Author Topic: Exclusive Preparations (Read 26238 times)

Danieloncarevic · « **Reply #75 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:03 »

Wow, wow

I never said that I will act as bad as I can in order to get kicked from DT. I was just wondering if there are any alternatives, that's all. I've read on some other thread (on this forum) that someone sent pornographic content or whatever - that's why I mentioned that.

Also, I didn't say that I'm going exclusive on iStock right now. I recently started there but I'm pretty sure that iStock is the best micro-stock agency that exist. Correct me if you think otherwise with constructive reasons. I'm mostly doing weddings photography... football matches and etc. Stock was always something secondary for me as a photographer so I'm well aware of my pretty poor portfolio(s). However, I'm finishing a photo-studio where I will be getting more serious into commercial photography.

Being exclusive on one agency will always be a looong discussion with a lot of constructive comments on both sides. I know a lot of people who are exclusive over there for a year or so now and they've never regret that move.

And yeah, you're right... I have to think about it and I have the time to do so but I think I already spent some time thinking about it and some of the conclusions are:

The GENERAL reason is because when exclusive you need less time when sending photos... putting keywords.. categories and whatever.. Less time tracking the revenues.. downloads and etc. Less time and effort in general.

But I also have mostly negative opinions about the agencies I already work for and those are the following:

DREAMSTIME: I don't like the 6-months period at all. Everyone should be able to terminate the contract whenever he/she wants and DT is the worst stock agency regarding that. Also, I had many problems with this agency. Once I was commenting on their delay with payments on a thread that someone else started. I haven't been rude at all, just said that I've been waiting a lot for the payment and I've been banned from forums for a long time until I had to speak to Achilles in order to remove the forum-ban I got. Also... the revenue in general is quite low. I'm not expecting a lot with the current porfolio but still... I'm getting much more on other agencies where I have less photos.

BIGSTOCKPHOTO: Well... this agency is not that good anyways. Everyone knows that. Nothing special against them - it's just that the revenue is much lower than on other agencies and I wouldn't regret leaving them. Especially after they added the 90-days period needed before terminating the contract.

SHUTTERSTOCK: A very particular agency actually. For SS you have to be ACTIVE and I mean really ACTIVE if you want to consider this agency worth your time. On SS if you're uploading images every day I can guarantee that you will have a pretty nice number of downloads every day. That's not bad at all - it keeps you active.. pushing you to work. But if you make a pause of only few days (a pause that everyone will take) you will notice a BIG difference in revenues. I've been on a trip and out of the internet-range for about 2 months and I noticed the significant drop of sales by more than 50-60%. And we shouldn't forget about their prices and the revenue you get - one of the lowest on micro-stock agencies I guess. At least the lowest of all the ones I've worked for.

FOTOLIA: The agency that is actually getting me most revenue so far. But there is something over there that bothers me A LOT. Lack of communication. Do you have a contact over there? Did you ever try to contact someone regarding your photos or something? You will probably notice 'Contact Support' but that's just a joke. I opened a message over there asking about some photos that were declined with some ridiculous reason and I got the following reply:

Code: [Select] [nofollow]

Hi,

Thank you for your e-mail. All of your images and videos have been reviewed by our selection team. Please note that the selection team is a separate department, so we have no influence on their decision. The main criteria for validation or rejection are: the quality of the image/video, the technical requirements, the similarity to existing Fotolia photographs and the image's/video's sale potential. We know that it can be difficult to have an image or video rejected but please bear with us. We encourage you to continue uploading your images and videos.

Kind regards,

Fotolia Team U.S.

I usually get pissed when I get a template from a person who just clicked on the reply without using 1% of his/her brain so I asked again the same question - this time asking for the e-mail or the place where I could contact the actual 'selection team' but I got the following message:

Code: [Select] [nofollow]

We apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately our selection team does not re-evaluate validations individually or provide a specific detail report of rejection, there for, we do not have an email address that we can provide you with as we don't provide this type of service.

