I looked in two different ways at my earnings (and RPI) from IS and SS portfolios as a function of
- time of downloading (sales) - a more common way
- time of uploading (submitting) pictures

Here is a graph for IS earnings:



More pictures including the same graph for SS and RPI comparisons at my blog:
http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/microstock-sales-istock-shutterstock-portfolio/

You can see differences between IS and SS, but trends for SS are changing.

It is a longer post, but if you manage to check it I would appreciate any comments. I have also some suggestions for Rahul and Lookstat.

With 10 or 100 times more sales my analysis would be more reliable ...

You should do a graph showing the amount of potential revenue lost designing graphs 

I looked in two different ways at my earnings (and RPI) from IS and SS portfolios as a function of
- time of downloading (sales) - a more common way
- time of uploading (submitting) pictures

There is a ton of data on your post and it'll take me a little time to digest it. In general though we fully intend to allow you to group images and track the groups earnings over time. I'm going to spend some time with your blog post and will get back to you as I get through it.

Just so I understand, the green bars represent the total earnings (from upload date to the present) of images uploaded during a particular month. And, the red bars represent sales for all images in that month. Is that correct?

Rahul

I really appreciate seeing these graphs, and have a couple of thoughts.  The first is related to possible covariates-- the time span includes a particularly tumultuous period of economic changes and outrageously high increases in number of images available on the microstock sites.  I wonder if there are any data available to enter these factors as potential covariables (though a higher sample size would be required, thus more than one photographer-- another possible thought for Rahul and Lookstat). 

Second, I�m still having trouble deciphering the �recency effect� that may be exist with SS.  It would all depend on the relative weight that recency is given in the search algorithms, as well as the �subscriber effect� of people downloading a variety of new images to top off their monthly limit.  I wish I could see this more clearly on the graphs, but I can�t-- perhaps I�m just being dense.  It�s of keen interest to me, however, because I�ve taken a 2 year sabbatical from my regular work to see if microstock is viable as a sole source of income.  Starting in earnest around November, I�ve seen increases in sales, though I�ve worked VERY hard and reasonably smart.  SS earnings are as follows:

12 08  $62           139 images
01 09  $104   320 images
02 09  $150   508 images
03 09  $293   685 images
04 09  $380   870 images (projected based on today�s totals)

Assuming I�m producing the maximum number of images I�m capable of producing each month (which I dare say I am), then theoretically, if recency is weighted substantially in the search algorithm, at some point the increases in monthly income will plateau.  The question is: When?  Before or after that critical �I can live on this� monthly total?  Any insights on this would be greatly welcome.

Yes Rahul,

this sort of graphs should definitely by part of the LookStat-Site.

@PixelsAway:
Thanks a lot for sharing these numbers. I will need a while as well to think through your post.

Thanks, Robert