Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 45
December 18, 2018
Sell Your Photos Online: 5 Websites That Pay $100 per Image or More
Do you bring your camera everywhere you go, snapping perfect shot after perfect shot?
Cash in on your photo addiction by selling your photos on these websites. Each one has a different payment structure, but they offer a great way to turn files sitting untouched on your hard drive into some extra cash, without much extra effort once you’ve edited and uploaded them.
If you’re earning serious cash as a stock photographer, you’ll have additional tax liabilities, but you may also be able to deduct your photography equipment, software and even some of your travel to shooting locations. Be sure to consult a pro to find out how to stay on the right side of the rules.
Here are five sites where you can make money with your photos.
1. 500px Prime
Five million photographers list their stock images with 500px, according to the site. You’ll receive 70% net for every license sold (standard licenses are $250), and your images may appear in big-name ad campaigns if you submit them for commercial licensing.
To give 500px Prime a try, first sign up for a free account on 500px. Then submit your photos, enable your store and complete the required forms for each image (including model releases, liability releases, etc.).
You’ll also have the option of selecting an exclusive or non-exclusive license for the images. You’ll earn more for an exclusive license, but that means you can’t license or sell the photo to anyone else.
Here’s a breakdown of prices, though it’s not clear how exclusivity affects them.
2. SmugMug Pro
SmugMug Pro lets you keep 85% of the markup for your images. The catch is you have to buy a Pro subscription, starting at $12.50 per month, to take advantage of this high royalty; there’s no free option.
Here’s an example of how the pricing structure works, from SmugMug’s website: “You sell a 5×7 for $10.79 and the SmugMug default price for it is $0.79. The markup is $10.00. You keep $8.50 as profit (85% of $10).”
Once you sign up, you’ll upload photos, select the products you want to sell and pick prices.
This is a good site for someone with a true entrepreneurial mindset, since you get to decide how much to charge for your images.
3. Shutterstock
Earn up to $120 per image download on Shutterstock. This site has a fairly complicated pricing structure, but the more you earn (“lifetime earnings”), the more you take home for each image.
In total, contributors have earned a total of more than $300 million from over 500 million downloads, so people definitely snap up these images. Shutterstock also sells stock video footage, including HD and 4K videos, as well as images and vectors.
You can also refer other photographers and make a small profit, typically around four cents, each time they sell an image. If you refer a customer who purchases images, you can earn 20% of their first purchase, up to $200.
4. iStockphoto
This site has been selling stock images since 2001. Since it’s been around for a while, it has an extensive network of contributors and thoroughly vets new applicants to make sure they’re a good fit.
To apply, just select the most appropriate category (photos, illustrations, video or audio) and fill out an application (it’s free). The iStockphoto team will review your qualifications and you’ll have to take a short quiz to assess them. The final step is to upload a few samples of your work to make sure it’s top-notch.
Once accepted with iStockphoto, you’ll receive a minimum of 15% of any sales. However, if you have “Exclusive” status, your earnings can increase to 45%. Here’s a full royalty schedule with typical prices to help you estimate your revenue.
5. Etsy
Etsy’s not just for selling wedding decorations, custom Halloween costumes and quirky cat-themed gifts. You can also sell your photos!
While the fee structure is beneficial to a photographer (Etsy keeps 20 cents on each sale as well as 3.5% of the sale price), you have to put in extra work to make those sales.
While people browsing stock photo websites are specifically looking to purchase images, not everyone browsing Etsy will necessarily be looking for photos. And people looking for photos may not think to look on Etsy.
That’s why, if you choose to sell your images on this site, you’ll need to invest time and energy into marketing your designs and images. But Etsy takes such a small cut of each sale, it may be worth your while.
Etsy offers a helpful handbook to help you learn about branding, marketing, how to price your items and how to succeed. When you set up your own Etsy store, you set the prices, so your earning potential is virtually unlimited.
Your Turn: Have you sold your photos online? Did you use one of these sites, and how much did you earn?
Kristen Pope is a freelance writer and editor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
New Experian tool allows you to instantly boost your credit score
Boosting your credit score often requires months of responsible financial behavior. But a new tool from Experian – one of the three major credit bureaus – enables you to instantly add utility and cellphone payments to your credit report, potentially increasing your credit score and helping you pay less to borrow.
The platform, called Experian Boost, becomes available in January for those on the credit bureau’s early access list and will roll out to everyone in the following months, the company said Tuesday.
The tool is the first of its kind, according to Experian, and provides a way for people to immediately shape their creditworthiness. Typically, it can take months of making on-time payments to meaningfully improve a credit score, while one slip-up can do instantaneous damage.