After that I took my last chance - creating a thread in the forum. However, I waited more than a week to get a reply from some moderator who told me that he will forward the problem to the department but I never got any reply regarding that and when I bumped the thread asking if there is anything new my thread got locked. That's all about Fotolia's support. Once of the worst I've ever seen.

BOTTOM LINE: Some agencies are not bad but going exclusive reduces the time needed for sending photos... putting the keywords.. description... categories... Tracking the images online... the downloads... the revenues... The changing of 'Terms of Use' and any other 'rules' on the website. You can be totally focused on one agency only and do your best on that one.

I'm aware that (theoretically) if I'd go exclusive TODAY my revenue would be cut by 80% at least. I'm well aware of that. That's why I'm not even planning on going exclusive right now. I'm just considering that option and sharing it with my reasons with you to see your opinion about it.

Peace.

Daniel

nruboc · « **Reply #76 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:26 »

What's your acceptance rate at IStock? I see you have 700-800 at other sites but only 130 at IStock.

Danieloncarevic · « **Reply #77 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:32 »

Quote from: nruboc on October 12, 2010, 17:26

What's your acceptance rate at IStock? I see you have 700-800 at other sites but only 130 at IStock.

Yes, like I said I recently started uploading photos on iStock but I just love the way that agency is functioning. My acceptance rate is about 45% a this moment I think. And yes, I know I need to have at least 50% but that's not a problem at all. I'll most probably reach those 50% by the end of the month.

madelaide · « **Reply #78 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:36 »

Quote from: Danieloncarevic on October 12, 2010, 17:03

I never said that I will act as bad as I can in order to get kicked from DT. I was just wondering if there are any alternatives, that's all. I've read on some other thread (on this forum) that someone sent pornographic content or whatever - that's why I mentioned that.

In fact, you did imply you would consider those solutions:

Quote from: Danieloncarevic on October 12, 2010, 12:12

I know there are no nice ways like contacting them and telling them that I want to leave DT but is there any alternative like telling them to go to hell... spam with photos that have porno content or whatever... or anything like that?

lisafx · « **Reply #79 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:49 »

Quote from: bunhill on October 12, 2010, 15:37

What you are suggesting would be unprofessional and basically offensive. And it would not put you in a good light. You would likely end up regretting it.

I had a difficult conversation with Dreamstime when I de-activated my images from them a few years ago. I regret that now because it was childish of me. There is never any point in being anything other than quiet and cool about these things. Especially when you have signed an agreement. And six months is no time. Think of it as a cooling off period, a chance to think about whether you are sure. Be professional about it if you decide it is for the best.

Over the years I have begun to make more sense of why DT and some other agents require a time commitment. It makes much more sense to me now. They have invested time and resources in your images. Potential buyers may have bookmarked your images. They have taken you seriously and they are asking the same in return. It's a small commitment. (A lock in was the norm in the days before microstock btw).

More than all that and as someone who very much believes in diversity and competition, I am starting to think that requiring work to be online for an agreed period of time may help protect the industry in general (and therefore all of us contributors) against short-termism. It reduces the possibility of huge numbers of artists jumping ship on a whim.

Really insightful comments Bunhill. Not too many people are as honest with themselves or as introspective as you have been. I think your post should be required reading for anyone who wants to burn their bridges at any of the agencies.

Just speaking from my own experience, I am really extremely grateful for the DT 6 month hold. It has been a very useful cooling off period when I was convinced I wanted to be exclusive at Istock.

