Author Topic: November, so far? (Read 14690 times)

wut · « **Reply #25 on:** November 11, 2011, 04:30 »

Just got an EL at SS, second this month, which is great I usually don't get more than 2/month and I got one at DT yesterday. The weird thing at DT is that you can't cash out ELs for a week, what's even more weird is that I can't cash out at all because I haven't reached 100$. Which I have even if I deduct the EL revenue

. IS was OK yesterday, the rest are more or less on track.

The bottom line is, SS is rockin' it and I love it

RT · « **Reply #26 on:** November 11, 2011, 04:35 »

Sales at iStockphoto are down to about 25% of what they should be, downloads at Shutterstock have over doubled but nowhere near make up for the lost iS revenue, Fotolia are down, Dreamstime are steady.

The effects of iStock's negative management are starting to hit me hard!

Karimala · « **Reply #27 on:** November 11, 2011, 06:28 »

Quote from: RT on November 11, 2011, 04:35

Sales at iStockphoto are down to about 25% of what they should be, downloads at Shutterstock have over doubled but nowhere near make up for the lost iS revenue, Fotolia are down, Dreamstime are steady.

The effects of iStock's negative management are starting to hit me hard!

You're not kidding. Getty and its decisions have had a greater negative impact on my earnings than my decision to only upload a few images to the micros the past two years (burned out on feeding the beast).

At StockXpert/TS, I'm earning 25% of what I used to earn. At IS, if this month doesn't improve and soon, my earnings will be at 10% of my BME (not including IS/TS, which I tally separately and wasn't part of my BME). And I expect earnings at IS to go down next year, because it's not looking like I'll make the 16% mark. Ugh.

pancaketom · « **Reply #28 on:** November 11, 2011, 19:44 »

SS is rocking, IS is dead to me, DT just went from really low RPD to decent w/ 2 ELs - but ELs are so low at DT with the lower credit and percentage now. Veer is also doing well. No complaints (except for IS, but like I said - they are dead to me).

Mantis · « **Reply #29 on:** November 11, 2011, 20:16 »

Having a better than average month at IS, DT & SS, complete fecal fest at BS, 123, CS and SF. Had about 500 in Alamy so far before my 60% cut.

Perry · « **Reply #30 on:** November 14, 2011, 08:37 »

Things are looking a bit better. SS is picking up, if I get a few extended licences it might even be a BME. If not, still a decent month. DT is also speeding up. IS and FT still very weak, this is propably the first month SS makes me more money than IS (IS has always been better since 2006, except the "new contributor boost" at SS in 2006)

123RF is also very strong. If the month continues in the same way, 123rf might earn me more than FT, and that has never happened before! (Bubbling under: with some luck, even Veer might get ahead of FT)

I hope people at IS and FT are learning something from this.

lagereek · « **Reply #31 on:** November 14, 2011, 10:15 »

Strange! I have deactivated lots of industrial shots from IS. I threw them into RF instead and there they are selling really well and for big money. Apart from that, SS,DT and FT, doing great, as usual.

TheDman · « **Reply #32 on:** November 14, 2011, 11:10 »

This November on IS might be my worst month of the year, and the first time since I started selling here in 2005 that I went down in November instead of up. I have several Christmas/New Year's images that usually do well this time of year that are barely selling at all. Shots that usually sell multiple times per day are now lucky to get one sale a month. Looks like Nov 2011 will be at 33% of Nov 2010.

Istock's fall has been incredible. At the beginning of the year I thought it was going to be no problem to hit my royalty target to stay at my current level, but now it appears I'll miss it. I had been contemplating ditching my crown, and this may well be the last straw. It amazes me that a company can so shoot themselves in the foot, have thousands of people screaming at them that they are doing just that, yet ignore them all and continue their path of self-destruction.

SK · « **Reply #33 on:** November 14, 2011, 12:42 »

And it is absolutely amazing that there has been no major management shakeup at iStock. Someone is asleep there as the business sinks.

gostwyck · « **Reply #34 on:** November 14, 2011, 12:49 »

Quote from: SK on November 14, 2011, 12:42

And it is absolutely amazing that there has been no major management shakeup at iStock. Someone is asleep there as the business sinks.

I'd say replacing the COO counts as a 'major management shakeup'. It's also quite possible that Rebecca will have made a few changes of pesonnel although we are unlikely to hear about those. It's Getty/H&F that need to be 'changed' most urgently.

SK · « **Reply #35 on:** November 14, 2011, 12:52 »

She into her new job 3 months now and not a single communication!

stockmarketer · « **Reply #36 on:** November 14, 2011, 13:57 »

November started strong for me, then late last week things started looking down. Saturday was my worst Saturday in about two months, across all the agencies. In particular, IS was terrible on Saturday, giving me my lowest day of sales (just IS) since July 2010. But this morning, things started very solid and I'm hoping that we have momentum again. Even IS, which had been on a steady decline for me, is very strong today.

