Author Topic: Is December usually a slow month? (Read 12700 times)

daveh900 · « **on:** December 04, 2011, 17:34 »

I have not been through a full year in the Microstock game so I'm not sure what to expect in the months ahead.

December has started real slow for me, including my worst day at SS since I began uploading in July.

gostwyck · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:49 »

Yes. Worse month of the year. In a couple of weeks from now the holiday period will be like a 10-day weekend.

ShadySue · « **Reply #2 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:53 »

Quote from: daveh900 on December 04, 2011, 17:34

I have not been through a full year in the Microstock game so I'm not sure what to expect in the months ahead.

December has started real slow for me, including my worst day at SS since I began uploading in July.

It depends. I've had some years that Dec has been 3rd top month of the year. This year my monthly pattern is almost a total inverse of previous years.

No set/fixed/universal answer is the answer.

sharpshot · « **Reply #3 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:59 »

December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #4 on:** December 04, 2011, 18:55 »

It depends on what you have for holiday images, I have generally seen December as #3 or #4 for the year (November is always #1; March or October #2, September or December #3). I do a fair bit of Christmas business.

pancaketom · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2011, 19:55 »

I don't have a lot of holiday images, but December usually is pretty good until just before the 25th, then the rest of the month is like a string of weekend days. All in all it is usually a midling to decent month.

FD · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2011, 00:42 »

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59

December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.

I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

daveh900 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2011, 02:30 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

Very true, although I just sold some Halloween images last week so you just never know.

Microbius · « **Reply #8 on:** December 05, 2011, 02:49 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

I have quite a lot of xmas sales well into December. Take a look at the SS keywords trend tool, there seems to be a growth in searches right up until the Christmas break.
I'm not sure why, bloggers? people with sub plans buying for next year while they have it in mind?

Anyway, overall December by far the slowest month for me.

Morphart · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2011, 16:35 »

Quote from: gostwyck on December 04, 2011, 17:49

Yes. Worse month of the year. In a couple of weeks from now the holiday period will be like a 10-day weekend.

Mine was starting really bad too this month, worst week since a whole while... but today surprised me, made a 4 ELs sales at Shutterstock gave my month a boost!

ShadySue · « **Reply #10 on:** December 11, 2011, 16:39 »

Two ELs this week, first since August, made this past week my BWY!

ibogdan · « **Reply #11 on:** December 11, 2011, 18:06 »

My December never was a bad month, it's usually a strong one, although not as strong as Oct-Nov. This month started very well with four EL-s, one at SS, one at FT and two at 123rf.

Mantis · « **Reply #12 on:** December 11, 2011, 18:37 »

I always love the Xmas day threads on how many downloads people get. I recall two years ago Sean Locke only got a mere 17 on Christmas day, and that was his report of "so far"......

I don't shoot a lot of holiday stuff due to the vast amount of great stuff already available, but it's fun to see what other folks get.

rinderart · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2011, 19:45 »

To ward off fluctuations in sales....One word. VARIETY.

Mantis · « **Reply #14 on:** December 11, 2011, 19:49 »

Quote from: rinderart on December 11, 2011, 19:45

To ward off fluctuations in sales....One word. VARIETY.

That does help!

asiseeit · « **Reply #15 on:** December 12, 2011, 00:17 »

The last week of the year is the lowest of the year.

nicku · « **Reply #16 on:** December 12, 2011, 00:52 »

December is a good month for me... i hope will go on like this at least until 22-23 of Dec.

lthn · « **Reply #17 on:** December 12, 2011, 04:23 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

Many are designed in december. If you really push it + have experienced graphic artist and a good, longtime partnership with the print shop you can get the whole thing done in 48 hours, from idea to delivering the printed product.

Perry · « **Reply #18 on:** December 12, 2011, 07:46 »

Quote from: lthn on December 12, 2011, 04:23

Many are designed in december. If you really push it + have experienced graphic artist and a good, longtime partnership with the print shop you can get the whole thing done in 48 hours, from idea to delivering the printed product.

Yes. But for example if you are going to advertise something for christmas, it's not very wise to have the thing ready 23rd december, most of people have done their christmas shopping already. Of course things are a bit different (faster!) in the web world, but I still think I would have my christmas designs ready in november.

What baffles me is why stock sites advertise christmas images on the front page in december, they should have done that already in october/november. Halloween images should be on front page in september etc. etc.
Now would be the right time to sell winter images.

lisafx · « **Reply #19 on:** December 12, 2011, 12:42 »

In the past, the first two weeks of December have always been brisk business for me. The last two weeks are completely dead. This year it seems that the whole month is a write off.

SS is still holding its own, as are DT and FT, but I have always been heavily dependent on Istock sales, and they are just gone. Dried up almost totally for me. My weekday sales have dropped to the equivalent of weekend sales a couple of years ago.

Was nice while it lasted....

wut · « **Reply #20 on:** December 12, 2011, 13:38 »

Quote from: asiseeit on December 12, 2011, 00:17

The last week of the year is the lowest of the year.

I think it about equals the first

lagereek · « **Reply #21 on:** December 12, 2011, 14:40 »

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

ibogdan · « **Reply #22 on:** December 12, 2011, 15:07 »

My December starts to slow down, especially that I got today a refund of a file that never sold on Dreamstime. That's very interesting!

stockmarketer · « **Reply #23 on:** December 12, 2011, 15:19 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 12, 2011, 14:40

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

Congrats... $424 is indeed a nice haul, especially for a Monday (and one that hasn't even ended yet.)
What would your daily average be? How about your December daily average, factoring in weekends?

loop · « **Reply #24 on:** December 12, 2011, 16:01 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 12, 2011, 14:40

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive... although is true that sales are being very volatile for me this month, great days, bad days...