Just this year I was almost one of the many people snared in Istock's push to get independents to go exclusive so they could "preserve their canister level". Fortunately for me Istock made some very worrying moves in that six month period of time and I decided to stay independent. I am so glad I did. Seeing how many people were taken in by that deal and are now losing income because of it is very, very sobering.

donding · « **Reply #80 on:** October 12, 2010, 17:58 »

Have you read this thread?
http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/istock-changing-royalty-structure/msg166499/?topicseen#new
You really need to read it before you decide to go exclusive

OM · « **Reply #81 on:** October 12, 2010, 18:06 »

Quote from: cclapper on October 12, 2010, 15:44

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 12, 2010, 15:22
why have you left Fotolia? communication with them? thanks

I left a couple of years back during some uproar over something they did to contributors. To be frank, I can't even remember what the "crisis du jour" was, but basically I had had it and took my photos down. Something similar to the latest istock restructuring.

A lot of others here are still with them and doing well, but I think the drama still continues.

No truly earth-moving changes there in the past 10 months. Files without a single sale within 12 months have been demoted to a basis single credit status instead of 2,3,4 or whatever the starting price. Sold to contributors on the basis that a lower price will encourage buyers to purchase. Whereas in reality they're all on page 500+ of the search and will never be seen again, except perhaps by visiting aliens.

lisafx · « **Reply #82 on:** October 12, 2010, 18:08 »

Okay, well since you admit you haven't spent a lot of time with stock, I will fill you in on some of the details of the various agencies that you may not know. Feel free to take what you find useful and leave the rest

Quote from: Danieloncarevic on October 12, 2010, 17:03

DREAMSTIME: I don't like the 6-months period at all. Everyone should be able to terminate the contract whenever he/she wants and DT is the worst stock agency regarding that. Also, I had many problems with this agency. Once I was commenting on their delay with payments on a thread that someone else started. I haven't been rude at all, just said that I've been waiting a lot for the payment and I've been banned from forums for a long time until I had to speak to Achilles in order to remove the forum-ban I got. Also... the revenue in general is quite low. I'm not expecting a lot with the current porfolio but still... I'm getting much more on other agencies where I have less photos.

Sorry you had this bad experience getting banned on the forums. OTOH, how many agencies do you think you can write to the owner with something like that and be helped by him personally? Serban is one of the most involved owners in the industry. It's not surprising, then, that any time there has been a poll of what agency contributors like best, Dreamstime always comes out in first place.

BIGSTOCKPHOTO: Well... this agency is not that good anyways. Everyone knows that. Nothing special against them - it's just that the revenue is much lower than on other agencies and I wouldn't regret leaving them. Especially after they added the 90-days period needed before terminating the contract.

BigStock is has not historically been one of the top selling agencies, but they sold to Shutterstock a few months back and I have seen growth in sales since then. Also, the 90 day hold there has been in their contract since I joined Big Stock in March 2005, so I am not sure where you got the idea it was something new.

SHUTTERSTOCK: A very particular agency actually. For SS you have to be ACTIVE and I mean really ACTIVE if you want to consider this agency worth your time. On SS if you're uploading images every day I can guarantee that you will have a pretty nice number of downloads every day. That's not bad at all - it keeps you active.. pushing you to work. But if you make a pause of only few days (a pause that everyone will take) you will notice a BIG difference in revenues. I've been on a trip and out of the internet-range for about 2 months and I noticed the significant drop of sales by more than 50-60%. And we shouldn't forget about their prices and the revenue you get - one of the lowest on micro-stock agencies I guess. At least the lowest of all the ones I've worked for.

This bit about not being able to take time off from SS is just not true for everyone. Maybe if you have a very small portfolio you will notice the difference, but once you have a couple of thousand images online you don't need to "feed the beast" nearly as often. And it has never been the case that you can't take a "pause of only a few days" without seeing a "BIG difference in revenues". For several years now I have only been uploading once or twice a week and there is no drop in revenue at all. In fact revenues have improved so much I had 2nd BME there last month, despite taking a couple of weeks off in September. If you take two months off, and you have a small portfolio, well then that's a whole other story.

