Premium – stock photo ideas for March 2022

It is amazing to me that I have been able to keep this up for more than 2 years now, with one, or occasionally two or more posts every month. If only I had followed all my own ideas – I could have retired!

This is a difficult month to forecast new concepts that might catch fire, when the news is full of the invasion of Ukraine. As I have mentioned in the past, only certain hot topics are suitable for stock imagery and war is certainly not one of those. As a result, ideas for new concepts are a little thinner on the ground this month.

But first, what did I manage to create in the past month?

The honest answer is, not a lot! As you have probably seen from my other posts, I have been putting more attention to the wall art and prints side of the business. Not massively successfully, I have to say, and also, I don’t think it can ever really be as profitable as stock has been. It is much more a one sale by one sale sort of thing, unless you can really find a style and niche that is both unique and really appeals to people. So far, that has eluded me!

In fact, the only stock photos I have created have been my aborted attempt to join former President Trump’s new social platform and photograph that for the agencies.

The launch of this was plagued with problems and that is what I was illustrating. I never did manage to get onboard, even though I think it will be in the news for a few weeks/months. I will have to try again!

Some of my previous ideas did catch on this year though – the Apple Airtags have sold for about $150 now and I think that still has some room to grow. My idea of the multiple sticking plasters or bandaids on my arm were less successful – perhaps around $15 so far. That could be because Covid has been pushed off the news both by other topics and the dramatic drop in cases in many parts of the world.

Coming onto new topics. You will recall my Juul electronic cigarette images that did so well for me in the past.

Altogether, the series of images I took of that vaping system earned almost $3000. I noticed that there is discussion in the US (and perhaps in other countries) about a different class of products using artificial nicotine rather than the real stuff. Because of the way regulations were written, only nicotine products can be regulated in this space and so these artificial ones can do what they like. And they did! A brand called Puff Bar has created fruity flavored disposable vapes using artificial nicotine and these are now the preferred brand of 28% of youngsters and are selling like crazy. Of course, they are highly addictive as well! There are some moves (again, in the USA) to restrict them with a new law that has just passed but I imagine this will be in the news quite a lot as they come under some sort of regulation. I planned to go to a local vape shop and see if I could buy some but it is snowing again today. Maybe in the coming week. My plan is to do a range of shots, including some specifically aimed at school children using the products. I did this before with school books and an apple!

As far as I can see, there is only one specific Puff Bar image on Shutterstock and it is labelled High Usage. If these aren’t available in your own country, perhaps there is an equivalent brand that is in high use at the moment.

The other broader area that would be worth investigating is the big increase in investment that is going into what is called PropTech – or Property Technology. There are 17 images on Shutterstock under that keyword. There are some articles here about it, but basically all this investment is going into making the buying and selling of homes much more automated and deploying technology solutions to also help investment companies buy up homes that they can rent out (which is becoming a big topic in the US). In some markets, these investment company has cash on hand to make an instant bid on a home, then the people who were not able to buy it, often are faced with renting with a monthly cost that is higher than their mortgage would have been. Housing discussions are easy to illustrate and so getting some images and concepts online showing technology and housing and using the PropTech keyword could give you an edge in a new area of concern and discussion.

That’s it for this month – as I said, slim pickings, I’m afraid. But I will keep my eyes open for new opportunities.