MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Brasilnut on September 07, 2017, 12:30
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::)
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For me the misery continues after a somewhat less miserable last week of August.
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Very poor start of a month, despite all hopes that a back-from-holidays-September will recoup somewhat an otherwise miserable year for me so far. Another proof that things are so random (or manipulated) on microstocks. For instance, august was very good at SS, but First week of September is just horrible. Where's logic?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Let's try to discuss some positives here? There's too much negativity on here, in my opinion.
So far my Sept is looking up:
- 1st sale at RH
- 3 sales at Alamy
- So far 88 downloads at SS
- Sales picking up at AS
Anybody else have positive news to share?
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Ok, I'll play
78 DLs on Shutterstock
20 DLs on Canva
12 DLs on 123RF
2 DLs on Bigstock
2 DLs on CanStockPhoto
2 DLs on Vital Imagery
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SS: 21 (vs 33 same period in August)
AS: 7 (vs 11)
123RF: 0 (vs 4)
DP: 0 (vs 1)
DT: 0 (vs 0)
BS: 0 (vs 1)
Alamy: 0 (vs 2)
Ports of 1.5-2K assets.
In other words, -44% compared to the same period in August. Personally, I'm stunned, not least because September must be more positive by definition. And yet, I can't ignore thinking that having a relatively good August, despite being one of the quietest months in principle, I'm now having the toll due to switched off lever or rotation imposed by some agencies in favour of other group of contributors who had worse August than me (yes, I am convinced in manipulations in this business).
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Ports of 1.5-2K assets.
What kind of stuff are you shooting?
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What kind of stuff are you shooting?
UWA landscapes and architecture primarily, with anything else in the remaining part.
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The opposite of doom and gloom would probably be unbridled optimism. The term carries an appropriate whiff of self-delusion with it.
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The opposite of doom and gloom would probably be unbridled optimism. The term carries an appropriate whiff of self-delusion with it.
How about "measured optimism"?
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Im just not into conspiracy theory, so I leave it up to others 8)
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SS - 6 subs
FT - 5
123 - 0
DT - 3
CS - 0
BS - 1
PM - 1
ALAMY - 0
All very positive!
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BS - 1
Bullsh*t Stock?
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Itīs all good! Judgement day is not near ;)
Sep so far.
SS - 2189 DL
FT - 1000 DL more or less
Lotīs of extended licenses on both sites + some 4k vids.
Havenīt checked the other sites.
How long have you been with SS? Are you alone or a team?
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Im just not into conspiracy theory, so I leave it up to others 8)
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Just wondering, does that fake sun effect increase sales? Some indoor images without a window or anything even have a sunny glow. Looks weird, but I guess your sales prove me wrong.
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People don't want realism. They want enhanced reality.
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People don't want realism. They want enhanced reality.
Don't we all ::)
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People don't want realism. They want enhanced reality.
Yes, still a sun inside a building is not enhanced reality.
Nevertheless, very good portfolio, not knocking that in any way.
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Just wondering, does that fake sun effect increase sales? Some indoor images without a window or anything even have a sunny glow. Looks weird, but I guess your sales prove me wrong.
Itīs advertising! Your selling a dream and a feeling. Not a picture ;)
I guess you talk about the indoor fitness images. Thats not a fake sun, but backlighting ;) - One or two might went over board! Haha, anyway it works :)
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No I am talking about another few images. The back lighting I understand.
Like this one in a subway
(https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/818215/708769660/stock-photo-smiling-young-executive-in-a-suit-drinking-a-coffee-and-riding-up-an-escalator-in-a-subway-station-708769660.jpg)
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No I am talking about another few images. The back lighting I understand.
Like this one in a subway
That's a good question.
I suppose he can submit a similar without this effect and the buyer can choose accordingly.
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Tyler, how come I see previews in my phone but not on my PC. I dont see any images when I post the URL.
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Itīs all good! Judgement day is not near ;)
Sep so far.
