|
MicrostockGroup Sponsors
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - cthoman
2801
« on: February 16, 2011, 10:19 »
Anyway back to this post... lightscribe and cthoman, you're both on the right track sending your buyers to the sites that have the highest RPD but you're forgetting one thing. You're not taking into account the percentage of downloads. It's fine to try and boost these low performing sites, but in the meantime, work with the ones that are putting the most money in your pockets.
I didn't quite understand this. Why does the sales part matter? It seems like if you factor in sales, you're back to promoting the status quo. Plus, sites with more downloads usually have a lower RPD because they sell volume (like SS subscriptions). I'm only promoting my own site now, so the point is probably moot. But, I wouldn't mind hearing it because I didn't understand.
2802
« on: February 15, 2011, 13:17 »
I have a Ktools store, but I don't see any reason not to test out a free store of this when you get the vector part up and running.
2803
« on: February 15, 2011, 12:05 »
It amazes me or maybe its down to experience?? business is business, its absoloutely naive, even down out stupidity to even think buyers would leave because x-amount of contributors, screaming and halloring, if any buyer leave, it will be down to the IS pricing, nothing else.
We here? fly in the ointment, thats all and replaceable within minutes. So whats this big deal thread all about then? sour grapes?
I don't expect buyers to leave in mass exodus, but if someone contacts me or inquires about my work, I'm going to refer them to where I want them to shop. I'm not trying to start a revolution. More of a suggestion like saying, "This is the best place to buy my work. It has the widest selection and affordable prices." Yeah, there's a vested interest, but that's the case almost anytime you're trying to sell somebody something.
2804
« on: February 15, 2011, 11:13 »
Hello all,
I'm pretty new to the Microstock world and have a small batch of files at DT and Fotolia.
The DT back-end is pretty poor. I did figure out how to upload my vector files with the JPG, but the vectors still aren't showing up as an available file format. It took a week for DT to approve the files, and now 2 weeks later the vectors are still listed as "Pending Review". Is this normal?
My vector uploads to Fotolia have been approved right away, sometime within just a few minutes.
DT can take a while to approve the vector files. A month isn't that unusual. Contributors have often complained about it, but nothing has been done.
2805
« on: February 14, 2011, 15:45 »
Here are my numbers in order of highest pay per download, I use this as my guide to direct buyers where to go.
dreamstime $1.69
canstock $1.42
bigstock $1.15
Istock $0.92*
123rf $0.65
Fotolia $0.64*
Shutterstock $0.55
*all numbers are an average of the past 12 months these are numbers not taking into account the recent commision cut since they just happened, so presumably fotolia and IS will have roughly 20% lower numbers in the coming year.
I've seen more and more people promoting this idea and I totally agree with it. On a related note, are photographer RPD's really this low at all the sites. You guys seem to be getting the short end of the stick with higher operating costs and lower prices. Here's mine for reference. Veer $13.15 my site $10.00 Clipartof $7.40 G Leftovers $5.20 iStock $2.67 Canstock $2.15 Bigstock $1.15 Fotolia $1.03 Stockfresh $1.00 Dreamstime $0.94 123RF $0.78 Crestock $0.76 Shutterstock $0.57 Vectorstock $0.42
2806
« on: February 14, 2011, 12:33 »
Don't kid yourself.
I wouldn't bet against anything at this point. Whether that be iStock being a raging success in the future or a complete failure or somewhere in between. They are a successful company, but they make a lot of boneheaded decisions that leave some of us scratching our heads.
2807
« on: February 14, 2011, 11:14 »
Interesting idea and it is probably a good idea to link or refer the sites that you want "your customers" to shop at. Is there actually a consensus of what people think are the best sites though (not best earners, but most fair)? I remember when that thread about fair paying agencies got started, pretty much every agency got added to it or nominated. I mean are SS or DT really any better than IS or FT when it comes to fair pay?
