MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Bigstock.com => Topic started by: mpalis on September 12, 2010, 09:10
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Hello
It seems that sames are not going good for me in BS. Any tips on how you can increase sales in BS?
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+ 1
I have a hard time there too... only small portfolio of about 80 but only 1 sale in 3 months.. ???
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Now if you wanted to lose sales with BS you could talk to IStock management (phnar phnar)
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Hello,
We've got a number of tips on our blog, The Upload. I was going to make some additional suggestions in this thread, but if you can give me a day or two, we'll try to put together a blog post that services everyone with that information.
These are pretty general, but here are some blog posts on this topic. What we would create as a new blog post would likely summarize the tips in a more specific fashion.
How to keep image sales high:
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/05/stock-image-sales-tips/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/05/stock-image-sales-tips/)
7 essential keywording tips:
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/07/keyword-tips/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/07/keyword-tips/)
What's the best time to upload images?
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/05/when%E2%80%99s-the-best-time-to-upload-images/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/05/when%E2%80%99s-the-best-time-to-upload-images/)
5 ways to make your images more salable:
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/07/5-ways-to-make-your-images-more-salable/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/07/5-ways-to-make-your-images-more-salable/)
Some basic tips:
- Keywording and metatata. We generally recommend 25-40 (or more) **accurate** keywords per photo, since keywords drive search results. Titles should be descriptive of the photo, but "Black Dog Barking at Burglar" is better than "Dog" for search.
- Our top contributors keep a large and diverse portfolio. The larger and more diverse your portfolio is, the more successful it will likely be.
- Make sure that your images reflect needed and topical themes, but they need to be creative. If you're trying to compete in the category of saturated topics, such as a "business handshake" - the image really needs to be one of the best of its type to be successful. Think beyond the usual and stay aware of seasonal and topical trends. For example, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could cause a spike in the use of environmental- and oil-related images.
We give buyers a large number of ways to get to images (recent, popular, etc...) and we also feature images in topical blog posts and newsletters. We've got pretty robust marketing efforts underway, but you can also market your own images through social media.
I'll look to create another blog post with this type of info, but there's some info there to get you going.
Some of these concepts are also covered in Ellen Boughn's new book, Microstock Money Shots:
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/09/book-about-stock-photography/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2010/09/book-about-stock-photography/)
Best,
Scott
Product Manager
Bigstock
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Thanks a lot for the info , very helpful. I appreciate it and look forward to reading more..
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Thanks for the info. It would be great if you have a blog deticated to tips about increasing sales / better kyeowrds etc..
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+ 1
I have a hard time there too... only small portfolio of about 80 but only 1 sale in 3 months.. ???
No sales in two months, identical pictures that sell on SS. Oh by the way, BS rejects the same images that sell on SS, but accepts the ones that they reject. Lets hear it for diversity and different products from the same owners. My theory is they have different review standards and teams. ;)
The views being limited to real people, not thumbnail exposure, is a nice change. We will know if someone really looked or saw something by accident while searching for something else and never clicked ours. Good data is more valuable than pretty numbers that mean nothing.
I confess that 25-40 good relevant keywords is way beyond my usual, 10-15 really matching keywords and nothing else. I could be part of the problem with the "less is more" plan.
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I regularly have a few sales there each month. Nothing to be happy about, but frequent steady sales.
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I usually have 40 to 50 keywords.. so I don't think keywording is an issue..
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If nothing else, I appreciate Bigstock's attentiveness to a new thread about them. It's good they're watching this well run forum (Thanks Leaf). They have always answered my contributor questions quickly. Their service has not slacked since being purchased by Shutterstock. I hope they gain customers from those "less contributor friendly" services.
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I see from this thread, that Ss bought BS.
Are my SS pictures then also automaticaly shown on BigStock?
Anynone know about this?
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I see from this thread, that Ss bought BS.
Are my SS pictures then also automaticaly shown on BigStock?
Anynone know about this?
No. Submission processes have stayed completely separate.
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I see from this thread, that Ss bought BS.
Are my SS pictures then also automaticaly shown on BigStock?
Anynone know about this?
The sale was a year ago in September 2009! ;D
http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/23/stock-photography-consolidation-shutterstock-buys-bigstockphoto/ (http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/23/stock-photography-consolidation-shutterstock-buys-bigstockphoto/)
To answer the question, they are at this time running independently. Nothing from BigStock goes to SS, nothing from SS gets to BigStock. Not that it's impossible but BigStock has been around since 2005 and accepted different photos from different people, plus some from the same, it would be a terrible mess, trying to sort things out. StockXpert being bought by Getty and merging files with IS proved what a mess it can be. :)
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Thank you Scott. Very informative.