SS - 2189 DL
FT - 1000 DL more or less
I thought you were only a short time at Shutterstock and in the microstock industry. I started 5 years ago, when Yuri Arcurs said it is no point to doing this, no money in microstock. It was 5 years ago. I started and my sales was incredible like yours now. I sold between 5-6 thousands photos only on Shutterstock per month with a portfolio of 4.000 images. It went on 2-3 years. I have more than 11.000 images now, and I am happy if I can sell 1.000 images only a month. But as I look good I will sell 500 pictures this month. So what I want to say is that you are not as good as you think you are. I also thought I was phenomenal, but I realized that this was just a business and nothing else. Your pictures are well done because, at low fee levels, the pictures are rated higher. Your revenue will soon decrease, no matter how good your pictures are, whatever you are going to do, you will only fall. I did not even think of Arcurs, who had done anything he could not grow. I said your pictures are not good, the time Arcurs is over. Sooner or later all micro stock photographers will experience what I've just written. It's just business and nothing else. There are thousands of people in your place who can take photos of them, and the company can sell it. The only difference is that with a 40% difference between newbies and veterans. Many of my friends have gigantic portfolios, 30-40 thousand galleries, looking for amazing money in their first years. Then they stalled and then fell and fell. Whatever they did.
Lotīs of extended licenses on both sites + some 4k vids.
Havenīt checked the other sites.
How long have you been with SS? Are you alone or a team?
I own the company with my wife. We have a handfull of employees. We been with Shutterstock for two and a half year.
Uber Images is the name of our company.
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No I am talking about another few images. The back lighting I understand.
Like this one in a subway
(https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/818215/708769660/stock-photo-smiling-young-executive-in-a-suit-drinking-a-coffee-and-riding-up-an-escalator-in-a-subway-station-708769660.jpg)
Does it have to be a sun? Many subway systems have artistic lighting. I know this one is added, but I don't immediately think "sun".
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Proteus you are funny ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I might even think I know who you are in real life 8) If you really are "proteus" and you only sell 500 of a 11.000 port, then your work just isnīt good enough to compete with todays standard. Old stock days was a much lesser quality ;)
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Proteus you are funny ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I might even think I know who you are in real life 8) If you really are "proteus" and you only sell 500 of a 11.000 port, then your work just isnīt good enough to compete with todays standard. Old stock days was a much lesser quality ;)
We'll see my friend after 2 years when you're going to drop anything you do what you say. You will remember me. You are just a beginner child, without experience in this business. Newcomers can clap you, but veterans all know what the game is. There are also many veterans in this forum, all of whom are falling and falling. It seems that only you know how to do this. Maybe you could teach us. Wait, no, this knoll light factory is so old fashioned.
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You really crack me up Proteus - Im missing the laughing smiley here though ;D ;D ;D
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No I am talking about another few images. The back lighting I understand.
Like this one in a subway
(https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/818215/708769660/stock-photo-smiling-young-executive-in-a-suit-drinking-a-coffee-and-riding-up-an-escalator-in-a-subway-station-708769660.jpg)
Does it have to be a sun? Many subway systems have artistic lighting. I know this one is added, but I don't immediately think "sun".
I don't do photos but to be fair, I like your portfolio, I am not sure how it can be used commercially, but interesting way of color grading and lighting
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Maybe you could teach us.
I guess he has already done it, by sharing his port and his success story!
I can predict that hundreds of copycats will add fake sun flares to their failing photos as of today. And that, on top of other things good observers will learn from his port.
In my opinion this is the only reason he can be called "beginner child, without experience in this business".
He should know better and play his cards close to his chest.
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Does it have to be a sun? Many subway systems have artistic lighting. I know this one is added, but I don't immediately think "sun".
To me it's like: he just had a great business idea that will save his company millions concept.
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Theres really no secret sauce here! All information is just a click away :) Look at best selling categories at Shutterstock for example.
Iīm really not afraid of copycats. The production do not happen by it self, most photographers lack skills to produce the right content, good models are hard to find, instruction behind the camera seems to be everyones problem and so on and so on.
