December 2011 Earnings Thread

[leaf]

last month of the year.. how was it for you?
Here is the monthly poll
www.microstockgroup.com/pollsvote/

...and here is the thread for the entire year earnings discussion




Interesting notes:
Dreamstime is down to 6% this month
Alamy grew nicely to 6%
Shutterstock dropped a little, but I didn't upload as much this month.

Overall earnings were down 7.5% on Nov 2011 (to be expected)

[rubyroo]

December was down on November, but November was a phenomenal BME for me, so I'm not surprised.

In order of earnings:

1. SS came out top (as usual - but down a bit on last month)
2. 123RF - up from last month
3. iStock - down from last month
4. DT - down from last month

Of the 'big four' FT performed worst, coming in  at seventh place this month.

Comparing December 2011 to December 2010 as a whole, I'm happy to report around 150% increase in earnings.  My  annual earnings pan out at about 150% increase also.  Given that I haven't produced much this year, I'm very pleased with those results.

[BaldricksTrousers]

I've got several sources of earnings still due to report back to me, but it looks as if overall it will equal or exceed last December and be 10% down on last month, despite a disastrous result from IS and dumping Fotolia.

[ibogdan]

SS did well, 123rf - second earner, and then IS, FT and DT.

[ShadySue]

iStock only: 2nd= month of the year for dls, but only 5th for $$k, despite 2 ELs. Extremely few since Boxing Day/best match change - much worse than previous years.
10% up on $$ compared to Dec 2010; 20% up on dls.
A mixture of smaller sizes bought and lower average price per credit.
Just 2 sales on Alamy, one sub-$10, but with a very restricted use: "editorial website, 5 days".

[aeonf]

A good month and almost a BME
Still didn't pass the 2K$ mark.
Up 4% from last month and 295% from December 2010

[steheap]

A pretty good month to say we have two major holidays to take the buyers attention away from stock photos! Another month over $1000, with BME for both Shutterstock and iStock. Full results are discussed on my blog: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2012/01/earnings-in-december-from-selling-photos/, but here is the overall graph of earnings growth over the past two years:



I've focused more on getting images online, adding about 150 to Shutterstock this last month, and the earnings are based on average number of images of around 2000.

Steve

[Pixart]

One achievement - WME at Istock!  Woohoo.

[disorderly]

December was down 13% from November, but 32% ahead of December, 2010.  Overall, I did 10% better in 2011 than in 2010, despite declining revenues from iStock (down 26% year over year), Fotolia (down 49%) and Dreamstime (down 7%). iStock and Fotolia are both due to decreased royalties and my decision to stop uploading and remove non-sellers.  Doing wonders for my RPI there, but not so much for revenue. 

Shutterstock brought in the most for me in both the month (45%) and the year (35%). 123RF was 2nd at 12% (10% for the year), followed by iStock at 8.5% (12% for the year), CanStock and BigStock in my top five. Interestingly, iStock's partner program was 60% of the month's revenue there, more if I add my small income from StockXpert.  Direct sales at iStock are a rare and sad thing, as they are for many independents.

[benchart]

Hello All

so well I have finished my first year of microstocking as an illustrator starting from 0 files in january 2011.
I started only on istockphoto and then got quickly convinced that it was a good idea to put my files on several microstocks (thanks microstockgroup.com).

Today i've reach an income of almost 1000$/month with a portfolio of 450 files. Hereafter are my best selling places (for december) :

1. IS - down from last month
2. SS - down from last month (I had 3 EL in november so...)
3. 123RF - I started in november and it already sells pretty good (3 EL also this december !  I put a lot of hope in 123RF...
4. DT - down from last month but still on a good curve (less dlds but more $$)

How long did it take for you to reach your highest income ? More or less than a year ?...
I know my case is a bit specific compared to a lot of this forum users because i don't sell photographs... but feel free to let me know

Best wishes for 2012

[blamb]

Hello All
so well I have finished my first year of microstocking as an illustrator starting from 0 files in january 2011.

Well, for 2012 you should focus on creating original work and be less of a copycat. I imagine there are a bunch of illustrators who are pretty peeved at you. 

[gostwyck]

Well, for 2012 you should focus on creating original work and be less of a copycat. I imagine there are a bunch of illustrators who are pretty peeved at you. 

That seems a bit harsh to say the least. I see plenty of originality there.

[luissantos84]

Well, for 2012 you should focus on creating original work and be less of a copycat. I imagine there are a bunch of illustrators who are pretty peeved at you. 

That seems a bit harsh to say the least. I see plenty of originality there.

