$3K/Month Passive Income with Shutterstock and Pond5 Strategy (2025 Update)

The most passive of all my passive income: stock video. In 2025, I am STILL making around the $3,000/month mark (it's gone up and down) on work I've barely contributed to in the last 2 years.

Make an asset once. Sell it forever. That is the power of PASSIVE INCOME.

In this video, I discuss strategy, efficiency, software. I give you a look into my best-selling photos and footage, my reasoning for getting into it, and of course, the secret sauce that brings everything together.

The stock photography game has changed drastically in the last 20 years—even the last 3-5 years have seen a massive shift in favor of the stock agencies against producers. Shutterstock is paying as little as $0.10 for photo sales and other agencies are following suit.

But there’s still money in stock media—in video. My average video nets me around $20 vs photos at around $0.30. It’s simple supply and demand. The market is flooded with stock photos when there’s a growing demand for high quality video.

Vital software used:
https://alttext.io
frame.io
FCPX

180 Degree Rule Guide: https://lilassistance.com/180-degree-rule-for-filming/

My main company: https://lilassistance.com

Camera I film with: https://amzn.to/3ktmdY9
Main lens: https://amzn.to/36Kkjdu

Cheaper camera you can definitely make stock video with: https://amzn.to/3ieCMV2

Family travel channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9g6saB5bvOWeIGGnq8Ecpg

Kids Educational company, Learning Tail: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGrd13BHmWj0AYPPt_twco

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpnXyal5HJg

00:00 Intro
1:32 If I could tell you to do one thing, this is it
2:02 This works better in "boring" situations
2:51 Taking my kids to Paris Olympics (Jaida Ross throws shotput)
3:44 Rule numero uno: No logos, no faces
4:14 Some buildings can't appear in your media (others can make tons of money)
5:34 Rule nummer Zwei: focus on video...but take photos too
7:01 "Other" Rule 1: Consistency breeds authority
7:25 My top selling photos of all time
7:55 My top selling videos of all time
9:08 Controversial Rule 7: Quantity over Quality
9:59 Yes, you can sell footage from your smartphone. Here's how.
13:10 Ted Lasso (don't miss this chapter)
13:34 The most time-consuming part
13:56 Frame.io tutorial (bulk exporting software for final cut pro)
18:51 Neat Video (Noise Reduction)
22:48 Alttext.io (Auto AI title, description, keywords, metadata)
27:29 mystockimages.com (fully DFY service)