Is it possible the contributors selected for Premier might not know they're in it?

My lifetime earnings are high, but I don't believe I've seen anything from SS. 

Is no one on this forum in Premier?  To me that suggests we might not even know.

Why all the nastiness?

Is the OP clickbaiting us?  Absolutely.  Is he actually offering something of value to us?  Absolutely, if you keep an open mind about it.  Sure, some of it may be obvious, but the list is a good summary about trends and styles that are in high demand right now.  Nobody was harmed by looking at it, and in fact it may even influence what you shoot and upload in the near future, whether you want to admit it or not.

The OP is a smart business person, out to boost his business just like all of us are.  I look at this forum to keep tabs on what's happening in the industry, so I'm thankful he put the list together and offered it here.  I didn't sign up for his newsletter, but maybe now I will, just to counter the hate some of the others here are sending his way.

Thanks for posting, Amos.

Sounds about right.

But to clarify, you mean  "$1.40  for the week 10 cents per accepted photo per month
    Based on a 40 hour work week, you've earned 1 cent US per hour for your efforts"

.10 cents is 90% lower than 10 cents, which is bad enough as it is.  (Sorry, putting decimals in front of cents -- where the decimal is already implied -- is one of my pet peeves.  I know, I'm anal.)

So far this year, 123RF is my #2 earner (well DT would be, but when I subtract the big Google purchases which were a one-time occurrence for the year, it falls to #3)

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on March 04, 2015, 14:06
was there a thread somewhere with the size of the SS library on certain dates? I would like to work out how much the library is increasing in percentage terms and how much this is going up i.e. whether the rate of increase is also accelerating or not. I am hoping that it will get so big in absolute terms eventually that the percentage increase per period of time will start to stabilise or decrease eventually.

This is the best we can hope for at this point...

With so many images available at SS and other agencies, the newbies & non-serious-uploaders  (who must be at least 50% of all contributors, right?) will try ms for a while and eventually see that the return is not worth the investment.  When this becomes a money-losing proposition for them (if it's not already) they will realize they're insane for keeping at this and drop out.

The agencies must fear the reverse of this happening.  Their veterans, who produce most of the quality work, could soon start deciding that the return on investment is no longer there, and they'll give up.  If the upload flow of good quality, high commercial value imagery significantly slows, then the stuff that's selling will start looking old very quickly and buyers will be next out the door.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on March 03, 2015, 12:59

Quote from: Cesar on March 03, 2015, 10:21
I think most active  big contributors  surpass BME at least 10-15%, everybody is quiet. 

Most active older big contributors have hit the wall and are seeing diminishing returns. Most active talented newer contributors are seeing increases month on month as their uploads outpace agency growth and the fall in sales of older images, until they also hit the wall a few years down the line.

Exactly.  It's virtually impossible for any veterans with large portfolios that have traditionally sold well to grow their ports at the rate the agencies are growing their collections, so the WALL comes down on us all at some point.  I'm counting my blessings I'm only down a few percentage points vs year ago, even though my portfolio is a good deal larger.

For three days straight, the page has been down all day, then coming back again at night. 

But it doesn't seem the buyer side is affected.  Sales have remained very strong this week... I still contend that 123RF is Top Tier.  My earnings there are right in line with FT and DT.

Quote from: Anyka on February 21, 2015, 20:53
Does the fact that the $2 royalties are being paid out mean that Google (or DST) has finished selecting the images?
If yes, is it "safe" to opt in again?   (the "old" opt-in I mean)

Seems to me that there have been two distinct waves of the sales showing up... mid day on Friday and very early on Saturday... Nothing for the past 12 hours or so. 

So it may be safe to say by now you've missed the boat/narrowly averted catastrophe, depending on your level of paranoia over this.

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on February 21, 2015, 20:35
No, in a year -some- ELs will be purchased for some.

I'm just going by what Serban (Achilles) explained in the DT forum:

"Provided the first phase of this project goes as expected, after a maximum of 12 months (we all hope it will be sooner), in addition to the royalties described above, Google will initiate another volume purchase of an upgraded W-EL license for each image. We might switch images that didn't perform well with new ones, awarding royalties as appropriate. For the second stage we will award EL royalties (25%-60%). Overall the royalties will average approximately 50%."

Yes, he does leave the door open for removing or replacing underperforming images, but in general it appears that each image will get an EL.

Or did he amend this later?  If so, please share the link.

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 21, 2015, 15:15

Its great making 168$ today, but people seem to forget thats the only time they get paid. Once Google is done shopping, you wont see any more $$$ but your images are being used over and over and etc by anyone and everyone for a whole year and you wont get another cent.

