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Author Topic: IS, exclusives! hows it going, really?  (Read 22289 times)

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Lagereek

« on: August 03, 2012, 12:54 »
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I am curious! how is life on the other side of the fence? ;), IS, exclusivity. Is it any good? mediocre, fantastic or bloody terrible. Anybody dares to some input? I got a sneaky feeling that in six months time all agencies will be playing us, either with their searches or in another devious way, so yes, curious? :)
« Last Edit: August 03, 2012, 12:56 by Lagereek »


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2012, 13:07 »
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Why not study the July sales thread over there? More exclusives post there.

« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2012, 13:10 »
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What info are you looking for exactly ? We where always exclusive more or less so it is hard to compare, but like most things in life it does have it's advantages and disadvantages.

traveler1116

« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2012, 13:18 »
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Thinking about going exclusive?

lisafx

« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2012, 14:06 »
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Why not study the July sales thread over there? More exclusives post there.

Agree.  A read through the diamond and black diamond reports in that thread is really ominous. 

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2012, 14:08 »
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Why not study the July sales thread over there? More exclusives post there.

Agree.  A read through the diamond and black diamond reports in that thread is really ominous. 

Indeed, and even the usual cheerleaders aren't cheering.
I guess it 'could' be Summer Slump, but we'll only know that in the run up to Christmas. Not wishing my life away, though.

SK

« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2012, 14:09 »
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iStock really sucks and downloads and revenues are plunging. I am a diamond exclusive that is very depressed!

« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2012, 14:16 »
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honestly I dont see a point to this thread once there were no changes from June to July and we all know how IS is going, at least the ones that post their earnings/downloads %'s, last month i made that graph and 75% of the exclusives where down (based on "their" forum)

Lagereek

« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2012, 14:24 »
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honestly I dont see a point to this thread once there were no changes from June to July and we all know how IS is going, at least the ones that post their earnings/downloads %'s, last month i made that graph and 75% of the exclusives where down (based on "their" forum)

Didnt ask for your opinion Luis. Thread is aimed towards a differant clientel.

« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2012, 15:40 »
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How is it going .... REALLY?

I'm a diamond exclusive.  2 yrs of steady decline.  At the time of the 09/10 announcements, my earnings clobbered those of my non-exclusive peers.  Since then, their earnings have risen and my have fallen to the point that, if current trends continue, sometime this autumn their earnings will meet mine and then surpass them. And the 'peers' I'm comparing myself to are photogs, not even vector artists. 

What's telling about the July sales thread is how few people chimed compared to 'the old days' and that this month, it was hours before anyone bothered to start it compared to in the past when people would jump over each other to be the first to post. 

The only thing that confuses me is why so many people seem confused by this entirely predictable turn of events.  ???

« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2012, 15:54 »
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Why not study the July sales thread over there? More exclusives post there.

Agree.  A read through the diamond and black diamond reports in that thread is really ominous. 

I think it was a somewhat rhetorical question from Lagereek __ as if he doesn't know the situation. There's no doubt that many are being forced into extremely difficult decisions as incomes have dwindled. They've been let down badly by Istock's greed and incompetence.

« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2012, 15:58 »
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honestly I dont see a point to this thread once there were no changes from June to July and we all know how IS is going, at least the ones that post their earnings/downloads %'s, last month i made that graph and 75% of the exclusives where down (based on "their" forum)

Didnt ask for your opinion Luis. Thread is aimed towards a differant clientel.

i believe you havent read my post

lisafx

« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2012, 18:10 »
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I think it was a somewhat rhetorical question from Lagereek __ as if he doesn't know the situation. There's no doubt that many are being forced into extremely difficult decisions as incomes have dwindled. They've been let down badly by Istock's greed and incompetence.

Perhaps so, but I hadn't bothered to read the Istock monthly thread until Liz's post.  I knew things were bad at Istock, and I know how bad my own sales are there, but I was genuinely surprised to see most diamond and above exclusives saying that their sales are back to 2005-06 levels and royalties are back to 2007-08.

I haven't really been keeping up with Istock's situation, beyond my own dismal sales.  Last time I paid much attention to a monthly thread there were still a lot of folks saying that although sales had plunged, higher priced collections were still bringing in decent returns. 

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2012, 19:27 »
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OTOH, although obviously several people like you (Lisa) and Sean, for example, are uploading high quality stock stuff all the time, yet have falling stats, some people who are complaining loudly there are 'resting on their laurels', and looking at two of their ports I saw they'd uploaded virtually nothing this year, to small ports grown over a long time, as if they thought these same images would go on selling for ever.
So just taking a flat 'number of exclusives who are failing' isn't telling the whole story.

