Author Topic: Are you on Flikr? Are you making money there? (Read 20766 times)

lisafx · « **on:** April 30, 2011, 16:40 »

A couple of years ago I remember a conversation about whether it was worthwhile uploading there in hopes of stock sales. I believe it was around the time Getty started their Flikr program.

The consensus at the time seemed to be that paid sales at Flikr were few and far between. Back then I concluded it wasn't worthwhile uploading to Flikr if you were hoping for stock sales. Based on the below-referenced conversation, I am wondering if that might have changed...

http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/no-crisis-du-jour-at-istockphoto/msg198604/?topicseen#new

For anyone who uploads to Flikr - do you have your stock portfolio there? Are you making any sales? If so, how do they compare percentage-wise to your microstock sales?

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #1 on:** April 30, 2011, 17:05 »

Quote from: lisafx on April 30, 2011, 16:40

The consensus at the time seemed to be that paid sales at Flikr were few and far between.
For anyone who uploads to Flikr - do you have your stock portfolio there? Are you making any sales? If so, how do they compare percentage-wise to your microstock sales?

The same consensus applies now. Mostly you get requests from people and companies to use your images for free. There is also a sizable theft problem from those not even polite enough to ask. I have made sales though by pointing to other sites and directly. I never point to a micro site.

disorderly · « **Reply #2 on:** April 30, 2011, 18:26 »

I've never had a sale on Flickr, and the images I put up are sufficiently low resolution that I don't expect they're getting much if any free use. I do it to share with friends, or to show off to the world at large. In any event, it's a social rather than a business thing for me.

lisafx · « **Reply #3 on:** April 30, 2011, 22:37 »

Quote from: disorderly on April 30, 2011, 18:26

I do it to share with friends, or to show off to the world at large. In any event, it's a social rather than a business thing for me.

This was always my understanding of what Flikr was about. But now, with people suggesting stock buyers might be going there instead of the micros, it got me wondering.

Thanks for weighing in Zeus. Nice to hear from someone who is selling there, even if the news isn't great.

lagereek · « **Reply #4 on:** April 30, 2011, 23:52 »

Lisa got me wondering too on this subject. I have never paid much attention to this Flickr, seams to be quite amateurish really but now when Getty owns it Im sure they find a way to get money from it??

disorderly · « **Reply #5 on:** April 30, 2011, 23:56 »

Getty doesn't own Flickr; Yahoo does. Getty just uses Flickr members as a source of supply.

lola · « **Reply #6 on:** May 01, 2011, 01:24 »

I set up an account there and specifically upload a certain genre, with the idea of pointing certain buyers to it as my "portfolio" (really it's only for local buyers though). It's a work in progress, and not professional, but it's easy to use. I leave all family and casual stuff out of it on purpose.

I too fear that my small copyright watermark is not deterrent enough for a thief.

I get very few views, and I've never had a request for an image, so perhaps I should redo some of my keywords...and images too

LSD72 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 01, 2011, 01:38 »

I just use mine for social stuff. Like if I want to post on a photo forum or email links back home to my Mom and Bro.

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #8 on:** May 01, 2011, 03:01 »

I use Flickr to show my portfolio and direct traffic to my website, placing a link with each image description.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasambydesign/

(I asked the Flickr staff to review my account and they told me it was okay)

bunhill · « **Reply #9 on:** May 01, 2011, 03:31 »

Check out the Flickr Collection at Getty Images. Some fine work.

(BTW AFAIK this is a route which is open to both Exclusives and non exclusives).

lagereek · « **Reply #10 on:** May 01, 2011, 03:54 »

Quote from: disorderly on April 30, 2011, 23:56

Getty doesn't own Flickr; Yahoo does. Getty just uses Flickr members as a source of supply.

Oh OK, I actually thought they owned part of it or something like that.

Anyway, so how are they earning any money then? I mean it cant all be freebies, or cant it?

bunhill · « **Reply #11 on:** May 01, 2011, 04:00 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 01, 2011, 03:54

so how are they earning any money then?

