Hey MSG Folks,

I've noticed an alarming trend in my sales the last three months- My RPD is dropping quite a bit. January it was .71 and this month it is now around .47. My sales volume has gone up but the RPD is dropping fast!  Does this mean my portfolio has only pics that are of min use to the business world? One person told me that I have the 'Walmart' approach on my business model- lot's of sales but small profit lines thus I will need over 10,000 pics to see a decent payout. Any suggestions on how I can get my RPD to a higher level?

Maybe this is typical of a rookie?


Thanks.

Tom

To me, the only thing that counts, is a good payout towards the end of the month. I dont care about the RPD, etc, etc, as long as the revenue is good. Dont really understand the people worrying about this?  and if its such an issue, maybe they should stick to RM/RF.

Honestly I don't have a clue what my RPD is, not even a ball park figure. If you have signed up for subs on an agency, or if an agency you are with has just started offering subs your RPD could go through the floor while your profit goes up.
What's your RPI like, dropping RPI would be of interest to me (not necessarily a big concern as long as total income was increasing)

i think RPD == return per Download ?

What's your RPI like, dropping RPI would be of interest to me (not necessarily a big concern as long as total income was increasing)

+1

RPI is the thing to watch. 

And it's quite possible to do VERY well with a small portfolio (just 1 or 2 thousand pics).  They just have to be the RIGHT pics.  You could have 10,000 pics in your port, but if they're not in demand or if there's a ton of competition and you're not offering a unique take, you might as well shoot for 100,000 before seeing a decent payout.

I just mentioned this in another thread...I've been working on this over the past couple of weeks as well.

I am seeing the same thing...years ago, it was closer to 86 cents per image on average...these days it's closer to 64 cents per image on average.  I agree on the Walmart analogy.  I've dumped a few agencies because of this as well - it's not worth my time.

With relation to your comment about 10,000 images to make a decent payout, I've started using the "revenue per portfolio image" approach.  I take the total revenue for the month, then divide it by the number of images in my portfolio.  Then I take the payout amount at the agency and divide it by that number.

As an example, at Dreamstime, you have a $100 payout.  If I take my revenue per portfolio image average of .03644 cents then divide 100 by that amount, I compute that I need 3,644 images in my portfolio to make payout on an average month.

I think that makes a lot of sense.  I'll give it a try.  Thanks.

I calculated the earnings per image per month from each of the main sites last year, and tracked it by quarter. Not a lot of work if you already have the data, but this is the table that summarizes the results.


I've no idea if these are good, bad or indifferent - they simply are stats from my own images on the stock sites I submit to.

The full discussion is here: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2011/12/earnings-per-image-what-can-you-make-from-each-photo/

Steve

Quote from: luissantos84 on April 20, 2012, 11:19

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 10:14

As an example, at Dreamstime, you have a $100 payout.  If I take my revenue per portfolio image average of .03644 cents then divide 100 by that amount, I compute that I need 3,644 images in my portfolio to make payout on an average month.

sorry but thats the same as RPI

RPI is different.  RPI is revenue per image downloaded.

I'm talking revenue per portfolio image - not all of the images in your portfolio will be downloaded on every given month.  Take the total revenue and divide it by EVERY image in your portfolio.

They are two different things.

RPI = return per image (in your portfolio or per submitted whether accepted or not - some people calculate it either way) I think per submitted is more honest, otherwise you could delete all your non - sellers and send RPI through the roof.
RPD= return per download


What really matters at the end of the month is the total income. RPI and RPD are ways of trying to track how different sites and months compare, but the total income at the end is all that really matters.

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 11:24

Quote from: luissantos84 on April 20, 2012, 11:19

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 10:14

As an example, at Dreamstime, you have a $100 payout.  If I take my revenue per portfolio image average of .03644 cents then divide 100 by that amount, I compute that I need 3,644 images in my portfolio to make payout on an average month.

sorry but thats the same as RPI

RPI is different.  RPI is revenue per image downloaded.

I'm talking revenue per portfolio image - not all of the images in your portfolio will be downloaded on every given month.  Take the total revenue and divide it by EVERY image in your portfolio.

They are two different things.

For me, RPI is revenue per image CREATED.  If I waste my time on a bunch of images that don't sell or don't even get accepted into my ports at the major agencies, I still count those because I'm concerned about how the amount of work I do translates into real money.  My bad images that don't sell or don't get accepted have to factor into that equation.

agree, like you have said a while ago

LOL...and this is why people get confused when others talk about $2.30 RPI in their portfolio (and why I never believe them) 

My RPI (for month of March) was $3.92.   Daily hovers around $.12.  No tricks.

Quote from: luissantos84 on April 20, 2012, 11:19

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 10:14

As an example, at Dreamstime, you have a $100 payout.  If I take my revenue per portfolio image average of .03644 cents then divide 100 by that amount, I compute that I need 3,644 images in my portfolio to make payout on an average month.

sorry but thats the same as RPI

RPI is different.  RPI is revenue per image downloaded.

I'm talking revenue per portfolio image - not all of the images in your portfolio will be downloaded on every given month.  Take the total revenue and divide it by EVERY image in your portfolio.

They are two different things.

I am here stratching my head because I really think it is the same thing, why do I say this? because my RPI is the $$ I have made on a agency divided by the portfolio I have at the same.. which is exactly what you are saying no?

sorry got it lol portfolio all of it, you take the average?

I calculated the earnings per image per month from each of the main sites last year, and tracked it by quarter. Not a lot of work if you already have the data, but this is the table that summarizes the results.


I've no idea if these are good, bad or indifferent - they simply are stats from my own images on the stock sites I submit to.

The full discussion is here: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2011/12/earnings-per-image-what-can-you-make-from-each-photo/

Steve

That's very useful information, and the reason why, malgr� tout, istock exclusiveness is still attractive for me, as mi Return per Image/Month is noticeably higher than the sum of all your averages at different sites. I'm also seeing an increase in my RPD; the loss of sales seems bigger in small sizes, while L to XXXL stands and gain in percentage. Light increase in E+ prizes can have a role too.

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 11:53

LOL...and this is why people get confused when others talk about $2.30 RPI in their portfolio (and why I never believe them) 

My RPI (for month of March) was $3.92.   Daily hovers around $.12.  No tricks.

I think it also useful to include some sort of "time spent per image" calculation in addition to just RPI. My RPI is quite low(~$.60-.70), but it only takes me about 20 minutes on average to produce an image(shoot and post-process). I shoot inanimate objects, in mostly natural light, so I can knock them out pretty quick, as opposed to having to setup time with models, lighting etc.
From content created in the last year I have earned approx $3000 , and spent about 120 hours to create them. So thats about $25 per hour. Of course that per hour number increases over time, since the time spent is fixed, but the $ returned keeps rising.

Someone who spends 5 times the amount of time to create an image, and whose RPI is 5x as high, is no better off than the person with 5x as many images, but whose RPI is 1/5 as high, since they spent the same amount of time to earn the $,

Stockmarketer, the images in your port are primarily illustrations, and I am guessing they take quite a bit more time to produce than mine. Have you ever calculated the "return per hour" instead of RPI?

Quote from: Ed on April 20, 2012, 11:53

LOL...and this is why people get confused when others talk about $2.30 RPI in their portfolio (and why I never believe them) 

My RPI (for month of March) was $3.92.   Daily hovers around $.12.  No tricks.

That is really impressive, as you know I calculate the same way as you and hover around the 3.50 mark