We have already been copied several times. They had no luck in competing ;)
Beside that it takes a positive attitude to be successful. Not really what most " not pro" stock photographers are known for if this site is the measure ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I can predict that hundreds of copycats will add fake sun flares to their failing photos as of today.
Better put on my shades at night 8)
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Claiming some will copy his work is just ridicilous. Those who want to copy other authors can just do a search for most popular search terms and BAM, there you have it, pages of photos that you can copy from.
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Brazilnut - Hahahhaha ;D ;D ;D
And thats precisly correct Dumc :)
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Just wondering, does that fake sun effect increase sales? Some indoor images without a window or anything even have a sunny glow. Looks weird, but I guess your sales prove me wrong.
It's not fake Sun it's flare and it's been a trendy thing to do for over a year, sometimes with colors instead of just light. Look around in magazines and billboards for the next trend and get in more at the beginning. I think this one may have run it's course?
https://photographylife.com/what-is-ghosting-and-flare
How to make a flaw into art. https://digital-photography-school.com/5-tips-for-achieving-artistic-lens-flare-how-to/
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Claiming some will copy his work is just ridicilous. Those who want to copy other authors can just do a search for most popular search terms and BAM, there you have it, pages of photos that you can copy from.
What makes the difference is the fact that you know his port is succesful. A lot of photos might be popular on niche categories, without having the certainty that these photos sell often to match Uber's numbers.
So, not ridiculous at all.
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Let's try to discuss some positives here? There's too much negativity on here, in my opinion.
So far my Sept is looking up:
- 1st sale at RH
- 3 sales at Alamy
- So far 88 downloads at SS
- Sales picking up at AS
Anybody else have positive news to share?
10 dls a day on SS is picking up? Hope I never get that lucky!
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Zero Talent - You also know that Nike and Coca Cola has success! Well I guess we can all just copy each other easily then right! Life does not work that way does it ;D ;D
A copy cat will always just be that! AND one step behind by the way ;)
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10 dls a day on SS is picking up? Hope I never get that lucky!
I'm a glass full type of guy! 8)
copy cat will always just be that! AND one step behind by the way ;)
Everything is derivative anyway. Inventor of airplanes copied from birds, etc.
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Claiming some will copy his work is just ridicilous. Those who want to copy other authors can just do a search for most popular search terms and BAM, there you have it, pages of photos that you can copy from.
What makes the difference is the fact that you know his port is succesful. A lot of photos might be popular on niche categories, without having the certainty that these photos sell often to match Uber's numbers.
So, not ridiculous at all.
I said "popular search terms", not some obscure, niche search term.
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Zero Talent - You also know that Nike and Coca Cola has success! Well I guess we can all just copy each other easily then right! Life does not work that way does it ;D ;D
A copy cat will always just be that! AND one step behind by the way ;)
Yes, they had success.
But let me give you a better example: Puma and Adidas. Their owners were brothers. But also the most fierce competitors you can imagine, paranoid about their secrets, not afraid to play dirty against each other.
Do you thing Apple is cool with Samsung copying their design?
No, they are not! They fight bitterly in courts to protect their success recipes.
The reason they do that is because they know better. They are not like a "beginner child, without experience in this business"
They play their cards close to their chest, and they have good reasons to do that!
They are not naive!
But it is your right to think differently and to do what you think is best for you, or rather: what makes you feel better!
PS. I am also grateful to see your numbers, to see what is behind your success, especially when you see that all other posters consider an improvement a week with only a few dozen sales. It gives you some perspective! Congrats!
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Holy cow! It is really more up hill here than I ever thought was possible.
Iīm out - Taking care of business, meanwhile you can sit here and conspiracy with your self ;D ;D
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Thank you Uber Images for sharing your success with us. Looking at your port shows me how far behind I am with my work and style. I think your port should give us all an indication why our own earnings are falling while other more creative artist are doing very well.
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Thank you Uber Images for sharing your success with us. Looking at your port shows me how far behind I am with my work and style. I think your port should give us all an indication why our own earnings are falling while other more creative artist are doing very well.
