Forget it.  I had about a dozen sales in 2012 and maybe 15 in 2013.  So far this year, exactly 1 (one) sale.   

It's over. 

Till July I sold more than in whole 2013. It'll be BYE

My tips:
- take a photo (what photo?*),
- prepare it (IPTC with perfect title, description and keywords when post processing),
- upload (about 10-100 in batch),
- repeat all above and don't look back over.

For me it works quite well

To be serious. It's not a magic trick. I wrote about it before - I had better sales after delete some images from micros. I take care what is zoomed (your account in Alamy). Micro pricing is against my business in that case.


* Various photos! One of last sales was image of garbage in water, river after flood with plastic bottles, cans etc. (for $125) Few days later some tulip flowers growing, herb plant as well, food isolated and not isolated, ... RF and RM, doesn't matter.


May I see what kind of images you have? How many files in portfolio? PM me?

Okay, I've tried everything I can think of on how to get better results (sales) on Alamy but nothing seems to work for me.  Any tips on how to keyword or if I should include more information on the other areas?

Thanks

 

We're selling more images than ever before in our 15 year history so there is plenty of opportunity for revenue with us.

We are very different to microstock so a different strategy is needed. We sell licences from $10 up to $10,000+ but the average price per sale is around $100. You can expect to make fewer sales than you do on MS but for higher value.

You don't mention how many images you have or the type of work you have in your portfolio so it's impossible for us to give you any specific advice but if you want to post a link to your collection here we'd be happy to give you some pointers.

The photographers who do best with us submit well edited work regularly and keyword (relevantly) and thoroughly...

Cheers

Alamy

for instance, the BBC website is using Alamy photos amost every day.
most of them are about travel locations and "people doing things".

i'm selling exactly that on alamy, no idea how other niches will perform, but the 100$ gross average is a bit on the high end in my experience.


 

Quote from: Alamy on August 08, 2014, 03:50

Quote from: Goofy on August 07, 2014, 11:12

Okay, I've tried everything I can think of on how to get better results (sales) on Alamy but nothing seems to work for me.  Any tips on how to keyword or if I should include more information on the other areas?

Thanks

 

We're selling more images than ever before in our 15 year history so there is plenty of opportunity for revenue with us.

We are very different to microstock so a different strategy is needed. We sell licences from $10 up to $10,000+ but the average price per sale is around $100. You can expect to make fewer sales than you do on MS but for higher value.

You don't mention how many images you have or the type of work you have in your portfolio so it's impossible for us to give you any specific advice but if you want to post a link to your collection here we'd be happy to give you some pointers.

The photographers who do best with us submit well edited work regularly and keyword (relevantly) and thoroughly...

Cheers

Alamy

The bolded text I highlighted above says it all and Alamy doesn't fully fill in the blanks.  Alamy, how many images do YOU have and how many are being added per week? If you are adding, say, 200,000 per week (probably more), and you are adding, oh, I dunno, 100 new contributors per week, and Goofy, being one contributor, is adding 5 per week, the math and common sense should be the first explanation as to why sales are dropping (or non existent) for him and all contributors is pretty straight forward.  You can use the logic fairly, I suppose, that you are a very different market, but the root cause of declining or non existent sales is the amassing of a ginormous collection on a magnitude that is killing stock for photographers yet pumping up revenue for Alamy. It's simply spreading growing revenue over an even faster growing contributor base, that is the real reason, not so much a 'different market'.  I've been with you guys for around 8 years or thereabouts and I used to make A LOT more each month with my style of shooting, which hasn't changed much.  Today, I am lucky to make 1/4 of what I used to make. And I know that it is due to incredible image & contributor growth as a weighted priority over a 'different market'. I am not saying your market isn't different, just that this explanation is far lower on a weighted scale than collection growth as it relates to declining/non-existing sales.   

If you're making less revenue than what you used to make in the past that could be down to a whole number of factors including:

- Increased competition across the whole market, not just on Alamy, are there better pictures available now of the subjects you shoot / shot?
- Not changing your content to suit the market (this is an example, without your name we don't know who you are or what your collection looks like). You do say though that your "style of shooting hasn't changed much". Buying habits and trends certainly have changed a lot in 8 years though.
- Not refreshing content to keep up with trends - eg if you shoot lifestyle, are your subjects now outdated etc?

