MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: trofia on November 26, 2014, 19:57
-
After observing my sales pattern for a few months, I strongly feel there is something really wrong with SS reported sales.
I understand that the number of total photos is increasing and that sales can descrease, but I do not understand how is posssible that in the past two months daily sales are slowing down and stopping when approaching the 20 mark! This happens almost every day. Today, for example, 18 dlds at 2pm and then nothing...
I used to have between 25 and 35 sales in weekdays until last Spring, and then things leveled to the low... Very frustrating...anybody has the same problem?
I emailed Ss and waiting for some feedback...
Cheers
-
Yes thats possible by search system of SS. They will not give you this information.. ;)
-
After observing my sales pattern for a few months, I strongly feel there is something really wrong with SS reported sales.
I understand that the number of total photos is increasing and that sales can descrease, but I do not understand how is posssible that in the past two months daily sales are slowing down and stopping when approaching the 20 mark! This happens almost every day. Today, for example, 18 dlds at 2pm and then nothing...
I used to have between 25 and 35 sales in weekdays until last Spring, and then things leveled to the low... Very frustrating...anybody has the same problem?
I emailed Ss and waiting for some feedback...
Cheers
The secret to success on any site is producing better commercial images and keep uploading. Sitting around analyzing your sales is a waste of your time!
-
Buffalo Bill, please don't give me that...I look for sharing issues and symphaty here on this forum. You don't know how much time And effort I put in uploading neither you know my story. Moreover, analyzing your progresses is absolutely normal...
-
After observing my sales pattern for a few months, I strongly feel there is something really wrong with SS reported sales.
I understand that the number of total photos is increasing and that sales can descrease, but I do not understand how is posssible that in the past two months daily sales are slowing down and stopping when approaching the 20 mark! This happens almost every day. Today, for example, 18 dlds at 2pm and then nothing...
I used to have between 25 and 35 sales in weekdays until last Spring, and then things leveled to the low... Very frustrating...anybody has the same problem?
I emailed Ss and waiting for some feedback...
Cheers
Why is it that when anyone's sales drop the first reaction is some kind of conspiracy theory that SS is out to screw them? You already gave the answer, the only one that makes any sense: more images on line means any individuals share of the pie keeps getting smaller. And the quality keeps getting higher, so to keep pace you have to upload more and better. Remember success breeds copycats. If you were doing well your images are going to get copied which means you sell less.
Take your best sellers and do a search for the primary keywords. What comes up? Where are your images in the ranking? Be honest, are your images as good as the others? Are they dated or do they fit the style designers want today? Are they of a subject that is not current right now, or out of fad?
My #1 best seller (by far) is in a niche that I found several years ago. I did a search and found almost nothing there so I produced images to fill that niche. Five of then took off and for a while sold multiple times per week, almost every day in fact. But that same search today generates dozens of similar images, some I have to admit much better than mine. My best seller still sells, but not anywhere close to what it used to.
Analyzing your progress is part of this business. When things change, sales drop for example, look no further than your own portfolio. That's what I do. I don't blame success or failure on anyone but myself.
-
Its not just one thing that lowers our income. It is several things together. Yes, search changes affect us. And competition affects us. And aging portfolio affects us. And also the lower rates, discounts, price wars, subs and such affect us too. Of all these things, only one we can do anything about is freshen up our port. All others are out of our control.
-
Unique buyer, people behavior on your kind of content niche play big factor!
-
After observing my sales pattern for a few months, I strongly feel there is something really wrong with SS reported sales.
I understand that the number of total photos is increasing and that sales can descrease, but I do not understand how is posssible that in the past two months daily sales are slowing down and stopping when approaching the 20 mark! This happens almost every day. Today, for example, 18 dlds at 2pm and then nothing...
I used to have between 25 and 35 sales in weekdays until last Spring, and then things leveled to the low... Very frustrating...anybody has the same problem?
I emailed Ss and waiting for some feedback...
Cheers
Same here. In may/june I had 35 dl/day , dropped to 25 in 2 months and never recovered. I upload constantly and until june I was growing constantly. I am still growing on other sites but not on SS.
-
I make good sales on SS and like them a lot, but I tend to agree with the OP. My 6 month graph always looks similar with steady increases over a few weeks and then declines untill I have a really low week and back up again. The period of this is about 8 weeks, I've mentioned it before. Just becasue you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you. :P
-
Sitting around analyzing your sales is a waste of your time!
this couldn't be further from the truth.
by carefully examining my portfolio i found a niche which is not covered well and thus responsible for a large part of my income. when i identified the niche, i populated it because i planned these shoots and since then my income has soared.
but i guess you can blindly produce random crap also, to each his own. :)
also, there could be an agency-set cap for all you know. you don't know if there is or if there is not, unless you're high up in ss. and you're not.
