Mmmm. Downloads stopped again 

@ Herg... I'm worried that you're going to stress yourself out by measuring minutiae 

Some days are better than others, weekends are slower than weekdays.  Don't stress too soon.  Measure things over a week or a month rather than over a minute or an hour. 

Sometimes it could be that someone else is uploading an enormous port that's grabbing all the buyers' attention.  Who knows what might go on when things are inexplicably slow.  Don't worry... have patience

The only way forward is upload more and better work.  It's better to focus on that while you're waiting, rather than getting RSI in your F5 finger.  Whatever's holding things up for you may resolve while you're working.  In the meantime, the results will come as your new work builds.

I do understand.  I used to be exactly the same.  It's not worth it though.  Too much stress.  Energies are best spent creatively and productively, I feel. 

Quote from: rubyroo on January 23, 2012, 06:32

@ Herg... I'm worried that you're going to stress yourself out by measuring minutiae 

Some days are better than others, weekends are slower than weekdays.  Don't stress too soon.  Measure things over a week or a month rather than over a minute or an hour. 

Sometimes it could be that someone else is uploading an enormous port that's grabbing all the buyers' attention.  Who knows what might go on when things are inexplicably slow.  Don't worry... have patience

You are 100% right but it's hard  I think I had my hopes set too much for SS with all the hype. It's just very disappointing. Just over $7 in a week.

Unfortunately, your brain filtered out all the not-so-good stuff, including the RPD.
My brain does that too sometimes; but more likely the opposite, as I'm a glass-half-empty kind of person. Apparently.
I faffed about for about 18 months or more after hearing about micro before applying because of all the obvious caveats.

We both, from opposite ends, need to heed the motto, "Balance in everything".

...I think I had my hopes set too much for SS with all the hype. It's just very disappointing. Just over $7 in a week.

If it was overhyped, frankly I think you were reading what you wanted to hear. There has been plenty of discussion here about the downside of dropping exclusivity. I have personally discouraged some people from dropping exclusivity for the exact reasons that you are experiencing. There's no guarantee that all of your images will be accepted, or even half of them will make it. It's tough starting out, and it can take a year or more to really build up momentum at SS and get up to speed. It's a long-term change, not an immediate switch-over.

I don't blame you for expecting a lot. If istock wasn't working out for you, coming here and reading lots of positive stuff about SS would certainly be tempting to anyone. But it's also been discussed here quite a bit that making the jump isn't easy and can take a long time to pay off. It's something that takes work, and won't result in immediate gains. In the long-run, I think it's a smart move and you'll eventually be glad you did it. But until then, it might be a struggle at times.

But to earn only over $8 for 29 downloads is exactly the reason why it's not making any difference. That amount of downloads at IS would average me around $60. That's a huge difference. The reason I dropped exclusivity was because of the way IS is going. It also fails to sell as many images as it used to. I came to SS for the very reason it's supposed to be the best and growing all the time. Yes, it's still probably the right move BUT I am still (at this moment in time) underwhelmed from all the talk here.

But just think: in a year's time you could be well ahead of those of us who were too slow to jump ship.
It's all in the long term planning, and second-guessing what They are going to do to us next.

But to earn only over $8 for 29 downloads is exactly the reason why it's not making any difference. That amount of downloads at IS would average me around $60. That's a huge difference...

You're talking about RPD, which is not really all that helpful comparing SS to istock. Of course the RPD at istock is much higher, especially if you're exclusive. SS is more about the bottom line at the end of the month, which for most folks here is often much much higher than at istock.

Your SS RPD does seem a bit low to me. This is just based on my personal stats, which most days puts my RPD at at least $0.50 and often more like $0.60 or $0.70, whereas you're seeing $0.28. Granted that's assuming you're still at a lower earnings tier and it's also based on just 29 DLs, which isn't much of a data sample.

I still think you need to give it some time. Maybe even a year to really see how things play out. But again, long-term, I still think non-exclusivity is the right play. If a year from now you're getting 9-10x your independent istock earnings at SS alone (as I am), it won't take long to make up the difference between what you would have made as an exclusive vs. as an independent and then surpass that amount. Short-term, right now, if you stayed exclusive you'd be making more money. But like most people, I doubt you're in this for the short-term, and in time I think you'll find that you're much better off spreading your work around to other agencies.

Quote from: Herg on January 23, 2012, 11:22

But to earn only over $8 for 29 downloads is exactly the reason why it's not making any difference. That amount of downloads at IS would average me around $60. That's a huge difference. The reason I dropped exclusivity was because of the way IS is going. It also fails to sell as many images as it used to. I came to SS for the very reason it's supposed to be the best and growing all the time. Yes, it's still probably the right move BUT I am still (at this moment in time) underwhelmed from all the talk here.

Are we going to have to read a dayly upgrade of you constant complaining and sale report.

ROTF

The only thing that has died are my sales which are now even worse. Why did I listen to all the SS evangelists here ! 

The only thing that has died are my sales which are now even worse. Why did I listen to all the SS evangelists here !  

Initially I felt bad for you, but your daily laments, accompanied by vague accusations, are kind of embarrassing to watch at this point.  It's only 60 days before you can reapply to Istock for exclusivity, right?  

Quote from: Herg on January 25, 2012, 12:19

The only thing that has died are my sales which are now even worse. Why did I listen to all the SS evangelists here !  

I sure wish you didn't...

ROFL!  Don't we all!!!  

The only thing that has died are my sales which are now even worse. Why did I listen to all the SS evangelists here ! 

A different question: why did you stop listening once you made the move?  We've responded to your endless whinging with both sympathy and advice, the latter of which seems to have had no effect at all.  Okay, I'm done.  Guess we have an Ignore button for a reason.

Tell you what folks, I am going to stop complaining and get on with something creative. Jan is not my best time of year as I suffer with the blues and obviously I have vented my feelings here too much. Sorry.