Flickr Collection at Getty Images.

lagereek · « **Reply #12 on:** May 01, 2011, 04:03 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 01, 2011, 04:00

Quote from: lagereek on May 01, 2011, 03:54
so how are they earning any money then?

Flickr Collection at Getty Images.

Thanks! just goes to show, I would never had known. So thats how they make money out of it but what about the photographers? are they contracted under Getty then.

bunhill · « **Reply #13 on:** May 01, 2011, 04:09 »

http://www.gettyimages.com/creative/frontdoor/contributors

lthn · « **Reply #14 on:** May 01, 2011, 04:29 »

I was approached 7 times for usage of my pictures in flickr, 6 of those worked out. Contrary to most of what I read (and that's why I don't beleive it at all, i think its just ppl trying to bash flickr, for some weirdo reason) nobody ever asked to use my pics for free, every time they offered basically the same amount, about 100$, or 80 euro, etc... it was for a sinlge time usage.... so /usage they were helluva better deal than micros.

ShadySue · « **Reply #15 on:** May 01, 2011, 05:10 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 01, 2011, 04:00

Quote from: lagereek on May 01, 2011, 03:54
so how are they earning any money then?

Flickr Collection at Getty Images.

So I guess Getty contact you and ask you to provide MRs AND/or PRs if they choose your pics?

bunhill · « **Reply #16 on:** May 01, 2011, 05:20 »

lagereek · « **Reply #17 on:** May 01, 2011, 05:54 »

yes, same here, I have been contacted several times to give pictures but never given it a second thought, didnt really know what it was all about.

cathyslife · « **Reply #18 on:** May 01, 2011, 06:29 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 01, 2011, 05:20

FAQ

Well, you certainly did your part and got a bunch of links to Getty in there!

Aside from the Getty collection, I always thought flickr was like deviantArt...people putting up photos to share with others. Not necessarily their own photos, but ones they came across that they thought were cool. A lot of stealing of images. Maybe some sales, but mostly a place to post your pics for sharing with friends and family. In fact, last I read something about it, I thought you weren't allowed to sell pictures directly from flikr, as it is NOT a commercial site. Since Thomas Amby asked, I presume it's ok to link to your personal website. I can see how that might be useful.

bunhill · « **Reply #19 on:** May 01, 2011, 07:02 »

Quote from: cclapper on May 01, 2011, 06:29

Well, you certainly did your part and got a bunch of links to Getty in there!

Linking directly to the information people ask about is often one of the best way of linking to the information which people ask about. It's not a conspiracy and I am sure you would agree that there are some great images in the Getty Flickr collection. ETA: and there are many more images which are available at Flickr under the request-to-license program.

This is something which exists as a potential avenue for photographers in general - for example whether they are exclusive (with iStockphoto) or not. Some people are going to see that as a potential alternative to Vetta for getting images into Getty - which is clearly a potentially very important outlet as anyone with a few Vetta sales there will probably agree.

You can search the Flickr discussion group threads to read different people talking about their experiences of whether it works for them or not.

helix7 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 01, 2011, 17:54 »

I've used flickr primarily just as a promotional venue for just a handful of images. I upload low-res watermarked images there and link to GL or my own personal site. But lately I've been rethinking that strategy. No doubt it's silly to direct any sales to a microstock site. I'm just not sure what my strategy should be for flickr. Link to purchase at my personal store, link to my personal site with licensing info, no link and just hope someone contacts me to license an image, etc.

lisafx · « **Reply #21 on:** May 01, 2011, 18:31 »

Really good discussion. Thanks to you Flikr experienced folks for sharing your info.

@Thomasamby - what you are doing is very clever! I can certainly see how that would be a promising way to drive traffic to your personal site. Do you think you have gotten an increase in traffic, and/or sales as a result of your Flikr presence?

click_click · « **Reply #22 on:** May 01, 2011, 21:35 »

Quote from: ThomasAmby on May 01, 2011, 03:01

I use Flickr to show my portfolio and direct traffic to my website, placing a link with each image description.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasambydesign/

(I asked the Flickr staff to review my account and they told me it was okay)

That's what I did but for some reason I never get any inquiries...

