Most people who are considering whether or not to upload to microstock sites are curious how much money can be made by doing so. (There are other reasons, too, but this is a biggie). The short answer is that it depends on how much time and energy you put into it, and it depends on the quality of your images. The top earners can make hundreds of dollars per day, but most people will not achieve that. For an overview of my experience, see below. I update the stats about once every month or two so you can get a sense of what I have earned -- without devoting a ton of time to it, to be honest.

It's interesting to look back on the microstock experiment I started a few years ago. I have been quite lazy this past year about uploading anything--and expected my sales to dry up because of it.

Make sure to look into referral programs on the various sites. Many of them will offer rewards for users that you refer to the site either as photographers or stock image purchasers. You can send your referral link to interested people by email or include the link on your personal website. Shutterstock and Dreamstime are particularly good for rewarding successful referrals.