Now, you know why, indeed.
And like you many others, who, in 6 months from now, will be able to better compete with Uber and eat a slice of his tasty pie ;)
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When in doubt, call for an Uber (Images)
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Great work!
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Beside that it takes a positive attitude to be successful. Not really what most " not pro" stock photographers are known for if this site is the measure ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
That's the real secret sauce right there, a positive attitude and the belief that you will be successful. Optimism often leads to a more passionate approach and a strive for excellence. Congrats on your successful portfolio. It's beautiful.
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You only need to look at the Port for a few seconds to see someone at the top of their game...I'd rather listen to them than those who see their ports declining and harkening back to the good old days that will never return.
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I see this went well ;D
Adding sun or lighting to an image has been done for ages, I dont think Uber was the first one doing that.
I like his portfolio, just wondered about some added lighting indoors. Thats all.
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I do think there is secret sauce involved and I don't think it's optimism. I am more inclined to thinking the sauce is called competence, which does bring out confidence, but not necessarily the other way around.
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@uber:
Congrats on the feature in Alamy:
http://www.alamy.com/latestimagery/default.asp (http://www.alamy.com/latestimagery/default.asp)
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@uber:
Congrats on the feature in Alamy:
[url]http://www.alamy.com/latestimagery/default.asp[/url] ([url]http://www.alamy.com/latestimagery/default.asp[/url])
Thanks! Even though theres a mistake in the feature. They only show 1/10 of our portfolio :o :o ;D ;D
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I've came across your images some time ago and I can only say: great job!
And also a great respect for sticking to your positive attitude because I see a loooot of negativity around here. As well as on shutterstock forums. Doom and gloom everywhere, one would think it's the end of the world, until you see the portfolios of those who complain :)
Back to the topic: yes, it's been somewhat slower during the summer, but it seems like sales are improving starting from September... we'll see, I guess :)
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Picked up $40 worth of SOD downloads on SS yesterday at $2.05 each - almost felt like 2014 for 24 hours
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Back to the topic: yes, it's been somewhat slower during the summer, but it seems like sales are improving starting from September... we'll see, I guess :)
Sorry, folks, but the people who have been producing microstock content for a while (5 to 10 years) know the truth: it's simply impossible to keep growing your revenue forever. Most of us will tell you that we're making 20 - 50% less than we made a year or two ago, with portfolios that are significantly larger. The agencies are racing to be biggest and lowering their standards. And Google is making it easier every day to simply steal our work. I was in a meeting recently and was excited to see that the presenter placed one of my images in his PowerPoint. But right in the middle of the image was a BigStock watermark. That summed it all up for me... people just don't care about stealing our work.
But back to the topic. To me, the positive vibes sound like a fresh young worker at a Sears or Kmart store saying "Things are really looking up here! For some reason there were fewer customers in July and August but now it's September and business has really picked up. I feel great about the future!"
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To me, the positive vibes sound like a fresh young worker at a Sears or Kmart store saying "Things are really looking up here! For some reason there were fewer customers in July and August but now it's September and business has really picked up. I feel great about the future!"
I had 3 downloads today at Alamy...happy days. :)
Microstock is getting tougher and tougher, no question about that. That's why we must diversify our work and look for where they would gain the best ROI.
Whining, sobbing and thinking nostalgically is a waste of time and energy.
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Picked up $40 worth of SOD downloads on SS yesterday at $2.05 each - almost felt like 2014 for 24 hours
I had a few round that level.....any idea if its something new or we just got a little lucky?
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Picked up $40 worth of SOD downloads on SS yesterday at $2.05 each - almost felt like 2014 for 24 hours
I had a few round that level.....any idea if its something new or we just got a little lucky?
Could it be the Daily Mail/ThisIsMoney/Metro?
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Picked up $40 worth of SOD downloads on SS yesterday at $2.05 each - almost felt like 2014 for 24 hours
I had a few round that level.....any idea if its something new or we just got a little lucky?
