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Author Topic: New Interview: Gerald Staufer, CEO of Westend61  (Read 7011 times)

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« on: November 24, 2014, 05:09 »
+2
Westend61 has been receiving a lot of publicity lately as photographers look for agencies with higher license prices. Westend61 also is a Stock Performer partner, so we decided to interview the CEO and share with you his thoughts on the market.

The interview is a great source to learn more about the agency Westend61.

https://www.stockperformer.com/blog/interview-series-gerald-staufer-ceo-of-westend61/

Enjoy!
Luis


« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2014, 08:41 »
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Good one!

« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2014, 11:10 »
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Interesting.   Thanks for sharing.

« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2014, 14:04 »
0
I really look forward to these Stock Performer interviews. Thanks for doing them.

« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2014, 15:07 »
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Very interesting interview. Thank you very much

« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2014, 15:11 »
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Interesting although it would have been more so if you'd have asked how Westend61 has an 'exclusive' account at Istock whilst the same images are available at other microstock agencies.

« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2014, 15:12 »
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It doesn't seem like it would be beneficial to be splitting tiny royalty amounts with a distributor, as far as MS goes.

« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2014, 16:44 »
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You make it up by better placement in the search engine and by moving up faster across the levels. At least that is the idea.

As a single artist, I cannot produce very high volume of images every month to stay visible. But if we bundle our uploads, the westend portfolio will rise up for all of us. Many agencies will increase the visibility of your images based on the size of the batches you upload. If you can upload 500 files a week all files will be pushed higher than if I send in 50. And the westend portfolio will reach silver/gold/ruby/diamond levels long before I do as an individual.

I just joined, Ill see in a year how it goes. But I think it is worth testing and if I am happy with the results, then I will feed my own portfolios with more specialized content. or I send a special theme to westend for the micros and other things to my normal micro portfolios. We will see.

I am not going to close my normal accounts or pull my files. I see this as an additional opportunity and if it works well, I should have more time to focus on what I love.

The other alternative would be to hire staff and produce higher volume,which is what many smaller studios do. But i dont want to become a studio, so this is another way to do it.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2014, 16:46 by cobalt »

« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2014, 17:20 »
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I do not think you can compensate a 60% share for Westend by a supposedly better ranking.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2014, 17:30 by R2D2 »

« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2014, 17:51 »
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yes you can, if they earn double than i would myself because they have for instance a much higher ranking at fotolia, while my individual account is still bronze, plus higher rankings in searches...etc...

Ive looked at my numbers and for me it should work. But everybody has a different situation. Also depends on what type of content they will take, how much time it costs me to produce them etc..

Will this be the best system forever? I have no idea...but I see it as an interesting opportunity and another option to move files around with less work.

However I wont close my individual accounts.

The alternative is to hire people to produce more volume. This is less risky.

Westend61 pays 50% "forever" after you reach a base level. 40% is just when you start.

tuned in is one more collection for their artists, nobody is forced to take part. Many of their artists have never done micro, they just want to shoot and are happy to let someone else do the rest.

So you can send them macro, only RM, only RF, only smartphone images, micro or everything.

It is up to the artist, this is just one more option.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2014, 17:59 by cobalt »

« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2014, 21:21 »
+1
If I understood this project correctly  with kind respect to all, In my opinion people on MS group could easily build a "hyper-portfolio" together, I sure don't doubt it would be a quality one and save themselves above 60% of the cut right in the start.

That mostly goes if one is targeting with this one the same market he is present with his work now.

   

« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2014, 03:10 »
0
maybe there is someone out there who is ready to connect people and offer something like this as a service. Westenend is a Macro Agency, this is just an add on for their Artists.

might be a market niche somebody could develop. Perhaps in combination with hosted webshops or direct sales shop of the material.

Or specialized by themes, food, medical images, only families, only for the asian market etc...

Dook

« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2014, 04:10 »
0
yes you can, if they earn double than i would myself because they have for instance a much higher ranking at fotolia, while my individual account is still bronze, plus higher rankings in searches...etc...


