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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: velocicarpo on September 12, 2012, 12:37
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Wow, I just checked the Alexa stats of the mayor Agencies and almost EVERY site is going remarkably down:
istock down by ~15%
Dreamstime down by ~20%
Shutterstock down by ~7%
Could this be the Global Crisis? Surely smells like this and would explain while days are so hard to enjoy business wise nowadays ::)
Check the individual site stats (Be sure to check the tracking period to "max" to get the whole picture):
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/istockphoto.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/istockphoto.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/dreamstime.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/dreamstime.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/shutterstock.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/shutterstock.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veer.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veer.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/fotolia.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/fotolia.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/canstockphoto.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/canstockphoto.com)
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/stockfresh.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/stockfresh.com)
One of the view which are up is DP:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/depositphotos.com (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/depositphotos.com)
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you might be right.
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Mayor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the surname, see Mayor (surname).
Rob Ford, co-mayor of Toronto.
In many countries, a mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater") is the highest-ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city.
In many municipal systems the mayor serves as chief executive officer and/or ceremonial official of many types of municipalities. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Thanks for the notice though.
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Would explain my sales, and most of the complaints I keep reading.
My hubby's theory is that, at least with regards to the US, everyone is sitting on their money until the November election. Once that's over, probably some corporate money will be freed up here to start spending, regardless of who wins. I hope he's right, because if this is the new normal I don't like it a bit.
Doesn't explain what's going on with worldwide sales, but the debt crisis in Europe is probably a big part of that.
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I was photographing something in central Glasgow. I was really focussing on the event, but when I looked at my photos, I was astonished and shocked how incredibly many businesses for sale or for let there were signs for. I think that's the worst it's been.
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Considering in which shape worlds economy is right now, I think we as Microstock Contributors are still in a quite good position. All around People losing their Jobs, struggling to get through the month with their income, moving back to their parents because they cannot afford a own home etc. Despite of all the bad thing in our industry we seemed to survive at least the past waves of the crisis quite well (knocking on wood and speaking as a full timer)...
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I have a regular job, this is just extra cash for me, but I wouldnt wanna be in a position where this is my main income. I would be terrified. I hope it all goes uphill soon again for everyone.
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to
increase photos
improve quality
improve keywording
improve self promotion
Any improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factors
increased competition
reduced commission %
aging of your portfolio
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to
increase photos
improve quality
improve keywording
improve self promotion
Any improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factors
increased competition
reduced commission %
aging of your portfolio
So true. However, there are some possibilities of which we could benefit from. E.g. entering into the emerging Markets.
<DAYDREAMING>Until now Asia does not seem to be a big thing in the stock industry (correct me if I`m wrong), but imagine a 2 - 3 Billion People market opening up suddenly without experienced and yet skilled competition.</DAYDREAMING>
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<DAYDREAMING>Until now Asia does not seem to be a big thing in the stock industry (correct me if I`m wrong), but imagine a 2 - 3 Billion People market opening up suddenly without experienced and yet skilled competition.</DAYDREAMING>
I have found several images of mine illegally on far east Asian websites (i.e. RM from Alamy), and I haven't had any success in getting them taken down.
Not for a minute that all Asian sites would steal images, but people worry about sites like Pinterest and at least I can always get them taken down from there if I find them.
That said, iStock were particuarly targetting Japan a while back.
The other thing is to provide content relevant to that market if you want to sell there.
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to
increase photos
improve quality
improve keywording
improve self promotion
Any improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factors
increased competition
reduced commission %
aging of your portfolio
Maybe I misunderstood the thread. I thought it was about reasons that top agencies are showing drops in traffic, not about the performance (or not) of individual portfolios.
While your suggestions are obvious if one wants to improve their position relative to other contributors, it doesn't really address why the sites as a whole are seeing a drop in sales/traffic.
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to increase photosimprove qualityimprove keywordingimprove self promotionAny improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factorsincreased competitionreduced commission %aging of your portfolio
And yet there are many folks who have done that, lisa being one of them, and yet still reporting drops in sales. I just think it's the state of the economy, all around the world.
edit: I think leafs been playing around again. Sorry about all the bold.
