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Messages - PaulieWalnuts
2701
« on: April 16, 2008, 06:28 »
I'm struggling to contain my disappointment at NOT having spent 2 years uploading and investing time there...
That's exactly why I'm no longer jumping aboard new sites until after I see some sign of stability and growth. LO was very easy to upload to but it still took time which could have been used more productively elsewhere.
2702
« on: April 16, 2008, 06:07 »
You can delete them individually but that looks like about the only option.
2703
« on: April 16, 2008, 05:01 »
I just read the statement more closely. Am I reading this right that if you aren't currently above $25 you essentially lose that money, or only convert it to buy photos? If so, looks like the Valentines Day $1 cash-out was their way of providing a last chance to cash out.
2704
« on: April 15, 2008, 23:11 »
Interesting. I wasn't aware there was a microstock anti-stalking law. So you can't get within 100 yards of... what?
2705
« on: April 15, 2008, 21:09 »
Yeech... Not seeing much of a valid arguement here.
The numbers don't lie but those are your numbers, not mine. I earn about $2 per portfolio image at Istock where you're at .13. I'm guessing most people here that have been at Istock for over three months are earning at least .50 per portfolio image per month. I would say that's a good indicator something is wrong with your images or keywords as opposed to Istock's business model. Of 11 sites, Istock alone is 75% of my earnings.
Maybe LuckyOliver is a better business model for you. Er, no, wait a minute...
2706
« on: April 15, 2008, 20:36 »
Not a surprise but still sad. Best wishes Bryan and Maunger.
2707
« on: April 15, 2008, 17:35 »
I picked up an Alien Bees strobe and am pretty happy. Not the cheapest but not high-end either.
2708
« on: April 11, 2008, 16:32 »
I've been at alamy since 2004. I have 5,000 RM images there. I have sold images every month except for the first 5 or six months. Returns are about $6 per image per year. For about 80% of all first sales (ie the first sale for any one image), the image was online 8 months or longer (ie reflecting the longer turnaround for professional buyer projects). Don't expect quick sales.
Competition is tough. Good quality images shot on professional equipment and subjects not well covered or difficult to shoot do very well. Forget the iStock type of images (nice red tomatoes on white background, or smily business people, or cut-outs of everyday things). The micros have killed that market. Editorial stuff sells well at alamy (travel, culture, day-to-day real-life, current world issues etc etc).
Don't upload more of the same crap. Be selective, research your competition, look at magazines, newspapers etc. Read the news. Know what is in demand.
Alamy is about real photo business. Shoot for the market. Don't upload stuff expecting it to sell. There is no buyer risk purchasing an image for $5 (probably many images at micros don't even get used!). $500 is a different matter. Buyers are more selective.
1st post, eh? Welcome aboard. Good info.
2709
« on: April 09, 2008, 18:06 »
A prime example is Dan. He seems to be a big follower of American Ball Throwing. He could track down the players in the shots with relative ease and get model releases signed from them at the end of the game IF THEY AGREE TO BE SOLD AS STOCK. The point is, the people in his images may not wish to have their identify used this way, and if they found themselves in an image could have a case against Dan, especially in the States where as we all know, the compensation culture is rife.
Enough of the USA bashing. Every country has its own set of issues and to make some BS blanket statement like this isn't doing much for your credibility.
2710
« on: April 07, 2008, 22:56 »
Same as you Dan. The site design and options are great but if I'm going to market a site I'll create my own and keep 100%. I have limited available time and I can't justify spending any time where there is little potential for earnings.
2711
« on: April 05, 2008, 07:24 »
And what if I have 150 great images for iStock, do I want to take ten weeks to upload them?
Maybe they want people to only submit their best stuff and not continue to submit problematic images, such as ones that have poor lighting. cshack, IS can take a couple of months to figure out what they like/dislike and for sales to start building. At SS, my first month was unreal. Sold stuff like crazy. 6 months later I have 10x the number of images as my first month and am earning half of what I made my first month. I think your opinion will change after a few months.
