MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => Dreamstime.com => Topic started by: hatman12 on February 08, 2007, 15:22

Title: Got my first sale.....
Post by: hatman12 on February 08, 2007, 15:22
Well I'm pleased to see I got a sale at Dreamstime.  First Microstock sale ever.  Still, I only joined on 6th Feb.....

I now have a massive account balance of US 50c!  Hmmm..... difficult to decide what to spend that on......

Same series of 'Yellow Umbrella' images were uploaded to the top five so I'll be interested to monitor what happens.

All very exciting.....
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: madelaide on February 08, 2007, 15:38
Congratulations!  DT used to be my best earnings, then it dropped to the 4th position, but this month so far it's in second.

Regards,
Adelaide
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: leaf on February 08, 2007, 16:26
congrats.
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: takestock on February 08, 2007, 17:03
I take my "hat" off to you, well done & congrats!!

Wishing you many more.
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: hatman12 on February 09, 2007, 15:51
As a newbie I am constantly researching and analysing.  As eaders here will know, I don't believe many things about the microstock industry, and in particular the number of images in total held by each agency is, to me, almost irrelevant.  What is important is customers, traffic and sales.

In my first two weeks with the start of a portfolio I have uploaded the same 22 shots to the various agencies (except 123RF which I believe is a waste of time).  For comparison purposes those shots have been viewed 57 times (in total) at Dreamstime (with one sale), whereas the same shots have been viewed only 7 times at Fotolia.

Okay, I know it's only my first two weeks.  But these differences are huge.

I am waiting for my first upload to come on line at iStock and Shutterstock.  It will interesting to compare.
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: GeoPappas on February 09, 2007, 16:41
I am waiting for my first upload to come on line at iStock and Shutterstock.  It will interesting to compare.

FYI: You can't see your views at SS.
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: a.k.a.-tom on February 09, 2007, 17:17
FYI: You can't see your views at SS.

Yeah, I don't like that.. I like to see what's being looked at to give me a clue of what to load in the future and what to forget about.  It amazes me still when I look at any of the sites and pull up a ranking by 'popularity'   and look at what's being viewed.   Some pictures that I think were trash, are at the top of the list, or first page. Pix I think would be "popular"  are on the next to and last page... LOL :D

Hatman12 -- Hey, congrats on your first!!!   FT is a very popular and productive site for many here at MSG.  You really haven't been on it all that long to make a fair comparisson.  Everyone else seems to do well there.   
       However, in my case after  5 months, I found that my total views were next to nothing.  And very few sales (16 total on 5 pictures..... - I do more than 16 sales daily at SS - same portfolio).  It was suggested that I had a poor keyword foundation on the pictures.  Yet, when I'd search with the exact  'name' of the picture,  the pix didn't come up on the search, let alone through exact keywords. I use pactically the exact same keywords on every site.  I don't claim to know the workings of the sites, but I do know, my pictures rarely came up in a search when I surfed myself or even had others look for me.   ???
      I don't know why I did so poorly at FT, as I said, everyone else here seems to do very well there.  In spite of my bad experience at FT, I would still say to newbies, keep uploading there and give it a fair chance.  One thing unique that I liked about FT,  you know who purchased your work. Hang in there........  8)  -tom
     
   
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: madelaide on February 09, 2007, 18:34
For comparison purposes those shots have been viewed 57 times (in total) at Dreamstime (with one sale), whereas the same shots have been viewed only 7 times at Fotolia.
Hatman,
It seems to me that FT is very effective despite the less views.  In my case, I have many images with very little views selling.  Maybe it's the way they treat keywords in the search, I don't know.  And I see much more views at StockXpert.

Regards,
Adelaide
Title: Re: Got my first sale.....
Post by: hatman12 on February 11, 2007, 16:56
Well I spent all weekend shooting an 'eggs' series.  Nineteen results from 127 shots.

I uploaded to BigStock, Dreamstime and iStock.  I also uploaded to Fotolia.  But then I had a doubt.  Something is nagging me about Fotolia; something to do with so few views, so few downloads for their top selling images, and yet huge headlines about over two million photos online etc.

I suspect that over one million of their photos are 'free'.  This would explain why there are so few views (I have not elected to have any of mine on the free area).  And it would also explain why the top selling images seem to have less than one tenth success compared to Dreamstime, and less than one twentieth compared to iStock.  And yet they claim to be the biggest, the best etc etc.

Do I want to be associated with an agency I do not trust?  No.

So I deleted my uploads and will not upload to them again.  I am happier now I have taken that decision.  Gut feel counts for a lot, and my gut says there is something wrong about FT.

I know I am new, and I know many here have had success at FT.  But there you are....