-
Buffalo Bill, please don't give me that...I look for sharing issues and symphaty here on this forum. You don't know how much time And effort I put in uploading neither you know my story. Moreover, analyzing your progresses is absolutely normal...
fact 1: the beast no longer needs to be fed
fact 2: new uploads are not getting sales as they used to be
fact 3: the older top sellers are the ones that is sustaining your earnings...
simply because to get the placement, it has to be sales as soon as it is approved.
that almost never happens these days.
this could be due to ss flipping the switch, changing the algorithm , whatver you call it.
the machine was never broken, ss was the top earner for most, if not all of us.
but since they became public, a lot of trying to placate to the shareholders instead of to the contributors have caused the agency to be unstable.
why i believe this? well, you take some of the old farts ...
one day they are coming on the forum here and on ss to complain
and then, before you know it, there are the new cheerleaders.
there is no longer consistency and transparency with ss.
in times like this when new sites like stocksy , canva, are attracting micro earners to look elsewhere, you think ss will want to maintain the old stability to keep their contributors.
but they don't, simply because it is no longer in the interest of the contributors that ss
is focused. it is only interested in looking good each time the AGM comes around.
when shareholders are more important than contributors, that is a bad sign. shareholders will go away as soon as they make money , and kill the company they own. the industry and stock market prove this.
whatever it is, it is bad news for contributors. there is not too many hopefuls these days.
i am not anti-ss, i am wishing we all get back to the days when agencies value us,
like it used to be before the istock getty farce , and now ss shareholders .
would i like to go back to the days when ss is out there with clear interest for contributors on a level field? of course. as i said, ss used to be our main earner. it is still for many, but it is also slowly
shifting their focus away from us.
what do you think? give us back the old ss. the one that was the #1 to all of us on all counts
-
1 = Every pet needs care, but if you thought that feed the beast was real before, and it never was, then I suppose you could argue it doesn't now. It Never DID!
2 = couldn't be more wrong. The changes in the search favor new images so they get a boost. Although, true, SS competition is 10 times what it was and there are other new agencies and competition. Isn't there?
3 = yes true and the newer top sellers do also.
But that last part is really flying off into outer space. What are you talking about level field? Old photos had the top spots and no one could beat them down. People from the first few years, had the lock on the first pages of the search. That's why the old timers complained about losing sales. Because the new competition finally had a fair chance.
You Want That Back? You want your new images to go onto page 100 in the search?
How is it that some people fail to realize that stockholders are investing their money, just like we invest our time and work. Also that the stockholders investment is there to make the business grow, not so suck it dry and leave. (yes I understand some cases Private Equity and capitol growth people have been through Microstock. That's not the same as Stockholders with SS)
But tell me, if you invested your savings into a business, wouldn't you want to make money back? It's business not some charity!
SS is still #1 for me and many others. Who's beating them in earnings, in your opinion?
fact 1: the beast no longer needs to be fed
fact 2: new uploads are not getting sales as they used to be
fact 3: the older top sellers are the ones that is sustaining your earnings...
(bunch removed here)
would i like to go back to the days when ss is out there with clear interest for contributors on a level field? of course. as i said, ss used to be our main earner. it is still for many, but it is also slowly
shifting their focus away from us.
what do you think? give us back the old ss. the one that was the #1 to all of us on all counts
-
With Pete on this...
Seriously, SS want to maximise profits, what earthly (or unearthly for that matter) reason would they have to cap a contributors daily sales?
-
With Pete on this...
Seriously, SS want to maximise profits, what earthly (or unearthly for that matter) reason would they have to cap a contributors daily sales?
They make more money off subscriptions if buyers don't buy their quota. So they could make more profits shuffling the high cost images to the back.
I believe this is the theory any way. I don't believe it but I understand why it keeps coming up.
-
Yes because people keep repeating unsubstantiated rumors. It's like UFOs, aliens from space, the Loch Ness Monster, or ghosts. Did you know Walt Disney arranged for his body to frozen upon his death? (not true, because he was cremated) People are acting crazy, it must be a Full Moon. Or how eating turkey has some chemicals that make you sleepy. Left brain and right brain. Want more "common knowledge" falsies?
