MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: Fine Art America - sales increasing nicely since September  (Read 52672 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« Reply #175 on: December 15, 2014, 07:21 »
+2
I dont understand that reasoning. In my first 6 months I sold nothing, then my sales started to pick up, and I was dong well at 300 USD/month, until end of last year my sales started to decline. According to the theory, I should have gone up in the search because I was selling, yet I got less and less sales.


PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #176 on: December 15, 2014, 07:45 »
+1
I dont understand that reasoning. In my first 6 months I sold nothing, then my sales started to pick up, and I was dong well at 300 USD/month, until end of last year my sales started to decline. According to the theory, I should have gone up in the search because I was selling, yet I got less and less sales.

Same thing for me. I submitted 10 of my better images to try it out. First several months no sales. Then I got one sale. And another one a couple months later. It paid for itself so I upgraded and got the $30 account. I submitted a few hundred images and also changed my stock to be more artsy. It took a while but things slowly picked up and I now have ab out 1,300 images with good regular sales. I did notice that when I stop submitting regularly sales seem to slip after a month or two. So maybe that's what happened in your situation (?).

Like any other agency type of business, they're not perfect and have their quirks. But they seem to have potential.

« Reply #177 on: December 15, 2014, 07:56 »
0
Interesting point,  I was uploading more regularly before than this year. Maybe that is an explanation. I have a backlog of a couple of hundred. I will see to it that  I get these online and see if sales increase again.

« Reply #178 on: December 15, 2014, 09:13 »
+1
I dont understand that reasoning. In my first 6 months I sold nothing, then my sales started to pick up, and I was dong well at 300 USD/month, until end of last year my sales started to decline. According to the theory, I should have gone up in the search because I was selling, yet I got less and less sales.

Same here. I guess this is my frustration with them. I did roughly $500 in a few months now nothing in 12 plus months. Really doesn't matter I guess since I am going to let my subscription expire and not renew....but, I would much rather stay if I could make some doe like I used to.

« Reply #179 on: December 15, 2014, 11:20 »
+5
Yes, newbies are always asking why their sunsets haven't sold but lately there are a lot of people complaining bitterly about the search.  The first time you actually try some searches and study the results, it's a shock to realize you're never even going to be seen, even if you have a perfect keyword match.  Its really frustrating to see images at the top of the search that don't even have those keywords.   

The admins have been getting increasingly rude in dismissing those complaints and shutting down negative threads.     

Like some of you, my sales have been declining. 

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #180 on: December 15, 2014, 11:29 »
0
Yes, newbies are always asking why their sunsets haven't sold but lately there are a lot of people complaining bitterly about the search.  The first time you actually try some searches and study the results, it's a shock to realize you're never even going to be seen, even if you have a perfect keyword match.  Its really frustrating to see images at the top of the search that don't even have those keywords.   

The admins have been getting increasingly rude in dismissing those complaints and shutting down negative threads.     

Like some of you, my sales have been declining.

I don't think it's much different than stock. If you shoot stuff where the search shows 1,000,000 results you probably won't be seen. Neither would I. If you have subjects where the search shows 100 results then you have a better chance of getting some sales and boosting yourself. More and more with any of these stock or art sites it's critical to have a strategy than just spray and pray.

If their search is wacky it's their game. The only thing you can do is figure out how to make the wackiness work for you.

« Reply #181 on: December 15, 2014, 11:31 »
+3
I have done their keyword promotion, only to find out I could see my own images on the 3rd line in the search when logged in. As soon as I logged out, that whole thing didnt work at all. Carrots, stick and all that.

« Reply #182 on: December 15, 2014, 13:06 »
+1
I don't think it's much different than stock.

PW, go there right now and search on 'kitchen'.  The 1st and 3rd images are paintings of trees, they don't have 'kitchen' in their keywords, titles or descriptions.  They're just works from a top seller.  No microstock would do this.

 

« Reply #183 on: December 15, 2014, 13:50 »
0
I don't think it's much different than stock.

PW, go there right now and search on 'kitchen'.  The 1st and 3rd images are paintings of trees, they don't have 'kitchen' in their keywords, titles or descriptions.  They're just works from a top seller.  No microstock would do this.

They do have kitchen in the tags. Click on 'Show All'.

