Author Topic: Not a single sale for three weeks (Read 22383 times)

MRommens · « **on:** April 13, 2017, 09:29 »

A month ago was my first ss payment, nice!

Januari and Februari were good months, with some od's
Since three weeks i sold nothing, for me this is a unusual long period without sales
Is there someone else experiencing such long period withou sales?
My port contains around 150 images:
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/photosis?language=en

Artist · « **Reply #1 on:** April 13, 2017, 09:55 »

Quote from: photosis on April 13, 2017, 09:29

A month ago was my first ss payment, nice!

Januari and Februari were good months, with some od's
Since three weeks i sold nothing, for me this is a unusual long period without sales
Is there someone else experiencing such long period withou sales?
My port contains around 150 images:
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/photosis?language=en

Gentle suggestion, quit and look for a better job.

jacoblund · « **Reply #2 on:** April 13, 2017, 11:11 »

Photosis: Try selling sand in the Sahara dessert and you'll probably get same results.

Find out what customers need, or find out how you can offer something unique. Then you'll see sales coming your way.

Minsc · « **Reply #3 on:** April 13, 2017, 11:44 »

Very few of your images have commercial value. Everyday photos are dime a dozen...anyone with a decent phone can take it and use it in their blog. Why do they need to buy these type of photos? Maybe pick better subjects?

muraka · « **Reply #4 on:** April 14, 2017, 01:26 »

Agree with too low commercial value. + I'd add more editing to the photos, more description of titles and more keywords.

langstrup · « **Reply #5 on:** April 14, 2017, 03:37 »

Quote from: jacoblund on April 13, 2017, 11:11

Photosis: Try selling sand in the Sahara dessert and you'll probably get same results.

Find out what customers need, or find out how you can offer something unique. Then you'll see sales coming your way.

Hey buddy

Noedelhap · « **Reply #6 on:** April 14, 2017, 09:31 »

I'm not a photographer, but here's my 2 cents:

1. Use more descriptive titles. Use more keywords to describe your images.
For instance, your image 'tree trunk' could be titled 'cross-section of a tree trunk showing annual age rings', with added keywords such as 'age', 'cross-section', etc.
2. Try to create more conceptual images, pictures that tell a story.
3. Try to shoot from more captivating angles, make use of copy space in your compositions.

MRommens · « **Reply #7 on:** April 14, 2017, 10:56 »

Quote from: Noedelhap on April 14, 2017, 09:31

I'm not a photographer, but here's my 2 cents:

1. Use more descriptive titles. Use more keywords to describe your images.
For instance, your image 'tree trunk' could be titled 'cross-section of a tree trunk showing annual age rings', with added keywords such as 'age', 'cross-section', etc.
2. Try to create more conceptual images, pictures that tell a story.
3. Try to shoot from more captivating angles, make use of copy space in your compositions.

Thanks (and also the others), for your critism!
I thought, images with short title are better findable and less good keywords make them more important (so a higher rank in search algoritms).

fotoroad · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2017, 12:04 »

Quote from: photosis on April 13, 2017, 09:29

A month ago was my first ss payment, nice!

Januari and Februari were good months, with some od's
Since three weeks i sold nothing, for me this is a unusual long period without sales
Is there someone else experiencing such long period withou sales?
My port contains around 150 images:
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/photosis?language=en

You need also much 1.more images for every day sale or 2.just couple really best seller

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #9 on:** April 14, 2017, 17:37 »

Good keywords are important, but you need to think about what constitutes a good keyword. For example, you have pictures of train tracks, but you don't say what city or country that's in. For many buyers, getting something local will be important - so do that for outside shots that are clearly in a particular place, but don't do it for studio shots or textures where it has no relevance. This shot is just labeled "city" - but there's nothing to say which!! You might get more sales if you added city and country to the keywords (and probably to the title)

Never put multiple places on one shot - there's a lot of that on SS with tropical beaches that I think people justify by saying that it could be the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Seychelles, etc.

Shutterstock has over 134 million images and you have such a tiny portfolio and subjects that relatively low demand that I'm not surprised you're seeing gaps in sales.

For a number of your images, a little more care when taking them would yield a more salable result. As an example, the flag in this image is hanging limply in such a way that you can't really see the flag at all. If you waited for some wind to blow the flag a little so you could see it better, it'd be more useful.

hatman12 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 14, 2017, 18:05 »

Quote from: photosis on April 13, 2017, 09:29

A month ago was my first ss payment, nice!