That's good idea for beginners at microstock. I have much higer ranking and placement than you mentioned. So, they would need like few years to get to my level.
Anyway, he was talking about their photographers that were "not willing to go through the hassle of keywording their images for microstock"?!?! Man, they got really spoiled over there at macrostock.

« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2014, 04:18 »
0
yes you can, if they earn double than i would myself because they have for instance a much higher ranking at fotolia, while my individual account is still bronze, plus higher rankings in searches...etc...


Sorry this is absolutely unsustainable.

I would always invest in my own reputation / rank among the major agencies not in the reputaion of an small agency like Westend.
If Westend goes bust or the big agencies close the W61 account you lack the reputation among your own accounts.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2014, 04:24 by R2D2 »

« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2014, 06:34 »
+2
They have been around for 11 years, more than most agencies in the market. And they dont depend on microstock, their main income is from macro and direct sales here in Germany.

But like I said, i am keeping my own portfolios,but will specialize them more. So for me this is a good option, but nobody has to follow my path.

However I am not aware of any other macro agency that offers specific micro distribution as well. I just see blend, tetra etc...distributing older content via the micros, but maybe they offer a micro distribution option for their artists as well, I dont know.

In the end it is not different to sending files to stocksy,getty,spacesimages... or any other excusive sales/distribution agent. There is always a risk, but by spreading files, you lower the risk.


« Last Edit: November 25, 2014, 06:53 by cobalt »

Dook

« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2014, 08:03 »
0
Cobalt, do you have any experience with them? Have you applied, is it hard to get accepted? I would also like to try them for my not-micro work. They look like a good solution.

« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2014, 08:27 »
+3
Its a small agency, their online community life is all in German. They also coproduce together with their artists in Germany/Switzerland/Austria, so I think it makes most sense to apply if you live in the region and can benefit from working closely with them. 

However there seem to be a few stocksy artists there, so if you are interested in working with a macro agency or have previous experience with Getty macro or maybe Corbis, you can apply.

I dont know how difficult it is to get in, I met them at a dinner during mexpo and then applied and they took me.

Why not just write to them to find out what their procedure is.

But keep in mind that working with an agency that specializes in distribution means you dont get any real time sales info and that because their many different partners might take files only once every few months it can time quite a while to see your files spread around the globe. It is a different way of working and you have to be very patient.

My portfolio is still new and very small, so I cant comment on sales, but from what I hear it is similar to what you would expect from what we had as Getty house artists. Except that you are not limited to getty, but your files can end up on offset, corbis,masterfile and many,many others. But - they also might not go there, so for instance I have found my files on Corbis but not (yet?) on Offset or Getty.

If you want the real time sales experience, then stocksy is more what people are used to from microstock. But the prices on stocksy are limited to 100 dollars (plus extended licenses). Here your files will be offered for much higher prices (529 euros in Germany), but with discounts can also end up with sales that are lower, like on Getty. But no subs sales. And they also sell direct here in Germany.

But the artists who have been with them for a long time, seem to be very happy.

I dont know how many more artists they want to have or how they want to grow.

Maybe just write to them and ask when it is best to apply or what subject matter is on their needed list.

Overall the biggest advantage in my opinion is that they take in a huge diversity in styles and subject matter. They have such a small group of artists but get an incredible variety out of them.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2014, 09:31 by cobalt »

Dook

« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2014, 09:23 »
+1
Thanks for the info! Very appreciated!

« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2014, 13:38 »
+1
yes you can, if they earn double than i would myself because they have for instance a much higher ranking at fotolia, while my individual account is still bronze, plus higher rankings in searches...etc...

Is there any evidence for a better best match position? You would need to upload a set of identical images both through the distributor and directly and then check which files rank higher.
Contributor ranking may not be such an important factor at all. Download numbers divided by online time should be more important. As a matter of fact, high contributor ranking may have the opposite effect if the site has to pay higher royalty rates.
As far as I remember this is the case at FT. Some time ago emeralds (or whatever they are called) complained here that their sales at FT had tanked. At that time I had to smile, because I had only a small port of old images there and the emeralds were not doing so much better than me as they should have. This might have changed of course, I just don't follow that site. The point is, such a site as FT benefits when lower rank contributors are promoted.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2014, 13:40 by Realist »


 

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