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Messages - steheap

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 62
1
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: July 02, 2023, 12:16 »
Best month for a long time - $4433 all told. More details on my blog: https://backyardsilver.com/earnings-from-photography-in-june-2023/

Steve

2
New Sites - General / Re: Pictorem Payment
« on: April 20, 2023, 07:08 »
They do have teething troubles as a bit of a startup. Just open a trouble ticket with them and Im sure it will be sorted. Their renewal approach for annual membership is a bit shaky as well.

Steve

3
Shutterstock.com / Re: Rejection for Inaccurate Location
« on: March 19, 2023, 10:45 »
A friend gave me the answer (I think!). I use Stock Submitter and in the "Other Parameters/Other Metadata" section is a setting for location. I never really use that, and it is set as a default to United States.

In future I need to either set that to the country in question or set it to Unspecified. Looks like SS has started comparing this setting in the metadata with the keywords or description.

Steve

4
Shutterstock.com / Rejection for Inaccurate Location
« on: March 19, 2023, 10:18 »
This is one I haven't seen before and I'm at a loss to see what is wrong. I've submitted about 300 images from South America already and most have been accepted. This latest batch of 12 images from Buenos Aires were all rejected with

Inaccurate Location: The selected location does not accurately describe this content, is not consistent with the metadata, or contains non-Latin characters (e.g., Cyrillic, Thai script, etc).

The camera has no GPS or location information (Sony A7R5) and I didn't add a location in Lightroom - that section of the metadata is blank and this is what I entered (an image similar to the ones rejected that I submitted just now)

Anyone come across this rejection before and what is the solution?

Steve

5
Yes, I'm here! I don't come here anything like as often as I used to. I've got photos to work on and social media stuff to do!

Steve

6
Quote
Steve, I think that selling with freepik, as other low sellers, is not devaluating single images; but is devaluating your ideas!
You have a lot of ideas and you should not give away your ideas for 0,1 cent.

Another very good point. However, ideas are also quickly copied by others..

I think the way I look at this now is that I am aiming to achieve the maximum annual income from these photos as I sort of transition more towards print sales which I find more satisfying. The actual amount per download doesn't actually bother me very much - I've no idea what that is on Canva these days, but I do know what Canva pays me each month. Freepik seem to be heading in the same direction. So unless we think that someone will search multiple agencies for a particular image of mine (assuming they know about it), then putting images on most sites would seem to give the best chance of achieving the maximum annual income. I don't think any of us know the extent of multiple agency searching by most stock buyers. I assume not a lot, but I am guessing, I think!

Steve

7
Quote
Last year was my BYE in terms of total income (been here since 2006). I don't give my work to these sorts of sites at all and the lower paying micros get none of my new work.

That's great and a very valid point. What none of us know is what would have happened if we had made a different decision. I may have earned more from fewer agencies or you may have lost income that otherwise you would have received. It is one of those unknowable questions I'm afraid.

8
This is the article mentioned above.
https://backyardsilver.com/freepik-stock-agency-a-deal-with-the-devil/

 I do need to update the article to mention the tax withholding of 35%. I plan to obtain the residency certificate from the IRS in the USA, which is definitely a pain and an expense ($85 for a personal one) and it has to be obtained each year. If I continue to earn what I have in these first months, it will be a worthwhile venture.

However, there is a massive unknown issue in all this - will buyers go to Freepik to download my image at 7c rather than go to Adobe and pay a lot more, or will the buyers already be at Freepik and so they are choosing between a free one and one of mine that they pay a little for. It is the same question that has plagued us for the past 10 years - if we support agencies that license images for less, will we lose sales at more expensive agencies. I see this as just a continuation of the evolution of stock photography - steadily downhill, yes, but you either go with the flow or stand on your principles and lose money as new sites take a larger share of the pie.

Steve

9
I've spent most of the past year trying to boost my fine art sales with perhaps a little success. Not great, but there are signs of progress, especially since I moved my efforts to my new Pictorem site rather that Fine Art America. I've sold three metal prints there in the past month.