Januari and Februari were good months, with some od's
Since three weeks i sold nothing, for me this is a unusual long period without sales
Is there someone else experiencing such long period withou sales?
My port contains around 150 images:
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/photosis?language=en

Nice little portfolio which appears to be on the right track for someone just starting out in stock photography. All the advice given by others is correct - you need a larger portfolio, bright attractive images, some copy space where appropriate.

My own experiments suggest, as you say, that a short concise description gives better search placement for the 'relevancy' search. Ten words or less ensures good relevancy placement for those words. The 'popular' search appears to be based on the actual keywords used by buyers, and you can see these keywords in the 'insights - top performers' menu.

There is no evidence to suggest that fewer keywords results in better placement, however I have personally reduced my keywords in recent upload batches and found a better sales ratio for those new uploads. However this might be coincidence.

dragonblade · « **Reply #11 on:** April 14, 2017, 23:48 »

Quote from: Minsc on April 13, 2017, 11:44

Maybe pick better subjects?

There can be some subjectivity with regards to deciding which subjects are interesting and which are not. There's someone on another microstock photography forum who has some unusual views on what constitutes interesting subject matter. According to this guy:

Wildlife is not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction is not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food is not interesting

Gosh, in my 20+ years of photography, I honestly thought that those subjects had at least some appeal. I guess I was wrong.

dpimborough · « **Reply #12 on:** April 15, 2017, 02:42 »

Quote from: dragonblade on April 14, 2017, 23:48

Quote from: Minsc on April 13, 2017, 11:44
Maybe pick better subjects?

There can be some subjectivity with regards to deciding which subjects are interesting and which are not. There's someone on another microstock photography forum who has some unusual views on what constitutes interesting subject matter. According to this guy:

Wildlife is not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction is not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food is not interesting

Gosh, in my 20+ years of photography, I honestly thought that those subjects had at least some appeal. I guess I was wrong.

Microstock is full of blowhards with all the gear and no idea

They get a few images up and think they are experts

Pauws99 · « **Reply #13 on:** April 15, 2017, 02:53 »

Quote from: dragonblade on April 14, 2017, 23:48

Quote from: Minsc on April 13, 2017, 11:44
Maybe pick better subjects?

There can be some subjectivity with regards to deciding which subjects are interesting and which are not. There's someone on another microstock photography forum who has some unusual views on what constitutes interesting subject matter. According to this guy:

Wildlife is not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction is not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food is not interesting

Gosh, in my 20+ years of photography, I honestly thought that those subjects had at least some appeal. I guess I was wrong.

Any thing is "interesting" if you shoot it well that's why photography is an art.....whether its commercially viable is a different question. All of those can be in my view but the competition in those most of areas is intense. Many do have the advantage of being low cost unlike many "lifestyle" images with model, studio, prop etc cost. These can produce seemingly big returns but with high cost.

jacoblund · « **Reply #14 on:** April 15, 2017, 09:58 »

Quote from: Uber Images on April 14, 2017, 03:37

Quote from: jacoblund on April 13, 2017, 11:11
Photosis: Try selling sand in the Sahara dessert and you'll probably get same results.

Find out what customers need, or find out how you can offer something unique. Then you'll see sales coming your way.

Hey buddy

Yo!

Zero Talent · « **Reply #15 on:** April 15, 2017, 17:12 »

Quote from: dragonblade on April 14, 2017, 23:48

Wildlife is not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction is not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food is not interesting

Allow me to rephrase:

Poor quality photos of

Wildlife are not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction are not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food are not interesting

I make more than a few grands/month from a port made of less than 1k assets (containing some of the above categories)

My advice is: curate your uploads and focus on quality not quantity!

dragonblade · « **Reply #16 on:** April 16, 2017, 01:05 »

Quote from: Zero Talent on April 15, 2017, 17:12

focus on quality not quantity!

