I Tried Selling AI-Generated Images on Adobe Stock | 2024 Earnings

Summary

In this video, the creator shares their journey of using AI-generated images to build a stock photography portfolio and make passive income. Over a span of months, the creator increased their portfolio to over 13,000 images, earning a total of $350,197 from 484 downloads. Despite reaching their goal of 10,000+ images, the earnings did not scale as expected, revealing that a larger portfolio doesn't directly equate to exponentially higher earnings. The creator highlights the importance of high-quality, marketable images and realistic expectations in the AI stock photography side hustle.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker started their AI-generated image side hustle after seeing others make significant earnings and decided to test it themselves.
• 😀 Initially, the earnings were low, with only $33.63 from 997 images after 90 days of uploading to Adobe Stock.
• 😀 After increasing the portfolio to 1,835 images, earnings grew to $1,128.29, but progress was slow due to inconsistent uploads.
• 😀 The speaker set a goal of reaching 10,000 images in their portfolio to test whether it would significantly increase earnings.
• 😀 After a couple of months of intensive uploads, the portfolio grew to 13,372 images, and total earnings reached $225,180.
• 😀 A key insight: the majority of earnings came from the first 1,800 images uploaded earlier in the year.
• 😀 Despite having 13,372 images, the growth in earnings didn't match expectations, with monthly passive income increasing by only a modest amount ($656 for November).
• 😀 Certain image types, like solar panels, performed better than others, and there were signs that seasonality may affect earnings.
• 😀 The speaker speculates that earnings could be higher in warmer months when businesses are more likely to need solar panel-related images.
• 😀 By the end of 2024, total earnings amounted to $350,197, with $221,650 of that coming from just 115 top-performing images.
• 😀 The 80/20 rule seems to apply: 80% of earnings come from 20% of the images in the portfolio, highlighting the importance of quality and demand over sheer quantity.

Q & A

What inspired the individual to start selling AI-generated images on stock photography websites?

The individual was inspired after discovering that people were making over $30,000 from selling AI-generated images on stock photography websites. This motivated them to try the side hustle themselves.

What was the initial result after uploading 997 images to Adobe Stock?

After uploading 997 images to Adobe Stock, the individual earned a total of $33.63, which was much less than expected.

What did the individual do after the initial poor results?

After the initial results, the individual uploaded more images and did a follow-up video to update earnings, which saw an increase in their portfolio to 1,835 images, leading to total earnings of $1,128.29.

What challenge did the individual set for themselves after noticing slow progress?

The individual set a challenge to reach 10,000 images in their portfolio to see if it would help increase their earnings significantly.

What was the portfolio size and earnings after the individual went all-in for a few months?

After going all-in and uploading more images, the individual's portfolio grew to 13,372 images, and their total earnings reached $225.180.

Did the individual's earnings increase significantly with the larger portfolio?

While the portfolio size increased significantly, the earnings did not increase proportionally. Earnings only doubled compared to the earlier phase, with the individual averaging $12 to $20 a week instead of $6 to $10 a week.

What did the individual discover about the correlation between portfolio size and earnings?

The individual found that increasing the portfolio size did not directly lead to proportional increases in earnings. A larger portfolio did not necessarily result in much higher earnings, suggesting that the 80/20 rule (80% of earnings come from 20% of images) applies.

What types of images contributed the most to the earnings?

The top-performing images were solar panel-related, making up a significant portion of the earnings, even though it was winter in many countries.

What was the issue with the individual's portfolio regarding seasonal images?

The individual realized that their portfolio lacked a variety of seasonal images, particularly related to Black Friday and Christmas, which limited their ability to attract certain types of buyers.

What conclusion did the individual come to regarding AI stock photography as a side hustle?

The individual concluded that while AI stock photography isn't a get-rich-quick opportunity, it can generate a few hundred dollars a month with consistent effort. They plan to continue uploading images and share quarterly updates to track progress.