I have to say though when I first read this topic I thought it was going to be more about the micro model than whether you should submit to more agencies. I create all these images that people want to buy, and I definitely wonder sometimes if I'm selling them the right way. It kind of seems like trial and error sometimes.

I would either be exclusive or spread my portfolio to all the sites that I can get a payout with.  Just sticking to 4 or 5 doesn't appeal to me, it might seem like they will always be the highest earners but who know what will happen in the future?  It wouldn't surprise me to see Veer or one of the others taking the place of one of the current top 5 and I would much rather have a big portfolio there when it happens than have to start from the bottom rung.  I can get several payouts a year from some of the lower earners for very little work, just uploading my portfolio.  Can't see the point in losing out on that.

I agree. You can't tell what will happen in the future. FT is barely or not always in the top 4 for me lately. Who knows what will happen at IS next year and SS seems to be floundering. DT has been steady, but they nosedived last year. I could spend twice as much time working on new stuff and still get no results in the big 4. To me, it is quicker to gamble on some of the newer well paying agencies. Some of them pay off a lot better than increasing your portfolio.

Personally, I like istock's pricing the best. As a vector artist, it's nice that they don't sell the raster version at a bunch of different price points. I'd like to see small sizes go away. The one image one price model makes a lot more sense than priced by size. This isn't rights managed, so why should a web image be cheaper?

I'm totally okay with taking a step back.  it really helps to readjust and attempt to aim your focus. 

Its really scary that any changes that happen are reworked as being the end of an industry and that the end is near. 

I bet, and i haven't done this yet, that if i were to take the standard deviation of my returns (to measure the volatility of returns) from when i was independent to when i was exclusive, i would see more volatility in the independent data.  But no one ever posts that type of statistic.

I don't think the end is nigh either, but I'm not sure I like the overall direction things are headed. You may be right that things are about as risky for both exclusives and independents. When contending with several agencies, it is probably more likely that you're going to be taken advantage of by at least one. But when dealing with just one, it's hard to get everything you want or need too. A subtle change in policies in things like approvals, prices or royalties can really throw all your plans in the garbage.

While this doesn't affect me, it's disappointing to see price setting become more restrictive instead of less. Every change I've seen recently seems to be a move in the wrong direction. I'm starting to wonder if my idea of what the industry should look like is so far off from what the agencies want to do that I'm somehow that delusional or out of touch.

I don't see it as an either or. I see it as both. One without the other, for me, wouldn't work.

I agree. I took a break from microstock for several months and realized I missed it. If it was all business, my portfolio would be filled with a much different type of image. I'd probably make a lot more, but be completely miserable. A good balance is tricky, but rewarding.

nice site, and your portfolio is big and strong enough to get buyers.

would you mind to share how much it may cost to set up the site like these? i saw the ktools photostore is US249, so it is a one time payment? the rest of basic cost is monthly server fee?

Thanks. Yeah, just hosting costs and the software. I'm sure there will eventually be software updates or add-ons that I want to purchase, but that is it for now.

Hey nice site! I would love to hear that your site is doing well! Then maybe more artists can have their own and get away from the agencies ripping us off.

It's only a few weeks old, so it is too early to tell. I had a few sales from some quick modifications to some existing files. I figure the promoting will take some time.

I mean what you feel greedy asking for 30 something cents per image you have to cram dozens into each file?

I'd actually brought this up a couple times recently in the illustrator forums on SS. It does seem a little concerning when you see so many images in one file. I guess it has been going on for a while, but it makes you wonder what the future of SS is sometimes. They seem to be the wild west of micro sites.

I don't think much has changed either. There has always been a lot of grumbling here. While I think a healthy amount of complaining is good, I do think that we all could probably spend a little more time doing and less time talking. If people want a union, then do it. If they want to start their own site, do it. Or do anything else that they think is the answer. The problem is most of us don't have a clear answer, so the complaining comes. Personally, this last change at IS pushed me to open a Ktools store. But before I started working on that, I did (or am still doing) a pretty good amount of complaining. 

It was a best month ever for me. It crushed any other month this year by $500. Hopefully, it continues in November.

Quote from: cthoman on October 29, 2010, 10:55

I still haven't been paid. It's been about a week since I received notice that they have authorized payment and about a month since the end of last month. Is there an official word on this or is it just... it happens when it happens? 

It normally would have hit your account within a day or two of receipt of the payment advice statement. This is abnormal, and fallout of some issues we had with PayPal earlier in the month. We're tracking these down and working on reprocessing/resending payment.

Apologies for the delay. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks. I'd actually contacted Contributor Services and they said about the same thing about problems with Paypal. Hopefully, it will show up in the next few days.

Well, I'm glad that is over with and everything was resolved.