Agreed. That's my approach too. I have very small ports on a bunch of different agencies and I have made sales with many of the same subjects listed above - with some images selling multiple times. Ive also won a few photography competitions and sold photographs in exhibitions with many of the same kinds of subject matter. Last photo I sold in an exhibition went for $700 though I didn't get the money on that occasion - the funds went to a charity.

dpimborough · « **Reply #17 on:** April 16, 2017, 13:30 »

But there is one big fat problem while you concentrate on producing a few high quality images they are just drowned under the un-ending sludge being accepted by SS

mboy · « **Reply #18 on:** April 17, 2017, 04:42 »

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on April 16, 2017, 13:30

But there is one big fat problem while you concentrate on producing a few high quality images they are just drowned under the un-ending sludge being accepted by SS

My bestseller in SS is a photo of one of the most popular summer destinations in Europe - Mallorca, the photo was uploaded in December and is now in the top 10 popular images, when you search for the location, it sells almost every day, apparently it hasn't been drowned by the other junk uploaded

dpimborough · « **Reply #19 on:** April 17, 2017, 15:37 »

Quote from: mboy on April 17, 2017, 04:42

Quote from: Sammy the Cat on April 16, 2017, 13:30
But there is one big fat problem while you concentrate on producing a few high quality images they are just drowned under the un-ending sludge being accepted by SS

My bestseller in SS is a photo of one of the most popular summer destinations in Europe - Mallorca, the photo was uploaded in December and is now in the top 10 popular images, when you search for the location, it sells almost every day, apparently it hasn't been drowned by the other junk uploaded

Good for you ~ 1 photo uploaded in December give it until this December and see if it's still on the first page for popular

pancaketom · « **Reply #20 on:** April 17, 2017, 17:47 »

Stuff doesn't get removed from the first page of search (other than newest first) by the flood of new images, it never gets there in the first place. Stuff gets removed from the first page by search changes. (and search changes, glitches, and lucky stunning images get images onto the first pages).

I had a 3 or 4 year run on the first page for one image - sure I had a good image, but it was an indexing glitch that got my image there (mine was indexed right before a 4 day gap with no new images indexed so it had that long on the first page of new images). That was enough to get it onto the first or second page of most popular and it stayed there until a search change made it disappear (at least through page 30). I think it is around page 3 or 4 now and went from over a sale a day average to more like a sale a month.

Search location is huge in this business and we can only change some of the things that effect image placement.

mboy · « **Reply #21 on:** April 17, 2017, 23:59 »

on the other hand popularity does not guarantee sales
I have a page 1, top 20 image in DT that has sales once per two months now, the sales were very good when I uploaded it though

PixelBytes · « **Reply #22 on:** April 18, 2017, 11:06 »

Quote from: dragonblade on April 14, 2017, 23:48

Quote from: Minsc on April 13, 2017, 11:44
Maybe pick better subjects?

There can be some subjectivity with regards to deciding which subjects are interesting and which are not. There's someone on another microstock photography forum who has some unusual views on what constitutes interesting subject matter. According to this guy:

Wildlife is not interesting
Boats are not interesting
Naval warships are not interesting
Plants and trees are not interesting
Mushrooms are not interesting
Planes are not interesting
Vehicles are not interesting
Waterfalls are not interesting
Road signs are not interesting
Construction is not interesting
Cities are not interesting (both daytime images and night / time exposures)
Monuments are not interesting
Beaches are not interesting
Food is not interesting

Gosh, in my 20+ years of photography, I honestly thought that those subjects had at least some appeal. I guess I was wrong.

LOL!! Some of my best selling images fall into those categories. Hopefully people listen to this joker so I have less competition.

Personally, I think business teams and handshakes are the most boring stock photos on the planet, but they sell, so one guy's " boring" is another ones goldmine.

Shoot what you enjoy shooting, but do it WELL.

Microstockphoto · « **Reply #23 on:** April 18, 2017, 11:50 »

anonymous poster claims to make thousands of dollars per month with a few hundred images. OK.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #24 on:** April 18, 2017, 12:21 »

Quote from: Microstockphoto on April 18, 2017, 11:50

anonymous poster claims to make thousands of dollars per month with a few hundred images. OK.

Exactly! And just to be clear: several means more than a couple

This may shatter a common belief on this forum, but I know what I mean when I say that quality trumps quantity and when I advise people to curate their uploads.

Also to be clear: I have more than a "few hundred", I have almost 1,000!

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Author Topic: Not a single sale for three weeks (Read 22383 times)

MRommens

Artist

jacoblund

Minsc

muraka

langstrup

Noedelhap

MRommens

fotoroad

Jo Ann Snover

hatman12

dragonblade

dpimborough

Pauws99

jacoblund

Zero Talent

dragonblade

dpimborough

mboy

dpimborough

pancaketom

mboy

PixelBytes

Microstockphoto

Zero Talent

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