I made some tests with the search, I don't think its whacky, results are good so far, I was able to find everything I was looking for (and sometimes - or all of the time :) more, but that's more to do with the keywords used).

« Reply #184 on: December 15, 2014, 14:49 »
+1
I don't think it's much different than stock.

PW, go there right now and search on 'kitchen'.  The 1st and 3rd images are paintings of trees, they don't have 'kitchen' in their keywords, titles or descriptions.  They're just works from a top seller.  No microstock would do this.

They do have kitchen in the tags. Click on 'Show All'.

I made some tests with the search, I don't think its whacky, results are good so far, I was able to find everything I was looking for (and sometimes - or all of the time :) more, but that's more to do with the keywords used).

I see what you mean.  And that painting also has tags of 'living room', 'vibrant', 'joy', 'spain', 'california', 'garden', 'field', 'vibrant', 'tranquil', and a lot more.  Not seeing much real connection to 'kitchen', but they forgot 'Santa Claus' so that leaves an opening.

Is that spam, or do people really search on 'joy' and 'painting'?  Should I be adding 'living room' to everything I have up there?

« Last Edit: December 15, 2014, 14:57 by stockastic »

« Reply #185 on: December 15, 2014, 16:04 »
+1

The difference, I believe, is that my husband is a very fine painter of iconic American scenes, offering unique works. He seems to be a really good fit for FAA.

If you'd like to see his FAA gallery, here it is:

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/bernard-marks.html

Your husband has done lots of good paintings, not surprised he sells well at FAA!

KB

« Reply #186 on: December 15, 2014, 16:46 »
0
They do have kitchen in the tags. Click on 'Show All'.

I made some tests with the search, I don't think its whacky, results are good so far, I was able to find everything I was looking for (and sometimes - or all of the time :) more, but that's more to do with the keywords used).

I see what you mean.  And that painting also has tags of 'living room', 'vibrant', 'joy', 'spain', 'california', 'garden', 'field', 'vibrant', 'tranquil', and a lot more.  Not seeing much real connection to 'kitchen', but they forgot 'Santa Claus' so that leaves an opening.

Is that spam, or do people really search on 'joy' and 'painting'?  Should I be adding 'living room' to everything I have up there?
I looked at one of mine, and it has > 500 tags, about 95% of which I didn't add. But not 'kitchen' or 'living room'. 

« Reply #187 on: December 18, 2014, 20:10 »
0
Yes, newbies are always asking why their sunsets haven't sold but lately there are a lot of people complaining bitterly about the search.  The first time you actually try some searches and study the results, it's a shock to realize you're never even going to be seen, even if you have a perfect keyword match.  Its really frustrating to see images at the top of the search that don't even have those keywords.   

The admins have been getting increasingly rude in dismissing those complaints and shutting down negative threads.     

Like some of you, my sales have been declining.

I don't think it's much different than stock. If you shoot stuff where the search shows 1,000,000 results you probably won't be seen. Neither would I. If you have subjects where the search shows 100 results then you have a better chance of getting some sales and boosting yourself. More and more with any of these stock or art sites it's critical to have a strategy than just spray and pray.

If their search is wacky it's their game. The only thing you can do is figure out how to make the wackiness work for you.

Their search engine at FAA does have some serious flaws.  If you type the keyword search "Glacier National Park" you will get any images containing the keywords "Glacier", "National" and "Park".  The search will contain images from Glacier National Park but many others that are totally unrelated.  Their keyword search needs some ability to narrow the result from a previous search.  Istockphoto does a pretty good design for keyword narrowing but even theirs often doesn't work.

« Reply #188 on: December 19, 2014, 03:25 »
+2
That is because sales by search results are not their priorities. Kind of a proof - the popup which comes randomly and only after user started his search, stopping the process. Popup forces or to search for close button or abandon your search and look at their collections/categories. On mobile devices popup closes entire screen and it is very difficult to close it. Last time i use my site at photodeck to show the portfolio. One of clients told that he has the same impression and he does not like when website dictates what to do. Same situation at Zazzle with popups and failing searches.

« Reply #189 on: December 19, 2014, 05:13 »
0
Yes, newbies are always asking why their sunsets haven't sold but lately there are a lot of people complaining bitterly about the search.  The first time you actually try some searches and study the results, it's a shock to realize you're never even going to be seen, even if you have a perfect keyword match.  Its really frustrating to see images at the top of the search that don't even have those keywords.   