And there's why you hear it. People want some answers and believe in fairy tales. They want some reason other than something as simple as competition or the market.
They want an evil deed, some deep dark secret and that is, capping, blackouts, some mysterious favoritism to someone else. (odd that it's never one of us?) And now rising in the favorite charts "they make more money if new low earners get the DLs, not the experienced favorites."
So really? SS forces buyers to take substandard images and promotes unpopular files, so they can make more money? How does capping make the agency more money?
By prevent the best images from getting more downloads, or sending customers somewhere else, to another agency, since the same people have pretty much the same files everywhere?
Could someone please post some facts instead of "well everyone says it's true, it must be." or some other version of "why do so many people believe it?"
Facts means evidence, proof, data, not anecdotal rumors. Please?
With Pete on this...
Seriously, SS want to maximise profits, what earthly (or unearthly for that matter) reason would they have to cap a contributors daily sales?
They make more money off subscriptions if buyers don't buy their quota. So they could make more profits shuffling the high cost images to the back.
I believe this is the theory any way. I don't believe it but I understand why it keeps coming up.
-
"They make more money off subscriptions if buyers don't buy their quota. "
Well, there is a very high probability that amongst the 50 million images the buyer will always find some pictures to fill his daily quota.
-
With Pete on this...
Seriously, SS want to maximise profits, what earthly (or unearthly for that matter) reason would they have to cap a contributors daily sales?
Maybe not all of them are capped at the same time, etc.
-
Like the great 10k conspiracy theory - once you go through 10k earnings watch out buddy, your sales will flatten out or drop. I even admit to believing it enough to voice my concerns here on MSG.
....Never again - the theory turned out to be a heap of manure.
-
Yes, interesting possible thought. Same for any of the other unknowns. Maybe the claimed zone blocking is a rolling change, not all at one time. Only people with five letter last names are blocked on Wed. (silly but you get what I mean) ;) People aren't capped by income or sales but by some diversity algorithm that shares the wealth so there are more happy contributors.
Not that I believe any of that is true, but I have no proof that it's not.
The one I came up with, that I like best is, people over 65 are getting a best match boost and we aren't capped. Ha Ha, old farts reaping the rewards in spite of themselves, or their misspent youth. :o The only way I can explain my steady level of DLs and some other old timers who are saying things are as good as ever.
Call it the Senior Boost?
As for Heywoody, yes I'd agree. If I owned a company I wouldn't remove products from the shelf, or hide them, to balance sales or create false equity, and I'd want customers to find what they are looking for, not try to force them to buy some substandard alternative.
With Pete on this...
Seriously, SS want to maximise profits, what earthly (or unearthly for that matter) reason would they have to cap a contributors daily sales?
Maybe not all of them are capped at the same time, etc.
-
Yes because people keep repeating unsubstantiated rumors. ... Or how eating turkey has some chemicals that make you sleepy.
I am super surprised. I looked up turkey and tryptophan to prove it does make you sleepy, but I found this article debunking it instead...
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]
[url]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm (http://[url) [/url]
Your gonna have to work hard to convince me the right brain left brain stuff is false tho. In psychology classes they are still teaching that.
-
Algorithms can be incredibly complex and nobody here knows if they are capping income or not. One thing I am sure of. Nobody is getting a good deal with these agencies.
-
OT but I know it's not a hijack. 8)
Try the Full Moon claims too, it's interesting. And if you took a Psych class recently and they are still promoting the left minded and right minded people, it's an old book?
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die)
Part of the mess is, research discoveries, correcting myths vs revisionist political versions of facts. How do we know what the motivation is or if it's just science and discovery. Troublesome, isn't it?
Look at the division over vaccinations, when the guy who promoted the claims, had an interest in a different vaccination, the research has been re-tested and found to be flawed (rigged / false / doctored) and he has been more than discredited he has lost his license to practice because of improprieties. But people still think he was honest?
Bermuda Triangle? Doesn't exist, not even close, but for years, one followed another and used each other as proof, until someone went back to the start and checked every detail and "fact".
Myths are very difficult to correct or counter. They are deep seated, not based on science, but personal beliefs. Call it religion or magic. While science, with peer review, is always changing, based on repeatable, testable, evidence.
Yes because people keep repeating unsubstantiated rumors. ... Or how eating turkey has some chemicals that make you sleepy.
I am super surprised. I looked up turkey and tryptophan to prove it does make you sleepy, but I found this article debunking it instead...
