Shutterstock Affiliate Marketing Program Earns High Marks from Top Bloggers

Bloggers cite strong revenues from referring subscribers and submitters to Shutterstock

New York, August 12, 2009 – Shutterstock®, the world's largest subscription-based online stock photo agency, is emerging as a leader in one of the key areas for making money online in today’s Web marketplace: affiliate marketing.

As bloggers look for new and effective ways to generate additional revenue online, many are joining Shutterstock’s affiliate marketing program to refer both buyers and submitters of stock images and stock video to Shutterstock.

Lee Torrens, author of Microstock Diaries, one of the leading blogs covering the online stock photo market, describes Shutterstock’s affiliate program as the best revenue producer among the stock photos sites that he recommends.

"In my experience, Shutterstock's affiliate program is the most lucrative of all microstock agencies for bloggers with an audience of photographers," Torrens said. "I know many bloggers and online publishers who are very happy with the amount of extra income that the program generates."

Matt Antonino, author of NiltoMil, another popular online stock photography blog, agrees.

“Shutterstock's affiliate program is the best in the microstock industry and one of the best anywhere,” Antonino said. “New photographers sign up directly from my blog, and Shutterstock takes care of everything else all the way through paying me. I often make more on the affiliate program than I do on sales at other sites.”

Tyler Olson of Microstock Group added, “I think the referral program at Shutterstock is great; it is really one of the best programs of any site.”

Since many bloggers are also photographers who submit photos to Shutterstock, they base their recommendations on the positive experience they have had using the service.

"Shutterstock is among the agencies I recommend to other photographers verbally and in other ways which don't include the incentive of the referral program,” Torrens said. “In addition to the top sales performance, Shutterstock is very business focused, and in my experience has always maintained a high level of professionalism."

Adam Riggs, president and CFO of Shutterstock, invites bloggers to take advantage of Shutterstock’s referral program.

“Whether you’re recommending Shutterstock to stock image buyers or to submitters, Shutterstock has a generous program to thank you for promoting us within your community,” Riggs said.

Here’s how it works: members of Shutterstock’s affiliate marketing program make a commission on every sale they refer. For example, for referring a subscriber who purchases a one-month 25-A-Day membership, referrers will receive a 20 percent commission (up to $50). Bloggers can also earn extra money by referring new Shutterstock submitters. When a customer downloads an image from a submitter they have referred, Shutterstock will pay them three cents for each image downloaded. While that may not sound like a lot, with thousands of subscribers downloading numerous images a day, those pennies can add up to dollars quickly.

To learn more about how to become a part of Shutterstock’s affiliate marketing program, please visit: http://submit.shutterstock.com/refinfo.mhtml

About Shutterstock®
Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industry pioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library of royalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit www.Shutterstock.com.