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Messages - cthoman
Pages: 1 ... 89 90 91 92 93 [94] 95 96 97 98 99 ... 145
2326
« on: November 01, 2011, 11:45 »
I do think the average buyer at iStock is becoming more of a higher-priced (midstock) buyer (compared to sub sites buyers especially). So having TAC or Vetta files is more important than it used to be. In my experience, one TAC sale is the equivalent to about 100 SS sales.
Tell that to the contributors with dwindling vector sales... http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=336297&page=1
2327
« on: November 01, 2011, 11:14 »
I don't mean to dismiss anyone's experience, it is what it is. And I'm not saying that there aren't other factors that effect our sales (like any business), but the biggest factor imo is what we're doing. It does seem appropriate to be honest here, otherwise these conversations turn into huge venting threads with no value to anyone. Jonathan R said on the last page that he hasn't uploaded in 3 years, so of course his sales are way down. All I'm saying is the same thing, if you upload just 40 photos a year, of course your sales will be down. They may level for a little while, but eventually it'll catch up with you, no matter what else is going on at iStock.
It could very well be an uploading thing for some contributors, but that still doesn't really answer the question of why iStock is dropping so fast. I haven't uploaded to many of the major agencies in a year and they are holding pretty steady in income. iStock seems to be the exception to that, so there is definitely something unique going on there. Maybe, it was dumping all that agency collection stuff in the catalog. Maybe, it's a bad reputation. I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be a simple fix. Unless, you count just dumping them. 
2328
« on: November 01, 2011, 10:10 »
Clipartof - 30%
Shutterstock - 26%
Dreamstime - 10%
Can Stock Photo - 7%
myStockVectors - 7%
Graphic Leftovers -6%
123RF - 5%
Veer - 2%
BigStock - 2%
Yay - 1%
Cutcaster - 0%
Stockfresh - 0%
Drawshop - 0%
The first month without iStock ended up a lot better than I thought.
2329
« on: October 31, 2011, 21:55 »
There's a new sheriff in town and its name is Clipartof. Maybe, it's a fluke, but I feel all the sacrifices I've made this year trying to clean up "my house" are starting to pay off. I'm still not where I want to be (or even where I was), but I'm feeling more confident about the future.
Hopefully, it's a sign that you don't need to wait for a union or a miracle. Just start taking control of YOUR images and where and how you distribute them. I hope this continues and others can do the same thing.
2330
« on: October 31, 2011, 15:55 »
I was looking at my March 2008 figures. I had ten agencies that I had images at. Six of those are either out of business or I've removed my images from them. Yet, I still have images at over ten agencies.
I guess a lot can change in a short amount of time. I think that is good news for the future, but I'm a glass half full kind of guy.
2331
« on: October 28, 2011, 11:46 »
Oh and where's the can of chicken stock?
2332
« on: October 28, 2011, 11:44 »
You from Essex - much maligned County - I've spent many happy hours in "the hoop" in the aforesaid village 
I'm from Sussex but it did look rather nice, shame I was driving and couldn't sample the local ale!
Anyway, here's another - bit more subtle though :-)
Is it weird that I see a koala face when I look at that stockade?
2333
« on: October 28, 2011, 11:02 »
Unfortunately, it's part of the system. It's probably unavoidable. When you let everybody in, some of them may not have the best of character or intentions. Even if they do, a little bit of inspiration or similar ideas happen all the time. Especially when you put thousands of contributors together all working towards the same end goal.
I would think the only way to stop it would be to really regulate your contributors, and that may not benefit most of us.
2334
« on: October 28, 2011, 00:06 »
We are going to keep chipping away, and as I've said before, I hope we will slowly (and I do mean slowly  ) win more and more of you over!
Killing us with with kindness... or maybe cash could help. I definitely think the Envato Marketplace is interesting, but I can't say I've been enticed by what they are offering. I'll keep my eye on it, but the deal definitely needs to be sweetened (by a lot).
2335
« on: October 27, 2011, 16:22 »
The only answer is to stop outsourcing...
Um, I think microstocking is outsourcing (the real meaning of which is getting the company's work done by sources outside the company). We should be careful what we wish for?
LOL. Yeah, don't stop outsourcing. I enjoy all my foreign and freelance clients. They are pleasure to work with and I wish I had more.
2336
« on: October 27, 2011, 12:02 »
Not much, I think. A few years ago iStock would give you a referral bonus for that, if it brought a new customer. I used to get one or two referrals a month that way so I don't think it makes much of a contribution.
Well, that's you. I'm talking about Google. They drive a lot of traffic to a lot of sites. Most of us use the same titles for our images across multiple agencies, so if you have an image titled "Cartoon Pirate Dog Vector". If somebody searches for that exact phrase on Google, what does it pull up? Is iStock first? Bigstock? Shutterstock? And if your image isn't on one of those sites, then it may skew the results to favor the agency that does have it. That was my point.
2337
« on: October 27, 2011, 11:37 »
No, youre right, it will never dry up. it will always sell. For me, its a matter of: is working with IS, worth it? weighing up time, effort, slow-uploading, slow reviewing against what seems a fading return?
