Author Topic: Why DT is not working for me? (Read 19869 times)

arquiplay77 · « **on:** March 07, 2009, 13:27 »

Hello:

Since I've started in this business, i have an eye on the poll results here.
I decided to upload to the big 6 and was expecting DT to be a very good earner, but I'm earning very little there compared to other sites that are lower in the poll (FT, StockXpert, ISP) the only one earning less is 123RF.
So I'm starting to think maybe I'm doing something wrong.
Do yo believe that the kind of work one have, can affect drastically the results in different sites?
I was thinking NO, my guess is that clients are all the same for deferents sites, but maybe I'm wrong.
So my question would be, do you do something special in DT for have good results? maybe some kind of image? maybe keywording in a particular language? don't know I'm lost.

Thank you for your insight.

Pixart · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2009, 14:18 »

DT takes a while to take off. At least 3 months.

Go through your photos and make sure that your most important keyword(s) are in both your title and desctiption.

Do not send photos just to see if they will pass inspection. Approval % matters.

Do not spam. If your images are reported for keyword violations they will drop to the bottom of searches.

It took me a year to make my first $100 on DT and one month to make my next.

lisafx · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2009, 14:18 »

I don't know for sure. Most people report doing well on DT, but yours is not the first complaint I have read where someone is disappointed.

Since you image quality is the same across the board and sales are better elsewhere, I wonder if it might have something to do with search placement. Rumor has it Dreamstime's search engine relies heavily on title and description, in addition to keywords. Some of the other sites don't factor title and description so heavily, or at all, in the case of IS.

Also, some of the other sites may favor newer images more heavily than DT. I notice on DT my new images take a few months to pick up steam, but have a longer shelf life.

If I were you I would review my descriptions and titles on DT and see if you can improve them.

No other suggestion except continue to upload quality images and be patient.

(Looks like Pixart was quicker

)

null · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2009, 14:26 »

Quote from: arquiplay77 on March 07, 2009, 13:27

I decided to upload to the big 6 and was expecting DT to be a very good earner, but I'm earning very little there compared to other sites that are lower in the poll (FT, StockXpert, ISP) the only one earning less is 123RF.
So I'm starting to think maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Not at all. Your portfolio has great stock value. It takes however weeks in DT before you get settled well in the search results. Your images have just 0-4 views now. It takes a long time to build up those. This is unlike ShutterStock where you get downloads 2 days after upload but they gradually wane off after a few weeks. You're doing nothing wrong on DT. Just be patient and keep uploading, IMHO.

arquiplay77 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2009, 14:56 »

OK.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences, i will have patience, i just thought i was missing something here, jeje.

I will pay more attention to descriptions and title from now on.

Cheers.

MikLav · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2009, 15:52 »

It's too early for any conclusions - your portfolio looks good for stock but it's only 67 pictures - so keep up the good work and success will come

travismanley · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2009, 16:05 »

Just give it more time. It took a long time before I got regular sales at DT, but they are my #2 site behind SS.

jim_h · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2009, 16:50 »

I too am puzzled by DT. I've put the same small group (about 50) on DT and SS. My acceptance ratio has been very high. In the first week, I made a few dinky subscription sales on both. In the month since then, SS sales have continued and even picked up, but there hasn't been a single sale on DT. SS is outperforming DT by a factor of 10, and still climbing. It's like my account at DT just "died" after the first week.

On the advice of other posters here, I'm continuing to submit to both, but it seems weird to me. What's special about the first week? I keep coming back to the idea that if you don't start selling right away, they rank your account lower, which of course is a downward spiral. It is hard for me to see why sales would start up again after 3 months or a year.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2009, 17:01 »

Don't worry. I'm sure sooner or later sales on DT will satisfy you. I got a friend who started microstock some 6 months ago. Since then, DT was very slow with sales for him, but FT started very good. Few days ago, he told me that DT started to pick up.
So I guess you have to wait.
DT is good. Don't give up. Also, watch your approval rate. I think it has influence to your placement in search.
Good luck!

jim_h · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2009, 17:09 »

The approval rate certainly has to be important. But it seems to me that the sales rate would be even more important. The agencies know that some submitters just have a good instinct for what will sell, so they would want to rank those submitters higher. At least that's what I'd be thinking if I ran an agency.

If I could get away with it I'd put the high-performing submitters in a special "gold" category and just accept whatever they submitted, not even bothering to review them, and put those images at the front of the list.. Then I'm maximizing sales as well as saving labor costs on reviewers. And conversely if a submitter just didn't sell diddly, I'd rank him lower and hope he'd give up, so I could stop spending money on reviewing his images.

I guess that sounds harsh, but - doesn't it make sense?

Magnum · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2009, 17:22 »

I´d love an agency if the did that to me..

PixelsAway · « **Reply #11 on:** March 07, 2009, 18:02 »

10 months to the first payout at DT, then 3 months to the 2nd, then 2 months, ... and, hopefully, 1 month ...