FOTOLIA: The agency that is actually getting me most revenue so far. But there is something over there that bothers me A LOT. Lack of communication. Do you have a contact over there? Did you ever try to contact someone regarding your photos or something? You will probably notice 'Contact Support' but that's just a joke. I opened a message over there asking about some photos that were declined with some ridiculous reason and I got the following reply:

I can see how the response from Fotolia customer service was frustrating. But to be honest, other than Istock's Scout system, there really isn't much of a rejection appeals process on any of the sites. That isn't unique to Fotolia.

And a year ago I would have agreed with you about Fotolia having a lack of customer service in general, but over the past year I have seen a big improvement in their customer service department. The last several times I have had to contact them they have been courteous and prompt in addressing my issues.

Bottom line is you want to go exclusive at Istock. That's your choice and I am not trying to dissuade you. It's a personal choice, and quite possibly the right one for you.

But it really isn't necessary to trash all the other sites just to justify your decision. And as Bunhill pointed out, you may want to rejoin them at some time in the future. Best not to have burned the bridges to the ground...

bunhill · « **Reply #83 on:** October 13, 2010, 01:17 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 12, 2010, 18:08

it really isn't necessary to trash all the other sites just to justify your decision.

Exactly right. And more than that:

It remains a diverse and evolving industry. Most of us are probably hoping to build on what ever we have achieved so far as the industry evolves. The people we deal with professionally at one company might be working at another a few years later. If we are well behaved and act professionally - well that goes with us to some extent as our reputation. In a competitive environment all of the companies are interesting. But it is really important to remember that we are ultimately also working with individuals.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #84 on:** October 13, 2010, 01:38 »

Quote from: cclapper on October 12, 2010, 15:44

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 12, 2010, 15:22
why have you left Fotolia? communication with them? thanks

I left a couple of years back during some uproar over something they did to contributors. To be frank, I can't even remember what the "crisis du jour" was, but basically I had had it and took my photos down. Something similar to the latest istock restructuring.

A lot of others here are still with them and doing well, but I think the drama still continues.

Yep I see.. I was very pissed at the beginning and made a lot of things but nothing come from that.. I am from Europe (Portugal) and I have entered/registered with a US link so I am receiving in $.. which is a complete fraud.. around 30% loss

qwerty · « **Reply #85 on:** October 13, 2010, 02:20 »

if you want to go exclusive at Istock I wouldn't bank on more than 20-25% royalities in my calculations. That will be the future for all except the most talented and hard working exclusives there.

designalldone · « **Reply #86 on:** October 13, 2010, 03:39 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 12, 2010, 17:49

Snip...
Just this year I was almost one of the many people snared in Istock's push to get independents to go exclusive so they could "preserve their canister level". Fortunately for me Istock made some very worrying moves in that six month period of time and I decided to stay independent. I am so glad I did. Seeing how many people were taken in by that deal and are now losing income because of it is very, very sobering.

Just to clarify - are you referring to people that may lose income in Jan '11 due to the recent announcements, or do you know for certain that some people have lost income since going exclusive at the beginning of 2010 when iStock did their 'canister preserve' push?

I would be genuinely interested to hear if anyone has lost income so far this year due to becoming exclusive. On the contrary, exclusivity has been very good for me through 2010 and I will end up making more than I did as an independent in either 2008 or 2009.

gostwyck · « **Reply #87 on:** October 13, 2010, 10:54 »

Quote from: Danieloncarevic on October 12, 2010, 17:03

SHUTTERSTOCK: A very particular agency actually. For SS you have to be ACTIVE and I mean really ACTIVE if you want to consider this agency worth your time. On SS if you're uploading images every day I can guarantee that you will have a pretty nice number of downloads every day. That's not bad at all - it keeps you active.. pushing you to work. But if you make a pause of only few days (a pause that everyone will take) you will notice a BIG difference in revenues. I've been on a trip and out of the internet-range for about 2 months and I noticed the significant drop of sales by more than 50-60%. And we shouldn't forget about their prices and the revenue you get - one of the lowest on micro-stock agencies I guess. At least the lowest of all the ones I've worked for.

