Author Topic: Is December usually a slow month? (Read 14767 times)

daveh900 · « **on:** December 04, 2011, 17:34 »

I have not been through a full year in the Microstock game so I'm not sure what to expect in the months ahead.

December has started real slow for me, including my worst day at SS since I began uploading in July.

gostwyck · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:49 »

Yes. Worse month of the year. In a couple of weeks from now the holiday period will be like a 10-day weekend.

ShadySue · « **Reply #2 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:53 »

Quote from: daveh900 on December 04, 2011, 17:34

I have not been through a full year in the Microstock game so I'm not sure what to expect in the months ahead.

December has started real slow for me, including my worst day at SS since I began uploading in July.

It depends. I've had some years that Dec has been 3rd top month of the year. This year my monthly pattern is almost a total inverse of previous years.

No set/fixed/universal answer is the answer.

sharpshot · « **Reply #3 on:** December 04, 2011, 17:59 »

December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #4 on:** December 04, 2011, 18:55 »

It depends on what you have for holiday images, I have generally seen December as #3 or #4 for the year (November is always #1; March or October #2, September or December #3). I do a fair bit of Christmas business.

pancaketom · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2011, 19:55 »

I don't have a lot of holiday images, but December usually is pretty good until just before the 25th, then the rest of the month is like a string of weekend days. All in all it is usually a midling to decent month.

FD · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2011, 00:42 »

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59

December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.

I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

daveh900 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2011, 02:30 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

Very true, although I just sold some Halloween images last week so you just never know.

Microbius · « **Reply #8 on:** December 05, 2011, 02:49 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

I have quite a lot of xmas sales well into December. Take a look at the SS keywords trend tool, there seems to be a growth in searches right up until the Christmas break.
I'm not sure why, bloggers? people with sub plans buying for next year while they have it in mind?

Anyway, overall December by far the slowest month for me.

Morphart · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2011, 16:35 »

Quote from: gostwyck on December 04, 2011, 17:49

Yes. Worse month of the year. In a couple of weeks from now the holiday period will be like a 10-day weekend.

Mine was starting really bad too this month, worst week since a whole while... but today surprised me, made a 4 ELs sales at Shutterstock gave my month a boost!

ShadySue · « **Reply #10 on:** December 11, 2011, 16:39 »

Two ELs this week, first since August, made this past week my BWY!

ibogdan · « **Reply #11 on:** December 11, 2011, 18:06 »

My December never was a bad month, it's usually a strong one, although not as strong as Oct-Nov. This month started very well with four EL-s, one at SS, one at FT and two at 123rf.

Mantis · « **Reply #12 on:** December 11, 2011, 18:37 »

I always love the Xmas day threads on how many downloads people get. I recall two years ago Sean Locke only got a mere 17 on Christmas day, and that was his report of "so far"......

I don't shoot a lot of holiday stuff due to the vast amount of great stuff already available, but it's fun to see what other folks get.

rinderart · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2011, 19:45 »

To ward off fluctuations in sales....One word. VARIETY.

Mantis · « **Reply #14 on:** December 11, 2011, 19:49 »

Quote from: rinderart on December 11, 2011, 19:45

To ward off fluctuations in sales....One word. VARIETY.

That does help!

asiseeit · « **Reply #15 on:** December 12, 2011, 00:17 »

The last week of the year is the lowest of the year.

nicku · « **Reply #16 on:** December 12, 2011, 00:52 »

December is a good month for me... i hope will go on like this at least until 22-23 of Dec.

lthn · « **Reply #17 on:** December 12, 2011, 04:23 »

Quote from: AttilaTheNun on December 05, 2011, 00:42

Quote from: sharpshot on December 04, 2011, 17:59
December is usually very slow for me, the worst month of the year. I don't have many Christmas photos.
I don't think that Xmas shopping brochures, calendars, cards and sites are designed in December. The few Xmas things I have sell latest in November.

Many are designed in december. If you really push it + have experienced graphic artist and a good, longtime partnership with the print shop you can get the whole thing done in 48 hours, from idea to delivering the printed product.

Perry · « **Reply #18 on:** December 12, 2011, 07:46 »

Quote from: lthn on December 12, 2011, 04:23

Many are designed in december. If you really push it + have experienced graphic artist and a good, longtime partnership with the print shop you can get the whole thing done in 48 hours, from idea to delivering the printed product.

Yes. But for example if you are going to advertise something for christmas, it's not very wise to have the thing ready 23rd december, most of people have done their christmas shopping already. Of course things are a bit different (faster!) in the web world, but I still think I would have my christmas designs ready in november.

What baffles me is why stock sites advertise christmas images on the front page in december, they should have done that already in october/november. Halloween images should be on front page in september etc. etc.
Now would be the right time to sell winter images.

lisafx · « **Reply #19 on:** December 12, 2011, 12:42 »

In the past, the first two weeks of December have always been brisk business for me. The last two weeks are completely dead. This year it seems that the whole month is a write off.

SS is still holding its own, as are DT and FT, but I have always been heavily dependent on Istock sales, and they are just gone. Dried up almost totally for me. My weekday sales have dropped to the equivalent of weekend sales a couple of years ago.

Was nice while it lasted....

wut · « **Reply #20 on:** December 12, 2011, 13:38 »

Quote from: asiseeit on December 12, 2011, 00:17

The last week of the year is the lowest of the year.

I think it about equals the first

lagereek · « **Reply #21 on:** December 12, 2011, 14:40 »

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

ibogdan · « **Reply #22 on:** December 12, 2011, 15:07 »

My December starts to slow down, especially that I got today a refund of a file that never sold on Dreamstime. That's very interesting!

stockmarketer · « **Reply #23 on:** December 12, 2011, 15:19 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 12, 2011, 14:40

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

Congrats... $424 is indeed a nice haul, especially for a Monday (and one that hasn't even ended yet.)
What would your daily average be? How about your December daily average, factoring in weekends?

loop · « **Reply #24 on:** December 12, 2011, 16:01 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 12, 2011, 14:40

Came home and logged into all the sites, great! all in all, today haqs brought me in, 424 bucks, cant be too bad can it? the only ones here with more I guess would be Lisa and fotovoyager.

Thanks for the information, that for me is an argument for staying at IS exclusive... although is true that sales are being very volatile for me this month, great days, bad days...

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Author Topic: Is December usually a slow month? (Read 14767 times)

daveh900

gostwyck

ShadySue

sharpshot

Jo Ann Snover

pancaketom

FD

daveh900

Microbius

Morphart

ShadySue

ibogdan

Mantis

rinderart

Mantis

asiseeit

nicku

lthn

Perry

lisafx

wut

lagereek

ibogdan

stockmarketer

loop

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