Could it be the Daily Mail/ThisIsMoney/Metro?
H'mm not editorial but kind of thing that might be in some kind of article.
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Picked up $40 worth of SOD downloads on SS yesterday at $2.05 each - almost felt like 2014 for 24 hours
I had a few round that level.....any idea if its something new or we just got a little lucky?
Could it be the Daily Mail/ThisIsMoney/Metro?
H'mm not editorial but kind of thing that might be in some kind of article.
I used to find them online easily via Google reverse images search.That's how I found the unpaid RM (Alamy) uses. Now they have gone micro/RF and are paying even less for wider uses. :(
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I've came across your images some time ago and I can only say: great job!
And also a great respect for sticking to your positive attitude because I see a loooot of negativity around here. As well as on shutterstock forums. Doom and gloom everywhere, one would think it's the end of the world, until you see the portfolios of those who complain :)
Back to the topic: yes, it's been somewhat slower during the summer, but it seems like sales are improving starting from September... we'll see, I guess :)
Thanks Urbazon :)
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Sales are up for both SS and Adobe Stock. Not sure what happened to 123RF. Even though 123RF make up a small percentage of my overall earnings, the recent drop-off has been pretty disappointing. It's like they're losing customers to Adobe or something.
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Sales are up for both SS and Adobe Stock. Not sure what happened to 123RF. Even though 123RF make up a small percentage of my overall earnings, the recent drop-off has been pretty disappointing. It's like they're losing customers to Adobe or something.
They are returning from the dead for me...but still low on the other hand Adobe is falling like a stone ...the only comfort being I'm going down the rankings so just a poor run rather than wider site problem.
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They are returning from the dead for me...but still low on the other hand Adobe is falling like a stone ...the only comfort being I'm going down the rankings so just a poor run rather than wider site problem.
I had record high earlier in the year at 123RF and sales have steadily declined over the summer and hasn't recovered. Maybe it's a bad run and I'll see a better October. As of right now, September is on pace to be 2nd worst month of the year over there, even worse than July.
Adobe Stock has been very consistent for me. I think other contributors are starting to notice it too and they're uploading more. Competition is starting to heat up.
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I'm finding with many sites sales seem a lot more inconsistent than in the past but it often balances out by the month end or say three or so months. May well have a nice run on Adobe before month end ;-).
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Going for some flares alla Uber
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Going for some flares alla Uber
Not exactly the same, but as predicted:
And like you many others, who, in 6 months from now, will be able to better compete with Uber and eat a slice of his tasty pie ;)
Keep on sharing your success numbers and recipes, Uber! :P
We all like you for that! :-*
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Going for some flares alla Uber
Stealth flares?
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Stealth flares?
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Great work Uber... !! other think that copycats dont usually do: invest REAL money in shots...
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I had 3 downloads today at Alamy...happy days. :)
Thanks for the reminder. I hadn't looked at Alamy in a while because I licensed maybe 2-3 images since I had send my port. Nothing going on there. Suddenly, there are a bunch of reported sales, for more than a few hundred dollars total. Wow. Bizarre.
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Going for some flares alla Uber
Not exactly the same, but as predicted:
And like you many others, who, in 6 months from now, will be able to better compete with Uber and eat a slice of his tasty pie ;)
Keep on sharing your success numbers and recipes, Uber! :P
We all like you for that! :-*
Flares aint gonna cut it alone Zero ;) If you look at our first 30 files, only 3 have them ;)
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Great work Uber... !! other think that copycats dont usually do: invest REAL money in shots...
Thanks :) AND SPOT ON ;D
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I had 3 downloads today at Alamy...happy days. :)
Thanks for the reminder. I hadn't looked at Alamy in a while because I licensed maybe 2-3 images since I had send my port. Nothing going on there. Suddenly, there are a bunch of reported sales, for more than a few hundred dollars total. Wow. Bizarre. .
I hope to get to a stage in my business soon that I can also forget about an agency and still earn a few hundred dollars 😀 Right now I'm on mass submission mode 💪🏻