I think you may be seriously miscalculating the current and future trends in microstock __ most especially the potential of Shutterstock and the also ability of Istockphoto to maintain it's historical dominance.

My own port is over 4K images and it makes relatively little difference if I upload my usual 50 or so new images in any given month at SS. Most income is generated from the quality images that have earned high placement in the sort-order and have been generating steady sales over years, not days or weeks. PPD sales at SS are now accounting for over 30% of my income and this month my earnings per sale is 67c. I'm well on target for a second consecutive BME at SS and am projected to be +35% above Oct 2009.

In contrast my sales at IS have been sliding backwards since March and are projected to be the lowest since Dec 2008 and 34% down from Oct 2009.

From my data Istockphoto's dominance has never looked more uncertain.

lisafx · « **Reply #88 on:** October 13, 2010, 11:22 »

Quote from: designalldone on October 13, 2010, 03:39

Just to clarify - are you referring to people that may lose income in Jan '11 due to the recent announcements, or do you know for certain that some people have lost income since going exclusive at the beginning of 2010 when iStock did their 'canister preserve' push?

Very good point. AFAIK nobody has lost income yet.

However, at this point, halfway through October, with only about 6-8 good earning weeks left in the year, it should be pretty easy to calculate whether you will lose income, or not, starting in January.

And I can assure you that if I had gone exclusive by the August deadline, in accordance with the push and the promises by Istock, I would have been counting on a lot more than just the last quarter of the year to make the promised royalty rate corresponding to my canister level.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #89 on:** October 13, 2010, 11:34 »

It's been a little over 2 years since I went exclusive at IS after nearly 4 as an independent.

The bottom line is that there's something to like and the put-up-with-it stuff at all the agencies - specifics vary from one to another. Which agencies can deliver, consistently, monthly return on your portfolio is what drives people's decisions for the most part.

I must say that I think it's an odd time to be considering IS exclusivity even though I will likely continue mine come January assuming that they don't move the redeemed credit targets from what they announced in September (and I consider it entirely possible that they will raise them if too many people make their targets as they want to get an overall payout of 20% and will do what they need to to make that happen).

If you think you can create a consistent stream of Vetta and Agency Content (and you have to be exclusive to do that) you might find that exclusivity at IS is a good strategy for you. Otherwise I'm not sure it makes sense. To do well you'll need to be a high volume producer and keep doing that year after year - and if that's the case you'd do just as well or better being independent. Being independent would also reduce the risk of getting further hosed by Getty who will undoubtedly continue to squeeze contributor income whenever and wherever they can.

Exclusivity at IS means much less all the time - first it was some exclusive content on Thinkstock; then Vetta and Agency content on IS and Getty; the upcoming Japan iStockalypse content is going on all the Getty places, not just iStock (requirement of all uploads). Once Getty manages to reduce even high producing exclusives to a 20% royalty rate (which I'm near certain they will do over the next year or two) it's not clear why you'd stick with exclusivity unless you have bucket loads of Vetta/Agency stuff.

helix7 · « **Reply #90 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:28 »

Quote from: Danieloncarevic on October 12, 2010, 17:03

...Being exclusive on one agency will always be a looong discussion with a lot of constructive comments on both sides. I know a lot of people who are exclusive over there for a year or so now and they've never regret that move...

...The GENERAL reason is because when exclusive you need less time when sending photos... putting keywords.. categories and whatever.. Less time tracking the revenues.. downloads and etc. Less time and effort in general...

I don't think it's that long of a discussion these days. A lot has changed in the last month or so. Working with istock just ain't what it used to be. It's a much riskier proposition now.