The admins have been getting increasingly rude in dismissing those complaints and shutting down negative threads.     

Like some of you, my sales have been declining.

I don't think it's much different than stock. If you shoot stuff where the search shows 1,000,000 results you probably won't be seen. Neither would I. If you have subjects where the search shows 100 results then you have a better chance of getting some sales and boosting yourself. More and more with any of these stock or art sites it's critical to have a strategy than just spray and pray.

If their search is wacky it's their game. The only thing you can do is figure out how to make the wackiness work for you.

Their search engine at FAA does have some serious flaws.  If you type the keyword search "Glacier National Park" you will get any images containing the keywords "Glacier", "National" and "Park".  The search will contain images from Glacier National Park but many others that are totally unrelated.  Their keyword search needs some ability to narrow the result from a previous search.  Istockphoto does a pretty good design for keyword narrowing but even theirs often doesn't work.
When I search "abstract textile" I do not get all abstracts, only those that also have the keyword textile. When I search "Glacier National Park" I get 5073 hits, and the three  keywords Glacier National Park without quotating marks gives 9073 hits.

« Reply #190 on: December 19, 2014, 09:44 »
+2
I think they really want to make keyword search obsolete over time, and direct buyers to their 'collections' and/or featured artists.

With no inspection of uploads, they're open to keyword spamming - they only act if it's reported by someone. And many of their contributors don't do a good job of keywording anyway.   So they've been creating their own collections of works by proven sellers, tying them to keywords and pushing them to the front of the searches.  I think that's their long-term plan - to have a 'collection' for every common search, and show that first.  And following the collection, show works by proven sellers even if the keyword match isn't very good. 

The have millions of amateur photos of sunsets and squirrels, and lots of low-quality, repetitious and legally questionable stuff, no inspection and virtually no staff.  They can't possibly deliver a good keyword search today, and could probably greatly increase their profits by completely bypassing it.   Of course they'll never remove it entirely because it generates sales of 'niche' subjects, landmarks,  etc. And, it draws in thousands of contributors paying $30 a year to be on page 1,000 of the search. :-).  But I expect them to continue building out the 'collections' as a superhighway to the top sellers.

 
« Last Edit: December 19, 2014, 09:57 by stockastic »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #191 on: December 19, 2014, 10:15 »
0
One of clients told that he has the same impression and he does not like when website dictates what to do. Same situation at Zazzle with popups and failing searches.
Suggest to your client that s/he installs AdBlockPro or similar.
I had no idea what 'collections' people were talking about here, but now I see that I must have the 'collections' pop-up blocked.
If I ever found that sort of thing on a selling site, I wouldn't visit it again.

FWIW, I had a little Christmas flurry at the end of Nov and beginning of Dec, 1 card, 2 phone cases and 2 prints, so I guess I'll pony up for another year (so long as they're not refunded, I'm still within the 30 days) when my renewal comes up.

« Reply #192 on: December 19, 2014, 10:45 »
0
FAA do not have a lot of staff, and therefore you earn much more as a contributor. People have found my art by the search, and I am not famous and have not made any promotion except to my quite few Facebook friends. I have earned more on FAA than on Shutterstock this year, it is really worth the 30 dollars for me.

I think the collections are for people who do not know what they are looking for. Those who want a certain kind of picture searches for it. People who want to buy art but do not really know what they want, have good use for collections. It is not like microstock when the buyer wants a certain kind of picture. Buying art is like buing clothes. You might look for something new in general, or you might have a certain picture in your head of what you want to buy. Nothing wrong with collections on a site like FAA, but of course it is better if it is professionally curated.

I do not think people that do not sell anything will continue to pay for a premium site. Think of how it would be if it was free to upload as much as you want, then you really would see a lot of crap there, much more.

Searched again for Glacier National Park without quotation marks. 236 hits for paintings, 8479 hits for photographs. The two top photographs in that search are said to be from the Glacier National Park. Maybe paintings have a priority in the search, because they sell more? Or because the site originally was made for painters?

As I have written before, FAA is mainly suitable if you sell paintings. It works well for paintings, but if you want to sell Fine Art photography I guess a curated site would be better, because there are so many more photographs. If you only sell photographs, FAA might not be for you, unless you have really stunning stuff or do promote yourself.