2712
« on: April 04, 2008, 17:23 »
The microstock world just changed.
You got that right brother...
2713
« on: April 03, 2008, 21:09 »
Not sure how I feel about this. Disappointed. Curious. Hesitant.
From an industry perspective, this is a huge move. I don't care for the subscription model but... just about everyone brags SS is their top earner and how much they love it.
IS offering a subscription should attract a lot of new buyer attention but also canibalize existing single image buyers.
The admins keep saying "you like it". If this move improves earnings for contributors, this will validate IS as the industry leaders. If it tanks contributor earnings accross the board, this will be a huge shakeup.
While earning more per image is important and what so many people are fighting over, in the end we all just really want more earnings. We'll have to wait and see where this goes.
2714
« on: March 31, 2008, 22:42 »
Is was 69% of my earnings for 11 sites. Jan was 51% and Feb was 67%. That about says it all for me.
I like SS but they dropped like a rock (half) when I stopped uploading for a month. IS still increased by 50%. SS is like a transaction. IS is like an investment.
2715
« on: March 31, 2008, 22:36 »
8th consecutive BME since I started in August 2007. IS is the only site showing strong and consistent growth. I'm earning about $3 per portfolio image accross all sites with IS earning $2 of the $3 alone. I'd say that about does it for me. All of the extra effort of uploading to 10 other sites doesn't make sense to make a few extra dollars per month.
IS 69% (up, 8th consecutive BME)
SS 11% (up a couple dollars)
123RF 6% (up almost double, BME)
FT 6% (way down)
DT 4% (down a bit)
BigStock 2% (down half)
StockXpert 1% (up double)
SV 1% (up from nothing)
LO 1% (up from nothing)
AB 0% (7 months, no sales)
FP 0% (5 months, no sales)
2716
« on: March 29, 2008, 19:51 »
Hey, a fellow Chicagoan. Your website has some great images.
I agree with the color and copyspace suggestions. Also, stock buyers seem to like images of people doing something - eating, working, talking, etc. The main question to ask is... how would a designer use the image to help communicate their concept? If you can't answer that, this may be part of the problem.
You also may want to check out Photoshelter which might be a better fit for your current work but they're just ramping up marketing so I'm not sure about the sales.
2717
« on: March 29, 2008, 00:16 »
Good today and in general. They've bumped FT out of the #3 earner slot this month.
2718
« on: March 29, 2008, 00:08 »
Whatever they did sucks. Fotolia has been a gem for the past few months and has been the only site other than IS showing consistent growth. That changed this month. 123rf has been showing strong sales and bumped the stalling Fotolia out of the #3 slot.
2719
« on: March 28, 2008, 07:26 »
Another good example of why not to jump aboard every new stock site that pops up.
2720
« on: March 28, 2008, 07:00 »
Congrats! Hitting that first payout is always a good feeling. Are these your earnings since you started?
2721
« on: March 28, 2008, 06:56 »
I've found BigStock to be pretty lenient. They normally only reject stuff that is pretty poor technically.
2722
« on: March 25, 2008, 12:16 »
80/20 rule. 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of the sites (if not now, but eventually) - your time to upload to the remaining 80% isn't worth that 20% -
That's what I'm finding too.
2723
« on: March 23, 2008, 19:17 »
I'm about to start submitting to Alamy and plan to have separate portfolios for RF/micros and RM/Alamy. Editorial stuff will go to Alamy but what about the rest?
And should portfolios have completely separate topics so there's no overlap? As an example, architecture goes to RM/Alamy and food goes to RF/micros?
Some of the stuff I'm trying to figure out what goes where is with food, airport interior, hotel interior, building interior achitecture, and patterns/backgrounds.
How do you decide what stuff should go to RF/micros or RM/Alamy?
2724
« on: March 19, 2008, 20:23 »
Merry Christmas...
2725
« on: March 19, 2008, 20:17 »
They're 1% of my income out of 10 sites and downloads are falling. They're tied with LO at the moment.
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