If you're just looking to save some time, cut upload time, etc., and given that you're looking at microstock basically as a hobby (my assumption, given your small amount of upload activity), you're not likely to be too badly hurt by going exclusive with istock. If you're not worried about paying a mortgage or putting food on the table with your microstock earnings, and you're not concerned with any detrimental effects of of the new royalty rates, it's not as risky a move. If you're planning on making a career out of this or at least making microstock a greater part of your income, I would suggest you reconsider exclusivity. You're currently working with just 4 agencies. Most independents, especially those who regard microstock as any significant part of their livelihood, work with 2 or 3 times that number of agencies.

If I were you, and I was looking to grow my microstock business, I'd expand to other agencies instead of consolidating down to one. But if all you're looking to do is cut your time commitment to microstock, maybe exclusivity isn't such a bad idea.

FD · « **Reply #91 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:36 »

There was a time I would (it never happened) yell at a person standing on the edge of a roof of a high building: please don't! Now I would just yell: jump, jump!
With just 200 sales on "that" site and 1500 on DT, me thinks things should be obvious.

Freedom · « **Reply #92 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:50 »

I became exclusive a few months ago.

For people with large portfolios such as Lisafx, it does not make sense to go exclusive at all.

I totally understand your reasoning. You are not wrong.

Since I became exclusive, I haven't seen a huge jump of my earnings, plus the unilateral changes recently, I am disappointed.

However, I don't regret my decision. Even though many exclusives threatened to cancel their exclusivity, few people actually have done it. Why? Because comparing to other agencies, iStock still enjoys a lot of advantages. Since you are a contributor, I don't have to repeat what you have said.

Danieloncarevic · « **Reply #93 on:** October 14, 2010, 05:58 »

Thank you all for the comments.. Most of them are very constructive... I have time to think about it so we will see what will happen in the future, most probably in February/March 2011.

Quote from: FD-regular on October 13, 2010, 12:36

There was a time I would (it never happened) yell at a person standing on the edge of a roof of a high building: please don't! Now I would just yell: jump, jump!
With just 200 sales on "that" site and 1500 on DT, me thinks things should be obvious.

Well... that could be a matter of review as well if you ask me.. On DT I started uploading in June, 2005. Now I have 755 photos and most of them (500-600) are there for few years already. That being said I have 'only' 1,692 sales that brought me $1,526.51. ($0,90 per sale)

On the other side, on IS I started uploading in the end of 2007. Now I have 130 photos but most of them are there for about a year or even less. That being said I have 285 sales that brought me $320.68. ($1,13 per sale)

Dreamstime was my first agency I worked for and the place where I got my first $0.50 after the first sale which is difficult to describe but maybe it's 'time to say goodbye'. Maybe not but it's a possibility that I will be considering in the beginning of 2011.

ichiro17 · « **Reply #94 on:** October 14, 2010, 07:48 »

Quote from: designalldone on October 13, 2010, 03:39

Quote from: lisafx on October 12, 2010, 17:49
Snip...
Just this year I was almost one of the many people snared in Istock's push to get independents to go exclusive so they could "preserve their canister level". Fortunately for me Istock made some very worrying moves in that six month period of time and I decided to stay independent. I am so glad I did. Seeing how many people were taken in by that deal and are now losing income because of it is very, very sobering.

Just to clarify - are you referring to people that may lose income in Jan '11 due to the recent announcements, or do you know for certain that some people have lost income since going exclusive at the beginning of 2010 when iStock did their 'canister preserve' push?

I would be genuinely interested to hear if anyone has lost income so far this year due to becoming exclusive. On the contrary, exclusivity has been very good for me through 2010 and I will end up making more than I did as an independent in either 2008 or 2009.

Income up 100% from 2009, where i was exclusive from June to December. Good year for me

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Author Topic: Exclusive Preparations (Read 26238 times)

Danieloncarevic

nruboc

Danieloncarevic

madelaide

lisafx

donding

OM

lisafx

bunhill

luissantos84

qwerty

designalldone

gostwyck

lisafx

Jo Ann Snover

helix7

FD

Freedom

Danieloncarevic

ichiro17

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