Microstock or otherwise, what are your goals for 2013?

Are you going to shoot more or less than 2012?  Invest in something else, invest more in micro, spend time on something completely different?

For me, 2012 was a good year for stock and I'm going to continue investing in it.  I think investing 50% of my stock income back into shooting  / production is a realistic goal to shoot for.  This year was closer to only 40%.  Stock is still my #1 income source by far so I feel it is really worthwhile nurturing and trying to keeping growing it while it still seems like a viable income. 

Another important goal for 2013 which I'd like to aim for is to shoot every week.  If I don't have a stock shoot set up then I'd be forced to simply go out shooting on the street walking around or in nature or something.  I find that my job is more and more at the computer / sedentary and that isn't what I really want, even if it is enjoyable and comfortable.   I like being 'out in the world' a lot and simply want to do that more.

I also have a couple other shooting projects I'd like to pursue - which I haven't yet as they have a reasonably large financial barrier to entry ($15,000 or so)  Not a huge amount but enough that other investments have been coming first all 2012.  Hopefully in early 2013 I can put that investment first and get started.  I don't want to be too secret-like, but I'm not about to give away my idea in case someone beats me to my own idea (not that it is original mind you).  I'll plan to upload images from the project as stock as well as hopefully getting a few private clients.   I'm sure I'll post about the project on here once I get it started.  This will also hopefully serve as a bit of a solution to diversifying my income to be less dependent on stock.

My main goal isn't volume anymore.  It's differentiation.  My opinion in order to survive in this industry is to have uniqueness in your port.  When I say uniqueness I don't mean a different angle of an isolated tomato   I did a bit of completely different shots this year and they already have flames on them at IS.  Sometimes less is more.

Probably get a lot of similars in this thread Leaf - reject as you see fit!!!

Increase RM portfolio quite drastically.
Publish books of projects currently working on  - even if self published.
Diversify portfolio in RM and RF.
Learn Illustrator!!!
Replace/update equipment - body, laptop, desktop.

I imagine a lot of people will be looking to expand into/increase their RM portfolio. My gut feel is that RM is making a bit of a comeback and it my prove a good time to take advantacge of it.

Quote from: Veneratio on November 30, 2012, 08:16

Probably get a lot of similars in this thread Leaf - reject as you see fit!!!

Increase RM portfolio quite drastically.
Publish books of projects currently working on  - even if self published.
Diversify portfolio in RM and RF.
Learn Illustrator!!!
Replace/update equipment - body, laptop, desktop.

I imagine a lot of people will be looking to expand into/increase their RM portfolio. My gut feel is that RM is making a bit of a comeback and it my prove a good time to take advantacge of it.

Yeah, I've always thought I'd submit more content to RM and have come close a few times but every time I have a good shoot I could submit as RM I end up submitting it as microstock because I KNOW what the return is going to be and know that it will be good.  Submitting as RM with low (but high) sales always seems like more of a risk, as backwards as that sounds.

Depends on length of time prepared to wait for return I guess. RM may take a year or two for $500 sale but in that time RF may generate same amount (be a good seller though!)

Plenty of commissions already lined up for 2013 but really only suitable for RM and macroRF. So thats where I will put my concentration as I pretty much have done during 2012 anyway.

Quit FT and the middle tier agencies, taking my port with me, I somehow dont believe in spreading them around anymore.

As far as supplying micro?  I will be uploading much more to DT, very, very steady agency, good prices and stay clear of all the petty-cash problems other agencies are suffering.
SS? oly God knows.
IS. at the moment selling very, very well for me and I will cary on uploading during 2013.

OTOH.  we might all die during 2013?

I feel much more positive about microstock nowadays so I want to significantly increase my output in 2013 and take advantage of the opportunity to increase earnings that I believe now exists. When previously iStock was dominant I never felt particularly in control of my earnings as a change to the best match could wipe out months if not years of work overnight.