After 10 months DT moved to the 3rd place in my earners after SS and IS: http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/microstock-photography-earnings-february-2009/

It needs some time.

arquiplay77 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 07, 2009, 19:18 »

I now my port is small since i have just started, but i am comparing my earnings between agencies with the same port, so that shouldn't be an issue, unless DT consider the size of the port for positioning results.
Just was confused because my "ranking" wasn't like the poll here, especially with DT been second here and 5th in mine.
But if you tell me that is normal in DT to react slowly, i believe you.
BTW, my approval ratio in DT is 94.4%.

RGebbiePhoto · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2009, 14:34 »

We put up all our Micro images on all of our Micro sites. DT sells different images than my other sites. While it's possible that the customer base may be similar across all sites, there are still customers that ONLY shop at DT, ONLY shop at IS, ONLY shop at SS...

DT took a few months to pick up for us, but once it did, the sales have been steadily increasing. While not staggering, we have received a few payouts from DT already.

Just keep submitting, the larger your portfolio, the easier it is to find.

Gebbie

RaFaLe · « **Reply #14 on:** March 18, 2009, 04:50 »

For me, DT has the 2nd highest rejection rate of photos.
Reading these posts, however, certainly gives me hope.
I'm also going to keep uploading. I guess some sites take time while others offer faster turn-around.

By the looks of things, that's just the way of the game...

RT · « **Reply #15 on:** March 18, 2009, 05:00 »

Dreamstime have never been a good earner for me and the only reason I upload to them is because I upload to the others, if Dreamstime announced they were closing tomorrow it wouldn't be something that would bother me.

Many people judge a site on how friendly it is, personally there's only one thing that counts and it's sales.

They're a very good site for some aspects but extremely bad for others.

arquiplay77 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 24, 2009, 06:21 »

I believe the expertise of the people in the bussines since long ago, so I'm not questioning if this is or not (the slow progression of DT i mean), but why is this?
It has obviously something to do with the position your images appear in the searches result, but can someone tell me what is taken into consideration for this, is it how long you have been there? or the amount of your entire portfolio has something to do with the position of a single file? or what?
Just wonder this because i don't understand why in this site the progression is different from others and why it is so much difference, apparently, in the earning as the time goes by.

BTW excuse my english, hope i made some sense.

Danicek · « **Reply #17 on:** March 24, 2009, 06:30 »

^^ The most probable thing is that they weight views more than other agencies meaning that your images have to collect the views to make their way up the search results.

Other variables are likely downloads. Then there is the acceptance ratio which I believe is quite rare thing about DT.

RaFaLe · « **Reply #18 on:** March 24, 2009, 12:40 »

I have a really bad acceptance ratio at DT.
Most of my images are rejected - the same images that are making a few downloads on other sites.

I see that DT is working well for some - and I guess it will for me if I persist.
However, because of my high rejection ratio, I have my 2nd smallest portfolio at DT of all other sires. The smallest is FT for the same reason.
The irony is that I already made a sale at FT, and none at DT.

I agree with what people are saying - and maybe it's a good thing that they're picky about their images.
I guess there are different target markets for various Microstock sites and some will hit it off well with certain sites because of their predominant subject matter, and others won't.

I'm really just hoping mine will pick up eventually and I can grow my port to beyond the microscopic size it is now.

Still, I think persistence will pay off.

goldenangel · « **Reply #19 on:** March 24, 2009, 12:45 »

It took me a few months to start seeing regular sales on DT. From what I see, quite a few people said that DT was a slow starter. I'm sure persistence will pay off.

RaFaLe · « **Reply #20 on:** March 25, 2009, 07:56 »

Quote from: goldenangel on March 24, 2009, 12:45

It took me a few months to start seeing regular sales on DT. From what I see, quite a few people said that DT was a slow starter. I'm sure persistence will pay off.

Thanks Goldenangel.
I look forward to that day when my photography has improved in leaps and bounds and I can honestly say "I'm making some decent money now off microstock".

tan510jomast · « **Reply #21 on:** March 25, 2009, 08:17 »

sorry double post..

tan510jomast · « **Reply #22 on:** March 25, 2009, 08:24 »

DT will give you sales. instant sales are great, but in my case of other sites, they die after 3 months with no more sign of life. so don't give up, and don't judge a site because it gives you instant sales at the beginning. DT is consistent , like their review time. you know it delivers.

Magnum · « **Reply #23 on:** March 27, 2009, 06:30 »

I haven´t had a download there for 12 days. what´s going on?

stormchaser · « **Reply #24 on:** March 27, 2009, 16:06 »

I'm having a BME there. Had a few print ELs which is nice. So the buyers are there and active.

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Author Topic: Why DT is not working for me? (Read 19869 times)

arquiplay77

Pixart

lisafx

null

arquiplay77

MikLav

travismanley

jim_h

Dreamframer

jim_h

Magnum

PixelsAway

arquiplay77

RGebbiePhoto

RaFaLe

RT

arquiplay77

Danicek

RaFaLe

goldenangel

RaFaLe

tan510jomast

tan510jomast

Magnum

stormchaser

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