“We estimate about 100 million consumers are excluded from mainstream credit and are paying more to borrow,” says Brian Cassin, Experian’s global CEO. “This gives people an opportunity to change that, and we believe many will benefit from a higher credit score, better access to financial products, often at a cheaper cost.”
How it works
You first give Experian permission to access your online bank accounts, so it can identify utility and telecom payments and add them to your credit history. You confirm the data is correct and then it’s added. A new credit score is instantly generated.
Experian Boost works with the most commonly used credit scores by lenders: FICO 8, FICO 9, VantageScore 3 and VantageScore 4. But if a lender relies on a TransUnion or Equifax credit report for its application process, the tool won’t help your approval chances.
Experian is partnering with Finicity, a third-party company that facilitates the data transfer from your bank account to Experian’s credit report repository.
Who will benefit?
Experian expects that two-thirds of consumers will see an improvement. Those with so-called think credit histories – less than five accounts – and FICO credit scores between 580 and 669 will benefit the most, Experian said.
Ten percent of people with thin files who previously didn’t have enough information in their credit file will have a score. Fourteen percent of those with subprime scores of 579 or lower moved into the 620 to 679 near-prime range, enough to get better credit terms.
A subprime credit score costs the average person about $200,000 more over the course of their life, according to Credit Builders Alliance.
“They won’t be approved for the best rate,” said John Ulzheimer, a credit expert who formerly worked at Equifax and FICO. “But they are basically turning someone who is a denial (for credit) into a marginal approval.”
Real-life example
Jeff Softley, chief marketing officer of Experian consumer products, received a 28-point boost after using the platform. Before, he only had four accounts in his credit history history – “an incomplete credit profile” as he called it – but was able to add another six accounts including his water, phone and electric bill payments.
“It’s a significant gain,” he said. “It allowed me to look at a different type of credit cards that I wouldn’t (otherwise) qualify for.”
More access to credit
The Experian Boost platform comes as lenders, the credit scoring industry, consumer advocates and even the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are exploring new ways to expand access to credit, especially to people who are on the cusp of qualifying or who may have no traditional credit history but are financially responsible.
“This is like a credit score arms race,” Ulzheimer said. “It’s not like there’s a million prime consumers hiding under a rock somewhere.”
The CFPB last year estimated that 26 million Americans have no credit history at Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Another 19 million people have credit histories with only inactive accounts that don’t provide enough recent credit payment data to generate a score.
In October, FICO, the developer of the most widely used credit score, announced a new score debuting next year that considers how you manage your checking, savings and money market accounts in addition to how you pay back your credit cards and loans.
Experian also plans to broaden the types of accounts you can add to your credit file beyond just utility and telecom payments in the months following Experian Boost’s launch.
How to publish your ebooks in Apple Books
You should choose a template that’s best for the book you’re writing. For instance, if your book will contain mostly text, then one of the Portrait templates would be best. If your book will contain lots of images or use columns, select a Landscape template.
There’s one other thing to keep in mind when you select a template. When you’re ready to start the process of publishing your book, Landscape templates are exported into the EPUB format with a fixed layout. That is, the text and images in the book will not adjust or realign based on the size or orientation of the device used to read it. Portrait templates, on the other hand, can be exported with either a fixed layout or a reflowable layout, which permits the text to adjust to the size or orientation of the device used to view it.
Once you start writing, you’re not limited to just text and an occasional image or two. You can add video, audio, animated drawings, tables, charts–in brief, anything you can add to a typical Pages document can also be part of your book.
Remember that you want to eventually publish this book in the EPUB format, an open digital book standard from the International Digital Publishing Forum. EPUB has its own set of characteristics and Pages adapts to most of them quite well. But there are a few wrinkles that Apple has identified. Some features of Pages (such as shadows behind images and comments) won’t export to an EPUB file, and some others (including multiple columns and hyphenation) are limited to a fixed layout only. Also, you’ll be best served to learn how to use styles in Pages to create a table of contents and chapter breaks and save yourself a surprise when the export process to EPUB creates these on its own.
Export to EPUB
Once your book is done, you can export it to EPUB format and distribute it. The Books app on your Mac or iOS device can open EPUB files, as can many other applications and third-party EPUB readers.
Here’s how to export your book from Pages into the EPUB format using your Mac.
From the File menu, choose Export to > EPUB….Enter the Title and Author of the book.Pick a cover type.Choose either Reflowable or Fixed Layout.Under Advanced Options, add a Category and pick a Language.If you want the font you used to create your book to be included check box for Embed Fonts.Click the Next… button.Enter a Name for your EPUB file and choose a location to save it.Click the Export button.
To view the exported EPUB file, double-click it to open it in the Books app on your Mac.
Publishing to the Apple Books Store
If you want to take the next step and publish your book on the Apple Book Store, you can do so right from within Pages.