[url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]
[url]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm]
[url]http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm (http://[url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/question519.htm) [/url]
Your gonna have to work hard to convince me the right brain left brain stuff is false tho. In psychology classes they are still teaching that.
-
My brother in law, a medical student, is studying brain anatomy where they are taught differences between left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum section of the brain, and their different functions, such as logic vs creativity.
But he, his lectures and all the researchers must be wrong, because Uncle Pete, says its hogwash !! 😉 lol
-
My brother in law, a medical student, is studying brain anatomy where they are taught differences between left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum section of the brain, and their different functions, such as logic vs creativity.
But he, his lectures and all the researchers must be wrong, because Uncle Pete, says its hogwash !! 😉 lol
Lol, I'm doing a PhD in neurobiology, and your brother better transfer to a school where they don't teach this kind of nonsense.
I'm specifically talking about the creativity vs logic thing.
-
There ARE proven differences between the left and right hemispheres, example : speech centers.
Creativity vs logic? Not proven, but not otherwise proven either. This would be a hard one, how do you even define parameters for creativity and logic? it's not impossible, though, maybe one day we will know, for now, the answer is "we dont know", that does not mean the myth is wrong, maybe or maybe not.
The brain is still a big black box, we barely know about it, and there are things that are proven right today will be proven wrong tomorrow.
Open -minded is the key. Seeing is believing, not the other way around.
-
Follow the link and read it. Then come back.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-myths/201206/why-the-left-brain-right-brain-myth-will-probably-never-die)
There are differences. Just not what the original studies proposed and not what the common wisdom believes. It's not as well defined, or strictly divided, and there are many shared areas of creativity and logic, between the sides. Not like I just made this up out of thin air. :-*
The truth is out there.
My brother in law, a medical student, is studying brain anatomy where they are taught differences between left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum section of the brain, and their different functions, such as logic vs creativity.
But he, his lectures and all the researchers must be wrong, because Uncle Pete, says its hogwash !! 😉 lol
-
There ARE proven differences between the left and right hemispheres, example : speech centers.
Yes, nobody said there aren't. Brains are not symmetrical.
I'm specifically talking about creativity vs logic.
Creativity vs logic? Not proven, but not otherwise proven either. This would be a hard one, how do you even define parameters for creativity and logic? it's not impossible, though, maybe one day we will know, for now, the answer is "we dont know", that does not mean the myth is wrong, maybe or maybe not.
The brain is still a big black box, we barely know about it, and there are things that are proven right today will be proven wrong tomorrow.
Open -minded is the key. Seeing is believing, not the other way around.
Yeah, anyway, I'd veer away from any med school that would try to sell this creativity vs. logic
And for people making strong claims, is it really so hard to do a google search (first result): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function
Broad generalizations are often made in "pop" psychology about one side or the other having characteristic labels, such as "logical" for the left side or "creative" for the right. These labels are not supported by studies on lateralization, as lateralization does not add specialized usage from either hemisphere.[2] Both hemispheres contribute to both kinds of processes,[3] and experimental evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with such broadly-defined functional differences.[4]
So yeah, downvote my original answer as much as you like, but the science has the truth, although you may not like it. To each their own. :)
What I hate most, being a neuro-PhD student, is when people who have skimmed through two articles and maybe heard something on the radio 10 years ago start teaching me what they KNOW. It's funny, and usually they back off when I say what my background is, but when they don't, it's just irritating to talk with these know-it-alls. Like I've spent my entire education looking at a blank wall.
-
What I hate most, being a neuro-PhD student, is when people who have skimmed through two articles and maybe heard something on the radio 10 years ago start teaching me what they KNOW. It's funny, and usually they back off when I say what my background is, but when they don't, it's just irritating to talk with these know-it-alls. Like I've spent my entire education looking at a blank wall.
If this addresses to me, feel free to go to my website (in my signature) to see my background. I just didn't like to show off my title in a forum.
-
LOL you guys are so funny with your egos and need to be right :)) Next we will have a rocket scientist come on to debunk all the myths !! lol
I abbreviated my original post. It should have read: Not all functions of the hemispheres are shared. The cerebrum performs functions such as speech, comprehension, arithmetic, reasoning, spatial ability, emotions, learning and artistic. Each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body. (My bad)
-
huh say what??? ...medical reference, nuero-science, psychology,...
never thought i stumble into a microstock forum to find so many medical practitioners
actually contributing photographs to microstock ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
you would think they would be spending more time in the reference library of their university studying .
sorry i have to laugh at this.