How is your feedback from Flickr visitors? Do you have a consistent stream of buyers from there?

lthn · « **Reply #23 on:** May 02, 2011, 06:20 »

IMHO, a site like flickr -just like your own site- supposed to be for promoting yourself as photographer to get commissions, jobs. Setting up your own site for selling shots escpecially of the microstock kind is pretty much useless, you'll never be able to compete with the agencies... and sales thru flickr are good value usually, but rare. I just use it to promote my own showcase site, get somewhat better ranking thru the clicks, and to have even more stuff up there for anyone who wants to see what I do, and for my models to see what . I'v done to them recently : )

louoates · « **Reply #24 on:** May 02, 2011, 16:54 »

I recently put a dozen or so images on Flikr so I can't talk from my experience. But a friend of mine uses it for his images, mainly landscapes, and he does get the occasional sale from it. It's also pleasant to get requests to add images to someone's Flikr group although I have no idea if there is any benefit doing so other than feeling warm and fuzzy.

It's easy to upload there especially if you send small files optimized for the web. I was disappointed that my view numbers haven't been higher until I realized that, according to a counter during uploading, Flikr as getting 5,000 to 8,000 images PER MINUTE.

When you scan through recent shots there you see that there is a huge range of quality from superior to gag-me-with-a-spoon ugly. Some Folks seem to upload every digital shot they every took. Can you imagine being a microstock-style reviewer sifting through all that garbage looking for pearls?

gwhitton · « **Reply #25 on:** May 02, 2011, 21:16 »

I think the key to getting noticed on Flickr starts with the following.

- Having shots people are interested in
- Expending the effort to get known, join groups, make contacts, comment, etc

Both take alot of effort, more time than a lot of us have. But once you have that audience, as I have seen with a few of the top guys, you'll achieve more views in a few hours than most will in a year. How much traffic that directs to your website, and ultimate sales, or commissions is another thing. Probably depends on who's looking...which is always the case.

click_click · « **Reply #26 on:** May 02, 2011, 21:34 »

Quote from: gwhitton on May 02, 2011, 21:16

I think the key to getting noticed on Flickr starts with the following.

- Having shots people are interested in
- Expending the effort to get known, join groups, make contacts, comment, etc

Both take alot of effort, more time than a lot of us have. But once you have that audience, as I have seen with a few of the top guys, you'll achieve more views in a few hours than most will in a year. How much traffic that directs to your website, and ultimate sales, or commissions is another thing. Probably depends on who's looking...which is always the case.

Talk about the effort, I mean where the heck do those people take the time to browse different groups and comment like a machine gun just to have others counter-comment on their stuff? And then it's basically just fuzzy, warm comments from many "non-pros" that are useless comments.

Those "top guys" wouldn't be doing well if they didn't spend a significant time shooting or doing what they do best.

Unless they perfected their business in a way where they work 4 hours a week shooting and the rest is outsourcing the RAW stuff to post-processors and uploaders so they can pimp their own portfolio around the internet for the rest of the time.

I'm trying to work 10 hours a day (7 days a week) just on images and illustrations, uploading everything asap to keep the stream of new stuff running. Then I'm supposed to be blogging, run my personal/business web site as my electronic business card, pimp my stuff on Zazzle and Co., ~~have a life~~, take care of a household etc.? Every day I'm running out of those lousy 24 hours.

No idea how those "top guys" are doing it.

gwhitton · « **Reply #27 on:** May 02, 2011, 21:57 »

At some point you know they have to hire people....its just not humanly possible, even if you are a machine that runs on expresso. ;o)

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #28 on:** May 03, 2011, 02:31 »

@ Lisa and click_click: I opened my account less than a month ago and have just about 40 images online so it's too early to tell. I don't get much traffic to my website in general, but I can tell from my cPanel stats that many visitors are being referred from Flickr. It's kind of an experiment and I'm looking for all sorts of traffic right now - be it clients, other illustrators, bloggers, haters or admirers - everything counts

Once the site's ripe for targeted traffic I'll look into advertising on Google.