But before you get that process started, you’ll need to do some groundwork.
First, you’ll need to enable your Apple ID for iTunes Connect. Your Apple ID needs to be verified by Apple and you must have a valid credit card on file.
You can use the same Apple ID that you use to purchase content in the App Store or iTunes Store, but you can’t use the same Apple ID that you use to sell other types of content in iTunes (like apps, music, or movies). So, if you’re already an app developer selling in iTunes, you’ll need to create a new iTunes Connect account with a different Apple ID.
Once you have enabled iTunes Connect with your Apple ID, you will need to sign a Book Store agreement. There are two different types of agreements: Free Books and Paid Books. The former is the agreement you want if you never intend to sell content in the Book Store and will only give it away. If you think there will ever be a chance that you might want to sell books in the Book Store, you should select the Paid Books agreement.
If you are selling books on behalf of a company located anywhere in the world, or you are a U.S. individual, you must provide Apple with a U.S. Tax ID (such as an SSN, ITIN, or EIN) on the Paid Books Agreement Information page.
Second, if you want to use an International Standard Book Number (ISBN-13) for your book, get it in advance. An ISBN-13 number identifies your book worldwide and it cannot be added after you publish your book.
Third, think about a cover. You can use the first page of your book as the cover, or you can use an image. If you choose to use an image, save it in your iCloud Drive.
Fourth, take advantage of Apple’s checklist in the Apple Books Publisher User Guide. Test any links, make sure audio and video items play correctly, weed out unintended blank pages, double-check your table of contents, etc.
Fifth, once the book is ready to go, put it in the Pages folder in your iCloud Drive.
Now, let’s publish. Open your document in Pages and do this:
From the File menu, choose Publish to Apple Books….Click the Continue button.Enter your Apple ID and click the Next button.Enter your Apple ID password and click the Next button.
You’ll then provide information about your book, including the name of the seller and version number for the book, the layout (reflowable or fixed), and names of other folks associated with the book (editor, illustrator, narrator, etc.).
You’ll be shown a preview of your book in EPUB format in the Books app. If it’s good to go, you’ll upload the book, then set a sale price and pre-order options in iTunes Connect.
Apple has a helpful web page that provides more details.
October 20, 2018
Popular Twitch Streamer Reveals How Much Money He Makes from Streaming
While many gamers would love to make money by playing video games, few often hit the big leagues like the popular streamer Ninja. Recently, the Hearthstone Twitch streamer Disguised Toast – who is often on the list of top ten streamers – weighed in on how streamers make money, using his own figures and breaking it down into four categories: donations, ads, subscriptions, and sponsors.
Disguised Toast revealed that his smallest source of income was donations, which is still nothing to be scoffed at. These donations bring in around $2500 per month for him. Not only is that the smallest portion of his income, but also only a bit over half of what he earns from advertisements. According to the Twitch streamer, he makes $4000 monthly in advertisements, but he notes this could be more if he pushed the “show ad” button.
This means from the smallest half of his income, Disguised Toast makes over $6500 in a month’s time. Moving up, subscriptions are typically 50/50 with the host Twitch, but the top streamers get a 70/30 deal. As a result, this streamer makes $14,000 dollars a month from his 4000 subscriptions. For comparison, Ninja has 121,000 subs and makes around $423,500/month.
Sponsored streams, typically marked with appropriate hashtags, depend on the streamer and the game. These bring in anywhere from 1 cent to $1 per hour, per viewer, totaling anywhere from $100 to $10,000 for a full stream. For context, Ninja broke over 650,000 concurrent viewers when he streamed Fortnite with Drake.
Of course, streaming isn’t something simple, and it isn’t easy to amass a following like Ninja or even Disguised Toast. For those impressed with Disguised Toast’s number, it may be worth checking out how much money Ninja makes, though it’s worth mentioning that he stated this some time ago. With Ninja’s popularity continuing to skyrocket beyond that just a Twitch streamer, it’s likely to be exponentially more.
September 1, 2018
Mastering Credit : The Ultimate DIY Credit Repair Guide
Society relies heavily on credit for most financial decisions. Today, good credit is not just important for getting a loan or a credit card. Many businesses have to check your credit before deciding whether or not they will extend their products and services to you. Mortgage lenders need to be sure that you will pay your mortgage responsibly before they can finance you. Without good credit, the mortgage lender concludes that giving you a loan is risky for them. If they still approve, regardless of your poor credit, they will charge you a very high interest rate. Bad credit will see you pay a higher mortgage amount or worse, your mortgage application will be declined. Just because you are not currently interested in buying a house does not mean that your credit does not matter. Landlords will, in most cases, consult your credit before renting you a house or apartment. Your lease is considered a loan. You require a loan to purchase a car unless you have the full amount at hand. Your credit score affects the loan amount and interest rate and whether or not you will be given the loan in the first place. With excellent credit, you will qualify for a higher loan amount and the interest rate will be lower. A poor credit score translates to limited options. Not many lenders will be ready to finance you and the few that will be willing might charge a very high interest rate.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Ch. 1 – Credit Reports
Ch. 2 – How to Build Credit
Ch. 3 – Details Matter
Ch. 4 – FICO Credit Score
Ch. 5 – What Is A Good Credit Score?