Equus · « **Reply #25 on:** December 12, 2011, 16:10 »

Is that micro sites only, or have you included some macro?

stockmarketer · « **Reply #26 on:** December 12, 2011, 16:20 »

Quote from: loop on December 12, 2011, 16:01

Quote from: lagereek on December 12, 2011, 14:40
Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive... although is true that sales are being very volatile for me this month, great days, bad days...

How is lagereek's tally a case for IS exclusivity? The fact that he "logged into all the sites"?

I'm on all the sites that matter, and I'm doing very well this month. Not as well as last month (my BME) but a lot better than 2010. The biggest disappointment, of course, is IS. If I chose exclusivity there, I'd be making a small fraction of what I make now, even if you factored in higher commissions, better search placement, etc.

Mantis · « **Reply #27 on:** December 12, 2011, 19:51 »

Quote from: lisafx on December 12, 2011, 12:42

In the past, the first two weeks of December have always been brisk business for me. The last two weeks are completely dead. This year it seems that the whole month is a write off.

SS is still holding its own, as are DT and FT, but I have always been heavily dependent on Istock sales, and they are just gone. Dried up almost totally for me. My weekday sales have dropped to the equivalent of weekend sales a couple of years ago.

Was nice while it lasted....

Lisa,
Same experience for me. All of a sudden Istock is dead. 1-2 dl per day vs. 10-15. Been this way for two several weeks for some reason. SS has been best and I got a few big DL's on DT and one 100 credit on FT this month. But overall I will be down this month by several hundred bucks when compared to all months of 2011.

daveh900 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 15, 2011, 15:09 »

After a super slow start to the month, the last week has been really good (at least at SS).

cascoly · « **Reply #29 on:** December 15, 2011, 15:28 »

over 4 years i havent noticed big changes by season, i get more change on a month by month basis - 2 good months, followed by 1 bad, etc. most likely since my port is nature/travel so steadier by definition. [of cpurse also less in demand]

this month looks tpo be BME due to alamy & video sales

daveh900 · « **Reply #30 on:** December 22, 2011, 12:38 »

Sales at most sites have been really slow, but SS is still kickin' butt. Today has been my best day (excluding EL sales) since I started in July.

benchart · « **Reply #31 on:** December 22, 2011, 12:52 »

This is my first december (I began microstock in january 2011), and it started with similar sales than in november (BME)
I guess that, as some said, the last week there probably won't be many sales
Also a solid % of my december files sold are not related to christmas or holidays so...

stockmarketer · « **Reply #32 on:** December 22, 2011, 13:25 »

December is definitely on its usual slide. I just looked at my chart of monthly variations, with 2011 data on top of 2010, 2009, etc., and it's striking how the patterns are the same every year. December is always down a fair amount from November. Then January is a huge bump, February and March continue the climb, and with Easter/Spring Break, stagnation sets in and there is little overall movement until September. Then there's a huge increase from Sept thru November, and the cycle is back to a falloff in December. The longer you do this and the more your portfolio and earnings increase, the more statistically valid your numbers will be for making predictions and seeing real trends.

helix7 · « **Reply #33 on:** December 22, 2011, 13:35 »

Quote from: loop on December 12, 2011, 16:01

Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive...

Am I missing something? I don't understand this comment...

ShadySue · « **Reply #34 on:** December 22, 2011, 13:47 »

Quote from: helix7 on December 22, 2011, 13:35

Quote from: loop on December 12, 2011, 16:01
Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive...

Am I missing something? I don't understand this comment...

Selective snipping.

Lagereek said:
Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

And loop replied:
Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive... although is true that sales are being very volatile for me this month, great days, bad days...

From which I would infer either that loop has more than $424 in the same timescale, or is nearly at that level, so that all the work of uploading to various sites wouldn't be worthwhile.

But my inference could be wrong ...

stockmarketer · « **Reply #35 on:** December 22, 2011, 14:28 »

Quote from: ShadySue on December 22, 2011, 13:47

From which I would infer either that loop has more than $424 in the same timescale, or is nearly at that level, so that all the work of uploading to various sites wouldn't be worthwhile.

If that is indeed what loop is saying, I think he's way off. Though some exclusives have been chiming in to say things are just fine for them right now, I can't believe that exclusivity is a better option for anyone. Loop's $424/day as exclusive vs. lagereek's $424/day as non-exclusive are apples and oranges. If loop is indeed doing that much at IS exclusively, I would bet he'd make a fair amount more if he could have his port everywhere. I'm also in that ballpark as a non-exclusive, and I know from my IS stats that I'd have to be doing about 10x as well as I am now by becoming an exclusive to make up the difference. Even accounting for all the benefits of exclusivity, there's no way it would happen.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #36 on:** December 22, 2011, 19:57 »

Experiencing pretty good month at Dreamstime. Did the same last year and have already exceeded the December revenue from last year. DT running neck and neck with SS thanks to editorial images selling for credits instead of Subs and a pretty good Tiff.

Please take notice Achilles (or Rolmat). I did a WooYay.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #37 on:** December 23, 2011, 11:03 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on December 22, 2011, 19:57

Experiencing pretty good month at Dreamstime. Did the same last year and have already exceeded the December revenue from last year. DT running neck and neck with SS thanks to editorial images selling for credits instead of Subs and a pretty good Tiff.

Please take notice Achilles (or Rolmat). I did a WooYay.

I take back my WooYay; just refunded $4.38.

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Author Topic: Is December usually a slow month? (Read 12700 times)

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