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<DAYDREAMING>Until now Asia does not seem to be a big thing in the stock industry (correct me if I`m wrong), but imagine a 2 - 3 Billion People market opening up suddenly without experienced and yet skilled competition.</DAYDREAMING>
I have found several images of mine illegally on far east Asian websites (i.e. RM from Alamy), and I haven't had any success in getting them taken down.
Not for a minute that all Asian sites would steal images, but people worry about sites like Pinterest and at least I can always get them taken down from there if I find them.
That said, iStock were particuarly targetting Japan a while back.
The other thing is to provide content relevant to that market if you want to sell there.
Yes, copyright is one of the HUGE Problems in Asia. Therefore the market is still not "interesting". Nevertheless I see a switch in mentality at least in South america and People start to buy more at Agencies. However, SA is dwarf compared to Asia. Maybe in 5 or 10 years we will see some movement ... hopefully. Regarding images targeting the market: I think most affected are People shoots and Travel/landscapes. People with lots of Objects, Vectors, Renders etc. might not be affected so much and have a good sales position.
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Pixmac is stealing all the traffic :P
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Hey don't pick on Pixmac I just got a sale for $.67 today lol! 8)
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to increase photosimprove qualityimprove keywordingimprove self promotionAny improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factorsincreased competitionreduced commission %aging of your portfolio
And yet there are many folks who have done that, lisa being one of them, and yet still reporting drops in sales. I just think it's the state of the economy, all around the world.
edit: I think leafs been playing around again. Sorry about all the bold.
I think there's other factors. The economy would hit the sites that charge more hardest but I've seen lots of reports that people are seeing an upturn with the traditional sites. Isn't it more likely for microstock to do well in an economic downturn and for the higher priced sites to lose buyers? That doesn't seem to be happening anymore.
My earnings with some sites like FT have been crushed. I presume that's because they fiddled around with the search and its now much harder for buyers to find my images. If everyone was getting my earnings slump there, FT would be in the low earners in the poll here. I'm earning less with several sites because they raised prices and lowered commissions. If buyers are spending the same money, I'm getting less of it.
Then there's the increase in competition. It wasn't a problem a few years ago but I'm sure that the size of the collection on some sites makes it harder for us now.
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to increase photosimprove qualityimprove keywordingimprove self promotionAny improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factorsincreased competitionreduced commission %aging of your portfolio
And yet there are many folks who have done that, lisa being one of them, and yet still reporting drops in sales. I just think it's the state of the economy, all around the world.
edit: I think leafs been playing around again. Sorry about all the bold.
hey.. don't blame me.. :P I don't think I had anything to do with this one
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to
increase photos
improve quality
improve keywording
improve self promotion
Any improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factors
increased competition
reduced commission %
aging of your portfolio
Excuse me but do buyers of micro care about quality? with my humble knowledge I am sure they just want cheap pictures regardless of quality.
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Could this be the Global Crisis? Surely smells like this and would explain while days are so hard to enjoy business wise nowadays ::)
Or could it be summer again. Take a look at SS for 2012 compared to2011 , looks like we have just had the usual summer slump and it is back on the way up.
IStock, clearly is on the way down, but we all know why that is.
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Could this be the Global Crisis? Surely smells like this and would explain while days are so hard to enjoy business wise nowadays ::)
Or could it be summer again. Take a look at SS for 2012 compared to2011 , looks like we have just had the usual summer slump and it is back on the way up.
IStock, clearly is on the way down, but we all know why that is.
When someone mentioned summer slump on SS people jumped up saying it was different.
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There are enough contributors out there that there will always be some on the way up and some on the way down. So I don't think it really says anything that there are some with sales on the decline. The poll results show an overall increase for SS this month.
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I had my best day for months on SS (not counting some EL days). I hope this means that the summer slump is over and it is not just a one off.
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Nevertheless I see a switch in mentality at least in South america and People start to buy more at Agencies. However, SA is dwarf compared to Asia.
