Coincidentally, I published an interview today with a well-known wedding photographer (click my name for the link) and his insight about branding v.s. freelance is one that is appropriate for stock photographers as well. Given the large supply of images out in the marketplace, very few of stock photographers have taken the step to create a brand for themselves. Of course if they see their images as just an image then you aren’t maximizing the potential perceived value of your work. It is just a picture to them. Who you are and what you represent means nothing if you adopt this approach to running a business. The whole approach of earning a living by just dumping your images to stock agencies used to work in the past due to the overhead cost that few could achieve. But now, it requires much more marketing savvy to get by and that means grabbing your business by the horns and steering it for yourself rather than letting others do it.