+1 (I am sure blamb will show us some examples instead of just bashing around )

[lagereek]

well 6-RM, sales, for a total of, 4K, helped a bit. SS, DT and FT, very good,  DP and Veers coming strong. Alamy did OK, for RF, sales.  Oh yes, IS ?  a joke.

[blamb]

Well, for 2012 you should focus on creating original work and be less of a copycat. I imagine there are a bunch of illustrators who are pretty peeved at you. 

That seems a bit harsh to say the least. I see plenty of originality there.

+1 (I am sure blamb will show us some examples instead of just bashing around )

I think it's fair to give a warning before resorting to the indignity of pulling up examples (and it's not difficult to recognize the sources of 'inspiration' I'm talking about). As a new contributor, this person deserves the chance to do better. If not, sure, I'll provide examples. Lots of examples.     

[gostwyck]

Well, for 2012 you should focus on creating original work and be less of a copycat. I imagine there are a bunch of illustrators who are pretty peeved at you.  

That seems a bit harsh to say the least. I see plenty of originality there.

+1 (I am sure blamb will show us some examples instead of just bashing around )

I think it's fair to give a warning before resorting to the indignity of pulling up examples (and it's not difficult to recognize the sources of 'inspiration' I'm talking about). As a new contributor, this person deserves the chance to do better. If not, sure, I'll provide examples. Lots of examples.    

I trust you'll be providing a link to your own portfolio of totally original work so that we can fully appreciate the difference between a true artist and a simple copycat?

I think that would only be fair being as you have drawn attention to and been so critical of the work of others. Let's see how good 'blamb' really is before we pass judgement on his critique of others.

Come on 'big man' __ let's see your stuff.

[Jo Ann Snover]

Returning to the subject of December sales (i.e. copycat discussions should really have their own thread), it wasn't a strong December, lead (in lack of strength!) by a pathetic performance by iStock. Overall, December 2011 was 30% lower than November (where it's typically down about 5% - 15%) and was down 44% over December 2010.

SS was the monthly leader again beating iStock by over 20% with DT in its typical solid 3rd place. Veer bested both BigStock and CanStock, but 123rf was in 4th place just about even with November $$.

ETA in the iStock forums people are saying how low their downloads are for December. I have to go back to February 2005 to find a lower number than December 2011. I might have had 200 files in my portfolio then.

[lisafx]

I'll second JoAnn.  Sales at Istock and FT took a miserable nose-dive.  Fortunately SS and DT, along with some new sites, came through and saved the day for me. I ended the month with a tiny 1% increase over December 2010.  Sales were down 20% from November though.  Ouch!  

Here's the breakdown, followed by the % up or down from last year.

ISP   22%  (-34%)
SS   28%  (+74%)
DT   14%  (+11%)
Fot   13%  (-36%)
BigStock   5%
123   3%
CanStockPhoto   3%
Alm   7%
Crest   0%
Veer   1%
StFr   0%
GL   0%
Pix   0%
Pdune 2%
Dphoto 1%

[pancaketom]

Mine was my second best month of the year, but a lot of that is from a good run (for me) at Alamy - without that it would be the 3rd worst of the year.

Sales held up remarkably well through the holidays at SS, and IS even improved on an absolutely dismal November.

[CarlssonInc]

iStockphoto

Compared to Nov 11:
$$: -37%
DLs: -50%

Compared to Dec 10:
$$: -63%
DLs: -67%

[stockmarketer]

Dec 2011 vs. Nov 2011: -15%

Dec 2011 vs. Dec 2010: +94%

2011 vs. 2010: +100%

(now in my fourth year of ms)

[Freedom]

December 2011 was a slow and below average month for me. I am exclusive to IS.

My revenue was over 70% and DL was 3% more than Dec. 2010. I attribute the increase of revenue to E+ images, of which I have a lot.

[nicku]

SS -       60%  up (+50 compared with Nov.)
DT -       30%  down ( -30% compared with Nov.)
FT -        6%  up (+70% compared with Nov.)
123RF -   4%  up ( +50% compared with Nov.)

[Mantis]

Hey Leaf,

Do we just clump Thinkstock into IS? Reason I ask is that I now make the same if not more from TS.  This new best match makes it really caddywhompus. If it keeps up, TS will be 75% of my sales and IS only 25%.  It would be interesting to see IS and TS as separate measurable entities.

[Noodles]

IS Exclusive

3% up on November
25% down on December 2010

umm, not impressed with the last best match change as sales were flying until then but I guess a lot better than independents.