-
Both left and right centers of my brain have been seriously compromised over a long period by scotch - so I have no idea what you're all babbling on about.
Latest theory over at good old SS is that buyers of any import actually bother to go and see if your wonderful work of art is cheaper somewhere else. Like the fools who burn petrol driving around to find an outlet with the lowest price per gallon. I'm sure someone can dig up some examples but really, this is fiddling around trying to source the reason for your declining sales when (in a many cases - not all I must add) the answer is much closer to home.
-
So Do I!
And I spent weeks, no make that months in the stacks, in the library, doing research for my Masters in Psychology, but as usual, the Internet has ruined it all. Because (ready?) Everything you read on the Internet is TRUE!
Did you find the Stormy Monday lyrics? I was thinking of you when I added them to one of the "sales are terrible" threads. Music is the great and universal human communicator. (right after the Internet of course...) You can hear it when nothing is making any sound, it's in your brain.
huh say what??? ...medical reference, nuero-science, psychology,...
never thought i stumble into a microstock forum to find so many medical practitioners
actually contributing photographs to microstock ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
you would think they would be spending more time in the reference library of their university studying .
sorry i have to laugh at this.
-
huh say what??? ...medical reference, nuero-science, psychology,...
never thought i stumble into a microstock forum to find so many medical practitioners
actually contributing photographs to microstock ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
you would think they would be spending more time in the reference library of their university studying .
sorry i have to laugh at this.
Neuroscientists and psychologists are not medical practitioners.
And what I do in my free time is only my business. EOD.
-
Well I used to be a yellow Microstock Dummy and SS turned me into a Gnome in some stupid enchanted forest. That's much worse than capping, zone blocking or altering the search. I mean my shoes still fit, but my hats are kind of funny looking, shirt and pants, forget it!
I think the reason I don't see a sales limit is, I never reach it. Yeah that's the ticket. Little people just don't make it to the DL limit.
I'll leave it here so when I change back, the joke isn't lost:
(http://s5.postimg.org/fcm952non/pete_enchanted_gnome_sq.jpg)
huh say what??? ...medical reference, nuero-science, psychology,...
never thought i stumble into a microstock forum to find so many medical practitioners
actually contributing photographs to microstock ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
you would think they would be spending more time in the reference library of their university studying .
sorry i have to laugh at this.
Neuroscientists and psychologists are not medical practitioners.
And what I do in my free time is only my business. EOD.
-
Wishing you all a good New Year and profitable returns.
-
i think there WAS some flipping of switches and inconsistency in curator-ship as well as other "disorganizaton" in those months where the forum was wreaked with contributors being unhappy with the goings-on. but from the past 2 months, that seems to be ironed-out.
the only drop of sales marked was for the christmas season till today, which is expected, as in many countries, most offices are either closed or the employees are all having their christmas hols.
this is my point of view, as i saw a large positive change in the last half of nov to mid dec,
which i take it is from the business spending what they have in budget for this year. which gave me a very good close for this year with earnings exceeding expectation.
i also saw images selling which were sleeping, along with the regular sellers . all to me shows that maybe ss did do some heads riolling, and getting their ship back to shape.
this much, i tip my hat to mr oringer and his ppl.
-
There is no limit.
You have to understand how people and corporations work. If you live in the West Coast, 2pm is 5pm (they're off) in the East Coast and night-time in Europe (they're sleeping). Very few people start new projects after 2pm in the after, it's usually the morning-early afternoon when people are productive. They go in, they have their deadlines and they try to get their work done early so they can relax during the afternoon.
I've seen this pattern everywhere.
-
Its always 8 to 5 somewhere.
-
Its always 8 to 5 somewhere.
The Americas (US & Brazil), Europe and East Asia (India) are the biggest markets.
I barely get any sales from China or the surrounding countries because they love to use their own services instead of a company based in the US. When it's 2pm in the West Coast, it's 10pm in Europe. The best sales periods based on experience has been from 1am PST (9am GMT) to 2pm PST.
The US makes up 12.5% of the Shutterstock's traffic. India - 12.1%, Brazil - 5.5%, Russia 4%, UK 3.5%. Consider those markets and you'll see why it falls off after 2pm PST.
-
Its always 8 to 5 somewhere.
The Americas (US & Brazil), Europe and East Asia (India) are the biggest markets.
Thats from West to East and back. The whole world, just missing Africa and Oceanie.