2808
« on: February 13, 2011, 17:06 »
it is your business but I guess if I had your earnings I wouldnt leave for sure 3k $ per year isnt that low but I feel and agree with your decision 
Yeah, I'll definitely miss the money, but I've been trying to think of things from a more long term perspective. RPD and royalty percentages have become important to me. Ideally, I'd like to get $5 per sale and around a 50% royalty. Unfortunately, there are only a few sites that satisfy both of those criteria. Fotolia seemed to be moving further and further away from the ideal that I wanted. Plus, I didn't feel that I could trust them at all. I probably should clean out a few other agencies as well. I'm not sure if it is the best business decision, but neither does continuously feeding these unrewarding businesses. I'm not sure there is a good answer.
2809
« on: February 13, 2011, 15:28 »
Wow! What a bunch of fluff. This was my favorite quote: We spend a lot of time, energy, and money to make sure every image in our library stands up legally, because we know customers count on us for that. They spend a lot of time and money cleaning up messes after the fact. Maybe, they should spend a little bit of it on prevention too. 
2810
« on: February 13, 2011, 15:10 »
It is all so much easier to deal with when you're not affected anymore.
2811
« on: February 11, 2011, 15:50 »
If you want to make photorealistic images, go buy a camera.
That's the classic argument I was thinking of. I think I've forgotten most of what I know about drawing realistically. I used to be better at it. Especially, my life drawing. I went to a figure drawing event a year or so ago and was surprised at how much I sucked at it. I just don't practice it enough to maintain the skills I used to have. That said, my process for producing finished illustrations now kicks the fanny off of anything I could do in college when I was a drawing machine. I wouldn't trade that in.
2812
« on: February 11, 2011, 12:59 »
Hey! I like it! youre having jokes, arent you? well for starters I been with Getty-RM, since 93. Im an Istock-Diamond with 40000 sales and just as many at SS and close even with FT. My DAILY quota of sales is somewhere around 250-300/ per DAY, that is.
Yep! I think I know the Micro, RM and RF.
Im not telling you this out of boast or anything but perhaps now you understand why Im questioning the formula of uploading to every tom,dick,harry available?
best. Christian
Your post still doesn't make much sense to me. If you do well at all those, then you will probably do well at CanStockPhoto. And CanStockPhoto probably pays better than those three agencies.
2813
« on: February 11, 2011, 11:32 »
If you're doing this as a business, you should be exploiting every revenue opportunity, as long as the outlay of resources ends up being justified -- either by current profits or the reasonable expectation of future profits. I think it makes sense to upload to just about every agency (aside from the ones you have significant issues with, such as the recent iStock fiasco), except for those who are so new that they have zero track record.
If you're creating images that people actually want, and you're getting good sales at the biggest sites (SS, FT, DT and IS if you're still there), then you should absolutely be uploading to CanStockPhoto. They have a very easy uploading process and their sales are definitely growing. If you have a decent sized port there and you're seeing zero sales, my guess is that you're seeing very little sales at the big sites as well and you're probably not generating enough income to justify doing microstock period. Again, that's from a business perspective. If you're simply doing this for enjoyment, do whatever floats your boat.
Well said.
2814
« on: February 11, 2011, 10:47 »
Must say, I really dont get it? why?, how? can you supply, upload, etc, month after month after month, spend all this time that could easily be time generating much more with the big ones and the end result is: 3 sales per month
I know everyone here hungers for money but this is ridiculous, its like being greedy for pennies, Scrooge business.
I mean its quite obvious the middle-tier aint ever, never gonna see themselves in the top-tier, its wishful thinking. The only one that can somehow come close is Bigstock, if they play their cards right, they have a much more professional approach and now with the partnership SS, they have a good chance.
Im sorry guys we are already shoting for peanuts but I mean theres got to be a limit, surely?
Those may be your numbers, but other people's numbers are much different. I officially disbanded the big 4 of DT, FT, SS & IS. It is no more. My numbers are a free for all. So, submitting to new agencies isn't a waste of time for everyone. In fact, I find submitting new content to agencies that are fat and bloated is the bigger waste of time. I submitted around 1000 files to SS last year, and didn't see any growth. There's no firm rule for everyone on what is going to work best, so experimenting is usually a good idea.
