How to increase sales on Alamy ?

[Ahmad]

Sales are happening once in a while in months. How can I increase it ? I categorized the photos into albums,but the most I got was just views.

[NYCat]

You will need to add more images of different subjects. You only hurt yourself by doing many images of the same subject. If you do want to concentrate on a subject be sure to make each image very different. Different points of view and distances. All the similar images you have will hurt your ranking as you have a lot of views with no zooms. Try to learn from the images you have sold. They will teach you something about what sells.

 

Paulette

[spacecadet]

Even with a diverse collection you might only expect a few sales a year. With all the similars your effective port size is much smaller.

You also have a lot of marginally relevant keywords. One view/image/month is par for the course.

[Robert M Estall]

Many fascinating photos in your portfolio. As Paulette suggests, there are too many repeats of similar shots in many cases. Tighter editing might help. The official Alamy line is, NOT MORE THAN FIVE

 

SNOW IN JORDAN, well there's a surprise! I'm a Canadian, that's where it snows! But in your keywords, you include egypt, kazakhstan, palastine, syria, iraq, saudi and for some reason forest Those are all wrong, and aside from wasting the time of clients, will hurt your rank

 

FC2DZY  (RF?) is a village on the horizon of a snowy Jordanian landscape.WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE VILLAGE?

 

There are several nice pictures of illuminated bridges WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE ARCHITECT (or engineer)?

 

you have selected RF rather than RM for most of your images. I don't really understand this preference (you are not alone) but you do not have property releases so this is wrong for quite a few subjects. You can not change it now, only Alamy can do that for you if you ask before anyone makes a purchase. Most of them, I expect you might get away with, but certainly you should think about this for the future

 

You have photographs that not everybody has, that's a good thing. On the other hand, they are not often going to come up on client's searches, so you are not going to be selling those off-beat locations frequently. It s going to be a bit slow!

 

but good luck.....

[Ed Rooney]

Ahmad, you've been given some very good advice from Pauline and Robert. Now it's up to you to act on this advice. 

 

If you look at Alamy's information about submitting images, you see that they say they might fail your submissions if you send them too many similars. Look at the items in the fifth group down: 

 

http://www.alamy.com/contributors/alamy-qc-failure-reasons.pdf

 

I find it interesting and somewhat upsetting that Alamy has not punished you for doing this. You have some unique access there in the Middle East, but you're not taking advantage of it. 

[fotoDogue]

I categorized the photos into albums,but the most I got was just views.

 

I'm confused by your use of so many pseudonyms. Is this what you mean by "albums?"

With so few images I would think you'd want to use a single pseudonym to help boost your overall collection from images that have sold or been zoomed. Also, Copyright Faces or Copyright Turkey doesn't seem to make much sense.

[losdemas]

Philippe tells it like it is: harsh, maybe, but honest and valid (and helpful).  I know that I'm going to have to take a long, hard look at my own collection here this year, if I'm going to continue.

[Davey Towers]

 

• Due to the many, many almost identical images, you actually don't have 671 images but a lot less which is thus a very tiny drop in Alamy's big ocean
• Add another 4329 very different, well executed images and sales will start trickling in.
• Remember Alamy is UK based, so UK / European orientated images will sell far better than exotic ones.
• Before pressing the shutter, ask yourself who would buy this image to illustrate what. If you can't answer that simple question within two seconds, well ......
• See what the competition has to offer. If your image is not on a par with what's already available, well .......
• Only shoot when the conditions are favourable. Avoid harsh shadows, dull grey skies, etc....
• Calibrate your monitor. Some of your colours are way off.
• Put more effort in composition and move around to find better viewpoints.
• Straighten your buildings or make at least sure that the center part is perpendicular.

see what competition you have to deal with. Imagine you're an editor. Which image would you choose?

 

dunno, but I guess snow is an unusual sight in Jordan. How about two kids throwing snowballs instead of this picture. Make your shots a whole lot more interesting and pleasing to look at

 

underexposed and annoying telephone wires. Two steps forward and you probably could have avoided those disturbing lines

 

colour casts showing unnatural colours

 

The pictures above are just a few examples of major flaws and reasons why images don't sell.

Harsh critique? Hell yes. I'm not exactly known for being the most diplomatic on this forum. I just give an honest answer to your question.

 

Images I like and which should sell:

 

 

Advice (for what it's worth): get rid of the many similar ones and the hasty snapshots. Keep - let's say - fifty (yep 50) and restart from there. Don't lower the bar!

