Wow, I wish I could go to something like this... Too far away for me.

Very funny, indeed...

With all that in your list I would stop asking and start shooting, shooting and shooooooting!!!  If it moves, shoot.  If you have the slightest idea that it will sell, shoot it.   Lucky you!!! I wish I was that lucky.  Have a nice photographic vacation.

I think that eventually all portfolios get to a baseline level (if you stop uploading).  I havent uploaded anything in more than a year and my earnings are stable since 8 months ago.  Now, with new challenges I know that despite the usual surge in sales in the short run I have to work with longer timetables, not weeks, but months (lot of those).  Keep shooting, diversify, find a niche, keep uploading...

Quote from: Freezingpictures on August 22, 2009, 07:51

Quote from: HermanM on August 21, 2009, 23:00
It is sooo low that even if my country (Panama) had a treaty (it is in the works) I most certainly skip the paperwork, and all the hassles related to it. 

There is actually almost no hassle to fill out the paper work, it took less than a minute.. Its all online at SS.

I was talking about having to file a request for an ITIN (originally they told us that it as required, then not), but it seems that if my country had a treaty I wouldnt net one either!  I filled the W8BEN on line.

Quote from: abimages on July 26, 2009, 22:53
Once the relevant SS tax form has been submitted, do we receive notification of acceptance from SS?

I guess not, since I don´t have received anything and they already witheld my $$

Many designers cannot justify the price of the subscription, but the price of the On-Demand pics is just right for many (if not most) budgets.  That's why, I guess.

It is sooo low that even if my country (Panama) had a treaty (it is in the works) I most certainly skip the paperwork, and all the hassles related to it. 

 

Just 3.017% here... Glad to see SS is waaaaaay big outside the US!

This is not good news, since they are slow sellers.

Sales are going to go up and then down on suscription sites...  People will download everything they can out of their suscriptions and then will stop downloading... It's going to be hard the next couple of months...

En vivo desde Panamá, saludos.

No sales here, either... I have long ago given up on them...

Cada vez habrán menos ventas, por la dilución de los portafolios.  Aùn así, pienso que hay mucho futuro, pero no esperemos crecimientos meteóricos como los que habían hace dos años... Este es un negocio a largo plazo, con altas y bajas, pero definitivamente que vale la pena, si se está dispuesto a trabajar duro y consistentemente.  No perdería tiempo con sitios fuera de los cuatro o cinco más grandes:  SS, IS, BigStock, DT, StockXpert y 123RF (este último apesta, pero vende algo de vez en cuando).  Todos los demás quitan tiempo y no valen la pena... Métele duro, enfócate en temas y trabaja por lotes grandes, de un tema, para ganar tiempo... Calidad y cantidad, pueden darse de la mano, con resultados estupendos.

I think it is a waste of time to promote your micro portfolio.

It is another different thing to promote referrals, something that can become very rewarding.

As far as I know they have almost non existent sales...

A sale per one thousand images online per month is not to bad... Considering the huge amount of images available and the more and more that get accepted each day.  It is the average of averages that I've seen over many forums and from reading a lot of info on Alamy... Remember that many many great sellers don´t even post on forums at all, they are busy shooting...   

Another trend I have seen in my case is that images get sold as they age.  Sort of an incubation period, attributed by many to the way editorial images on books and other publications are selected, not the usual "uploaded, approved and sold in less than 24 hrs" we see at micros..

To have 27 sales for 260+ images is outstanding... There was a report on Alamy forums of someone with many many sales above the usual average, it can happen.  It is the nature of distribution of events over a population, following a Gaussian curve.  Most of us, well, are in the middle, average portfolios with average sales.... 

Consider that you will sell about 1 out of each 1000 images (on average)... You can perform better if your images are outstanding and very well keyworded...

About distribution, I would stay away from Czech republic and Russian Federation... and lately Israel... those generate sales, but for such a low amount that even EL's at SS amount for more...

For me Photoshelter has been a complete waste of time... Until they show they can sell I'm not bothering on this issue at all.

I said goodbye to StockXpert on Sunday... no regrets at all... And if you take the time to read the fine print of their EULA you will find loopholes they can use to circumvent the opt out thing... It is beginning to be discussed at yahoo groups.  So, they think they are smarter, but the crowd has a brighter mind!

Quote from: NikonScott on July 25, 2008, 01:49
....many think anything they shoot should be accepted.....

This is the most important problem there, that people submit anything they come across with.

If one self edits each submission then the failures go to near zero (I only have had one in almost a year submitting, and it was my fault, there were dusts speckles in some photos).

Quote from: graficallyminded on July 22, 2008, 12:31
When I run out of ideas, I shoot the dog 

I shoot rocks and textures... and they sell... 

I hate subs and this past week I saw a spike on subs at DT that really hit me hard... I have opted out wherever I could from them... They really suck.

Deliciously evil genius you are!

The problem that gets discussed a lot on Alamy forums is the real meaning of CTR, some people sell a lot with low values and some less with higher numbers...

Also the number of keywords is a two edged sword... Right now, less is best, but with the new annotation system in place, specific searches will show higher if they match.  The problem with that is that if we wait for it to be in place the number of images to re-keyword will be huge... But if we do it now then our CTR will get a hit, since the engine still does not identify the annotations...

Play with your images, give them some time (a month, at least), under different pseudos, and get a feeling on what works and what doesnt...