I know that Alexa only tells a part story too, but comparing the 'big 4' agencies shows that there was a HUGE slump in iStock visits between March and April 2011. I can't remember what happened then specifically - anyone remember - big price hike? peak months for the technical glitches? and has gone down considerably this year to a new low plateau. SS rose up last year, and this year has very similar Alexa stats to iS. Fotolia has ended a bit up from June 2010, and DT is a very little down from then, all with fluctuations within that period.

Lagereek

« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2012, 23:37 »
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I think it was a somewhat rhetorical question from Lagereek __ as if he doesn't know the situation. There's no doubt that many are being forced into extremely difficult decisions as incomes have dwindled. They've been let down badly by Istock's greed and incompetence.

Perhaps so, but I hadn't bothered to read the Istock monthly thread until Liz's post.  I knew things were bad at Istock, and I know how bad my own sales are there, but I was genuinely surprised to see most diamond and above exclusives saying that their sales are back to 2005-06 levels and royalties are back to 2007-08.

I haven't really been keeping up with Istock's situation, beyond my own dismal sales.  Last time I paid much attention to a monthly thread there were still a lot of folks saying that although sales had plunged, higher priced collections were still bringing in decent returns. 


Gotswyck is right really but as you say, I havent been inside the IS forum for months and even so, you cant believe a damned word over there, any useful or complaining posts are locked immediately.
OTOH, life on this side of the fence, isnt much brighter, is it? we spend days on end uploading, this and that, to a whole bunch of agencies, also with mediocre results. Fair enough, SS, DT and FT can still produce but in a years time after they have constantly messed around with their search-engines. What will it look like?. The latest "relevancy" at SS, is as far as many are concerned, a total mess, same story with the FT, search, etc, etc.  Sure! there are some, wooyay! days but they are becoming far and few in between.

Many professional photographers are now leaving the micro industry, I know one guy who pretty soon will pull a port of 5K, images away from micro and send them down another avenue, says its too time consuming for too little in return, etc.
The entire micro business is very edgy, paranoid. Agencies are acting according to their own perfect scenario, which ofcourse wasnt perfect at all and the damage is done.

Wim

« Reply #15 on: August 04, 2012, 03:10 »
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Woops double post

Wim

« Reply #16 on: August 04, 2012, 03:10 »
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Quote
Many professional photographers are now leaving the micro industry, I know one guy who pretty soon will pull a port of 5K, images away from micro and send them down another avenue, says its too time consuming for too little in return, etc.
The entire micro business is very edgy, paranoid. Agencies are acting according to their own perfect scenario, which ofcourse wasnt perfect at all and the damage is done.


If we're on the same track about 'other avenues' the problem with that is that our images are so widely spread (partner agencies) they could pop up anywhere at anytime, even after months/years of removal, and for pennies.
I removed my port from YAY a while ago but still found my work selling at their partner agency, that was after 6 months. I almost had to hire a lawyer to get my work removed. So tell your friend to keep that in mind.

« Reply #17 on: August 04, 2012, 04:23 »
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Not talking about any site specifically - but I see people complain about being back to say 2007 numbers. There are lots of people in business who would love to be back to 2007 numbers - or even to still be in business.

This is the worst economy since the 1930s. 2007 was the high water mark of a long boom -  especially online. The post 2001 internet boom far surpassed the pre crash dot.com era - lots of exuberant little startups all needing images, big companies with money to burn etc

Comparing anything with the high point of a boom is going to be a disappointing experience. And I know that this expression is being way overused but now probably really is the "new normal".
« Last Edit: August 04, 2012, 04:25 by bhr »

Lagereek

« Reply #18 on: August 04, 2012, 04:31 »
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Quote
Many professional photographers are now leaving the micro industry, I know one guy who pretty soon will pull a port of 5K, images away from micro and send them down another avenue, says its too time consuming for too little in return, etc.
The entire micro business is very edgy, paranoid. Agencies are acting according to their own perfect scenario, which ofcourse wasnt perfect at all and the damage is done.


If we're on the same track about 'other avenues' the problem with that is that our images are so widely spread (partner agencies) they could pop up anywhere at anytime, even after months/years of removal, and for pennies.
I removed my port from YAY a while ago but still found my work selling at their partner agency, that was after 6 months. I almost had to hire a lawyer to get my work removed. So tell your friend to keep that in mind.

No problem he has been for 20 years in the stock game, he knows what he is doing.

Lagereek

« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2012, 04:42 »
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Not talking about any site specifically - but I see people complain about being back to say 2007 numbers. There are lots of people in business who would love to be back to 2007 numbers - or even to still be in business.

This is the worst economy since the 1930s. 2007 was the high water mark of a long boom -  especially online. The post 2001 internet boom far surpassed the pre crash dot.com era - lots of exuberant little startups all needing images, big companies with money to burn etc

Comparing anything with the high point of a boom is going to be a disappointing experience. And I know that this expression is being way overused but now probably really is the "new normal".

Im afraid you can not blame the reccession or world economy anymore, them days are over and has got nothing to do with many agencies half assed attempt to increase profits, this and that, destroying their own searches, neglecting buyers, not fixing bugs and glitches, etc, the list just goes on and on. One of the foremost gurus of the mechanisms of the internet, used to work with Thomas Knoll at Adobe, he once said, the safest way of ruining a good business depending on the internet for sales, regardless of product,  is to constantly change the search alogarithms, engines.
Well in all our case, we have experienced this a lot lately and thats got nothing to do with world economy,  rather a frightening lack of know-how, a never-mind attitude and beliefs in self-esteemed scenarios.

« Reply #20 on: August 04, 2012, 13:25 »
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Im afraid you can not blame the reccession or world economy anymore, them days are over

Uhhhh ... I can't believe you actually typed that.  If anything, we're at one of the worst points because a lot of people who were just keeping their heads above water are running out of resources.  It's only this year that I've seen "unemployment" and "temping" become frequently mentioned on my fb and twitter feeds. But you're right about all the other stuff. That big drop at istock was a self-inflicted wound from your list.

"some people who are complaining loudly there are 'resting on their laurels'"

And that's a factor in some of my decline. Market saturation gets blamed on these forums a lot but market stagnation, not so much.  When I do searches, sometimes I feel like I've been looking at the same files over and over for years. And the same stock "style" over and over.  It seems like the micros have descended into a terrible state of monotony where every site offers the same files, same styles and same general experience. istock's advantage was that it's strong set of exclusives offered a novel set of search results compared to the others.  But that graph suggests it wasn't enough to counter, "half assed attempt to increase profits, this and that, destroying their own searches, neglecting buyers, not fixing bugs and glitches".   

 Nobody is innovating and all the sites seem content to wallow in mediocrity, so the results will likely reflect that.

lisafx

« Reply #21 on: August 04, 2012, 14:11 »
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Not talking about any site specifically - but I see people complain about being back to say 2007 numbers. There are lots of people in business who would love to be back to 2007 numbers - or even to still be in business.

This is the worst economy since the 1930s. 2007 was the high water mark of a long boom -  especially online. The post 2001 internet boom far surpassed the pre crash dot.com era - lots of exuberant little startups all needing images, big companies with money to burn etc

Comparing anything with the high point of a boom is going to be a disappointing experience. And I know that this expression is being way overused but now probably really is the "new normal".

For many businesses 2007 may indeed have been a high water mark, but microstock was still in relatively early days.  The high water mark for me, and I imagine some others, was 2009-2010.  So when I say that my sales and royalties are back at 2006-07 levels, that is a massive, and I mean MASSIVE drop.  And that's not even accounting for the fact that my portfolio was around 1.5 - 2k in that period of time and it's 7k now. 

lisafx

« Reply #22 on: August 04, 2012, 14:16 »
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Im afraid you can not blame the reccession or world economy anymore, them days are over

Uhhhh ... I can't believe you actually typed that.  If anything, we're at one of the worst points because a lot of people who were just keeping their heads above water are running out of resources.  It's only this year that I've seen "unemployment" and "temping" become frequently mentioned on my fb and twitter feeds. But you're right about all the other stuff. That big drop at istock was a self-inflicted wound from your list.


I may be wrong, but I believe his comment about not blaming the world economy was limited to the context of microstock.  As most of us seem to agree, microstock's demise owes less to the world economy and more to the hubris of the agencies. 

Lagereek

« Reply #23 on: August 04, 2012, 14:30 »
0
Im afraid you can not blame the reccession or world economy anymore, them days are over

Uhhhh ... I can't believe you actually typed that.  If anything, we're at one of the worst points because a lot of people who were just keeping their heads above water are running out of resources.  It's only this year that I've seen "unemployment" and "temping" become frequently mentioned on my fb and twitter feeds. But you're right about all the other stuff. That big drop at istock was a self-inflicted wound from your list.


I may be wrong, but I believe his comment about not blaming the world economy was limited to the context of microstock.  As most of us seem to agree, microstock's demise owes less to the world economy and more to the hubris of the agencies. 

Correct! thats what I meant.

« Reply #24 on: August 04, 2012, 14:50 »
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And I just meant that I agree with all the other stuff but think that the economy is still a factor ... a lagging indicator in the case of microstock because it was, at first, the place to turn as budgets tightened.


 

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