If you record video content for any reason, on any device, you need to read this! - Your hard drive could be an uptapped gold mine!
Digital creatives who want to sell work online have increasingly copious options of "income pies" to dip their fingers in, be it freelancing, selling stock media, or vlogging, among other options. The problem, perhaps, with so much choice, is the sheer amount of time taken up by researching and uploading to these various streams. Stock photographers, for example, have to spend a lot of time uploading their shots to all of the major agencies if they want as many people as possible accessing their work, so the same images will be uploaded separately to the Shutterstock, Adobe, and iStock servers.
If only there was some sort of "distribution portal" where one could upload their media just once, and it would automatically be submitted to all the major players, saving the content creator tons of valuable time... Well ... (you know where this is going don't you?..) for stock video creators at least, that time is now. Blackbox let's you do all that and a lot more. In this article, I want to introduce some of the key aspects of Blackbox, giving you a strong overview, and empowering you to take steps towards more financial freedom as a digital creative. Excited? You should be.
Put simply, Blackbox allows you to upload your stock video content to it's servers. It then does the heavy lifting, submitting your work to various large stock video agencies such as Shutterstock, Pond 5, Storyblocks, Adobe Stock and Videoblocks, with more to come in the future. One account, one upload location, multiple income streams. When you make sales, you're paid directly by Blackbox, so you don't even need to worry about dealing with any of the agencies. There are other ways to make money with Blackbox, but more on that later.
OK, let's get some Q & A out of the way..
Is it a scam?
No
Does it work?
Yes
Is this the point you're going to tell me I get back what I put in?
Yes
When and how do I get paid?
They process payouts via PayPal on the 20th of every month for revenue accrued during the previous month. I've been paid on time since I joined.
What's the catch?
Their commission rate is 15% of NET sales. So on a $80 clip sale where the stock agency takes $48 (60%), leaving $32 (40%) for the contributor commission, BlackBox would get $4.80 and you would get $27.20. If you think this is unreasonable, well, have fun uploading all that video to all the agencies separately!
But I've never even shot stock footage?
Well, luckily for you, this is the first article in a series about shooting stock footage, and collaborating on Blackbox, so follow me here on Steemit if you're not already. And if you're not already on Steemit, then I'm very disappoint!
Seriously though, any subject can sell as stock footage as long as the recording quality is good. My most recent sales were some footage of seagulls on a boat, a drone shot in a field of flowers, and a dog catching a frisbee in slow motion. If you're a drone enthusiast, you've probably got plenty of footage with potential to sell. YouTube and DTube vloggers might have some cool b-roll on their hard drives too, but quite honestly, the best way to sell on Blackbox is to shoot with intent. When you get a feel for it, you'll find your niche. For some, it's animals, or food, or landmarks. For me, mostly lifestyle stuff. 4K footage demands higher prices, but if you can only shoot in HD, don't hold back. Most video footage licences are still sold in 1080. You can shoot with anything from a cellphone to a fully kitted out cinema rig. The most important thing is, you get out there and shoot!
Who is Blackbox for? Who is it not for?
While Blackbox is "for everyone", it does take a bit of work to get your head around the whole process. Once you've signed up as a contributor you have access to tutorials, FAQs, and a very enthusiastic and helpful Facebook community.
And there's more..
OK, now it really is starting to sound like a sales pitch! - but I can't write about Blackbox without going briefly into the ways one can use Blackbox to make money, other than selling their stock footage. Blackbox is a creative content community, with abundant collaborative opportunities, something founder Pat Mcgowan is keen to stress in interviews. Users can work together in different capacities, and divide rewards automatically, based upon an agreed percentage. This is why the Blackbox Facebook group is so important, and where the community aspect really comes into play.
Here's a brief overview of some of the collaborative opportunities on Blackbox.
- You can work as a "metadata curator", spending time on keywords and descriptions for other Blackboxers, in exchange for a cut of the rewards. (often around 20%)
- You can work as a "full curator", doing color correction and grading on raw footage that someone else shot, before uploading and keywording it. Again, for a cut, this time usually around 40%.
- If you have a social media presence, you can make money from referrals
- You can work as a curator with someone who has never themselves heard of Blackbox. If you know (or engage) a video shooter with a lot of footage, but little time or interest in doing the hard work, you can ask them for access and permission to their work, upload it, and split the rewards.
So if you're so inclined, you can make money from Blackbox without even leaving your house. And it's bloody cold here right now in Ireland, so I can really relate to that sentiment.
There's a lot more to get through, and in the coming days and weeks, I'll be writing more about Blackbox, so stay tuned for that. Fow now though, if you're ready to give this fun way of making creative online income a try, go register with Blackbox,, and be sure to read the user guide. Happy shooting!
Words: Condra
Images: Blackbox/Pixabay