I believe SA was already much better than Asia in that respect for several years at least. When Stockexpert existed, they said Brazil was their second largest buyer after the US (along with Germany)...
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<DAYDREAMING>Until now Asia does not seem to be a big thing in the stock industry (correct me if I`m wrong), but imagine a 2 - 3 Billion People market opening up suddenly without experienced and yet skilled competition.</DAYDREAMING>
I have found several images of mine illegally on far east Asian websites (i.e. RM from Alamy), and I haven't had any success in getting them taken down.
Not for a minute that all Asian sites would steal images, but people worry about sites like Pinterest and at least I can always get them taken down from there if I find them.
That said, iStock were particuarly targetting Japan a while back.
The other thing is to provide content relevant to that market if you want to sell there.
Or you can just go to the mall here and buy a DVD with thousands of the best stock images from all your favorite stock photographers for a couple of dollars. Right next to your $5 copy of Photoshop. Still a long long way to go here in Southeast Asia.
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<DAYDREAMING>Until now Asia does not seem to be a big thing in the stock industry (correct me if I`m wrong), but imagine a 2 - 3 Billion People market opening up suddenly without experienced and yet skilled competition.</DAYDREAMING>
I have found several images of mine illegally on far east Asian websites (i.e. RM from Alamy), and I haven't had any success in getting them taken down.
Not for a minute that all Asian sites would steal images, but people worry about sites like Pinterest and at least I can always get them taken down from there if I find them.
That said, iStock were particuarly targetting Japan a while back.
The other thing is to provide content relevant to that market if you want to sell there.
You can't lump all of Asia together (well nearly but not quite), I would think that Japan and South Korea aren't far off the US or Western Europe when it comes to attitudes to IP, a world away from China for example
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I think that anybody waiting for an upsurge will be disappointed.
The only way to increase income is to
increase photos
improve quality
improve keywording
improve self promotion
Any improvement in the economy will only be a couple of percent. There is no way in my opion that improvement of the economy will offset factors
increased competition
reduced commission %
aging of your portfolio
Maybe I misunderstood the thread. I thought it was about reasons that top agencies are showing drops in traffic, not about the performance (or not) of individual portfolios.
While your suggestions are obvious if one wants to improve their position relative to other contributors, it doesn't really address why the sites as a whole are seeing a drop in sales/traffic.
Re-reading it looks like I was expanding the topic a little.
There was one comment that the downslide in global economy was the reason for the reduced traffic which generally links into how much we are earning.
My main point (although it appears slightly off topic) was don't hold your breath thinking when the economy picks up that we'll be rolling around in our money vaults like scrooge mcduck.
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I was convinced since about 2006 things are going in a very bad direction in terms of the whole economy and didn't really believe at the time this business will survive a day. I wish I understood sooner how wrong I was, maybe I would concentrate more on microstock and went full time 3 or 4 years earlier.
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My main point (although it appears slightly off topic) was don't hold your breath thinking when the economy picks up that we'll be rolling around in our money vaults like scrooge mcduck.
LOL! Would be lovely if it happened, but I doubt too many people are that deluded :D
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The economy is great for us now I think. Everyone's budgets are squeezed, so turning to micro. Lots of new small start ups because of the redundancies forcing people to go it alone; needing images for branding, websites and so on. It's all gravy ;)
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The economy is great for us now I think. Everyone's budgets are squeezed, so turning to micro. Lots of new small start ups because of the redundancies forcing people to go it alone; needing images for branding, websites and so on. It's all gravy ;)
I think that most folks who were going to turn to micro did it in 2008-09 when the recession first hit. Following sales trends on end-of-month threads, and traffic trends on Alexa, Compete, etc., I don't see that happening now.
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Surely a great way for agencies to increase revenues in tough times would be to go on a major campaign to educate people on copyright issues and chase infringers.
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Surely a great way for agencies to increase revenues in tough times would be to go on a major campaign to educate people on copyright issues and chase infringers.
Very cool Idea!
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Thanks :) There must be a lot of money out there that we and they are due and have never received.