I've written numerous articles about what I have tried, and these are two of the latest ones:

https://backyardsilver.com/boosting-print-sales-using-social-media/
https://backyardsilver.com/new-activity-on-twitter-for-promoting-our-portfolios/

Happy to explain more if needed, but I think these and the earlier ones cover most of my results.

Steve

10
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Pictorem.....Worthwhile?
« on: May 06, 2022, 08:30 »
Yes, if you are thinking of signing up as a contributor, please use my referral link. They do pay a small commission if the person then signs up for an annual plan. https://www.pictorem.com/index.html?refer=JH10JED1EDI

Thanks!

11
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Pictorem.....Worthwhile?
« on: May 05, 2022, 14:44 »
If I search for something with fewer results - such as Cheat Lake print - my images appear in the top row of organic results and Pictorem in there alongside FineArtAmerica and Pixels. The latter ones have been online for much longer. So they do get there, but there will be many fewer in a popular place like New York?

12
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Pictorem.....Worthwhile?
« on: May 05, 2022, 14:32 »
That is very strange. I've searched for mine in the recent past and have seen the Pictorem results, but now I don't. I have sold three metal prints in the past month and they were not ones I actively marketed myself, although the locations were (two in Kauai), so I am not sure where the buyers found my images.

I'll continue to investigate those Google results...

Steve

13
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Pictorem.....Worthwhile?
« on: May 05, 2022, 10:48 »
I've been impressed so far. This is the article where I mentioned my sales:

https://backyardsilver.com/say-again-earnings-from-stock-photography-have-increased/

You can choose your pricing (although in simpler ways than FAA) and I have chosen a margin of $20 per square inch of print. I have a feeling that people buy larger prints because it is not as expensive as I had on FAA and the shipping is free. You also get to know the email and name of the buyers so you could add them to your mailing list (perhaps!)

So far, so good.

Steve

14
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: May 04, 2022, 09:28 »
Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel, but it isn't really from stock photos....

https://backyardsilver.com/say-again-earnings-from-stock-photography-have-increased/



Steve

15
Why is every comment here negative? I think this team do a great job and it is the mainstay of my work. The Professional package he mentions is for 1000 uploads a month - far more than I do.

It is not unreasonable to increase the fees in my view, especially as the increase is only aimed at heavy users.

Steve

16
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock 1099 form for 2021
« on: February 23, 2022, 13:41 »
Sorry - I'm stupid - it is in a box at the top of the Contributor dashboard, not in the Tax Center!

17
Shutterstock.com / Shutterstock 1099 form for 2021
« on: February 23, 2022, 13:30 »
Anyone managed to download their 1099 tax form for 2021 from Shutterstock. I was sure there was a download link in the Tax Center (which didn't work earlier this month) but now I can't find it at all.

Steve

18
And my report:
https://backyardsilver.com/earnings-from-stock-photography-in-december-2021/

The lowest December since 2013. Not a great end to the year to be honest!

Steve

21
Steve is still around - he doesn't come to this forum very often! Shows how slow the business is!

Steve

22
Its only the sales related discussions and only if you are logged in. There was one recently entitled a bit disheartening

Steve

23
I'm actually taking a detour into "Fine Art" and actively trying to boost my print sales on FAA in particular. I've written a couple of posts about what I am doing and learning, and I get more satisfaction when someone buys one of my prints than I do from a hundred downloads on Shutterstock!

Here is the first of those posts:
https://backyardsilver.com/using-social-media-to-boost-wall-art-sales-on-faa/

Steve

24
My own Brutally Boring results for May 2021. Who remembers the days when there was a race to publish the first earnings report each month in this forum and comments would go on for several pages. What a truly boring industry this has become...



More details (if you can work up the enthusiasm) on my blog.

https://backyardsilver.com/brutally-boring-stock-photo-earnings-may-2021/

Steve

25
No problem, Taras - good luck with it! I had my tongue in my cheek!

Steve

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