Assuming the slowdown late last week was an anomaly and today's regained momentum is not, I expect to finish Nov with another BME, about double my sales from Nov 2010.

lisafx · « **Reply #37 on:** November 14, 2011, 16:41 »

Quote from: gostwyck on November 14, 2011, 12:49

Quote from: SK on November 14, 2011, 12:42
And it is absolutely amazing that there has been no major management shakeup at iStock. Someone is asleep there as the business sinks.

I'd say replacing the COO counts as a 'major management shakeup'. It's also quite possible that Rebecca will have made a few changes of pesonnel although we are unlikely to hear about those. It's Getty/H&F that need to be 'changed' most urgently.

I would say so too. Can't get more major than ousting the COO and eliminating the position of a dedicated IS COO altogether.

Quote from: SK on November 14, 2011, 12:52

She into her new job 3 months now and not a single communication!

True, it seems odd. OTOH, she and other staff are probably being kept very busy cleaning up the mess that has hit the fan.

Freedom · « **Reply #38 on:** November 14, 2011, 18:26 »

My November has been ok so far but I fear for the US Thanksgiving weekend.

I'd rather Rebecca not take any drastic actions because we do need some stability.

wut · « **Reply #39 on:** November 14, 2011, 18:30 »

Quote from: Freedom on November 14, 2011, 18:26

I'd rather Rebecca not take any drastic actions because we do need some stability.

I'd rather see she does. Something like bringing back canister levels

. 20% sure doesn't sound all that lousy anymore

Freedom · « **Reply #40 on:** November 14, 2011, 20:09 »

I wish the same thing, except I am more realistic.

Quote from: wut on November 14, 2011, 18:30

Quote from: Freedom on November 14, 2011, 18:26
I'd rather Rebecca not take any drastic actions because we do need some stability.

I'd rather see she does. Something like bringing back canister levels . 20% sure doesn't sound all that lousy anymore

ShadySue · « **Reply #41 on:** November 14, 2011, 20:27 »

Quote from: Freedom on November 14, 2011, 20:09

I wish the same thing, except I am more realistic.

Quote from: wut on November 14, 2011, 18:30
Quote from: Freedom on November 14, 2011, 18:26
I'd rather Rebecca not take any drastic actions because we do need some stability.

I'd rather see she does. Something like bringing back canister levels . 20% sure doesn't sound all that lousy anymore

Sadly, I guess she'll be under the same orders as KKT was, and will have to be more ruthless to make sure she achieves them.

SNP · « **Reply #42 on:** November 14, 2011, 20:46 »

Quote from: TheDman on November 14, 2011, 11:10

This November on IS might be my worst month of the year, and the first time since I started selling here in 2005 that I went down in November instead of up. I have several Christmas/New Year's images that usually do well this time of year that are barely selling at all. Shots that usually sell multiple times per day are now lucky to get one sale a month. Looks like Nov 2011 will be at 33% of Nov 2010.

Istock's fall has been incredible. At the beginning of the year I thought it was going to be no problem to hit my royalty target to stay at my current level, but now it appears I'll miss it. I had been contemplating ditching my crown, and this may well be the last straw. It amazes me that a company can so shoot themselves in the foot, have thousands of people screaming at them that they are doing just that, yet ignore them all and continue their path of self-destruction.

you have just 550 files after seven years of being on iStock. I think contributors being hit particularly hard are those that have gotten used to making sales off best sellers, who began early when growth was truly exponential from year to year. the landscape has changed, the collection has grown and it's far too competitive today to be riding on the success of so few files. no matter how good they may be, there are a lot of very good files these days.

Elenathewise · « **Reply #43 on:** November 14, 2011, 21:01 »

Istock is barely alive for me this month. Everything else is more or less the same, except for SS where all of us see increase in sales. I am wondering if Istock just rotates the content somehow - I had almost a BME this August (!), but November sales are quite disappointing. We upload new content every week, so it's not for the lack of new images.

gostwyck · « **Reply #44 on:** November 14, 2011, 21:08 »

Quote from: ShadySue on November 14, 2011, 20:27

Sadly, I guess she'll be under the same orders as KKT was, and will have to be more ruthless to make sure she achieves them.

Why 'sadly'? Go ahead Rebbecca and make our day. Wouldn't it be absolutely fine if the microstock agency with the lowest commissions, who have have most abused their power and treated their contributors like dirt ... simply got what they deserved? The quicker the better. Let's then move on and deal with agencies that respect their contributors.