Over the last ten days I have actually deactivated 2 blue flames and numerous red flames, simply because I have a much better use for them, I found them way down in the best match and no way they are going to generate any revenue from there. However, one of the issues was, they had to be removed from IS and sure enough, its already paying off.
Im just wondering how many more are or will be in that position.
Interesting comment. I deleted my portfolio there last month, and this month another agency has had huge success and reached a new plateau. It's probably coincidence, but it does make me think. I've often wondered how much walk in traffic these agencies receive. How many people are just wandering in from a Google search? So if your image doesn't exist there, then Google will just point them somewhere else where it does.
2338
« on: October 27, 2011, 11:22 »
I've been in microstock for 5 years and people have been saying that for about as long as I've been here. A couple of year ago people were making the same predictions, saying we'd all be doing something else by now, microstock would collapse, etc. 2-3 years from now, I'll still be here, still making money. Maybe more, maybe less, but I don't see my microstock income drying up completely in a few years.
I tend to agree, although the landscape is always changing. Some agencies rise and others fall. It will still be here in 5 years, but what it will look like is a mystery.
2339
« on: October 27, 2011, 11:20 »
Ok, thanks...
when the pictures are in pending section ( with description and keywords) the are waiting to be reviewed??... i do not need to do noting more?.
 ) Sorry for the silly questions but until now i was exclusive to DT and the variety of upload procedures of the other agencies is confusing me a little.
LOL. I keep a little cheat sheet on my desk for what formats I need to upload to each agency. Anyway... For 123RF, they should be good to go as long as they are keyworded.
2340
« on: October 26, 2011, 20:35 »
how many people commenting in here actually watched the interview?...never mind
I watched it and I agree with you. Most of what he said was fairly accurate from iStcok's perspective. The company is a successful well oiled machine (compared to photos.com and other new properties) that pays its contributors a lot of money. When you break those statements out from a contributors' perspective though, most of what he said seems fairly inaccurate and wrong. Especially with all the changes that have happened over the last year. Obviously, he's not going to do an interview where he focuses on falling income for artists, plunging royalty rates and RPDs, and a site that seems to have more technical problems and dead on arrival promises than all of the others combined. That would be an awesome interview to watch though.
2341
« on: October 26, 2011, 14:02 »
I guess the problem with the whole ingestion process is that I signed up to do business at iStock. I didn't sign up at Thinkstock, photos.com, clipart.com or even Getty. This whole "daddy knows best" is idiotic and patronizing.
Most of us know what plan is best for our bottom line, and it doesn't even remotely resemble what they are doing over there. Moving in a direction where you have less control over your images is not helping. If anything, we should have more control.
2342
« on: October 26, 2011, 12:37 »
It was interesting seeing the video. It really highlights the disparity between what I think is going on there and what they think is going on.
2343
« on: October 26, 2011, 10:55 »
Yes and a table has legs, and I have legs. Therefore, I am a table.
2344
« on: October 26, 2011, 10:05 »
This is what I get from the interview and my own experience on getty. This interview is a lot clearer than all the nebulous hints from jj. If you want to decide which files go where in the gettyverse, they have to see them all. I cannot think of any other way of doing it.
Imagine you upload a set of files, they take the best one for getty and then next week you upload an even better file from the series.
what he didnt mention was when they would ago forward with this. maybe it is something for next year? he said they have plans for many years to come.
How about they'll get nothing and like it!
2345
« on: October 26, 2011, 09:55 »
Have you considered Mobee Magic Charger for Magic Mouse? http://store.apple.com/us/product/H4825ZM/A (site doesn't work at the moment)
I didn't like Magic Mouse at all. It really wasn't love at first touch but now I'm so used to it that I have problems to work with another mouse when I have no batteries left in drawer.
Cool! Thanks. I had some problems with the magic mouse too when I first got it. The side scrolling was weird. Now, I like the side scrolling. It's convenient not to have to use the Hand tool anymore to move around the artboard in Illustrator.
2346
« on: October 25, 2011, 16:21 »
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to take a look at those. Although, I probably won't be doing much gaming. My mouse spends most of its time in Illustrator or surfing.
2347
« on: October 25, 2011, 16:18 »
But as a buyer, in this economy, raising rates obviously I will not be subscribing here anymore -- if anything, you should be LOWERING subscription rates.
Definitely not the kind of buyer you want around anyways, lol.
Or maybe eliminating subscriptions?
2348
« on: October 25, 2011, 15:28 »
vectors might also be a contributing factor ... a "vector panic thread" was just locked on the illus forum
It will be interesting to see if some of the long time vector exclusives jump ship. A lot of talent there, but I've often wondered if they'd survive out in the wild.
2349
« on: October 25, 2011, 14:22 »
Does anyone have a mouse they really like? Not the little furry kind, but a computer mouse. My new iMac came with a Magic Mouse. I really like it (especially the multi-touch stuff), but it eats batteries, so I probably should replace it with something corded.
2350
« on: October 25, 2011, 09:47 »
Call it whatever you want - self distributor, independent contributor. Point is, there's no difference contributing to Getty or IS. They are both submit, approve, put up. Maybe you just wrote the thread title in a confusing way.
Yeah, I guess I was confused as well. I would say independent contributor too. I think of self-distribution as owning your own site. No middle man, but selling right to the buyer.
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