The point is, we can't give any specifics to Goofy without knowing what his/her collection looks like and whatever way you look at it, the number of images he/she has submitted is important along with what we followed that statement with (but you didn't highlight) - the type of work they are producing. By type we're not only referring to the style/subject but also the quality and suitability for the market.

We've got contributors who make very good returns from only 1500 or so images and others who make very good returns from 50,000+ images - so number of images is important to an extent but not the be all and end all.

Sorry you feel that our collection is "killing stock for photographers yet pumping up revenue" for us. We remain one of the best places to sell your images if you're a stock shooter. We're non-exclusive and we offer 50% commission on all sales made.

We sell all kinds of imagery to all kinds of clients, but if you're submitting exactly the same work on Alamy that you have on the micros, it's feasible that a client will be aware of this and buy your work there. That's not to say you won't also sell this work with us, you will, but you have to be realistic with your expectations if you are submitting the same work elsewhere that is available much cheaper.

To get back on topic for the OP - if you're not comfortable sharing your details here please feel free to send us a PM and we'll be happy to look through your collection and give you some pointers as to where you can improve.

Cheers

Alamy

Quote from: Mantis on August 08, 2014, 07:27

Quote from: Alamy on August 08, 2014, 03:50

Quote from: Goofy on August 07, 2014, 11:12

Okay, I've tried everything I can think of on how to get better results (sales) on Alamy but nothing seems to work for me.  Any tips on how to keyword or if I should include more information on the other areas?

Thanks

 

We're selling more images than ever before in our 15 year history so there is plenty of opportunity for revenue with us.

We are very different to microstock so a different strategy is needed. We sell licences from $10 up to $10,000+ but the average price per sale is around $100. You can expect to make fewer sales than you do on MS but for higher value.

You don't mention how many images you have or the type of work you have in your portfolio so it's impossible for us to give you any specific advice but if you want to post a link to your collection here we'd be happy to give you some pointers.

The photographers who do best with us submit well edited work regularly and keyword (relevantly) and thoroughly...

Cheers

Alamy

The bolded text I highlighted above says it all and Alamy doesn't fully fill in the blanks.  Alamy, how many images do YOU have and how many are being added per week? If you are adding, say, 200,000 per week (probably more), and you are adding, oh, I dunno, 100 new contributors per week, and Goofy, being one contributor, is adding 5 per week, the math and common sense should be the first explanation as to why sales are dropping (or non existent) for him and all contributors is pretty straight forward.  You can use the logic fairly, I suppose, that you are a very different market, but the root cause of declining or non existent sales is the amassing of a ginormous collection on a magnitude that is killing stock for photographers yet pumping up revenue for Alamy. It's simply spreading growing revenue over an even faster growing contributor base, that is the real reason, not so much a 'different market'.  I've been with you guys for around 8 years or thereabouts and I used to make A LOT more each month with my style of shooting, which hasn't changed much.  Today, I am lucky to make 1/4 of what I used to make. And I know that it is due to incredible image & contributor growth as a weighted priority over a 'different market'. I am not saying your market isn't different, just that this explanation is far lower on a weighted scale than collection growth as it relates to declining/non-existing sales.   

If you're making less revenue than what you used to make in the past that could be down to a whole number of factors including:

- Increased competition across the whole market, not just on Alamy, are there better pictures available now of the subjects you shoot / shot?
- Not changing your content to suit the market (this is an example, without your name we don't know who you are or what your collection looks like). You do say though that your "style of shooting hasn't changed much". Buying habits and trends certainly have changed a lot in 8 years though.
- Not refreshing content to keep up with trends - eg if you shoot lifestyle, are your subjects now outdated etc?

The point is, we can't give any specifics to Goofy without knowing what his/her collection looks like and whatever way you look at it, the number of images he/she has submitted is important along with what we followed that statement with (but you didn't highlight) - the type of work they are producing. By type we're not only referring to the style/subject but also the quality and suitability for the market.

We've got contributors who make very good returns from only 1500 or so images and others who make very good returns from 50,000+ images - so number of images is important to an extent but not the be all and end all.

Sorry you feel that our collection is "killing stock for photographers yet pumping up revenue" for us. We remain one of the best places to sell your images if you're a stock shooter. We're non-exclusive and we offer 50% commission on all sales made.