Wrong.  In a year W-EL licenses will be purchased for the images.  It will make yesterday's and today's windfalls look tiny.  (And for the record, I've made considerably more than $168 from this deal so far.)

I look at it this way... Google paid $2 per photo to put them in a gallery where its advertisers MIGHT choose them to run in their ads.  I bet a majority of them will never be used.  Maybe some will be used multiple times.  It will probably balance out to maybe a few uses per image.  And then I get W-EL revenue on them a year from now.  (You might scoff and say "We'll see," but so far this deal has played out exactly the way DT told us it would, so we have NO reason to call them liars.)

In the end, people can accuse me of prostituting my images all they want.  Guess what... they're right!  I'm selling rights to my images here, there, everywhere that looks like a good deal to me.  Isn't everyone contributing to microstock a prostitute?  Are you selling your precious images for pennies on several ms sites?   You've accepted subs.  But you've drawn a line here.  Which is fine... microstock is a big gray area, and we all decide when we're being taken advantage of.  All I can say is when I do the math on this deal, and look at how often my images are actually likely to be used, and the fact that these buyers would not have otherwise purchased my images anywhere else, it's clear to me that the rewards FAR outweigh the risks.

No worries on a refund.  These are all legit.  It's the deal with Google.

Congrats to all who realized the opportunity in this... and sorry to those who opted out.

Can't wait to see what happens under phase two of the deal in about a year.  W-ELs are going to be bought on these, though I'm unclear on whether it's all of them or just those shots that are chosen to continue into a second year. 

From Achilles' description on the DT forum:

"Provided the first phase of this project goes as expected, after a maximum of 12 months (we all hope it will be sooner), in addition to the royalties described above, Google will initiate another volume purchase of an upgraded W-EL license for each image. We might switch images that didn't perform well with new ones, awarding royalties as appropriate. For the second stage we will award EL royalties (25%-60%). Overall the royalties will average approximately 50%."


Thank you, Dreamstime!!!!!!!!!!

Dreamstime.... THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!


Everyone who didn't opt into this should be kicking themselves right now.

PLUS... and this is a Big plus... this is only phase one of the Google deal.  Remember that Google will be buying W-ELs on these (some? all?) about a year from now.  That windfall has the potential to make this one look like peanuts.

Did I say it yet?  Thank you Dreamstime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, these are flowing in.  VERY nice.

My definition of the Wall is a bit different.  Elena did a good job of describing most of it, but I'd add that the most important part is the rate of YOUR growth vs the rate of the AGENCIES' growth.  In the beginning, as Elena described, you see fantastic increases in earnings.  Early on you'll be growing your port size by 100% a month, then 95%, then 90% and so forth.  All the while, the agencies may be increasing by just 5% per month.  But at a certain point, your port will be so large that you'll struggle to increase by 5% per month, and when you dip below the agencies' growth, you'll start seeing lower earnings because your overall visibility and exposure to customers will get lower and lower.  That's the mathematical truth.

(This is a repost of what I wrote in the other 2015 predictions thread which looks like it's dying, so I'll add it here:)


My prediction: the Wall will come down on more people than ever in 2015, making them so depressed about microstock that they will give up.  This will include many hobbyists who earn just a few thousand a year, as well as some of the big contributors who earn (or once earned) six figures.

People will do the math and realize that they can no longer increase their own ports as quickly (by percentage) as the agencies can, making microstock a losing game once your port hits a certain size.  There's just no way around this math.  In my first few years, I was certain I could beat the Wall.  I was going to work harder, achieve better quality, find better niches than anyone else.  Oh, how deluded I was.

I'm predicting my own income will fall 20% or so, and my resolution is to find another income stream.  For me, 2014 was the big wake-up call that microstock is not the reliable source of secondary income I hoped might carry me into retirement.  That dream is long gone.  2015 will be the year I resolve to find another income source to get passionate about and reduce the time I waste on this unsustainable numbers game.

Quote from: No Free Lunch on January 04, 2015, 16:49
Artists will work two times harder and make even less money- wondering why they are in this business in the first place ... 

My prediction: the Wall will come down on more people than ever in 2015, making them so depressed about microstock that they will give up.  This will include many hobbyists who earn just a few thousand a year, as well as some of the big contributors who earn (or once earned) six figures. 

People will do the math and realize that they can no longer increase their own ports as quickly (by percentage) as the agencies can, making microstock a losing game once your port hits a certain size.  There's just no way around this math.  In my first few years, I was certain I could beat the Wall.  I was going to work harder, achieve better quality, find better niches than anyone else.  Oh, how deluded I was. 