What I dislike most with FAA is that there are so much legally questionable stuff there.

« Reply #193 on: December 19, 2014, 10:59 »
0
Collections themselves are not a bad thing. The bad is that the site tries to push visitor to use them even he started already with search. Pop-up comes after you typed key words in search field. As i mentioned, it is very difficult to close this pop-up on mobile devices. Not pleasant on laptop/desktop too because it is very big.
ShadySue thank you for the advise i will suggest this in suitable situations. Greetings with sales and coming celebrations!
About search enhancements - this is effective only with curation of submitted art, and curations is not a priority there too.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2014, 11:01 by skyfish »

« Reply #194 on: December 19, 2014, 11:26 »
-1
I'd be happy to be on a curated site. But I actually don't know of any that really make sense.  Forget Crated - who knows what's up with that one, you might as well be dealing with North Korea.  What I'd like to find is a site that sells photos, and accepts only quality work BUT doesn't enforce their own ideas of 'art' or maybe I should say 'artsiness'.   

« Reply #195 on: December 19, 2014, 11:50 »
0
Collections themselves are not a bad thing. The bad is that the site tries to push visitor to use them even he started already with search. Pop-up comes after you typed key words in search field. As i mentioned, it is very difficult to close this pop-up on mobile devices. Not pleasant on laptop/desktop too because it is very big.
ShadySue thank you for the advise i will suggest this in suitable situations. Greetings with sales and coming celebrations!
About search enhancements - this is effective only with curation of submitted art, and curations is not a priority there too.
I have blocked pop-ups on my computer, so I do not see them there. Tried on my Iphone, and there it was. Easily removed by tapping on it, or tapping on the "close window " box. Very irritating though, but seen at so many sites today, especially if they want you to sign in or sign up. I am not that sure FAA wants to force anyone to use collections, I just think it is bad programming, maybe a bug. They do not have a huge team taking care of such things...FAA is not working well on the phone, many other sites are not either. Canva doesn't work there at all yet. But I would not by prints via my phone, If you buy art you want to see it in larger versions.

« Reply #196 on: December 19, 2014, 11:53 »
0
Canva is a site where you design your own work using our images. Not sure if that concept would work on a mobile phone ever. People dont design stuff on their mobile phone, they use big ass monitors for that.

« Reply #197 on: December 19, 2014, 12:04 »
+1
I'd be happy to be on a curated site. But I actually don't know of any that really make sense.  Forget Crated - who knows what's up with that one, you might as well be dealing with North Korea.  What I'd like to find is a site that sells photos, and accepts only quality work BUT doesn't enforce their own ideas of 'art' or maybe I should say 'artsiness'.
The problem with curation of art is that it has a lot to do with taste. I have got one painting curated at Crated, and I also had a sale on that one, my only sale there so far. Maybe because that buyer mainly looked at the curated collection. That painting is not selling well at other places. The curation at Crated are done at two levels, I think the first curation is to look at the overall quality level, when you get accepted to the site. I think the second curation has a lot to do with the owner's taste.


« Reply #198 on: December 19, 2014, 12:09 »
+1
Canva is a site where you design your own work using our images. Not sure if that concept would work on a mobile phone ever. People dont design stuff on their mobile phone, they use big ass monitors for that.
True. Canva has an Ipad app for buyers now, but it would be hard on a phone. But I do not think anyone buys images via a phone, you want to see them on larger monitors. That is applicable to all sites, not only Canva.

« Reply #199 on: December 19, 2014, 12:46 »
0
I am not a fan of mobile interfaces at all. But why to loose a client which wants to do an offhand gift for somebody? Yes there are situations when client will be satisfied by mobile size presentation accomodated with explanations about quality of image, even some postprocessing stories.


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
38 Replies
30142 Views
Last post January 01, 2013, 08:00
by sharpshot
4 Replies
6485 Views
Last post November 06, 2012, 10:27
by KuriousKat
12 Replies
11115 Views
Last post March 16, 2013, 07:27
by carodani
6 Replies
8423 Views
Last post July 01, 2013, 08:29
by jcpjr
16 Replies
24774 Views
Last post September 24, 2013, 16:55
by Anita Potter

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors