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Author Topic: iStock New Sub. Model Just Announced!  (Read 40647 times)

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« Reply #175 on: March 10, 2014, 10:55 »
+3
How much income are you predicting to make in 12 months tickstock? Even if you had 10 000 files sitting there and ready to go?

If you came in new to istock today - how much money will you earn if you upload a completely new portfolio? New work doest sell on istock, or is your portfolio an exception?

I have watched many people who came in new and patiently guided them along to improve their work. It took them a long time, even with excellent portfolios. 2-3 years at least and most of them went exclusive in those days. But they had a much harder time reaching a decent income level than those who had portfolios established in 2002-2005.

So yes, it doesnt matter which agency you come in new today, they havent been waiting for you.

But you are welcome to show me how you can reach a full time income in 12 months, if you want to. I didnt try, Id rather understand the market first.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 10:59 by cobalt »


« Reply #176 on: March 10, 2014, 10:59 »
0
do they really favor exclusive content is best match? Or is this an IS myth? My videos always seem buried and the relevance to search of some of the videos that bury mine is questionable. I can say that once a file hits the magic ten downloads, it does seem to get much better placement.

« Reply #177 on: March 10, 2014, 11:00 »
0
It is no myth. Exclusive content is favoured, also in video.


« Reply #178 on: March 10, 2014, 11:02 »
0
maybe my exclusive content is the exception :). Some have decent placing, but others are burried deep

« Reply #179 on: March 10, 2014, 11:03 »
0
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« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:43 by tickstock »

« Reply #180 on: March 10, 2014, 11:06 »
+2
Then I hope you will still have a full time in income in even one year tick stock.
 
Your portfolio must be doing much better than that of most people.

I feel much more comfortable repositioning myself. I know I will earn more money this way and dont have to abruptly look for a day job because I am completely exposed to just one company.

By the way last month I already earned more on SS with 600 files than with 3600 on istock. So someone who comes in new - what will their experience be? I still have files with good positions, but a new artist? They upload to SS and istock...why would they ever go exclusive with such an experience?
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 11:12 by cobalt »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #181 on: March 10, 2014, 11:07 »
+4
I would definitely not advise anyone to just go indie without understanding what it means for their income.
I thought you have been advising it for a while now, talking about all the success Stocksy has had how there are so many opportunities exclusivity isn't the only game in town.  I didn't realize that caveat that all these great opportunities will "of course" "definitely" cost you money.
In the short term.
Which, co-incidentally is all that Getty/iS seems to be thinking about.
Though 'thinking' may be putting it too strongly.

With subs, some (at least, maybe most) of us are going to see a massive downturn in our earnings very soon now.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 11:10 by ShadySue »

« Reply #182 on: March 10, 2014, 11:15 »
+2
True, we have the new subs to look forward to.

The exclusives had their transfer to PP stopped because istock was looking to give them higher income opportunities only, but now the subs model is coming to istock at 34 cents for exclusives and 28 cents for indies.

Legacy content on PP will still pay the artist 42 cents. And no RC royalties.

tickstock - how do you predict will the subs influence your income? Are you expecting your income to grow? What do you think? And what about the missing RC?

Customers can now buy your S+ files for 2,50 in XXXl. What does your business model predict?
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 11:25 by cobalt »

« Reply #183 on: March 10, 2014, 11:20 »
+1
I thought you have been advising it for a while now, talking about all the success Stocksy has had how there are so many opportunities exclusivity isn't the only game in town.  I didn't realize that caveat that all these great opportunities will "of course" "definitely" cost you money.

I have been sharing my experience tickstock and you know that. Going indie costs money. But so does staying exclusive, especially if your work doest sell and you need to take on additional jobs or assignments to start paying for the stock production.

I know many indies who are earning much more than me and their income is growing steadily and is also higher than that of many of my exclusive friends.

The people who are exclusive to fotolia are going through a similar phase like the istock exclusives, by the way. Too much risk in exposure to one agency. But Fotolia offers exclusive images, so they can just decide to leave their portfolio there, or just take part of their files to the new agencies. It makes the transfer much smoother.

Being exclusive is no magic button to a full time income, neither is being indie.



« Reply #184 on: March 10, 2014, 11:24 »
+5
Going indie costs money. But so does staying exclusive.. snip

Staying exclusive appears to cost more than money.

« Reply #185 on: March 10, 2014, 11:25 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:42 by tickstock »

« Reply #186 on: March 10, 2014, 11:28 »
0
I sincerely hope, it goes well for you. For all exclusives.

I just know as a customer I would be going for the S+ first. I mean they can get the main collection files everywhere.

But this is what I mean is that you have absolutely no guarantee that your income will be the same level next year. istock is not your employer, you are not on a fixed salary.

On fotolia some exclusives lost nearly 50% of their revenue in a few months when fotolia forced everyone into subs. Fotolia pays out up to 60% royalty to their fully exclusive artists and apparently many had their portfolios opted out of subs. But of course Fotolia already had many existing subs customers, so the change was drastic. I hope istock is smarter and somehow limits the potential damage for the exclusives.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 11:31 by cobalt »

« Reply #187 on: March 10, 2014, 11:30 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:42 by tickstock »

« Reply #188 on: March 10, 2014, 11:32 »
+2
Like I said, if it is working for you and you are making a full time income and can earn enough to pay for your ongoing production. Good for you.

However for artist trying to make decisions it would be much more helpful if someone who had a visible portfolio said the same things as you.

I personally see much less risk in being indie, obviously.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 11:36 by cobalt »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #189 on: March 10, 2014, 11:37 »
+7
I sincerely hope, it goes well for you. For all exclusives.

I just know as a customer I would be going for the S+ first. I mean they can get the main collection files everywhere.

But this is what I mean is that you have absolutely no guarantee that your income will be the same level next year. istock is not your employer, you are not on a fixed salary.
There are few guarantees but looking at former exclusives it seems close to a guarantee that leaving will cost money and probably a lot.  Maybe in 2-3 years it will come back but there is no guarantee there.

If things go the way they're going, many of us will be down and out on iStock long before then - with the subs scheme, it could be extremely soon.

stock-will-eat-itself

« Reply #190 on: March 10, 2014, 11:58 »
+1
I doubt it will be as bad for exclusives as they imagine, if they get the volume of SS and FT with the tiered pricing their income could be more stable than it is now.

The big problem they need to address is new files not getting any exposure and the complexity of balancing the best match with so many pricing levels. Subs and credit packs are here to stay, when I have to buy I use SS as its by far the easiest and most economical option.

Subs may be the only thing that holds the exclusivity program together in the long run, theres no other way to compete with SS.

« Reply #191 on: March 10, 2014, 12:15 »
0
What I dont quite understand - wasnt Thinkstock a big success? At least that is what I kept reading, how happy Getty is with the success of think stock.

If it was so successful - why didnt it stop the growth of Shutterstock?

And what will be different if istock also has subs? Most of the content is the same between both sites.

The one benefit I do see, is that maybe istock will be getting some loving attention again. The place needs attention.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #192 on: March 10, 2014, 13:23 »
+2
What I dont quite understand - wasnt Thinkstock a big success? At least that is what I kept reading, how happy Getty is with the success of think stock.

If it was so successful - why didnt it stop the growth of Shutterstock?

And what will be different if istock also has subs? Most of the content is the same between both sites.

The one benefit I do see, is that maybe istock will be getting some loving attention again. The place needs attention.

I'm expecting iS and TS to merge. They're always banging on about simplifying their options, and one question on customer questionnaires has regularly been about unified access to all collections (TS/iS/GI).

« Reply #193 on: March 10, 2014, 13:51 »
0
Well if istock has subs, what is the point of Thinkstock, I guess.

You can just hope they move Thinkstock to istock, not the other way round.

« Reply #194 on: March 10, 2014, 14:21 »
+2
I sincerely hope, it goes well for you. For all exclusives.

I just know as a customer I would be going for the S+ first. I mean they can get the main collection files everywhere.

But this is what I mean is that you have absolutely no guarantee that your income will be the same level next year. istock is not your employer, you are not on a fixed salary.
There are few guarantees but looking at former exclusives it seems close to a guarantee that leaving will cost money and probably a lot.  Maybe in 2-3 years it will come back but there is no guarantee there.

If things go the way they're going, many of us will be down and out on iStock long before then - with the subs scheme, it could be extremely soon.


Yes. Unless the subscription scheme works much better that I fear it will, it will be an stampede of exclusives out of istock, even if there aren't any exciting alternatives in the microstock market.

« Reply #195 on: March 10, 2014, 14:28 »
+7
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community. These guys all get 20%

How useful are the istock artists at 40%?

Or - why are they not paying out RCs for the subs...?
« Last Edit: March 10, 2014, 14:34 by cobalt »

« Reply #196 on: March 10, 2014, 14:49 »
0
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community.

Can you post a link of the announcement?

« Reply #197 on: March 10, 2014, 14:50 »
0
Look at the other thread getty/flickr. Someone posted the text of th email contributors just got.

http://www.microstockgroup.com/flickr/getty-images-terminate-existing-agreement-with-flickr/msg369929/?topicseen

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #198 on: March 10, 2014, 14:56 »
0
They just announced they are bringing in a huge crowd of flickr artists into the getty community. These guys all get 20%
Isn't that the same people who already have Flickr/Getty contracts, rather than more people coming in, necessarily?

« Reply #199 on: March 10, 2014, 15:04 »
+1
.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2014, 23:41 by tickstock »


 

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