We sell all kinds of imagery to all kinds of clients, but if you're submitting exactly the same work on Alamy that you have on the micros, it's feasible that a client will be aware of this and buy your work there. That's not to say you won't also sell this work with us, you will, but you have to be realistic with your expectations if you are submitting the same work elsewhere that is available much cheaper.

To get back on topic for the OP - if you're not comfortable sharing your details here please feel free to send us a PM and we'll be happy to look through your collection and give you some pointers as to where you can improve.

Cheers

Alamy

I don't disagree with your overall assessment made above but I was referring to your statement that you're selling more images than ever before. If that's true then my statement is also true, regardless of the competitive landscape. The number of image sales is going up yet contributor sales are going down at alamy. That means two simple things. You are forced to lower pricing to compete with microstock even though you target a very different market, and you are spreading these increased, or growing, image sales across way more contributors. As far as my images, I have a very broad collection and continue to look for new ideas and shoot to those. I also have a niche collection. When I say that my style hasn't changed much, I meant that I use the same lighting techniques, studio set ups etc, but my breadth of subject matter is getting broader as I add content.  Not that in my previous comment I didn't dismiss your claims, just that my opinion, I believe, has more weight.

I'm not sure what all the doom and gloom is about.

As I've said before, I started contributing in 2006, then I left in 2008, then I returned in 2011.  The reason I left stock altogether is because I had to sell my equipment to help a relative.  I pulled my images because I shut the company down altogether (I treat stock like a business, not a hobby).

With relation to revenue, my revenue has increased over the past 3 years



With relation to sales...they decreased last year, and have increased slightly this year and are on target to exceed all previous years...



The tips.....
diversify your portfolio
diversify your keywording
get out and shoot
have patience

Keep in mind you are shooting for a different market.  Your images are less likely to be used by bloggers, the local mechanic, or smaller companies.  Your images are more likely to be used by larger advertising agencies, textbook buyers, news companies (except CNN who loves Shutterstock), etc.

My revenue isn't as high as some folks on Shutterstock but it's on par with various other agencies.  You also have to keep in mind when comparing to other agencies that this is an unedited collection so people are going to have a lower "per image" return but they are also going to have less time spent editing per image in order to make the image "micro acceptable" (removing logos, replacing the sky to make sure it is blue, etc.).

I guess it's just me, then.

I've never started on Alamy (well, I tried it out at one point), because most of what I read in the forums is people finding their work in European publications, realizing they never got paid for it, and the trouble they seem to have getting the fee.  And the discounts, which seem to result in a few dollars for extensive RM rights.  I don't have the time to deal with that kind of thing.

I've never started on Alamy (well, I tried it out at one point), because most of what I read in the forums is people finding their work in European publications, realizing they never got paid for it, and the trouble they seem to have getting the fee.  And the discounts, which seem to result in a few dollars for extensive RM rights.  I don't have the time to deal with that kind of thing.

True, but the RF model makes it almost impossible to know if a use was paid for or not.
RM sbould be easier to track, but Alamy doesn't care to pursue.

Yeah, walk around with your camera and point it at stuff and keep clicking, upload 10s of thousands of whatever comes out and some of it will probably find buyers.

I think Alamy is definitely worth the effort. It creates an outlet for images that I can't or don't place anywhere else. I also upload RF there that is not exclusive, but those shots don't sell as well on Alamy.

The only frustrating part for me is the review process and what people on their forum call the 'sin bin.' If one image in a batch of any size is rejected, that entire batch sits for 30 days with a status of 'Awaiting QC.' You can't look at it or determine which image was rejected or why. And a batch is every image uploaded since the last review, even if different batches. I try to scrutinize every image in my Alamy folder before uploading, but obviously miss something occasionally. To circumvent that, I will sometimes just upload 'safe' studio shots, but those don't sell as well there. Makes me nervous about uploading large batches.

Early on I questioned this and was told that the assumption is that if one image has a problem, then it is likely the other images shot at the same time will have the same problem. But, as with my micro agencies, I upload a wide variety of shots from different sessions and times.

But it's their playground and we have to play by their rules.

The good news is that batches that pass usually do so in less than 24 hours. Any batch I upload will pass the next business day.