Ch. 6 – How to Raise Your Credit Scores
Ch. 7 – Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian
Ch. 8 – Consumer Credit Report
Ch. 9 – Free Credit Score or Report
Ch. 10 – How Credit Cards Impact Your Credit Score
Ch. 11 – Mistakes to Avoid When Disputing Credit Report Errors
Ch. 12 – How to Remove A Charge-Off
Ch. 13 – How to Remove Late Payments
Ch. 14 – How to Remove Collections
Ch. 15 – How to Remove A Foreclosure from Your Credit Report
Ch. 16 – How to Remove A Bankruptcy
Ch. 17 – How to Remove A Repossession from Your Credit Report
Ch. 18 – Removing A Judgment
Ch. 19 – How to Remove A Tax Lien from Your Credit Report
Ch. 20 – How to Remove Credit Inquiries from Your Credit Report
Ch. 21 – Sample Credit Dispute Letter
Ch. 22 – Cease and Desist Letter for Debt Collectors
Ch. 23 – Sample Debt Validation Letter
Ch. 24 – How to Deal with Debt Collection Agencies
Ch. 25 – ChexSystems
Ch. 26 – How to Request Debt Validation from Debt Collectors
Ch. 27 – Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
Ch. 28 – The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Ch. 29 – Authorized User
Ch. 30 – Credit Card Piggybacking
Ch. 31 – Before and After Bankruptcy
Conclusion
August 4, 2018
July 29, 2018
Good e-Reader The latest news on Audiobooks, eBooks and eReaders Audiobooks Generated $2.8 Billion in 2017
Audiobook sales generated $2.8 billion dollars in the United States in 2017 and this is an increase of up 22.7% over 2016, and with a corresponding 21.5% increase in units. This continues the six-year audiobook trend of double-digit growth year over year.
This new sales data stems from the Audiobook Publishers Association and Edison Research. The two companies found that audiobook listeners consume books in all formats with 83% of frequent listeners having read a hardcover or paperback in the last 12 months and 79% having read an ebook. Audiobook listeners read or listened to an average of 15 books in the last year, and 57% of listeners agreed or strongly agreed that audiobooks help you finish more books. The vast majority of people who purchase an audiobook are under the age of 45.
How and where are they listening?
Smartphone usage continues to grow with 73% of listeners using these devices and an increase in the percentage of listeners using this device most often: 47% in 2018 vs. 29% in 2017 and 22% in 2015.
Smart speakers are increasingly impacting the audiobook world with 24% of listeners saying they have listened on a smart speaker and 5% saying they listen most often on a smart speaker.
53% of listeners say they most often listen at home and 36% say their car is where they listen most often.
The top three activities while listening to audiobooks are: driving (65%), relaxing before going to sleep (52%), and doing housework/chores (45%).
73% of audiobook consumers agree that listening to audiobooks is relaxing.
55% agreed or strongly agreed that they chose to listen to an audiobook “when they want some time to themselves.”
Additional Key Findings
Of the over 46,000 titles produced on audio in 2017, the most popular genres purchased were Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense, Science Fiction, and Romance.
The top three reasons why people enjoy listening to audiobooks are: 1) They can do other things while listening (81%); 2) They can listen wherever they are (80%); and 3) Audiobooks are portable (75%).
Libraries remain major access channels for audiobooks and important drivers of audiobook discovery. 52% of people said borrowing from a library/library website was important or very important for discovering new audiobooks. 43% of listeners said they downloaded an audiobook from a library and 14% said that most often use the library for their digital listening.
Audiobook listeners consume books in all formats with 83% of frequent listeners having read a hardcover or paperback in the last 12 months and 79% having read an ebook.
Audiobook listeners read or listened to an average of 15 books in the last year, and 57% of listeners agreed or strongly agreed that “audiobooks help you finish more books.”
There are a few trends this year that Good e-Reader Research has gleaned. Smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home are seeing more audiobook integration and this is positively impacting sales. Publishers are also making vinyl editions of audiobooks and including a free digital download. Spotify also is getting involved in the audiobook space, filling the void that TuneIn left when they abandoned the space.
