Quote from: SNP on April 11, 2013, 12:54

Despite having dropped my exclusivity in February, I haven't felt the surge of concern I thought I would. In fact, I've felt the opposite. I'm inspired by new beginnings.  I'm experiencing the initial drop in income, which I prepared for and which I expect to be a factor for about 6 months to a year. It was a huge letdown to watch TPTB erode and decimate everything that was so unique about iStock.

Going through my portfolio of almost 8K images has reminded me how many great files were best match casualties with hardly any views. I'm working very hard to get established on the other sites, and I will keep my files non-exclusively on iStock. But ventures like Stocksy, and GL can be truly sustainable marketplaces for artists and the companies that run them; companies created by fellow artists and ethically run with a focus on long-term success. I haven't looked back since ditching the crown. iStock and Getty are simply building a new breed of exclusives who have much lower expectations than our 'generation'. I was once so genuinely proud of being an iStock exclusive. iStock is no longer a community, nor is it an agency in which artists are motivated to strive for growth or to excel in their art. It isn't even an agency anymmore. It is now a Walmart, looking to sell to the highest bidder, with the smallest royalties possible going to suppliers. There is no opportunity left there. I don't know that change could even occur today. The window for change, for wooing unhappy contributors back into the fold has passed.

Glad you are doing well.  I'm actually on pace for a BME although it's still early in the month.  I'm also seeing a lot of older files with no downloads getting sales, half of the last 20 had 0 or 1 sale previously and many are from more than 2 years ago.  If you were worried about the smallest royalties possible going to the contributor I don't see why you contribute to Istock as a nonexclusive, Shutterstock, and Fotolia you'll surely make most of your money on those sites and get a smaller royalty than you were getting.

Tickstock, why do you think you are still doing so well when so many others are going down?
Superior portfolio?
More creative?
Luck?
Other?

Thanks in advance, will be interested to hear what you think.

Tickstock, I am curious too. You seem to be doing a lot better than the black diamonds of istock. Do you have such an extra special niche that is highly sought after that sets you apart from the whole contributor base? You don�t�have to tell us what it it is, but it seems really strange that if the black diamonds are struggling to sell their content and pay for the expensive shootings, how do you do it???

I think it is obvious from the numbers posted that the money invested in new shootings cannot be recovered in the current situation of istock.

Or are you a total newbie who is doubling his port every two months?

Again my congratulations for doing so extremly well, but I think we would all love to know at least a part of your secret? Any tips you can share with those of us who struggle?

And what do you recommend should I do with my Lenklypse files? I have helicopter pilots in flight, rescue teams in the mountains, organic farmers etc...all of it beautiful "lovelocal" content from a great event.  I also have several videos and I think I was the only one doing video. If I should decide to upload, what I can I do to make my files sell as well as yours?

Jasmin, lol, I think tickstock has that special superpower that only anonymity can generate

@gbalex: it's the new agencies, the fair trade agencies and those that genuinely follow suit that are going to affect change in the stock industry. I don't think we can cleanly differentiate between macro/micro/traditional anymore; pricing tiers are all so varied, as is licensing today. royalties have been crunched in traditional as much as in microstock. in some ways, we've hit close to rock bottom and it is the new models that prioritize keeping artists comfy and cozy that will probably lead us into the next evolution in the stock industry. there will be bugs, issues, hurdles no doubt but we're all primed for change.

I agree

You keep saying you are doing extremly well on istock, when everyone else seems to be struggling. The data on the black diamonds is what we "normal people" use to compare our results against someone who we know is better.

You keep posting how unbelievably successful you are, I think it is normal to be curious how are you doing it?

And my question is genuine - what do you recommend should I do? Should I upload in the current environment to istock, or not? And if I upload, what can I do to be as enthusiastic and successful as you are? Assuming the enthusiasm comes from fantastic sales.

You seem to have a unique insight into how to be successful at istock that many people would love to have. It would certainly help those who want to remain exclusive if they knew what they can do to increase their sales. And also for those of us who are independent it would be good to know what we can do to get better results. istock is part of the overall stock scene and I intend to keep uploading, just like all the other independents.

I have a lot of bills to pay as a photographer, so yes I am genuinly interested in how sales can be improved, including of course sales on istock.

I really think it is great you have a BME and I sincerly hope you posted it in that monthly sales thread on istock. Morale is very low in the contributor community, I am sure you have noticed that.  I think it would help many people to see that someone is doing well, even if you were a newbie for instance. There is  nothing wrong with being successful. Quite the contrary. Success always comes from hard work and good thinking.

Why do you think that i should not upload to istock as an independent? I have a large portfolio there and I intend to keep growing my port.

I am only holding my files back because of best match (and concerns of getty/google etc..., but they said they are not moving more stuff over)

Otherwise I see no reason not to upload to istock.

Why should I not upload?

I am happy to hear that. If you do go indie it would be better if you do it because you have sincerly thought about it and not because you are just unhappy with istock. It is a complex decision that I would not recommend to do without a good plan. And if istock recovers that would be even better, wether you are exclusive or not.

