I track each site each month - total income and RPI - on a Numbers (Excel) spreadsheet. I don't keep track of which files were accepted or rejected anymore. It's too time consuming and I've been doing this long enough that I have a general idea of how my files will do so it's not going to teach me anything.

Then I also go through every few months and look at how I'm doing by shoot - I have contact sheets with my better-selling shoots and I update how much I've made by photo and for the total shoot - by concept, event (for editorial), place (travel) - broken down by site and by the photo and total shoot. Since I do a lot of travel this lets me know how long it takes me to make back the cost of each trip and has helped me to determine which places are worth returning to. Since I shoot both RM and micro, it also helps me determine how each type of image is doing for me on the different venues.

I also include POD and gallery sales where there's some overlap in my portfolios - again to keep track of the types of images and the venues (which POD sites, which galleries, etc.) are working for me.

You really need a few years of statistics before you can see trends. I try not to get caught up in the tiny details but look for larger trends such as which locations sell again and again - not which particular image - which types of concepts do well, that sort of thing.

This year, I returned to a location that has consistently done well for me - a 6 hour drive from my home - and made back more than the cost of the trip within a week of returning home through sales on Alamy and via my own site. I decided I needed some newer and better images than those I'd shot 4-7 years earlier - though many are still selling and it's a location that hasn't changed much if at all, you still need to keep travel images fresh - and those re-shoots are selling even better than the originals.

So, IMHO some analysis is worth the time - as long as it doesn't take too much time from shooting and uploading.

The prints from FAA are nice - good quality (I ordered one regular framed print on high end paper and one metal print). Have only ordered cards and other items from RB also good quality but no idea about the prints. No returns from the sales on any of the sites which includes acrylic, metal, canvas, and regular prints from FAA - plus cards and pillows; and posters, stickers, mugs, books, leggings, shirts, mugs, phone, and iPad cases from RB. Good luck!

Well that is the problem right, having to upgrade all your software is not cheap. I have PS CS5 and don't want to pay for Photoshop again since the version I have does what I need, and then Lightroom too! The other thing I don't like is that Photoshop went to subscription so if I am correct and maybe I am not, but my understanding is they no longer sell you the actual software, you are leasing it month to month! Can you even use the newest Photoshop if your internet is down?

The dilemma is that I want to own my software and still use it on the newest Mac OSX. Also Mac no longer offers its older OSX versions for download.

You don't need to connect to the internet to use Photoshop CC - you just need to be connected minimum once a month as it checks your system and sends upgrades. I was leery of the subscription but I like having the latest version of the Photoshop tools and it's under $12 a month so really not bad for PS and LR CC, although I kept my version of Photoshop CS5 just in case I ever want to go back to it though at this point I'd miss all the newer tools.

I was thinking El Capitan had been around long enough to upgrade - how is it with Photoshop CC and LR CC? Any experience?
I'm currently running my Macbook and iMac with Yosemite 10.10.5 and all has been smooth sailing, but I'd like to upgrade but have been afraid to take the chance. 

I use Carbon Copy Cloner for backup - it gives you a bootable drive. I relied on Time Machine in the past and when a lightning strike took out my two computers and my primary backup drive all at once, the Time Machine backup was useless because it had run out of space and had stopped backing up everything 6 months before without giving me any type of warning. If you have huge photo files Time Machine really isn't the best choice IMHO - it's geared toward the average consumer, not professional photographers.

It's frustrating that MACs are the pro's choice but they seem to be catering to the average consumer without taking our needs into consideration sometimes. It was like when they decided to make it so you couldn't upload a CF card to the iPad at all - and of course there are no CF card slots on MACS so you need a cord or separate unit. Early on, I used to update right away - and learned the hard way that it was a mistake back in the days of LR 3. 

Of course, the automatic Windows update messed up everything for my husband, and he doesn't have any sophisticated software on his PC. They all use us as free beta testers.

They have a lot of hybrid licenses so the results for both RM and RF can be pretty similar.
RF used to be a lot higher back a few years ago, but now they seem to be pretty close.

Alamy blew away all the other sites for me again this month and I have fewer than 900 photos there.

Great news about the RF editorial.

Does the change mean there will now be a simpler way to note files as editorial use RM as well?

And I can vouch for Alamy's excellent customer service. Last few weeks I uploaded snow storm photos taken with my property released house - or with items that don't need a release - via Live News so they ended up as RM but I wanted them to be RF and they went in and changed them all within a day or so. I've been with Alamy since 2009 and they've always been pleasant to deal with. I'm happy that they are rising in the poll here and I'm seeing much more activity on my files - particularly many more zooms - so in my eyes they are moving in the right direction.

If you charge more you can sit with the client for an hour and hook up your HDMI cable from your computer to their tv or yours depending on how/where you work and show them a reasonable selection of the unedited images so you help them narrow down their choices. When you project the images like that they are likely to want more of them. Then you don't have to edit 60 or 80 images and you get a sense right away of what the client likes. It's great feedback and it gets the client excited about the images.

I don't give usually clients the unedited images because I don't want some terrible photo showing up, although if I've shot an event like a charity fundraiser I might give them a CD with more than the few they've selected for the press, color balanced and edited so it only includes the better shots but without taking out wrinkles and the like - so just a quick edit. I let them know people can order edited photos from me.

For portraits, I don't quote an hourly rate but get an idea of what they think they want and then quote package prices, as well as options for higher end items such as albums and prints on canvas.

For a family portrait, unless they want an album, you certainly don't need to show them more than 30 photos. If you show them 100 they'll never be able to make a choice.

Talk to other photographers in your area and get a sense of their prices. IMHO $100 is way too low even if you're not in a metropolitan area. I charge way more than that for a simple headshot. Don't sell yourself short.

I've been with Photoshelter selling direct for nearly 10 years now and have not had a problem with any sales there. If they're local I will take a check (I often license local images to local businesses) but I mostly use PayPal and knock wood it's been fine. While some buyers are established magazines, a lot are just individuals looking for very limited uses which is why I mostly license RM there and I like the ability to adjust my pricing to fit a client's needs. I doubt I have anywhere the volume of sales you do with your vectors/renders, Leo as my portfolio primarily RM photos. I have some repeat buyers, and some local people I know, but most of my sales are to complete strangers who just found an image they liked on the web.

The nice thing for me with Photoshelter is it gets me stock license sales (which are the only ones I share in the poll as self-hosted) as well as portrait, advertising and editorial assignments.

I do however get some funky emails and when they seem scammy I just respond in a way to cut off further contact.

I thought that using PayPal helped you avoid fraud.

...
I really worry about some of the rhetoric coming out of Trump's mouth and the fact that he gets more support from saying it. Americans are pretty quick to deride communism, socialism etc but apparently very few have any understanding of what fascism is and why it is so dangerous (and seductive).
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There are many of us who recognize fascist rhetoric when we see it. I just hope there are enough of us.
 

Thanks Leaf. Nice to see the Stocksy numbers too.

Go Hillary!

Just checked when I saw this thread and it says it is temporarily unavailable. Not encouraging considering taxes are due only a month from now. Glad I downloaded mine in February.