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

As a "newbie" to stock photography this post has enlightened me somewhat too! Thanks Philippe....great advice

[stockbuster]

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

[ColdCoffee]

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

[Bhandol]

Hi Ahmad,

 

This one should sell well to buyers looking for a picture of a train travelling through the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan....

...but they won't find it, as you haven't added crucial keywords like "Jordan, train, freight,railway & Journey", but you have added keywords that have nothing to do with this image like " Africa, Sahara, Moroccan  & Morocco".

[wiskerke]

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

Probably the clients that buy your images from other agencies are not buying from Alamy. In that respect you could be using the wrong outlet. However I doubt it. Could it be keywords? Clients here seem to like facts a lot. From the All of Alamy, where you can see all real searches: Great Smoky Mountain NP Cades Cove Tennessee. Isn't your tunnel in the Great Smokies from near there? I could be wrong, all those tunnels look alike.  I would specify US etc in your keywords. A lot of things look very American like your trucks. (Great trucks!) Try %truck% in AoA and see what keywords clients all use if they are looking for a truck. And while you're at it have a look at %lorry% which is what the Brits call a truck. There are more Americans than Brits and certainly more American-English speakers than UK-English speakers in the world. But only half of Alamy's sales are to the US. Alamy originated in the UK and it's HQ is there; maybe that's why.

 

On the other agencies, what does the competition look like? Is it much different from here? I mean your competition, like the images that surround yours in a search. Do yours stand out? Do they come up first? How many others are there? How is that here?

BTW do you have the same images on the other agencies? I  thought at least one was exclusive.

Maybe there's still hope for me then. Outside of Alamy I mean ;-) Nah wrong subjects probably.

 

wim

[Foreign Export]

Ahmad

I hope you have acted on the advice to accurately keyword your images, buyers coming across images that are keyword for one continent but happen to be in another isn't a good look - and not just for you but for the rest of us. 

 

There are many images on Alamy where contributors have just thrown random keywords at a subject and for me this is frustrating, and no doubt for others too - we take a pride in accurate keyboarding, if you do too you will have  much better chance of sales, the shot of the train through the desert will sell as advised above - but you need to act on the advice

[Martin Carlsson]

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

 

 

I concur with the above and my personal opinion/view is that;

 

1) Substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that overlap between micro RF and "normal" (mid-->macro) RF results in losing out on a not insignificant number of sales in the latter category. 

 

2) I also think/feel the RPI/year for said image, images (sisters and similars) would be lower when offered in both categories, but this is of course highly individual and will vary.

 

3) My take (skimming headlines, various forum posts, grapevine, general take on it) is that RPI/year within micro RF as a whole is quite past it's peak, definitely in decline, perhaps even an accelerated decline and becoming less viable for most.

 

4) Those with a long-term view to be active within the stock photography industry, less bothered by number of sales and more about $ not just this year, but in the next 10 years should probably;

1. Strive for quality and individuality over quantity, hopefully creating images that justify higher $ sales and not compete on price or go for the quick buck.
2. Not prop up the mRF market by contributing to it, at the very least in a meaningful way.

We all know that this is an inflamed topic and that the variables within the industry is in serious state of flux. It can also be very personal and everyone has a different view on it. So above is just that, my personal view, as of today.

 

PS - I forgot to say that the reason I even started typing was that I wanted to say to @ColdCoffee - your squirrel picture (the two of them kind of hugging) is lovely, really caught my eye, never seen anything like it before. I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures.

[DDoug]

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

Another factor is time. You've been with Alamy for less than a year and it can take a while to get going.

[Joseph Clemson]

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

Your images are excellent and well presented and will surely do well on microstock, but many of them but look to me like pure microstock and Alamy is a slightly different agency. Typical microstock images do sell here but  your two in a year from a thousand images is not far from what I would expect at Alamy,  though I would hazard a guess that those two sales made rather more than you would get at micro stock.  Have  a good look at what images sell here using 'All of Alamy' on the Alamy Measures page.

 

I would encourage you to review your keywords. Mostly, you are doing fine but you are making the typical microstock error of keywording everything in the image. Just one example: a close up of a woman holding an apple should not have the keyword 'sweater' because a buyer looking for a sweater is probably not looking for a picture where the main subject is an apple; objects peripheral to the subject or its context should not be keyworded.

 

In your first year on Alamy you get a median placing in the search ranking and this will help you glean a few sales. However, your images will fall down the ranks if they appear in searches where they are irrelevant. Have a look at the many discussions on 'BHZ' as it will help you understand how things work here.

 

I have come across many microstockers (I'm not referring to your good self) who have simply dumped their entire microstock portfolio on Alamy and then wondered why they don't get many sales. Subject matter, oversupply, image style and keywording usually figure in the answer to their puzzlement.

[wiskerke]

My understanding is that stockbuster is with a couple of different agencies, including the biggest of them all, and with the fastest growing of them all too. I have not checked the micros.

 

wim

[NYCat]

 

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

 

 

I concur with the above and my personal opinion/view is that;

 

1) Substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that overlap between micro RF and "normal" (mid-->macro) RF results in losing out on a not insignificant number of sales in the latter category. 

 

2) I also think/feel the RPI/year for said image, images (sisters and similars) would be lower when offered in both categories, but this is of course highly individual and will vary.

 

3) My take (skimming headlines, various forum posts, grapevine, general take on it) is that RPI/year within micro RF as a whole is quite past it's peak, definitely in decline, perhaps even an accelerated decline and becoming less viable for most.

 

4) Those with a long-term view to be active within the stock photography industry, less bothered by number of sales and more about $ not just this year, but in the next 10 years should probably;

1. Strive for quality and individuality over quantity, hopefully creating images that justify higher $ sales and not compete on price or go for the quick buck.
2. Not prop up the mRF market by contributing to it, at the very least in a meaningful way.

We all know that this is an inflamed topic and that the variables within the industry is in serious state of flux. It can also be very personal and everyone has a different view on it. So above is just that, my personal view, as of today.

 

PS - I forgot to say that the reason I even started typing was that I wanted to say to @ColdCoffee - your squirrel picture (the two of them kind of hugging) is lovely, really caught my eye, never seen anything like it before. I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures.

 

 

 

ColdCoffee, you may want to check that your squirrels are showing up in searches. I also love animal photos and I tried doing an advanced search for them. Maybe I was doing something wrong but I was getting nothing for squirrel or squirrels with the name that you are using with that photo. Hope it is just me doing something wrong but there are a lot of problems with searches these days.

 

Paulette

 

Editing this hours later: You don't have to go through all squirrels!!! Just search in your Manage Images and if it doesn't show up there it will not show up in a buyer's search.

[Martin Carlsson]

We're a week further. Has the OP actually read the reactions above? 

I often have the feeling we're talking to a wall 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

One could always hope that the info is used for future reference , but in all honesty how often doesn't frequent topics get started despite the answers being just a search away? Some truths/tips/recommendations never age.

[stockbuster]

 

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

 

 

I concur with the above and my personal opinion/view is that;

 

1) Substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that overlap between micro RF and "normal" (mid-->macro) RF results in losing out on a not insignificant number of sales in the latter category. 

 

2) I also think/feel the RPI/year for said image, images (sisters and similars) would be lower when offered in both categories, but this is of course highly individual and will vary.

 

3) My take (skimming headlines, various forum posts, grapevine, general take on it) is that RPI/year within micro RF as a whole is quite past it's peak, definitely in decline, perhaps even an accelerated decline and becoming less viable for most.

 

4) Those with a long-term view to be active within the stock photography industry, less bothered by number of sales and more about $ not just this year, but in the next 10 years should probably;

1. Strive for quality and individuality over quantity, hopefully creating images that justify higher $ sales and not compete on price or go for the quick buck.
2. Not prop up the mRF market by contributing to it, at the very least in a meaningful way.

We all know that this is an inflamed topic and that the variables within the industry is in serious state of flux. It can also be very personal and everyone has a different view on it. So above is just that, my personal view, as of today.

 

PS - I forgot to say that the reason I even started typing was that I wanted to say to @ColdCoffee - your squirrel picture (the two of them kind of hugging) is lovely, really caught my eye, never seen anything like it before. I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures.

 

Thank you so much for your advise!  I am truly gonna change some pics and I've learned a lot through these messages!

[stockbuster]

 

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

 

 

I concur with the above and my personal opinion/view is that;

 

1) Substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that overlap between micro RF and "normal" (mid-->macro) RF results in losing out on a not insignificant number of sales in the latter category. 

 

2) I also think/feel the RPI/year for said image, images (sisters and similars) would be lower when offered in both categories, but this is of course highly individual and will vary.

 

3) My take (skimming headlines, various forum posts, grapevine, general take on it) is that RPI/year within micro RF as a whole is quite past it's peak, definitely in decline, perhaps even an accelerated decline and becoming less viable for most.

 

4) Those with a long-term view to be active within the stock photography industry, less bothered by number of sales and more about $ not just this year, but in the next 10 years should probably;

1. Strive for quality and individuality over quantity, hopefully creating images that justify higher $ sales and not compete on price or go for the quick buck.
2. Not prop up the mRF market by contributing to it, at the very least in a meaningful way.

We all know that this is an inflamed topic and that the variables within the industry is in serious state of flux. It can also be very personal and everyone has a different view on it. So above is just that, my personal view, as of today.

 

PS - I forgot to say that the reason I even started typing was that I wanted to say to @ColdCoffee - your squirrel picture (the two of them kind of hugging) is lovely, really caught my eye, never seen anything like it before. I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures.

 

Thank you so much for your feedback!  I greatly appreciate it!

[stockbuster]

Thank all of you for your greatly needed advice!  I very much appreciate it!  I hope you all get my response!  Everyone have an awesome

day and thank you again!  :)

[stockbuster]

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

Your images are excellent and well presented and will surely do well on microstock, but many of them but look to me like pure microstock and Alamy is a slightly different agency. Typical microstock images do sell here but  your two in a year from a thousand images is not far from what I would expect at Alamy,  though I would hazard a guess that those two sales made rather more than you would get at micro stock.  Have  a good look at what images sell here using 'All of Alamy' on the Alamy Measures page.

 

I would encourage you to review your keywords. Mostly, you are doing fine but you are making the typical microstock error of keywording everything in the image. Just one example: a close up of a woman holding an apple should not have the keyword 'sweater' because a buyer looking for a sweater is probably not looking for a picture where the main subject is an apple; objects peripheral to the subject or its context should not be keyworded.

 

In your first year on Alamy you get a median placing in the search ranking and this will help you glean a few sales. However, your images will fall down the ranks if they appear in searches where they are irrelevant. Have a look at the many discussions on 'BHZ' as it will help you understand how things work here.

 

I have come across many microstockers (I'm not referring to your good self) who have simply dumped their entire microstock portfolio on Alamy and then wondered why they don't get many sales. Subject matter, oversupply, image style and keywording usually figure in the answer to their puzzlement.

 

It sure makes sense from what you are saying!  Thank you so much!

[stockbuster]

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

If you by other stock sites mean Micro stock .. then you may not see many sales on Alamy. Many Alamy customers also have Micro stock accounts and if they can get the picture cheaper there, they will.

 

Thank you!  I sure understand.  Very good point!

[stockbuster]

 

I have  almost 1,000 images on Alamy and they are many different kinds of images and I have only sold 2 pictures since I've been on!  Can anyone explain to me what is going on?  The images I have been adding are selling huge on other stock sites.  I just don't understand.  HELP!

 

Probably the clients that buy your images from other agencies are not buying from Alamy. In that respect you could be using the wrong outlet. However I doubt it. Could it be keywords? Clients here seem to like facts a lot. From the All of Alamy, where you can see all real searches: Great Smoky Mountain NP Cades Cove Tennessee. Isn't your tunnel in the Great Smokies from near there? I could be wrong, all those tunnels look alike.  I would specify US etc in your keywords. A lot of things look very American like your trucks. (Great trucks!) Try %truck% in AoA and see what keywords clients all use if they are looking for a truck. And while you're at it have a look at %lorry% which is what the Brits call a truck. There are more Americans than Brits and certainly more American-English speakers than UK-English speakers in the world. But only half of Alamy's sales are to the US. Alamy originated in the UK and it's HQ is there; maybe that's why.

 

On the other agencies, what does the competition look like? Is it much different from here? I mean your competition, like the images that surround yours in a search. Do yours stand out? Do they come up first? How many others are there? How is that here?

BTW do you have the same images on the other agencies? I  thought at least one was exclusive.

Maybe there's still hope for me then. Outside of Alamy I mean ;-) Nah wrong subjects probably.

 

wim

 

Hi, wim!  The competition here is fierce.  Everyone here is trying to copy each other, but some of my things do definitely stand out from the other.  But, you definitely told me what I needed to hear about what I'm shooting.  I do have pics from the Great Smoky Mountains, trucks(lorries) on the highway, etc., so I will definitely be going in that direction.  I truly thank you for all your help!!