It will be interesting to watch customer traffic to the site in the coming months. Is really best match the problem or falling customer traffic?

.

Quote from: cobalt on April 11, 2013, 15:15

Tickstock, I am curious too. You seem to be doing a lot better than the black diamonds of istock. Do you have such an extra special niche that is highly sought after that sets you apart from the whole contributor base? You don�t�have to tell us what it it is, but it seems really strange that if the black diamonds are struggling to sell their content and pay for the expensive shootings, how do you do it???

I think it is obvious from the numbers posted that the money invested in new shootings cannot be recovered in the current situation of istock.

Or are you a total newbie who is doubling his port every two months?

Again my congratulations for doing so extremly well, but I think we would all love to know at least a part of your secret? Any tips you can share with those who struggle?

I was guessing I'd get this kind of ridiculous response.    I'd love for you to point to one thing I've said that would lead anyone to think I'm doing better than a black diamond.  I'd love for you to find one thing I've said that would lead anyone to think I have an awesome wonderful niche portfolio that is better than anyone else, I don't think you'll find that.  Is it any wonder that the monthly sales thread is full of people saying how bad they are doing?

Tickstock: give it up man. you are not allowed to say you are doing well at IS. I have been through this one as well, the angst in replies you will receive is frckng creepy. You will also find they twist your words a lot and quote you on something you did not say, or even imply for that matter. There are some people who just wake up nasty and need to share it. Black Diamond this and Black Diamond that - all that coming form a person who is not even Black Diamond. It has nothing to do with being a Black Diamond. What a sense of entitlement. And yes, we are all having a better few months because The Saint is no longer there, even if like you, my portfolio has nothing similar to his. What a bold statement if I have ever seen one.
And congrats for getting on your way to a BME, not happening for me, but the last few months have been great and appear to be getting back to normal.

Welcome back Shudderstock! You are bringing a lot to this place. I really mean that, without any cynism.

It will help people who are watching and sitting on a fence decide what they want to do. Your input is more valuable than you might want to believe.


Aren't you lucky that we are not anonymous? I am sure it's a lot more fun this way. (maybe now I am being sarcastic...)

Quote from: sjlocke on April 11, 2013, 18:35

Oh, and IS gets to keep more of the sales price, yeah!

I'll work extra hard to get up to 40% by the end of the year so that doesn't happen.

Better work harder than that. I'm pretty sure Sean was one of number of people you could literally count on one hand that were making 45%.

It's not a 'bold' statement.  It's a true statement.  I imagine the people who were spending the five figures a month on my work there will continue to spend around that much, and it doesn't have to be on similar work.

Oh, and IS gets to keep more of the sales price, yeah!

nah, if they searched "smiling kid on school bus" they were not looking for "bowl of oranges" or "waterfall with red leaves". buyers tend to know what they want and stick to the search they are looking for. i would imagine the photographers who shoot the same subject matter of work you do would benefit, but that is about it.

Welcome back Shudderstock! You are bringing a lot to this place. I really mean that, without any cynism.

It will help people who are watching and sitting on a fence decide what they want to do. Your input is more valuable than you might want to believe.


Aren't you lucky that we are not anonymous? I am sure it's a lot more fun this way. (maybe now I am being sarcastic...)

we should all do what works best for our own needs ie: indie, exclusive, RF, or RM. in a perfect world, we'd all be back in the past when images were worth something, buyers paid the value of a photo as it was cheaper than hiring a local photographer to do a shoot, and we'd actually be getting paid a 50% royalty as per the industry standard. much better than this subscription BS that pays 0.25c per download. How can anyone survive on that? IS is not much better, but at least you have a glimmer of hope to make a bit more. so who do we blame? the agencies that are screwing us over? ourselves for allowing it to happen? or is it simply a case of codependency? i know for certain i would never place my images with certain agencies based solely on the royalties they offer.

Well if you look at return per download only then you should probably put all your files on coverpicture, apparently their RPD is over 40 euros (60 dollars?):

http://www.alltageinesfotoproduzenten.de/2013/02/21/durchschnittliche-verkaufserloese-rpd-bei-bildagenturen-2012/

But of course the only relevant number is the actual money you make. Although Getty�s 12 dollars for 425 million people must be the lowest ever. Let�s hope they don�t ever do it again.

It�s the same with software - you can write great software and sell it for 300 or 3000 or 30 000 dollars a license or sell it as a 99 cent app and become an internet millionaire.

Like you said, everyone needs to look at their own portfolio and their own financial goals. So it is good to have choices as an artist.

@tickstock you will only make the 80 000 if best match allows to find your new files. Which since September seems to be a big problem. So for your sake and all the other ambitious exclusives, I hope they fix it soon.

You probably know this thread:

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=352023&page=20#post6873761

You also have to invest a lot of money (models, stylist, gear, studio) to make the 80 000. Revenue is not income.