Shutterstock, together with BigStock, now generates over 50% of my microstock earnings and, as a result, I am more confident that the effort to produce good images will be rewarded. It seems to me that SS's default sort-order is a true meritocracy and the money is there to be earned if your images are good enough. I don't anticipate the situation at SS changing much anytime soon either, irrespective of the IPO. What they've been doing up to know has served them extremely well and I think they'll will continue doing much the same for the foreseeable future. All my data suggests that customers will continue to migrate to SS from other agencies and SS is likely to become even more dominant in 2013.

My main concern for 2013 is that the trickle of exclusives that have been giving up their crowns recently could turn in to a flood next year. A couple of bad months at IS might be enough to burst the dam. Not sure what the effect of all those new images appearing at other agencies would have on independents' income but it's unlikely to help.

I feel much more positive about microstock nowadays so I want to significantly increase my output in 2013 and take advantage of the opportunity to increase earnings that I believe now exists. When previously iStock was dominant I never felt particularly in control of my earnings as a change to the best match could wipe out months if not years of work overnight.

Shutterstock, together with BigStock, now generates over 50% of my microstock earnings and, as a result, I am more confident that the effort to produce good images will be rewarded. It seems to me that SS's default sort-order is a true meritocracy and the money is there to be earned if your images are good enough. I don't anticipate the situation at SS changing much anytime soon either, irrespective of the IPO. What they've been doing up to know has served them extremely well and I think they'll will continue doing much the same for the foreseeable future. All my data suggests that customers will continue to migrate to SS from other agencies and SS is likely to become even more dominant in 2013.

My main concern for 2013 is that the trickle of exclusives that have been giving up their crowns recently could turn in to a flood next year. A couple of bad months at IS might be enough to burst the dam. Not sure what the effect of all those new images appearing at other agencies would have on independents' income but it's unlikely to help.

That dam already has some pretty big holes in it.

I haven't firmed it all up, but I'm thinking...

- An image goal. I did 4k last year, but I may tone it back to 2k this year.
- A financial goal. I always have one of these and I don't think I met my one from last year, so that will probably get rolled over.
- I need to work on my SEO and marketing, so that definitely should be a priority. Is setting a goal to have some goals in this a goal?

My goals for past years have been money oriented.  I think the focus on money has dampened my creativity and enjoyment of photography.  This coming year I would like to focus more on shooting what I enjoy and what brings me personal fulfillment. 

That said, I would like to at least maintain my stock income. 

Back to why you picked up the DSLR in the first place. I am still in that zone because I am new to photography. I hope it all works out for you, in terms of personal and monetary satisfaction.

It's still a bit early for this discussion.  Let's have another thread late on New Year's Eve when I'm sitting at the computer with a glass of bubbly.

1. World domination
2. A huuuge Yakuzi in my bedroom
3. Learn to do the perfect Sushi california rolls
4. Eat the California rolls in the Yakuzi
5. Share the Yakuzi and the California rolls with some beautiful Models

This year I had a goal for making a certain amount of images. I didn't quite accomplish my goal, but I have thought that measuring the quantity of images makes no sense and might prevent me from creating more time-consuming imagery.

So next year I will have only a goal measured in earnings. Depending on how much I earn in december, the goal is somewhere in the +20%...+24% region for next year.

My goal is also to do less commissioned shoots this year, that leaves more time for stock and more freetime.

My goal is to have a goal. After years of microstock there's a risk of doing thinks automatically without a plan. I need to take a pause and analyse things.

Shooting a lot of pictures and uploading to every possible agency provide it's easy probably worked for a while, but it doesn't work anymore for me. I will concentrate on quality over quantity, and also weed out a number of useless sites - from 30 down to 20, losing less than 0.5% and saving a lot of time; I won't delete ports, just quit uploading.

I finally realised time is the most valuable commodity. And I don't mean just time=money. I mean time to do things I like, and to travel for the sake of travelling. And this could also result in new ideas, more shooting opportunities and eventually more money, although money alone is not at the top of my list at present.