traveler1116: Wow thats quite a beast you got yourself there!

Quote from: aeonf on May 18, 2011, 05:34

^^^ I am affraid it is you who doesn't understand the business.
Stock essentially is a "lose leeder" product. all sites sell the same crap, and the one with the lowest price will get the customer, UNLESS you can differentiate your selve from others by some other added value, like EXCLUSIVE CONTENT and/or higher quality images (in perception at least).

I'm finding it very hard to understand what you are saying here.
Is it something to do with the economic concept of loss leaders. That's the closest I can get to from your "lose leeder" but that doesn't bear much in common with the text that follows (?)

Loss leaders are usually sold without a profit to draw customers into buying other products.

Point well taken (regarding Loss leaders), I stand corrected. The rest of what I have said still stands.

Or another option: stay exclusive with IS.

These is a reverse correlation between the messages you post at MSG and the money you make in MS, thats it.
And yes, Sean is an anomaly.
Add LisaFX to the anomaly list

P+ is great for exclusives actually !

If I sell an apple for 2$ and you sell the same apple for 1$, then many people are going to buy your apple rather then mine because it is cheaper.  If both of our apples sell for the same price, well then buyers wouldn't really care whos apple they buy.

There is no sign P+ gets a best match boost, just like E+ doesn't.

Quote from: aeonf on May 11, 2011, 06:24

Good point you have (gosty & BT), but once you do hit this stagnation (lets say after 5 or 6 years doing this full time) I would assume that you have enough revenue to expand and hire some help, no ?  That's what Yuri does, and he does have 40K+ files in his portfolio.

As mentioned "help" and "expanding" bring high overhead costs that are not necessarily going to be "sustainable" or rewarded in terms of net income.  If you plan on making a spiral like that, you might as well drop out now.

I disagree. If I could hire a SJLOCKE for example and pay him 3K a month, I think that would be VERY sustainable.
Actually, that's exactly what did... I hired someone, gave him a 50% share and he does all of the work. all I do is blabber on MSG
So I don't have a boss, my partner (and friend) doesn't have a boss, and we are all very happy puppies (for now!)

Sue: as you knowin IS has upload limits, so your growth possibilities aren't infinite, it takes time to climb the "old" canisters.

^^^
The only agenda is to make more money for themselves (nothing wrong with that) and on the way, you make some money too.
Since this is not a mandatory program, I don't see any down sides.

Don't know what your problem is. Sean himself says for quite a while now that his revenue is stagnating.  Am I wrong
Not that I wouldn't trade places with him any day...  Hell I'll settle for 15% of his revenue.

All I am saying (giving sean as an example) is that if your portfolio grew by 20% but your revenue stayed more or less the same, it is a safe assumption that if you grow your portfolio by 30% (for example) you CAN expect a rise in revenue. No need for a math degree for this.
If one wants to predict future revenue and hence RC's, you must ALSO take into account by how much your RPI will drop (and it willl) and how much your portfolio will grow, nothing more, nothing less.

And no, 20% for an exclusive doing MS as a full time job isn't that high IMO. Then again, its not just a numbers game.

Please don't take this personal anyone, these are only numbers and opinions.  I have great respect for Sean, and many other individuals not only becuase of how much $$ they make a month but because they are talented artists (which I might add, I am NOT!).

Quote from: aeonf on May 10, 2011, 06:51

We expect to reach ~45,000 RC's WITH taking into account portfolio growth, which is 4.5 times of the RC's we had for 2010 .

Actually, my portfolio growth has allowed me to remain relatively in the same place, so the number is accurate.  Adding 2000 new images to IS last year kept March's number for $$$ the same, and downloads down %20.

Then the sales degradation (amortization of your portfolio )i s only a another variable to throw in to the equation. in your case for example if you would have added 30% more files I guess you could expect a increase in revenue.
My calculations and bussiness plan are based on a 25% sales degredation (RPI) per year. so far my RPI is VERY steady though so everything is going better then expected for us.

As said, the OP's methood is good for old and stagnating portfolios and NOT for high growth portfolios (20% isn't high growth).

Quote from: walter59 on May 06, 2011, 13:13

I have stopped uploading as limit has started. I am a full-time Stocker. If I can't upload my monthly production of 300-400 images, it makes no sense for me. So I have more time for other agencys. And I have reactivated I-Stock. Perhaps the better way.
I think upload limits are not professional. The only thing that should be assessed is the quality of the images.

Doesn't iStock have upload limits?

They do, and very strict ones for that matter.
Upload limits are a good thing.

A bit early but seems like an average month so far

I'd submitted an image that was 7500 x 7500 and represented a lot of work.  Dreamstime just sold it at 'maximum' size via subscription and paid me 35 cents.

I think 'free' can't be far behind, and we can finally all just give up and go home.  It will be a relief.

Please explain to me why then are you so happy with SS which sell your photos for even less ??