Istock's issues are already virtually terminal. If Rebbecca is really clever she might be able to slow the decline ... but I doubt it. She should have recognised the issues and taken some significant action by now. All we've had so far is a half-soaked 'survey' and a ridiculous new 'referral scheme'. If that's the best she can come up with then Istock are truly dead in the water. Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.

helix7 · « **Reply #45 on:** November 14, 2011, 23:23 »

Quote from: SNP on November 14, 2011, 20:46

...I think contributors being hit particularly hard are those that have gotten used to making sales off best sellers, who began early when growth was truly exponential from year to year. the landscape has changed, the collection has grown and it's far too competitive today to be riding on the success of so few files. no matter how good they may be, there are a lot of very good files these days.

Definitely true. I have no doubt that overall, things are down at istock and they are down because of decisions that were made at HQ. But I also think that a good number of folks who are experiencing a downturn may have found themselves in a similar situation regardless of how bad things were going at istock over the last few months. Mostly either from a lack of new content or a steady flow of new content that's not unlike the old content. Without naming names, I've seen more than a few complaints from folks in this forum and others about slow sales while they just keep on producing more of the same old work they were doing years ago.

I'm not saying that istock is blameless. Not at all. The general consensus has been that things are in a downward spiral at istock, overwhelmingly so throughout the contributor community. But occasionally I think some of us can take a look in the mirror and share a small amount of the blame for dropping numbers. I've surely got a hand in some of my own downfall at istock. I stopped producing much new work that's compatible with their antiquated file format restrictions, and that was my choice. Had I kept producing EPS8-compatible work, I'd have been uploading more to istock in recent months and maybe wouldn't have seen as severe a downturn in earnings. I think my numbers would still be down, but maybe not as sharply.

I just know that there are more than a few istock contributors, exclusive and independent alike, who seem to have thought that they could keep on producing the exact same work for years to come and kept on seeing their earnings increase. That was foolish from the start because they've only been competing with themselves. But now that things have taken a turn for the worse for most people, I can also see how it's easy for a contributor to point the finger at HQ for all of their troubles, when maybe some of those troubles were self-inflicted. Not all, but some.

cobalt · « **Reply #46 on:** November 15, 2011, 00:31 »

"She into her new job 3 months now and not a single communication!"

That is the part that scares many exclusives I know. Rebecca hasn´t even given an interview to introduce herself to the marketplace and the several hundred thousand business partners that istock has. I have never seen the CEO of a huge multi million dollar business act so strangely.

Surveys are useful, but they cannot replace active leadership.

It just reinforces the fear that all the other stock sites have dedicated full time managers and want to push their brand aggressively forward and istock gets a part time project manager who still has time for her "real job" at Getty. Maybe she is putting in a 48h work day into 24 hours behind the scenes, but if you sign up for a leadership position you should be able to step into the spotlight and feel comfortable in that role.

The successful artists in microstock are good because they have the mind of digital entrepreneurs and many come from a real life business background. They all understand the importance of communication and know what it means when a management avoids discussions or becomes invisible.

I know that everyone on the team works extremely hard, to read how the reputation of istock is falling on sites like these must be painful to watch.

I sincerly hope istock rises to the challenge and finds a way to turn things around in 2012.

lagereek · « **Reply #47 on:** November 15, 2011, 00:54 »

Does anybody here seriously believe Rebecca is there for the benefit of the contributors, exclusive or independants? or buyers or the entire IS, for that matter? she is there for the migration into TS, then she will abandon the sinking ship and take no prisoners.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #48 on:** November 15, 2011, 02:04 »

Quote from: SNP on November 14, 2011, 20:46

...I think contributors being hit particularly hard are those that have gotten used to making sales off best sellers, who began early when growth was truly exponential from year to year. the landscape has changed, the collection has grown and it's far too competitive today to be riding on the success of so few files. no matter how good they may be, there are a lot of very good files these days.

And does that explain Sean's drops, nico_blue's, johnwoodcock, ericsphotography ... (from the iStock October sales thread)? People who are contributing regularly and delivering high quality stuff. While there clearly are some people who get hit when a best seller on which they're dependent gets whacked by a best match change, that isn't the explanation for the dismal October so many contributors had.

XPTO · « **Reply #49 on:** November 15, 2011, 03:11 »

IS is a disaster this month so far. If things continue this way I expect a 40% drop from October, and a 70% from my BME

From 1st to 3rd agency.

DT is not doing so well too. The rest is ok.

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Author Topic: November, so far? (Read 14690 times)

wut

RT

Karimala

pancaketom

Mantis

Perry

lagereek

TheDman

SK

gostwyck

SK

stockmarketer

lisafx

Freedom

wut

Freedom

ShadySue

SNP

Elenathewise

gostwyck

helix7

cobalt

lagereek

Jo Ann Snover

XPTO

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