2815
« on: February 10, 2011, 23:07 »
ooh, this should be good. Let me get my popcorn.
2816
« on: February 10, 2011, 18:49 »
42 and located at the Shetland Islands.
Do they all ride little ponies to work?
2817
« on: February 10, 2011, 18:45 »
I just looked at your site and I don't see anywhere where that would be possible. In fact, I signed up for a free account and I didn't see anything in the creation of that account, either. That's weird. To get to the direct request, they would have to know the workings and names of the PhotoStore pages, no?
Thanks for taking a look. I didn't know if I was missing something. I guess they could either know the structure or taken an educated guess. I emailed them to see what they did. Hopefully, I get a response back. Also, I have to approve contributors, so it wasn't like they started uploading files. Regardless, I removed the php file, so no more backdoor. It makes me wonder if I should clean house on the other files that I'm not using.
2818
« on: February 10, 2011, 12:42 »
Good to see the site will continue.
2819
« on: February 10, 2011, 12:41 »
I had someone sign up as a photographer last night. I removed the signup php file today, but I couldn't figure out how they got to the page (unless it was a direct request). Did I miss a check box or a link somewhere?
2820
« on: February 10, 2011, 12:38 »
There's no "filter out crap I don't want" button on any of the searches.
2821
« on: February 07, 2011, 14:42 »
Im with daffodil on this. I have found this forums general bias against agency partnerships puzzling. Microstock is about selling dirt cheap and thus necessarily in huge volumes. Partnerships adds volume, no uploading required.
I for one am considering an API connection to Bigstock/Dreamstime/Fotolia for my Ktools (4) store. Selling a site with some thousand images is difficult. Selling a site with some thousand exclusive images plus millions of other images makes more sense. One stop shopping for the buyer.
And I want a good commission for my efforts (sales, site building, administration etc). The photographer will do nothing. No uploading, no selling, no nothing. Why should the photographer commission be any higher than with the original agency?
I think it is the history of these partnerships that has left a bad taste in our mouths. StockXpert forced migration to photos.com, IS and thinkstock, DT with their mysterious myspace or print partnership, FT with it's unannounced everything, and the list goes on. It's not so much that partnerships are bad, but they should be a little more transparent. Certainly, they should be optional and not forced on us. Everybody has a unique business model they are running, so every opportunity is going to be perceived differently. I just want the option to control those opportunities and not learn about them when something goes wrong.
2822
« on: February 06, 2011, 13:09 »
Did you have previous contacts for buyers or how did you find buyers?
I don't really have any special tricks or a cult following. Just trying to get the word out. I'm sure my marketing will have to step up if I want to hit the next level or get a more stable client base.
2823
« on: February 05, 2011, 14:59 »
Does anyone make much money from this? I just think after paying for the software and the hosting and spending lots of hours tweaking the site, it would have to make quite a lot for me to cover my expenses and make some profit. If this was just for my portfolio, am I going to be able to get enough buyers to use it?
I'm earning money with it. I opened my store in November, and it was instantly better than half the agencies I submit to. It's amazing how little you have to sell when you get 100% royalties, although I lose a little to Paypal. Like others said, it all depends on the details. How you promote, what you charge, your work, your plan or vision, etc. For me, I was just ready to branch off and try this. I wouldn't have been ready 2 years ago to do this, but now, it seems like the next step for me.
2824
« on: February 04, 2011, 18:01 »
I like the fairy. How often do I say that? Anyway... I might work on the wings for the fairy though. They could be more detailed or transparent. As far as the other two, I think they could use some work or just shelved. The donkey seems kind of pieced together from various elements. The sky doesn't necessarily match the donkey or the grass. It just looks collaged together. The drinks seems a little mechanical and not much interest to them. I'd work on more cartoon type stuff like the fairy. That seems to be the stronger style of the three.
2825
« on: February 04, 2011, 17:49 »
Never been exclusive either. I would think it would be hard not to make more in the long run as an independent, but the transition will probably be painful. I guess you really don't know until you try though.
|
Sponsors
Microstock Poll Results
Sponsors
|
Show Posts
