your footage up for sale. Its a nice way to get a little passive income each month. I use the money to pay for all my subscriptions and bits of gear I want to buy. But to get there you need to sort through that old footage, or edit and prep your new footage and post it online. Like anything else, it takes time. But try and view stock footage in the long run. Once its out there, its out there, and it can sell as many times as you like!
How do you shoot stock footage though, how to do you sell it, where do you sell it, how do you get your name out there so people look to purchase your footage? Here are a few tips I’ve picked up from doing this over the years.
How do you Shoot Stock Footage:
This could be a whole article just in and of itself. What are the trends, what are people looking for? This is your key to creating valued stock footage.
For use of an illustration, during the pandemic, medical footage was the craved pieces of footage. People wearing masks, getting vaccines, ambulances driving by or shots of hospitals. Often times, the demands of stock footage follows the trends of the world. For instance, I have some footage of Volcano’s National Park where lava is pouring out of a fisher. At the time this article was written Volcano’s National Park is experiencing a big eruptions on the island, and suddenly that footage is what people want to buy!
People want things that are relevant to the stream of time or specific to a type of project. Some stock footage videographers make a living just following those trends and shooting relevant and current events. For myself, I shoot a lot of everything, no matter where I go and just post it all online. Its probably true, I could be more effective if I spent time following the trends, but for me, posting what I’ve got from other projects, trips, or drone shots works well and gives me all I am looking for as some additional passive income.
How and Where do you Sell Stock Footage?
The most profitable way to sell stock footage is to sell directly to interested parties yourself. Cut out the middle man and you become the direct source. Getting here can be hard, and it means you must spend some time marketing yourself and your footage. I have utilized this method, but what I find helpful is to couple it with using a stock footage selling platform. And there are tons of these platforms out there. From Storyblocks to Pond5, Envato, Motion Array, Shutterstock, Dareful, Artgrid, and more. Once you decide on one, or several platforms you want to sell from, upload and tag your footage. The key is to spend time properly tagging, titling, and adding descriptions that are going to get your footage found! If you don’t spend the time tagging your footage appropriately then there is no point in doing it, make your footage findable!
Once you’ve got a library going, the footage cleaned up, produced in little stabilized and color corrected clips, then make a video! Make one on a specific area where you have lots of footage. I’ve done ones of drone footage of local towns, timelapses of Colroado, favorite spots in Utah, or ones that encompass your key type of footage. Post it on YouTube and add tons of information in the description area about what shots are included in the video on YouTube. Make sure to include the phrase: ‘for inqurieis please contact xxx email address. This way when people are searching for footage they will find you and have a direct way to contact you!
From there I like to direct people to my library on a sellers website, just for ease of viewing, and once they look through it and know what they want, I work up a limited non-exclusive contract with them to use the footage.
And just like that you are selling stock footage!
Getting your Name Out there!
Building up an effective stock footage library takes time. In my experience shooting locally can be very rewarding and much more practical than selling to the masses. Some people like to utilize multiple platforms to sell, and that probably gets them a wider audience. For myself, I only have time to sell from one stock footage agency and directly. If I had more time perhaps I would add one additional platform, but for now this has worked well for me. As you make direct sales too, your network will continue to grow and you will become a source that people go to, especially if you can do so in your local area.
Another way to build your brand is to reach out to marketing firms near you. When you do though, be sure not to ask for them to use you and your footage or promote you, but rather TALK with them, form a friendship, and most importantly, offer them something for free!! Do you have a free video that is popular where you live, could you give it away for free to them and build some repour and good will? Be creative in how you do this. Try it with Real Estate Markets if thats your fancy, or others in the local area who may benefit from what you shoot. Doing this will drastically grow your platform. Just be sure that you have some footage ready to go before doing this!
Selling stock footage can be rewarding if you do it right. Are you going to get rich from stock footage? Probably not… but it just might be that extra cash that you need to get the new tech or gear that you’ve been wanting!