I'm predicting my own income will fall 20% or so, and my resolution is to find another income stream.  For me, 2014 was the big wake-up call that microstock is not the reliable source of secondary income I hoped might carry me into retirement.  That dream is long gone.  2015 will be the year I resolve to find another income source to get passionate about and reduce the time I waste on this unsustainable numbers game.

42

(Can't believe no one else said it yet!)

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on January 04, 2015, 16:49
Doubled income but I'm a fairly new contributor with just over 5000 photos/clips with 5 agencies. 2014 reached my goals but certainly didn't exceed them. I'm going to spend far more time grooming each image with less emphasis on volume for 2015 and see if I can continue to double my earnings.

It's a nice thought to want to focus on quality over quantity, but microstock is very much a numbers game.  You can create the most gorgeous pics the world has ever seen, but the few you produce will quickly be buried by tens of thousands that are half as good but still "good enough." 

If your goal is to feel artistically fulfilled, by all means make sure every pixel is perfect.  But if you want to earn as much as possible remember that "the perfect is the enemy of the good."

Quote from: KB on January 04, 2015, 16:17
For the first time since I began in 2007, I saw a decrease in income compared to the previous year -- down about 10%. But the downward trend accelerated sharply in the last half of the year, so I expect if things remain the same, 2014 will look wonderful compared with 2015.

I'm in the same boat as you.  Worked my butt off in 2014 to grow my port as much as humanly possible, only to see my earnings tumble.  Part of me tells me it's time to bail this sinking ship, but my family has come to rely on this extra income, so I'll probably just have to redouble my efforts this year and hope the drop won't be as severe.

...

I've been at this for nearly 7 nears now, and I can tell you from my experience that this holiday season has been abysmal compared to previous years.  And the new year is starting out very slow.  For instance the post-New Year weekend this year is down about 40% for me compared to last, even though my port is now 25% larger.

I would expect things to get closer to normal by mid week.  Of course, that's the New Normal, which I expect to be down a depressing amount from last year.

If you've only been at this a year or two, you're probably still growing your port at a rate that beats the overall growth of the agencies, so you should still see decent growth over last year.  You'll hit the dreaded Wall when you can no longer grow your port by 35% a year, which is, roughly, the rate the big agencies are growing each year.  At that point you're losing ground to the competition, on average, and you'll start seeing year-over-year declines. 

Some will say you can beat this by finding niches, or beating your competition on quality, etc.  I can tell you, however, that I'm a high volume seller with a good number of HCV pics in many niches, with quality that has improved year over year, and there's little you or I can do to beat the Wall.  The problem is, when you're successful, the copycats WILL find you and they'll bury your stuff faster than you can create it. 

Hope I didn't discourage you too much.  Best of luck in the New Year!

Wow, DT rocks!

Hope everyone else is having a "similar" day!

Quote from: Maximilian on December 20, 2014, 22:33
Monthly or only once?
This is not a problem. I would say 1 month and 1,000 images. 

Um... No.   Maybe if you set your time machine to 2008 and upload them back then.  Fact is there's a bias toward older files or at least best sellers at most agencies. 

The real answer is you could probably earn $1-2K a month with 1000 vectors assuming they are topics and styles in high demand.  Since you're just starting it may take a little while to develop a sixth sense for what will sell.   

FT had once been my #2 agency, and now they're more like #6.

If I don't like how this plays out, it will cause me little pain to drop FT.

On the other hand, FT sees me as valuable (some of their top people have personally called and emailed me on more than one occasion) so they need me and others at my level to be with them through this transition.

FT's top contributors have a good hand in this game.  If we walk away from the table it will cause them some pain.

Of course, I'm talking like I expect this arrangement to be bad for contributors, and I think it has just as much potential to go the other way.  I'm going to remain optimistic that there's a good upside for me/us in this, but if not, FT/Adobe is hereby on notice that I won't stand by and watch my images given away free to its CC subscribers without adequate compensation to me, and I won't accept a reduction in commissions.  They should play this out very carefully.

Quote from: Zeus on December 11, 2014, 23:25
They pay $800 and own nothing but a distribution system.

This is what keeps puzzling me.  Fotolia doesn't own any of the content.  Couldn't Adobe have just announced they were starting a microstock offering tied into their CC?  They could have had many millions of images pouring in the first month.  Sure, there would be a lot of reviewing costs, and a fair amount of programming, but wouldn't that be MUCH, MUCH cheaper?  And the content would have been so much fresher.