My main intention with the Flickr experiment is of course to get clients for freelance work, but I've also posted referral links on my portfolio page (to get buyers to sign up, not contributors). Dreamstime has the best system, as they keep referrals "in mind" for a month (a cookie is stored telling DT that the buyer came from your site, even if it was 29 days ago) and you get 10% of their purchases for three years. I've had no signups so far, but at Graphic Leftovers I can see that people are actually clicking even though GL is the last site I've listed, so I imagine people are clicking my DT referral link also (first one listed).

Will get back to this thread with results if anything interesting happens

lthn · « **Reply #29 on:** May 03, 2011, 03:11 »

Quote from: gwhitton on May 02, 2011, 21:16

I think the key to getting noticed on Flickr starts with the following.

....

hotties : )

lagereek · « **Reply #30 on:** May 03, 2011, 03:59 »

Quote from: ThomasAmby on May 03, 2011, 02:31

@ Lisa and click_click: I opened my account less than a month ago and have just about 40 images online so it's too early to tell. I don't get much traffic to my website in general, but I can tell from my cPanel stats that many visitors are being referred from Flickr. It's kind of an experiment and I'm looking for all sorts of traffic right now - be it clients, other illustrators, bloggers, haters or admirers - everything counts Once the site's ripe for targeted traffic I'll look into advertising on Google.

My main intention with the Flickr experiment is of course to get clients for freelance work, but I've also posted referral links on my portfolio page (to get buyers to sign up, not contributors). Dreamstime has the best system, as they keep referrals "in mind" for a month (a cookie is stored telling Dreamstime that the buyer came from your site, even if it was 29 days ago) and you get 10% of their purchases for three years. I've had no signups so far, but at Graphic Leftovers I can see that people are actually clicking even though GL is the last site I've listed, so I imagine people are clicking my Dreamstime referral link also (first one listed).

Will get back to this thread with results if anything interesting happens

Yep! also noticed an incredible amount of views at GL, I mean lots! and its strange not resulting in sales. Might ofcourse be taht lots of members are also looking at each others work? dont know.

helix7 · « **Reply #31 on:** May 03, 2011, 07:55 »

I wonder if there's any value in taking advantage of the Creative Commons search capability at flickr. I've used it to find free images to use in blogs. They're not great images, but they sometimes are good enough to accompany a blog post and they're usually free as long as you attribute the image to the owner, usually by linking to them or their website and/or giving credit below the image.

Might be worthwhile to throw a few LCV images up there under the CC license and let people use them for free as long as they link back to you. It could generate some traffic to your flickr page, your website, and maybe lead to some sales or work.

I'm not a fan of giving anything away for free, but we all have some images that just don't sell or aren't even available on stock sites. Maybe they can be used on flickr to generate some traffic through CC licensing.

helix7 · « **Reply #32 on:** May 03, 2011, 08:10 »

Quick tip that's worked well for me: Use flickr Groups. I've noticed that images I submit to Groups have significantly higher views. I'm a vector artist, so I joined a few vector groups and submit images to them, and those images have a lot more views, sometimes 1000+. Not sure if it's quality traffic, and it could be a lot of other vector folks looking at my stuff. But it's significantly more traffic than my non-group images get.

lisafx · « **Reply #33 on:** May 03, 2011, 10:36 »

Thanks Thomas, and Mike (Helix) for sharing some very useful ideas. Much appreciated!

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #34 on:** May 03, 2011, 10:57 »

Lisa,

I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

lisafx · « **Reply #35 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:06 »

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 10:57

Lisa,

I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

Very helpful suggestions Pseudonymous! Thanks!

One question - after your account is approved, can you go ahead and upload the images with links already in them?

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #36 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:30 »

Quote from: lisafx on May 03, 2011, 11:06

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 10:57
Lisa,

I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

Very helpful suggestions Pseudonymous! Thanks!

One question - after your account is approved, can you go ahead and upload the images with links already in them?

You're welcome!

Not sure if you wrote that backwards? Did you mean "after your account is approved, can you go ahead and add links to images already uploaded?" If that's what you meant, then yes.

If not, perhaps you've misunderstood what I meant. What I was suggesting was to go create an account with flickr and upload about 20 images, without adding a link in the description of the image (that appears below the image). After your account is approved, or rather reviewed and marked so that your images appear in search results, then go back to those 20 images and add the link in your description to direct viewers (or hopefully buyers) to your ktools website. Then upload the rest of your images and include the links to those in the description. Once your account is approved, all images you uploade in the future will be searchable automatically.

The reason I'm saying to wait for your account to be reviewed is to avoid some reviewer marking your account as "NIPSA" thinking you're only using flickr to sell your images. By leaving the link out initially, you'll avoid risking this.

To see whether your account is reviewed and approved, in your image page (when you upload it) you'll see on the right towards the bottom of the page, a heading that says "Owner Settings (show more)" If you click on "show more" you'll see a little green box with the words "Anyone can see this photo" next to it. Before it's approved I think the box is red and it says something like "this photo doesn't appear in search results" or something to that effect.

Hope I've explained it properly.

Cheers

lisafx · « **Reply #37 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:52 »

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 11:30

What I was suggesting was to go create an account with flickr and upload about 20 images, without adding a link in the description of the image (that appears below the image). After your account is approved, or rather reviewed and marked so that your images appear in search results, then go back to those 20 images and add the link in your description to direct viewers (or hopefully buyers) to your ktools website. Then upload the rest of your images and include the links to those in the description. Once your account is approved, all images you uploade in the future will be searchable automatically.

Great! Yes, that answers my question. Thanks again!

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #38 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:53 »

Quote from: lisafx on May 03, 2011, 11:06

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 10:57
Lisa,

I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

Very helpful suggestions Pseudonymous! Thanks!

One question - after your account is approved, can you go ahead and upload the images with links already in them?

lol, sorry, I see what you mean now (my brain goes fuzzy after 3am). Yes, after your account is approved, you can go ahead and add links to the 'new' images you upload.

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #39 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:54 »

Quote from: lisafx on May 03, 2011, 11:52

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 11:30
What I was suggesting was to go create an account with flickr and upload about 20 images, without adding a link in the description of the image (that appears below the image). After your account is approved, or rather reviewed and marked so that your images appear in search results, then go back to those 20 images and add the link in your description to direct viewers (or hopefully buyers) to your ktools website. Then upload the rest of your images and include the links to those in the description. Once your account is approved, all images you uploade in the future will be searchable automatically.

Great! Yes, that answers my question. Thanks again!

No worries

gostwyck · « **Reply #40 on:** May 03, 2011, 12:56 »

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 10:57

I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

I don't believe Flickr really exists. It's probably just a heist by big computer businesses to get our images for free. I expect that Obama and Bush are all part of it too __ otherwise how could the big businesses get away with it, eh? The media are probably involved too because they want the pictures. I can't believe that Pseudonymous was stupid enough to have been duped by the Flickr scam just because he saw it on the web and assumed it was for real.

Chadlatta · « **Reply #41 on:** May 03, 2011, 13:10 »

Some people seem to have an issue with Flickr while others love it.

I personally think it is great. I am active on the site and within the flickr community. There are a number of great groups and people who really know what they are talking about. The Strobist has a great community and I have learned most, if not all, of my lighting stuff through them. It has been an invaluable resource for me.

I have had a number of paid jobs based on work people have seen on flickr. I had a guy from London see an image of mine on explore and he hired me to do some work for a label he owns. I have also sold images that were found on google images that pointed to my flickr site. I am also a part of the Getty collection. I am contracted by Getty and it has paid very well.

The thing about views and such is that you really have to be active in the community for it to pay off. You can't throw up some images and expect people to just flock to them. I have been on flickr for about two years and I average around 500 views a day from a lot of different sources.

There is a theft issue, but watermark and only upload small files. I have seen just as many images of mine used with the Getty Images watermark in place so I don't worry about it too much, if an image is online, it can be stolen. It's not a flickr only issue.

Flickr users are also starting to see value in their images, so more and more people are charging for use rather than giving it away for free like before.

I think in the end, its really a great communty site and should be seen that way. I think buyers are using flickr and google images more and more to look for images, so it can't hurt to have an account.

lthn · « **Reply #42 on:** May 03, 2011, 14:31 »

Flickr links don't work as ranking backlinks, just so you know... no seo advantage except for the # of visitors to your site

lisafx · « **Reply #43 on:** May 03, 2011, 15:22 »

Quote from: lthn on May 03, 2011, 14:31

Flickr links don't work as ranking backlinks, just so you know... no seo advantage except for the # of visitors to your site

Good to know. Thanks

And Chad, thanks for sharing your experience. Very interesting to hear how the Flikr community has developed over the past couple of years. I am impressed you have gotten so much paid work through them! This is exactly the type of info I was looking for when starting this thread.

Chadlatta · « **Reply #44 on:** May 03, 2011, 17:22 »

No problem. Just remember its work, but it is fun. Be careful with commercial links as they don't really like them. You are allowed one link to a personal site but your site cannot have anything directly for sale. So if you sell stock or prints and link to it, they will not take kindly to it.

You can, however, put as many links of whatever you want in your profile.

The best way to take advantage of Flickr is to be active and be a part of the community. More people will follow you and comment on your work, favorite your photos and such. The favorites and comments, the more likely the photo is seen by others. Favorites link to your photos, so if someone browses someone elses favorite photos, they see and link through to yours. The more favorites, the more external link to your photos....

But again, you have to be active, make friends and have fun!

cathyslife · « **Reply #45 on:** May 03, 2011, 18:14 »

Excellent info on flikr, thanks all for posting the tips.

It's almost getting to the point where we spend 24/7 in front of the computer...not just post-processing and uploading of images, but doing the marketing and socializing too. Yikes, I need to get an ergonomic chair, my back is killing me from sitting in front of the screen.

Chadlatta · « **Reply #46 on:** May 03, 2011, 20:33 »

Quote from: cclapper on May 03, 2011, 18:14

Excellent info on flikr, thanks all for posting the tips.

It's almost getting to the point where we spend 24/7 in front of the computer...not just post-processing and uploading of images, but doing the marketing and socializing too. Yikes, I need to get an ergonomic chair, my back is killing me from sitting in front of the screen.

I know, it really sucks! I always have something to do online, banking, shopping, browsing...it drives me nuts because there are endless sites to visit! Don't get me started on research sites, post processing tutorials and the like! Same with my iPhone!!!

I almost wish I could go back to film and these new hi-tech gadgets never exsisted! We would know what we were missing and my mind wouldn't always be racing!

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #47 on:** May 03, 2011, 22:07 »

Quote from: gostwyck on May 03, 2011, 12:56

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 10:57
I got on the flickr bandwagon some months ago to promote some of my work (not microstock). I have a link under each image that directs to my work elsewhere. I find it’s really useful for bumping up my work in google and now a lot of it is coming up on page one.

It would be useless doing this to drive traffic to Microstock sites because the micros already come up high in search results. What you probably should do is link to your own website (on ktools) so that your images can compete on google with the micros.

A little tip if you do decide to do this... don’t put the link under your images until your account gets approved otherwise it could end up being marked as “NIPSA” (not in public search areas) which would make it useless. You should submit about 20 and let them sit there till the account is approved and then go back and add the links and the rest of your images.

I don't believe Flickr really exists. It's probably just a heist by big computer businesses to get our images for free. I expect that Obama and Bush are all part of it too __ otherwise how could the big businesses get away with it, eh? The media are probably involved too because they want the pictures. I can't believe that Pseudonymous was stupid enough to have been duped by the Flickr scam just because he saw it on the web and assumed it was for real.

Flickr is secretly owned by al qaeda!

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #48 on:** May 03, 2011, 22:10 »

Quote from: lthn on May 03, 2011, 14:31

Flickr links don't work as ranking backlinks, just so you know... no seo advantage except for the # of visitors to your site

If this was in reference to my posts, I just want to make it clear that I'm not using the links as backlinks and when I said my work's now on page one on google, I was referring to the flickr images, not the original images. I'm definitely getting more traffic to the original site from doing this but it's not just about uploading an image and throwing up a link.... you have to be smart about it with the meta deta.

TheSmilingAssassin · « **Reply #49 on:** May 03, 2011, 22:14 »

Quote from: Chadlatta on May 03, 2011, 17:22

No problem. Just remember its work, but it is fun. Be careful with commercial links as they don't really like them. You are allowed one link to a personal site but your site cannot have anything directly for sale. So if you sell stock or prints and link to it, they will not take kindly to it.

You can, however, put as many links of whatever you want in your profile.

The best way to take advantage of Flickr is to be active and be a part of the community. More people will follow you and comment on your work, favorite your photos and such. The favorites and comments, the more likely the photo is seen by others. Favorites link to your photos, so if someone browses someone elses favorite photos, they see and link through to yours. The more favorites, the more external link to your photos....

But again, you have to be active, make friends and have fun!

I'm not social in the forums or deal with the community at all and I don't intend to. I'm not after other flickr contributors who use the forum viewing my images. I do it to gain exposure through google.

If the only way flickr would bring me sales was if I was involved in the community, I wouldn't bother. Who has time for that? Reading posts in here is a stretch most days.

lisafx · « **Reply #50 on:** May 03, 2011, 22:41 »

I am in the same boat as most of you. Would love to have enough time in the day for everything. As it is, I have to weigh possible gain vs. time spent.

I do remember when I was doing this for fun, though, and I miss those days. Now I am having to try and discipline myself to spend time on things that will help my business. But I keep coming here because it is my guilty pleasure, and I can justify it because of the good info I find

cathyslife · « **Reply #51 on:** May 04, 2011, 08:24 »

Quote from: pseudonymous on May 03, 2011, 22:14

snip
If the only way flickr would bring me sales was if I was involved in the community, I wouldn't bother. Who has time for that? Reading posts in here is a stretch most days.

Amen to that.

ThomasAmby · « **Reply #52 on:** May 04, 2011, 09:18 »

Thanks for the great tip about groups, Helix. Just added images to two large graphic design/vector groups.
Right now my most viewed image has 51 views. Should be interesting to see if there'll be any significant changes after this !

I too don't want to spend too much time getting involved with the community, but my take is it never hurts to have a presence...

photorecruiter · « **Reply #53 on:** September 24, 2011, 15:22 »

A photo buyer here, piping up to say that I used Flickr Groups regularly to hire photographers. The best groups to join for someone looking to hire you locally are groups for the nearest city (ie: Cleveland, Atlanta, etc.) And! The biggest, and most obvious tip I could give would be to put your location/contact info on your profile, even if you don't update often. Quite often, I'll find a great person with zero info that doesn't seem to answer their FlickrMail -- and I've moved on to other shooters by the time they respond.

Mshake · « **Reply #54 on:** September 24, 2011, 19:45 »

Just adding my two cents worth. I belong to Flickr but only for non commercial puroposes.
Your actually not supposed to use it for comercial sales. Yes you may be contacted by Getty but to get a photo accepted to Getty it can't be up anywhere else for sale. Sales through Getty are pretty rare from what I hear and most don't pay big bucks. Flickr is mostly a social photo site used by amateurs. Most of the comments and views you get will be by amateurs, not actual buyers. If you don't participate in groups or comment on others photos you won't get very many views or comments either. In short Lisa, there really isn't much earning potential there.

If your looking for alternative sites to make money on I recomend Zazzle. It actually has more income potential then microstock does now. It's a little different in that you have to do more designing rather then just the raw stock photo but if you have some design skills you can do very, very well at Zazzle.

qwerty · « **Reply #55 on:** September 24, 2011, 23:58 »

I'm glad there is a flickr, imagine if all those people started microstock.

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: Are you on Flikr? Are you making money there? (Read 20766 times)

lisafx

lisafx

lagereek

lagereek

lagereek

lagereek

helix7

lisafx

lagereek

helix7

helix7

lisafx

lisafx

lisafx

lisafx

lisafx

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors